Build thread: Halcyon OM in walnut/lutz

[D to the W]

Originally Posted by Halcyon/Tinker

And here lies the Achilles heel I feel. I want plug and play for the widest variety of people with minimum fussing. I know I sure ain't modifying cables and plugs and such and such...

Do they have a system where the summing is done on an on board pre with little thumb wheels to dial between bass and treble PU? That would be a lot more practical for most people I think...

According to http://www.lnrmusic.com/putwpreamps.html, they did at some point offer a "Stealth" preamp system that did exactly that, but it isn't listed on their website at the moment. The company is in something of a state of flux, unfortunately, so I don't know if it's available, but it would probably be worth it for someone who was interested to ask Ani and David about it. They weren't making the Stereo Line Driver either when I asked about it, and they built one for me as part of a limited run. If I were to do this again and I didn't have to worry about a preamp for #50 too, I would definitely try to buy a Stealth.

One could also use the Schatten Artist II preamp (http://schattendesign.com/artist_preamp.htm) instead. I'm sure Ani could make the pickups with the appropriate connectors, based on how willing they were to customize the pickup for us.

That reminds me of a question I had for you, good luthier sir: how much did the PUTW pickup change the voicing of the top compared to a K&K or JJB? And how much do soundhole-mounted controls change it usually?

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Less than the Schattens, way less than the JJB/K&K. I'd say most of the weight was in the foamy tape used to hold it on. Retrospectively, I wish I had installed it before closing the box. In future I would probably use CA to hold the wires in place, thought that does make things rather permanent...

I know an electronics engineer who likes to build his own preamps and compressors and such. I could prolly get him to build exactly what I'm after...

[D to the W]

I sent Ani an e-mail asking some questions about the preamp, and asked about the existence of such a system. She said I should talk to David directly (he builds the preamps). They were a pain to build, apparently, so they aren't listed.

[Halcyon/Tinker]

I can imagine...