I saw this 35mm bulk film can for sale on eBay a few weeks ago and had the thought that the gold color might be a nice color contrast with Flatpup humbucker that I wanted to try with my next canjo build. So, I went online and bought the gold can (the buy now option), and the hand-wound copper wire humbucker made and sold online by Elmar Zeilhofer in Vienna, Austria.
The film can arrived here first and, since I already had stained and polished the dark red, mohogony-like sapele wood neck from C. B. Gitty, I began assembling my next Kodakaster 3-string electric slide canjo, my fourth attempt since I began building them 6 months ago.
The humbucker arrived here in Asheville from Austria a few days ago and the first thing I did was glue it into place on the top of the film can under where the strings would be strung above it. The glue took about 72 hours to cure and since we have been having thunder showers almost without stop for about three weeks, I figured I'd better give the glue a few extra days to harden because of the unusually high humidity we are experiencing in the Blue Ridge Mountains this summer.
This morning, I wired the pup to the electronics, installed the strings, plugged it in and fired up my newest Kodakaster through my little Fender Rumble 15 bass practice amp. It really sounds great with a more full-frequency spectrum from the humbucker than from the other piezo pickups that I used for two of my first three Kodakasters. It amplifies the slide chords without any hum or feedback and has a very clean, bluesy tone.
And, I think my Kodakaster 4 looks pretty cool, too.
Live and learn, eh? Onward!
I am going to have to pass this on to the banjo playing Celtic music folks I jam with sundays at 3pm at jack of the woods---looking forward to hearing it--it looks great! Love the bolt string rest!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. I was thinking about getting a gold colored bolt to replace the silver one. What do you think?
DeleteLove the GOLD..... must be the Master's touch
ReplyDeleteEd in ATL
Thanks for the comment, Ed, and thanks for the compliment, too. But, I believe I have a way to go before I can call myself a master of anything except maybe the fork and the knife ;)
DeleteAdd an ND6, and it probably will play a little "dark"... Depending on whether or not you add emulsion to the sound chamber, I would say
ReplyDeletethat would be a dampening agent to your sound. If you use 5295, I'm sure you can play just about anything, without effort, day or night... but, especially at night time. Sound from these instruments is an amazing thing really. Actually, sound is not given enough credit, except when played on a KodaKaster™ 2000, with the amazing Bill Raddatz at the helm.
Sound Master, Dan Mortimore, Spokane, WA
Well Mr. Anonymous, if that is your real name, Dan, thanks for your comment. Very funny. I still have an old changing bag that I am considering using as a gig bag since I no longer need a portable darkroom, or any darkroom for that matter. Actually, calling yourself Sound Master is not quite enough, for you are The Sound Sensei and Ninja of Audio.
DeleteI love that that it looks like an equality sign in the middle when this piece clearly has no peers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Justin. You know, I got so carried away with the way the pickup sounds, I had not noticed that it is an equal sign. Thanks for adding value and meaning to the newest canjo.
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