Gibson Ultratone Build

[Mark Frederick Jr]

I am happy to say this worked perfectly! I made two passes, one for shape and another for the contour.

IMG_0622 Large.jpeg

Used the template to guide the bit, and the countersunk the holes.

IMG_0623 Large.jpeg

And finally made the 3/8" hole with a forstner bit, using the 1/16" hole I made with the template as a guide.

IMG_0624 Large.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Attached the jack to the plate, and the plate to the instrument.

IMG_0625 Large.jpeg

Now it is starting to look like something!

IMG_0626 Large.jpeg

It is really cold and rainy again, so I haven't been able to spray. Hopefully this coming week. My gold flower decals are on their way for the bridge cover. The brass plate I am going to use for the bottom of my pickup should be here tomorrow, and I have to fabricate a few pickup parts before I can put the pickup together.

It looks like there is a small roundover on the body from the pictures, my smallest roundover bit is 3/16", so that's what I will go with. What else? Tuners, inserting posts for the covers, pickup cavity, oh, and I need to make a bridge! Yes, the bridge, I have decisions to make there.. Then I can really start thinking about paint. I would really like to use my spray setup, and mix the color myself using crystalac. Have to see how the weather is shaping up in the next few weeks.

We are getting close to making notes!

[Mark Frederick Jr]

My brass sheet stock came today, so I can finally get the pickup going for real. I don't have a milling machine, so I am using a drill press. My metal work is still developing, so I am going for functional. That's what covers are for!

I used some dremel cut-off wheels and sliced a piece of brass. Quick work. I attached it to the flatwork template and made some holes. It worked pretty well, but there was a bit of wandering. The plastic only has so many uses before heat and the drill wear it out. But it worked fine.

IMG_0627 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0628 Medium.jpeg

Finished the plate off with some hand files, brass is nice and easy to work with.

IMG_0629 Medium.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

The next part was a pain! I need to make a spacer bar. The first pic shows a regular p90 spacer from a kit. I need to make one with the lap steel spacing, just like the bottom plate. The pole pieces go through the holes in the spacer, and the magnets are on either side of the spacer, acting as a focal point of magnetic transference. I figured I would work it the same as the brass, with some 1/8" x 1/2" stock. It did not go as planned...

IMG_0630 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0631 Medium.jpeg

The heat buildup in the thicker steel, the stronger material, and the smaller material, all combined to make a useless piece. OR, to put a positive spin on things, I maximized a learning opportunity!

My template is used up, it will serve as a spacer now for the bobbin.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Alright, take 2. This time I set up a fence from some angle iron, to minimize wandering. I drilled a single hole, and used an index pin and the brass plate to space each hole. It worked fine. It isn't perfect, but the pole screw holes all line up well, and the other holes are for the attachment screws from the top and bottom. They are all thinner screws so there is wiggle room there, unlike the pole pieces.

IMG_0633 Medium.jpeg

So that should be that, here are all the pickup parts. I made the bobbins, bottom plate, cover, and both a wooden and metal spacer bar. The cover is kind of up in the air. Looking at pics of the blue model I am working off of, it looks like that model year didn't use a cover, I just see the flatwork of the exposed pickup. Later years feature a shorter bridge and pickup cover, and that pickup is covered (which makes sense, as it is now exposed). So, I don't know if I will have a cover on this one. Probably though, since I have it made already.

IMG_0634 Medium.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Alright, now I made a pickup winder last year to test some unique designs that I was convinced would revolutionize the world of electric instrumentation. Before the revolution could start, I learned that my high school physics left me long ago, and I needed to learn about basic magnetism again. So I made some interesting but very normal pickups for a bass guitar project in which the pickups are hidden in the body. I'll finish the final instrument someday. I have only wound a few pickup though, so this is an area which needs much more experience for my part.

First break:

IMG_0635 Medium.jpeg

Second break:

IMG_0636 Medium.jpeg

Third time's a charm? Kind of. Broke at wind count number 8,035. It was getting pretty darn close to the edge so I would have had to stop soon anyway, I don't think I would have made it to 10,000. Which is what I was thinking before, since regular p90s go right to the edge. These have the same footprint, but the spacing is wider, which leaves less room for winding. So I am curious is thinner wire was used, less wire was wound as in my case, or perhaps the coil was just a bit taller to account for the wider spacing. I don't know, but I do know this will make noise.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

So here she is, I have to solder the shielded wire still, but this is the pickup. The windings ended up deforming one side of the bobbin, so it is the tiniest bit lopsided. I think the cover will look great on this one!

IMG_0638 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0639 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0640 Medium.jpeg

The impedance is still within normal p90 range, albeit the lower end. I think this will do the job, and I am looking forward to building a few more of these to practice.

And now I REALLY need to clean up, I have made it impossible to do anything else. See you tomorrow!

