NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Discussions of the NiteFly NFV1-8, NFV-M, and NFV-SA models
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vjmanzo
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NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by vjmanzo »

So...this is Sprocket, one of our beater lab guitars. :D I picked this up from Reverb or eBay or somewhere years ago—I guess the/a previous owner stripped down an NFVM1 and started to saw off the upper horn, and then, presumably, abandoned that approach in favor of sanding the horn into a rounded edge and, of course, sanded everything else. Yikes! :shock:

This is still a work in progress, but my students and I have been using Sprocket as a "guitar breadboard" of sorts for some electronics projects we're developing, but, now, I think we're committing to a dedicated set of electronics, so...
IMG_7459.jpg
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Sprocket currently has one Lace Alumitone pickup in the bridge position—we recently lasercut this acrylic pickguard, so I'll post that model in our model repository soon in case people would like to make their own pickguards (the acrylic we used was a little thin and it crack, but look how cool it is because it's clear!)! :lol:

Our electronics in the cavity is part of project we've been cooking up for a while, which will allow Sprocket to send MIDI over Bluetooth from four momentary buttons, one potentiometer, and one rotary encoder. The toggle shown is an on/off switch for the power to the microcontroller, and the port on the front is a surface-mounted charging port to the microcontroller, which also charges the battery (that silver rectangle inside the cavity).

On my Mac, these electronics show up as a MIDI-Over-Bluetooth device, so it can easily be used to control parameters inside of a DAW; we've also built a hardware "listener" that can receive the Bluetooth data and send it out to other non-computer hardware devices like pedals and a Fractal, but I've been using it to control the effects and other settings in my Ableton Live rig. A few years ago, we began adapting Les Paul's "Les Paulverizer" concept into an actual device, which led us to where we are now with the device inside of Sprocket.

We've got some PCB issues at the moment, but I'm hoping to make a video demo sometime in the coming weeks/months/years :D
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Patzag
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by Patzag »

Extraordinary! What a great system.
I thought the pickup could slide in various positions on a rail!
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by vjmanzo »

Thanks, Pat!
Patzag wrote: Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:29 pm I thought the pickup could slide in various positions on a rail!
Ahhh--that thing in the back there is a Tremol-no I put in to make it simpler to take the guitar apart, but maybe we need to make that! It could be automated to slide between the neck and bridge position like a Leslie cabinet!
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mmmguitar
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by mmmguitar »

I’m always happy to see a new way of using Skittles.
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by vjmanzo »

mmmguitar wrote: Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:54 pm I’m always happy to see a new way of using Skittles.
:lol: Taste the rainbow! 🤣
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jb63
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by jb63 »

This kind of thing is my bag, baby!
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Ondoid
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by Ondoid »

What did you use to block the trem? I’m looking to get rid of the spring and do the same just because I worry it’ll break one day
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by vjmanzo »

Ondoid wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:52 pm What did you use to block the trem?
vjmanzo wrote: Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:45 pm that thing in the back there is a Tremol-no
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Ondoid
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by Ondoid »

Oh I’m an idiot. It’s a real thing. Never saw one before. I thought it was just a clever name he came up with for blocking it off. Haha my bad.
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by vjmanzo »

Haha no worries 😌

IMO half the fun of ordering a Tremol-No is saying “Tremol-No” 🙂
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mmmguitar
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by mmmguitar »

Ondoid wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:52 pm What did you use to block the trem? I’m looking to get rid of the spring and do the same just because I worry it’ll break one day
Just to be clear: Are you referring to a Fly or NiteFly? Because a tremol-no is for strat-style spring claws (NiteFly, P series); and won’t replace a Fly flat spring.
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
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Patzag
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by Patzag »

Ondoid wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:52 pm What did you use to block the trem? I’m looking to get rid of the spring and do the same just because I worry it’ll break one day
On the mojo, all you need is a block of light wood cut to size. Place it in place of the spring and tighten the wheel. Your Mojo is now a hard tail. (Remove the whammy bar to avoid temptation!)
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by G-string »

To block the trem on my Mojo Fly I used a piece of mahogany floor parquet. Just sanded it a bit and shortened it. It's a perfect fit. Let me know if you guys need a box load of this.
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Re: NiteFly Restoration w/MIDI Over Bluetooth Controls

Post by jb63 »

Any excuse to look at sprocket some more!
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