What's on your workbench right now?

[hulakatt]

Ambidextrous whammy bar!

Ambiwhammy!

[seenoevil II]

I made a banjo.

I got tipsy and just started cutting wood. Now I have this tiny thing. And it works! It's wild. It actually plays music.

[BoringPostcards]

That’s awesome, man! I’d love to mess about on that thing.

[seenoevil II]

That’s awesome, man! I’d love to mess about on that thing.

It's a blast! I made it in a day. I'm still shocked that my homemade "friction pegs" hold tuning. It's a white pine 2×3, it's showing zero signs of strain.

I think I've unlocked a new hobby!

[Insomnicide]

Made a hollow 360 esque body out of Silver Wattle for this Mickswoodandwire guitar. Pretty proud of myself for accomplishing something of this quality.


485054147_18371865961184575_5211949795707735700_n by Rosie Brennan, on Flickr

[JSett]

Made a hollow 360 esque body out of Silver Wattle for this Mickswoodandwire guitar. Pretty proud of myself for accomplishing something of this quality.

Knowing how those are built, that's impressive. Bravo. It's simple exterior aesthetic belies its internal complexity.

[JSett]

Working on some prototypes.

I want to know more

[Flurko]

Made a hollow 360 esque body out of Silver Wattle for this Mickswoodandwire guitar. Pretty proud of myself for accomplishing something of this quality.

That's great! I love Mick's work, I used to be obsessed with aluminum neck guitars and his take on this almost made we want to order something!

[GilmourD]

I've got an MJT offset Tele body in OTM that I need to wire up and mount the neck on. It's a Squier Anniversary neck that has the holes drilled a tad askew, so I need to drill and fill. Other than that I'm just waiting on the pickguard.

[ThePearDream]

Working on some prototypes.

I want to know more

So, for a couple of years now, I've had a few ideas in my head for improving our beloved offset vibrato. Last month, I finally took the time to put my ideas into CAD. The main thrust of my ideas, is to make a vibrato that is simpler, lighter, stronger, and better performing, and that solves some common complaints that people have with the original. I also don't want to have to invest in expensive machinist's tools to do all this, so I'm aiming to use off-the-shelf hardware with minimum alterations. Basically, do more with less.

I just got my latest batch of revisions in from Sendcutsend, who do the laser cutting and bending for me (Stainless Steel for these). It's taken me a few rounds to dial in things like hole locations and where the bends are, so everything lines up properly. I'm excited though that I finally have a working prototype, that I'll string up later today. I'm also pleased to find that my vibrato is a full 3oz lighter than an AVRI, while being made entirely from stainless steel.




So, as for changes, the most obvious change is probably the moving of the arm to the center of the unit, which serves a few purposes. First, it makes the unit ambidextrous, which has lots of obvious benefits. Second, I believe that having the arm centered, will make the vibrato more stable, by having the force applied in-between the two pivot areas. Third, it allows for a reduced size, lowering the weight and the cost. I haven't figured out my own substitute for the arm collet yet. I think that the way the Mastery and Descendant do it is over-engineered. Staytrem has the most elegant solution, but they aren't as easy to get. For the moment, I have my files setup for a 3/8 thread, so it can accept US spec collets from Fender or Staytrem. I'm actively brainstorming other options though.

A very minor change, is that the spring location has been moved forward 1/8", which will just make the spring slightly more effective. As for the spring itself, finding a substitute is hard. I can't find any solid info regarding the strength of the original, so that is another item I'm working through still. I bought a few of the yellow springs that people were adding to their Panorama vibratos, along with a stainless flanged retainer nut (that I hope is strong enough).

The other big change (and the idea that started this project), is the elimination of the separate pivot plate and the three screws securing it, that nobody likes. My solution is to combine the pivot plate with the top plate, using a window bend. This allows for the total elimination of the three screws. After receiving the plates, I bevel the pivot into a a clean knife edge on my sander.

Now, not only have I done this to my revised top plate, but I've also done it to a plate that will accept the parts from a Fender AVRI vibrato, and I will be selling these soon for a fair price. You can see one assembled above. A clear unobstructed string path and a stainless steel knife edge, while eliminating four parts! And if I can figure out a replacement for the collet and spring, I'll also plan to sell full drop in vibrato units with the centered arm - also for a fair price (aiming to be at least $50 less than a Mastery)


Still to come:
-This is gonna need a name, I've just been calling it my "simple vibrato".
-Incorporate my new pivot point system in other top plate shapes - to use with other guitar models I will be building (ex. Yamaha SG-2/3, Aria 1802)
-Create my own top plate shape to use with my Artemis/Apollo designs
- Variants for 12-string, 7-string, 4-string bass, and any other crazy ideas that I come up with.

[JSett]

Love it, and the sideways thinking with the rocker edge. Very excited to see how it progresses. The centre mount for the arm will likely change the the way the vibrato works/sounds by bending strings to a different degree. As for springs, the originals in the Fender ones were re-appropriated engine valve springs. What size and specs, I don't know, but it'll be something from a 50s GMC or Ford I expect.

As for the name, the only one that comes to mind, as I was thinking of synonyms for 'minimalist', was a play on the word 'spartan' which would be The 'Spartone Vibrato' which you're free to have if you like it, or disregard as you see fit

[Ceylon]

How about "Ubiquibrato" for ubiquitous vibrato?

Could be stylized as Ubikvibrato.

[tequila_in_teacups]

Brilliant stuff. Incorporating the pivot into the top plate and eliminating those screws is genius.

Now do a Mustang vibrato that actually works

[ryandennis]

Working on some prototypes.

These look really interesting , do you happen to have a source for the rounded lock buttons or are these from an older avri unit?

[hulakatt]

Now do a Mustang vibrato that actually works

Whoa, now let's not get carried away here.