CYCFI - GuitarBuilder's First Modern Hexaphonic Nexus Guitar

Started by GuitarBuilder, August 17, 2017, 07:11:59 PM

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GuitarBuilder

And here she is in her final glory: my first Nexus guitar!

Featuring a Gotoh Wilkinson tremolo bridge and Schaller strap locks. The tremolo cover is from AllParts and allows access to the 9V battery that is used to power the XR Active Volume and Resonant Filter controls.

This is a dual purpose guitar: the 1/4" output allows one to plug into any guitar amp and enjoy the SSS XR Flex pickups. Plug in the Nexus cable and breakout box to take advantage of the Nu Multi 6 - separate string and XR Flex audio in 7 channels along with Roland 13-pin compatibility (thanks to Synth-Linx's excellent product) with Synth Volume (wired as a Blend with Guitar Volume) and Guitar/Synth Mix CVs (permanently set to 1.04V for "mix"). Nirvana!


The finished product!


Another view in sun light.  The top layer is Walnut.


The back side.  One piece Swamp Ash.


Fitting the Nu Breakout Board.  This is the hub for all audio and CV signals.


Fitting the Lemo-compatible 19-pin connector.  Very compact, only slightly larger than a 1/4" jack.


The heart of the matter: the wired pickguard.  The bridge pickup is a combined hexaphonic low-impedance Nu Multi and a humbucking XR Flex Dual.


Notice the solderless connections.


A home-made tone shaping circuit was added to the middle XR pickup just for fun.


The middle pickup tone potentiometer is accessed through this hole in the pickguard.


Pick guard will all connections.  Note the flat conductor cables used for the hexaphonic pickup.


Test fitting the wired pick guard.  More flat cable connections used between the 19-pin connector and the Breakout Board.


The body undergoing Tru-Oil finishing.


Look at those Swamp Ash patterns!


The neck is Canary - very dense and smooth, needs no finish at all!


Schaller locking tuners.  Note the beautiful patterns in the Canary wood.


Fender LSR Roller Nut on Rosewood fingerboard.


Note how I cleverly matched up the grain on the Swamp Ash Body with the Canary neck.  Really?  Purely accidental!


All four woods in perfect harmony!


A closer view of the Wilkinson tremolo.  I put these in all my Strat builds, highly recommended!


Front panel of the Nexus breakout box.  The 19-pin input connection is on the left, the Synth-Linx 13-pin output is on the right, carrying the 6 string signals, XR output, synth volume, and mix CV.


The Nexus box is highly configurable and hackable.  All key signals are available on headers.


The back panel of Nexus has 1/4" TRS jacks that are configurable, as well as MIDI output.  Power is supplied to the guitar via the 19-pin cable.

  The
Block diagram of the Nexus box.  The mixer allows for routing of signals to stereo outputs.  The MIDI module can be programmed to any CV to MIDI command conversion.

How does it work?  In one word: fantastic!  The sound of the "normal" XR pickups is very clear and bright, with wide frequency response, making it easy to dial in any tone you want.  The Resonant Filter is insanely good - one can control both frequency and Q, very much like a synth.  Think Stratocaster single coil on steroids, but can dial in Tele and LP sounds as well.  The Nu Multi by itself also sounds fantastic, very close to the XR sound.  Not at all like the typical hex pickups from Roland, Fishman, or Antares; no, like a real pickup!  It could easily be used as both the main guitar pickup and the hexaphonic synth driver.

Huge thanks to Joel De Guzman and Mark Bellarmino from Cycfi Research for their assistance with this build.  Superb customer support!

I will build you one if interested - PM me for details.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

chrish


Elantric

#2
Quote from:  sec6
Guitarbuilder, that guitar is beautiful!  I want one!  How does the 13-pin functionality work?  I didn't see a 13-pin jack on the guitar.  Is that offloaded somewhere else.  Also did you use the new 13-pin Roland compatible kit from Cycfi?  And one more thing, how is the performance with 13-pin processors like the GP10, VG99?