IMG_0641 Medium.jpeg

[Jack Hanson]

I'm guessing that your new pickup will sound like a million bucks, Mark.

I have rescued and rebuilt a handful of late prewar and postwar Gibson lap steels, and equipped many of them with new P-90s from Jerry & Christine Sentell in Sacramento. In my opinion, the pickups with the lowest resistance sound the best.

I like to play through smallish, low-powered tube amps with the volume knob nearly dimed, and without any effects, however, so those who play through high-wattage amps with heavy reverb and a plethora of stomp boxes may have a completely different opinion.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

So far I am not pleased with the rattle can plastic sprays, they start out promising, but it is very hard to work with to refine. I suppose that is probably to be expected, it does a good basic job and is made for the mass consumer market. I am getting pretty close to mixing my own colors and using crystalac. I think it is either that or live with orange peel texture. The weather is almost right to start spraying, so I'll make a decision on that this week.

So I have been thinking of the bridge, and I may just go with a simple angle iron bridge, but I feel like I could make a stop-tailpiece bridge myself. Or perhaps I could make a cad model and have someone cnc machine it for me, I have a local friend who may be able to do that for me. I'll start with a 3d model and print:

Screenshot 2025-04-15 at 9.51.45 PM.png

IMG_0646 Medium.jpeg

Fits the studs well, I think this is possible. The originals were aluminum I believe, this has potential!

IMG_0647 Medium.jpeg

[Jack Hanson]

Fits the studs well, I think this is possible. The originals were aluminum I believe, this has potential!

The stud-mounted, wraparound, stop tailpiece is similar to the classic stoptail first used on the Les Paul solid bodies, but without the radius. It's top is flat, end to end, where the Les Paul unit is radiused to match the guitar's fingerboard.

I have Gibson Century Deluxes equipped with both the conventional Gibson top-mounted, screwed-down bridge, and the stud-mounted, wraparound stop tailpiece. It's my opinion that the stoptail units sound marginally better. I believe the originals were chrome (or nickel) plated brass. In any event, they're heavier than aluminum, and are non-ferric.

The factory equipped both the blue Century Deluxes and the salmon Centuries with both bridge types. I also have a pink?/salmon? (Gibson called the color "bittersweet") Century with a wraparound stoptail. I've had Dave Peterson in Arizona make an aluminum copy. The aluminum sounds fine to me.

[Jack Hanson]

It's interesting that the factory mounted the pickup in different positions depending on the bridge:

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Fits the studs well, I think this is possible. The originals were aluminum I believe, this has potential!

The stud-mounted, wraparound, stop tailpiece is similar to the classic stoptail first used on the Les Paul solid bodies, but without the radius. It's top is flat, end to end, where the Les Paul unit is radiused to match the guitar's fingerboard.

Jack, you are a treasure trove of valuable information, thank you!

I priced out what it would cost to get my bridge machined, and it would be around $130-$200 depending on turnaround time and materials. That isn't necessarily out of the question, considering buying a new bridge could be around the same. However, my CAD skills are still rudimentary. In fact, this project is the first time I am doing anything more than making flat objects to print. That's what is so fun, though, every step is a new challenge.

The bridge I printed would do the job, but aesthetically it isn't perfect. There are compound curves all over the piece that I don't quite know how to make yet, although I got pretty darn close a few times. I know I will get there eventually, I just figured out how to get the diagonal holes through the piece for the strings. I don't know how to make a section bigger for the ball ends yet though. All sorts of new challenges await.

So, I happen to have a chunk of 1/2" thick aluminum stock lying around. I am going to try and see about making a stop tailpiece from that. Maybe it will work, if not I will go for a simpler design.

I received some decals in the mail today, they look nice! If anyone wants one for their project let me know. I don't think I will be building 6, but I had to fill the whole sheet for the order.

IMG_0648 Medium.jpeg

[Greg Forsyth]

Once again to the rescue! Excellent breakdown, thank you!

For those interested in Gibson lap steels, the Duchsossoir book is a treasure trove of information. The photos alone are worth the price of admission. It's jam-packed with fascinating information throughout. Highly recommended.

I have it on my wish list, my wife just had knee surgery a few weeks back and won't be back to work for a bit. We prepared financially and there are no problems, but I don't want to tempt fate. It always seems like a car dies or a roof needs replacing at moments like this..

Hi Mark,

Concerning your Wife's knee surgery I'm wishing her the best in recovery!

Thanks so much for documenting your build. The process for building your P90 pickup is quite informational.
Your 7.5K ohms is the same as the Tennessee Honey P90 Sentell pickup that Jack Hanson refers to.

