Imre de Jonge Guitars
Model
i
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(guitar pictured is #41) |
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phase reverse
piezo volume with
push-pull mid-range
boost
Note that there's no stripes in the body or head... that's the edge of the sapwood, which doesn't appear on the back.
Imre de Jonge Guitars
Model
i
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(guitar pictured is #41) |
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A guitar that does it all...The model i is a traditional shape, single cutaway with a 1-pce walnut neck through a black cherry body, satinwood fingerboard with rosewood edge binding and rosewood marker dots. The overall color scheme of the guitar is coffee & cream, with a very organic feel, furthered by a wooden bridge, pickup mounts, and nut. It
has 2 mini-size passsive Bartolini classic humbicking pickups as well
as GraphTech Ghost piezo loaded bridge saddle pickups which feed into
an on-board pre-amp for acoustic guitar sound. Because there are 6 individual
pickups, the guitar can interface to a MIDI interpreter as well, through
the (piggyback) circuit board and 13-pin MIDI jack with Traktion switch.
Here's some audio samples: Acoustic
pickups only Acoustic
& both mags on, full mode. |
Feel your wood... |
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| A bare, polished neck is the fastest and most comfortable, staying non-sticky and drier, expecially with a porous wood like walnut. |
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| The lacquer fades off at the heel & nape; there's nothing like the feel of bare wood brought to a jet-smooth polish! |
| The fully adjustable Strat-style 2-pce bridge is 7 mm thick satinwood, matching the fingerboard. |  |
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The slots allow the acoustic pickup wires ample space for intonation adjutments without the risk of pinching, and the string holes are shaped to prevent kinking. |
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Some guitar players have been dubious about this idea of a wooden bridge with composite saddles. "That wouldn't work for me... I need steel saddles to cut through onstage" I've been told. That got me worried... I'm not a live guitarist... what if he's right? But this guitar is blowing that theory out of the water... it cuts like a knife, and clear as a bell. |
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The pickup mounts are 7 mm cross-laminated cherry. |
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| Shop-made rosewood markers, ebony nut, and mother of pearl logo inlay. |  |
| The nut is held on by one screw for easy fretboard servicing. |
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Bartolini classic mini passive humbuckers; matched pair.
Graph Tech 'Ghost' piezo-acoustic saddles with the ACOUSTIPHONIC INTELLIGENT pre-amp. Proudly Canadian products made in Vancouver. graphtech.com
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Instead of idividual ferrules, the strings need a common metal retainer to be grounded, since the bridge and saddles are non-conductive. The 5mm aluminum anchor plate is overlaid by a 7mm thick satinwood block. |
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There
are many different ways this hardware could be wired, but this default
is a good start. There's still room for a few more components, if you
wanted to add MIDI volume, blending, or patch switching.
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The cross-laminated cherry battery holder closes flush with one thumb screw; no tools required.... you can just use a finger. |
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There's no wires to break off; when it's closed the connection is made. The screw stays with the holder via a tight rubber grommet. |
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Price: $3,600 Cdn. Without MIDI: $3,300
SPECIFICATIONS:
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Neck: 1-pce full length black walnut (no joints, except the head wings) |
Body: 2 pce black cherry |
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Neck width @ nut: 43.5 mm Thickness: 20 mm Bridge: 7mm thick satinwood Strat style (non temolo) String spread at bridge: 56 mm |
Scale length: 64.5 cm Saddles: GraphTech Ghost composite self-lubricating Strat style with internal piezo pickups |
| Fingerboard: satinwood with rosewood binding, pearl edge dots, rosewood face dots | String anchor: 5 mm grounded aluminum block with 7 mm satinwood overlay. |
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Tuning machines: Gotoh gold plated Strap studs: Schaller flush strap locks, black |
Battery holder: 12mm thick cross-laminated cherry. Wireless, connecting to contacts in the cavity and closing with a single flush thumb screw. |
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Cover plate: cherry laminated to sheet copper/aluminum Shielding: full; aluminum or copper sheet on mounting deck, foil adhesive tape on side walls. |
Jack: Switchcraft stereo jack with power on switch (piezo preamp auto-senses a stereo plug for splitting mag/piezo signals to different amps.) |
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Truss rod: full length of my own design and construction; adjusts at the body to keep the nape at the head as strong as possible. This design uses a flat 3/4" wide x 1/8" thick aluminum plate under the fingerboard to spread the pull widthwise, and is tensioned into a bend by a 3/16" steel rod underneath, anchored to it at the string nut and tightened with a Strat bullet nut in the heel. This dual-shaped channel is round on the bottom for a snug fit, and the entire assembly is silicone-filled to eliminate rattle or vibration.
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Electonic controls: 1 mag volume (next to bridge), 3-pos. mag pickup blade switch, 1 mini toggle single coil mode, 1 mini toggle phase flip, 1 piezo volume for acoustic pickups with push/pull mid boost, 1 3-pos. mini toggle for mag/piezo/both selection. All pots are linear taper; no tone control is provided.
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Pre-amp: Graph Tech Acoustiphonic "Intelligent," meaning it detects a stereo plug at the jack and splits the acoustic and mag signals for seperate processing. If a mono jack is plugged in, the signals are combined. It uses a 9-volt battery which lasts about 500 hours. |
MIDI: Graphtech Hexpander interface board, 13-pin MIDI jack. Optional add: MIDI volume control, MIDI -guitar- both switch, and MIDI patch up-down switch. (guitar is pre-routed for MIDI jack whether optioned or not) |
This particular guitar is currently available for sale. Please call/email to haggle about the price.
The
raw state: I cut and planed this wood in the late 1980's, then put it
away. The extra fretboard is for her sister.
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Time to slot the nut. |
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India ink on the first layer of lacquer. |
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The mounting deck is epoxied sheet aluminum, not foil, for reinforcement. Just starting the wiring... |
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...and done! |
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Time for strings! |
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The matching cherry cover is laminated to sheet copper. |
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Here's some audio samples: Acoustic
pickups only Acoustic
& both mags on, full mode.
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Imre de Jonge Guitars
Photography & website by Imre de Jonge