Uses Lemo style 19 pin cable to mate with Cycfi Nexus box




http://www.cycfi.com/2015/11/nu-update-meet-the-nexus/



GuitarBulder uses this work table

Kreg KWS1000 Project Center
https://www.kregtool.com/store/c64/work-supports/p419/mobile-project-center/


https://www.kregtool.com/webres/Files/Mobile%20Project%20Center%20Manual.pdf
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kreg-Mobile-Project-Center-Adjustable-Base/1000158637

vanceg


gumbo

Quote from:  sec6
Guitarbuilder, that guitar is beautiful!  I want one!  How does the 13-pin functionality work?  I didn't see a 13-pin jack on the guitar.  Is that offloaded somewhere else.  Also did you use the new 13-pin Roland compatible kit from Cycfi?  And one more thing, how is the performance with 13-pin processors like the GP10, VG99?

As Elantric said, things go 19-pin from the guitar to the Nexus Box..
GuitarBuilder hacked a Synth-Linx "Extended" Jack for this first one and fitted that to the Nexus front panel...the purpose-built Synth-Linx Jack for this application will be available soon, with appropriate wiring layout and connectors.

HTH
Peter
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

GuitarBuilder

Quote from:  sec6
Guitarbuilder, that guitar is beautiful!  I want one!  How does the 13-pin functionality work?  I didn't see a 13-pin jack on the guitar.  Is that offloaded somewhere else.  Also did you use the new 13-pin Roland compatible kit from Cycfi?  And one more thing, how is the performance with 13-pin processors like the GP10, VG99?

Thank you, sec6!  As Elantric and Gumbo pointed out, I get full 13-pin functionality by connecting to the jack on Nexus.  One has two options with the Cycfi Research gear: a) use the 13-pin Roland compatible kit, which essentially creates a GK-compatible guitar, or b) use the Nexus and add a 13-pin jack (Gumbo's of course!).  I choose the latter approach because I primarily want this to be a versatile hexaphonic guitar with ability to hack my own circuitry in the breakout box and have custom CV control on the guitar (more to come on that from ChlorineMist and me!).

I'm following in ChlorineMist's footsteps to the land of hex analog and digital processing!
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

GuitarBuilder

"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

GuitarBuilder

"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: Elantric on August 17, 2017, 09:14:16 PM
GuitarBulder uses this work table

Kreg KWS1000 Project Center
https://www.kregtool.com/store/c64/work-supports/p419/mobile-project-center/


https://www.kregtool.com/webres/Files/Mobile%20Project%20Center%20Manual.pdf
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kreg-Mobile-Project-Center-Adjustable-Base/1000158637

Great work, Elantric!  You spotted my latest shop acquisition.  Very handy little work bench - I particularly like the ability to fold it up and put it away.  The cool accessories are the Kreg Automaxx clamps that come in lots of sizes.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

whippinpost91850

Very nice job. one very nice looking guitar

GuitarBuilder

"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

GuitarBuilder

Here's one more detail:

The XR Flex pickups are normally wired into Cycfi Research' Active Volume Control.  I wanted to retain the ability to control Roland synths with a Synth Volume control and three-way Guitar/Mix/Synth switch, like on any GK guitar.  This would necessitate adding two more controls to an already crowned pickguard, so I decided to go with a single Guitar/Synth Blend control and a permanent Mix CV signal as was posted on this Forum a while back.

Mark Bellarmino fabricated a custom Blend control with Active Volume circuitry as well as Synth volume, all with solderless connections, from an EMG dual blend pot I sent him.

The final product:


Here is the schematic:



"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

Vade

That is gorgeous Guitar Builder so very well done sir. I wasn't familiar with some of the Cycfi components but they're easy enough to look up and so I'm at least beginning to get a sense of the benefits of this beast. Keep us posted and give a lil sound sample when you get it all dialed in. Thanks for sharing!
Drachen; Fender FTP Strat w/internal GK-3, Godin xtSA w/FTP, Boss GP-10, VoiceLive 3, Scarlett 18i8, ZBox IQ01, On-Lap 1502i, D:fine 4088, 4E Dual Axis Exp Pedal, VoiceSolo FX-150, Yamaha DXR 10, Gem. M2 Flute, Special 20 Harmonicas. Fender Deluxe Reverb Mahogany Cane.

https://soundcloud.com/vadie

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: Vade on August 18, 2017, 06:44:04 PM
That is gorgeous Guitar Builder so very well done sir. I wasn't familiar with some of the Cycfi components but they're easy enough to look up and so I'm at least beginning to get a sense of the benefits of this beast. Keep us posted and give a lil sound sample when you get it all dialed in. Thanks for sharing!