Sorry but I'm living your dream. I've envision the 3'd parts being painted with a blue hammered finish paint.
Several years ago a brother built a custom bike and had the frame powder coated with a hammered blue finish. It looked fantastic. Anyway I browsed Crystolac's website and they don't sell that product but they do have an extensive lutherie's supplies.

[Jack Hanson]

Mark, I sent you an email.

[Jack Hanson]

Thanks so much for documenting your build. The process for building your P90 pickup is quite informational.
Your 7.5K ohms is the same as the Tennessee Honey P90 Sentell pickup that Jack Hanson refers to.

For what it's worth, the P-90s in both the 1954 blue Century and the rather haggard-looking 1956 blue Century Deluxe pictured in the photo in my post above were built by Jerry Sentell. In fact, the pickup in the Century Deluxe is a custom-built P-90 that I commissioned from Jerry probably about 15 years ago (give or take a year or two) that became the prototype for the Sentell Tennessee Honey pickup. I was crazy about that pickup, and have since purchased several more.

The combo platter of the Sentell pickup, its placement closer to the bridge than on the standard Centuries and Ultratones, and the custom wraparound, stoptail bridge fabricated by Dave Peterson of Prescott Valley, AZ, makes that beat-up Century Deluxe among the best-sounding lap steels in my collection. It only takes a back seat to my Bakelite B-6 (among the best-sounding lap steels ever built, in my opinion).

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Thanks so much for documenting your build. The process for building your P90 pickup is quite informational.
Your 7.5K ohms is the same as the Tennessee Honey P90 Sentell pickup that Jack Hanson refers to.

For what it's worth, the P-90s in both the 1954 blue Century and the rather haggard-looking 1956 blue Century Deluxe pictured in the photo in my post above were built by Jerry Sentell. In fact, the pickup in the Century Deluxe is a custom-built P-90 that I commissioned from Jerry probably about 15 years ago (give or take a year or two) that became the prototype for the Sentell Tennessee Honey pickup. I was crazy about that pickup, and have since purchased several more.

The combo platter of the Sentell pickup, its placement closer to the bridge than on the standard Centuries and Ultratones, and the custom wraparound, stoptail bridge fabricated by Dave Peterson of Prescott Valley, AZ, makes that beat-up Century Deluxe among the best-sounding lap steels in my collection. It only takes a back seat to my Bakelite B-6 (among the best-sounding lap steels ever built, in my opinion).

Excellent info and resources as always, thank you for the leads on this bridge and pickups! I received your email as well, thank you! We took a day trip yesterday, was a nice family mini-vacation.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

[/quote]

Hi Mark,

Concerning your Wife's knee surgery I'm wishing her the best in recovery!

Thanks so much for documenting your build. The process for building your P90 pickup is quite informational.
Your 7.5K ohms is the same as the Tennessee Honey P90 Sentell pickup that Jack Hanson refers to.

Sorry but I'm living your dream. I've envision the 3'd parts being painted with a blue hammered finish paint.
Several years ago a brother built a custom bike and had the frame powder coated with a hammered blue finish. It looked fantastic. Anyway I browsed Crystolac's website and they don't sell that product but they do have an extensive lutherie's supplies.
[/quote]

Thanks for the kind words and well wishes! My wife is recovering quickly, she got up on her horse again for the first time in a long while, so she is pretty happy now. She also went back to work last week, not as happy about that!

Thanks for the pickup info regarding the resistance, it makes me really excited to plug this in soon.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

The weather finally feels like Spring in upstate NY, low 60s today. We did our Spring cleaning this week, I have to clear all the firewood scraps from the yard in the next few weeks so I can start splitting for next winter. I was much more into the whole wood heat thing a decade ago, some of you can probably sympathize. I don't hate it, parts of it I love, but preparing 8-10 cords every year takes a lot of time.

Anyway, that is a needless sidebar, sorry. I took some time to work on the covers in the nice weather between cleanup. I have had a few projects turn out really nice, and I learned using my spray setup with crystalac. I feel like I have that product and it's application down to an acceptable level. I am not happy with the spray can finish, although the colors are fine and the paint goes on very easily. I figured I would use the Rustoleum 2X plastic paint since I don't paint much plastic, and this is made for plastic. The product does well for what it is made for, don't get me wrong, the folks who formulated this did a good job for the mass consumer market. It isn't made for what I am trying to use it for.

So, I am pretty sure I will do this over with my spray setup, but I have the paint and am going to see what happens with this.

I went into Fusion and separated out the cover line templates and printed them out:

Screenshot 2025-04-18 at 2.42.39 PM.png

Then I proceeded to tape off the wrong side of the the headstock cover:

IMG_0650 Medium.jpeg

Then I taped everything right:

IMG_0651 Medium.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

I applied a few coats, color looks nice, but it is not a smooth finish. I can take it from the right angles to minimize it though. I did ok with the taping, I will do much better next time. This is kind of new for me. Looks like the flower decals will fit perfectly!