Check out some of ChlorineMist's recordings!  They are a glimpse into the world of hex signal processing possible with these new Cycfi pickups.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

Vade

Drachen; Fender FTP Strat w/internal GK-3, Godin xtSA w/FTP, Boss GP-10, VoiceLive 3, Scarlett 18i8, ZBox IQ01, On-Lap 1502i, D:fine 4088, 4E Dual Axis Exp Pedal, VoiceSolo FX-150, Yamaha DXR 10, Gem. M2 Flute, Special 20 Harmonicas. Fender Deluxe Reverb Mahogany Cane.

https://soundcloud.com/vadie

cags12

Quote from: GuitarBuilder on August 18, 2017, 05:00:47 PM
Here's one more detail:

The XR Flex pickups are normally wired into Cycfi Research' Active Volume Control.  I wanted to retain the ability to control Roland synths with a Synth Volume control and three-way Guitar/Mix/Synth switch, like on any GK guitar.  This would necessitate adding two more controls to an already crowned pickguard, so I decided to go with a single Guitar/Synth Blend control and a permanent Mix CV signal as was posted on this Forum a while back.

Mark Bellarmino fabricated a custom Blend control with Active Volume circuitry as well as Synth volume, all with solderless connections, from an EMG dual blend pot I sent him.

The final product:


Here is the schematic:



Hey Peter, would you have one spare of these pots that you would be able to sell me?
Cheers

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: cags12 on February 21, 2018, 11:02:57 AM
Hey Peter, would you have one spare of these pots that you would be able to sell me?
Cheers

Sorry about the late response, Christian!  No, I don't have any extra custom blend controls; however, I can share the schematics and photos with you if you want.  All you need to do is track down the EMG dual blend pot.  PM me if interested.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

jim-analog



Greetings,

Beautiful job GuitarBuilder!!!!! Did you at all consider adding more control voltage signals from the gtr? I know you mentioned it getting crowded, but seems like having an extra pot, switch or so could add a lot more potential for future expansion.

I'm in the planing stages of a hex gtr build and am very interested in the Cyfi stuff as opposed to Roland or whatever else. I would like to maintain a completely direct path for whatever standard magnetic pickups I decide on, and more control available over the "synth" end from the guitar. After I think some more about this, I'll start a thread as not to hijack you any more.

One final question though.............in regard to the electronics portion, is there anything you'd do differently if you were going to start over?

Regards, Jim

GuitarBuilder

Quote from: jim-analog on March 08, 2019, 01:18:28 PM

Greetings,

Beautiful job GuitarBuilder!!!!! Did you at all consider adding more control voltage signals from the gtr? I know you mentioned it getting crowded, but seems like having an extra pot, switch or so could add a lot more potential for future expansion.

I'm in the planing stages of a hex gtr build and am very interested in the Cyfi stuff as opposed to Roland or whatever else. I would like to maintain a completely direct path for whatever standard magnetic pickups I decide on, and more control available over the "synth" end from the guitar. After I think some more about this, I'll start a thread as not to hijack you any more.

One final question though.............in regard to the electronics portion, is there anything you'd do differently if you were going to start over?

Regards, Jim

I did consider adding more CVs, but I was limited by the first generation Internal Breakout Board and the already crowded electronics cavity.  I also wanted to take advantage of the XR pickups and active electronics, giving the guitar a dual purpose (functional with or without the hex pickup).  Now Cycfi has the Nu v2 with improved Internal Breakout Board as well as the Nexus v2.  My next build will have multiple Nu pickups and will have only CV controls.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973