IMG_0652 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0653 Medium.jpeg

IMG_0654 Medium.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

After doing a bit of research, it looks like I will be able to apply some shellac as a barrier coat, and then I can spray some crystalac over that. It self levels, and should help with the orange peel, and I know it works well with decals. Plus it shines up real nice! So this may work out as is.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Continuing my experiments with the fretboard, I found some close up pics of an older model Ultratone that confirms what Jack was saying (not that I had any doubts!). It looks like the frets were cut right into the board and the dots were drilled in. Here is the close up:

Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 3.48.53 PM Medium.jpeg

I then took out an old jazzmaster pickup template so I could drill deeper than the 1/8" extras I have, and I tried out every 1/4" tool I could fit in my drill chuck:

IMG_0655 Medium.jpeg

I just painted the inside with some of my kids' acrylic hobby paint, but I was surprised how decent some of them look! I think the dots will be ok. From left to right:

1. Round nose router bit, max rpm (this came out the cleanest by far)
2. Brad point drill bit
3 & 4. Standard router bit, max speed
5. Forstner bit
6. Regular everyday drill bit

To me, it looks like the brad point bit is closest to the pic. The paint isn't great, and I didn't try to scrape any off that got outside the holes. I think any one would be acceptable. The round nose bit was very clean and clear, and I could make smaller diameter dots by limiting depth. However, it does look the least authentic. The red dots are different, they don't have the little bump in the middle.

None of this is to say the later model I am attempting to reproduce was manufactured the same way, a close up pic doesn't show that same depth in the dots and lines when comparing the two. I have access to a large color printer that can print shiny sheets, I may make a test fretboard to put under the acrylic and see if that looks right. I can definitely tell the upper edges are rounded, which I have never tried with acrylic.

Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 6.51.46 PM Medium.jpeg

Lots to think about there, but I think if the drain is the answer, we are now circling it!

[Mark Frederick Jr]

In researching close-up fretboard pics, I came across this one of the bridge cover:

Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 6.56.43 PM Large.jpeg

I couldn't tell from earlier pics I have been working off of, so I assumed the flowers were a decal. However, upon inspection of this close-up higher quality image (the original is anyway, I had to reduce the quality for the thread), it looks like the flowers are a raised part of the actual cover itself. What do you think Jack?

That's ok though, all part of the discovery either way. I will have to go into my CAD program and make some raised flowers on the cover model, and reprint. This will be interesting, and may make things a bit difficult to print, but I am pretty confident I can make it work.

[Mark Frederick Jr]

I have managed to stay up too late trying this, but it is so hard to stop a project when you are on a roll. I created the flower pattern on top of my bridge cover 3d model, which wasn't too bad, just a bit tedious. Tedious has negative connotation though, perhaps not the right word. I was intensely occupied on a minute series of repetitive tasks that held my attention for the duration.

Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 10.36.33 PM Medium.jpeg

So I moved it to the 3d print software, flipped it up, and in 8 hours we shall see if this was worth it! I hear the printer firing up right now!

Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 10.48.19 PM Medium.jpeg

[Mark Frederick Jr]

Alright, the printer will create supports for anything that hangs out more than 44 degrees, so this may not be the best orientation to save plastic.

IMG_0659 Medium.jpeg

However, it mostly came out really well! My printer has been producing some raised bubbles, I have to tweak something, but they sand out. The flowers look awesome though.

IMG_0660 Medium.jpeg

I am going to reprint one more in a different orientation to see if it comes out any better, maybe saves more plastic on the supports.

Screenshot 2025-04-21 at 3.31.32 PM Medium.jpeg

[Jack Hanson]

In researching close-up fretboard pics, I came across this one of the bridge cover:Screenshot 2025-04-20 at 6.56.43 PM Large.jpeg

I couldn't tell from earlier pics I have been working off of, so I assumed the flowers were a decal. However, upon inspection of this close-up higher quality image (the original is anyway, I had to reduce the quality for the thread), it looks like the flowers are a raised part of the actual cover itself. What do you think Jack?

I have several of those blue & gray fingerrests, but since I find them obtrusive and they interfere with my picking hand, I always pull 'em off. Consequently, they're in storage (along with a few others from various Ultratones, Royaltones, BR-9s, etc.). I've got to swing by my storage unit one of these days to get a fingerrest from a Royaltone that I intend to peddle, so I'll grab the entire box of 'em and take a closer look. I don't believe any of mine are decals, however. I had been under the impression that the flower pattern was silkscreened. Or perhaps an electrocal? (which may not have been invented yet, or viable in the early '50s). I had always thought that the embossed floral pattern was more gold-colored than silver, but my color recognition is far from flawless. Here's a photo of one of mine: