Perchance to Dream Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Mar 1 2012, 03:40 PM)No. Don't want to route this beautiful top. Though I have considered putting a piezo bridge on which does little cosmetically. I think you have to drill a small hole in the bridge pickup mounting ring for the wire from the bridge. Yeah, I agree with your decision. Routing that out would be almost criminal. My bracket and tuners arrived today. The tuners are are engraved/stamped (whatever it's called) "Gibson Deluxe." Not a match for my Standard, but they are very nice. My guitar goes to the shop tomorrow. I'll have the extra holes filled; the tuners installed; the knob on the switch installed and have the guitar cleaned up lickity split. Time to go shopping for some pickups! After those are installed, that will be about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micgtr71 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Feb 29 2012, 06:23 PM) http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/422982_3002734704995_1161155271_32511616_550154115_n.jpg Here she is with the new '59 Model Seymour Duncan pickups. Definitely more mellow than the Burstbuckers. Maybe too much, but they do sound good. Very nice gtr...I put SD 59s in my Les Paul and I love them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Thanks! My buddy was playing it the other day through his Boogie and said they were "creamy" and he liked them. They are very close to what I going for. Seymour makes a Phat Cat that is essentially a P-90 under a humbucker sized chrome cover that I may try in the neck position. It's really the neck position pickup I am having the most issues with. The Burstbucker is fairly bright and sounds fine when clean, but when distorted it has too much of something and too little of something else. The 59 seems a little dark for my taste there. Again, it's good when clean, very round, but distorted it's a bit too mellow for me. I gotta say when playing clean through my Fender Deluxe it has that vintage Gibson sound, more so than the Burstbuckers which sound overtly bright to me as well as hyped as far as output. It is much harder to get a clean "clean tone" from the Burstbuckers because the output is so hot it drives the amp at the input stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Ok, I was at the new Guitar Center today and they had a couple '57 Classics with exposed "Zebra" coils. So I got them. These are both '57 Classics without a Classic+ for the bridge, which is the new "Standard" coupling on the newer Gibsons (though they sometimes put a 57 in the neck and a BurstBucker in the bridge for some models). The original PAFs were not specified for bridge or neck so this is more like 50's style. However, I got these with 4 conductors so I can coil tap. I ordered some push/pull pots for phase switching and some cool Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pickup mounting rings which have 2 switches for series/parallel/coil tap. The functionality will allow me to choose either pickup as a humbucker or single coil as well as choose which coil (either) and phase reverse the current in either pickup. Whoo hoo! These things sound great. Not too bright, not too thick. I think they are just right and will give me a lot of flexibility once I get the trick wiring done. http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/552928_3174976690937_1161155271_32583425_180303060_n.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Those zebra coils look great with that top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) Yeah, that's a really cool look. Good to see that you found the right sound that you were looking for, too. Mine has been in the shop for two weeks. I'm hoping to get her back sometime this week. I'm having it completely taken apart and put back together again. Taking it in, I was worried that it would need a refret, and indeed, that is the situation. The good news is the manager of the music store is a friend of the family, so everything I'm having done comes with a 50% discount. I'm forcing myself to be patient because I know the tech is a super busy guy. He's also a luthier and makes custom acoustic guitars. His work is fantastic. Extremely beautiful guitars with exquisite sound. Prices start at $4K and go much higher. I'm told that he is working on one of Merle Haggard's guitars, so I take a back seat. Understandable but frustrating at the same time! Edit to add: Here's a link to his website. It's somewhat frugal, but gets to the point. Bear Mountain Guitar Co. Edited April 1, 2012 by Perchance to Dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Man, those are some pretty acoustics! I guess Merle commands a little more attention. I have an old Squire Strat that needs a fret job. I paid $200 for that guitar in 1987 and have a hard time justifying spending $250 for someone to refret so since I am feeling daring I think I am going to get StewMac's basic fretting tool kit and do the job myself. I mean, why not? What better guitar to experiment on? A friend I've been recording with has an old Kramer Focus super stratty guitar that has frets in real bad shape too so we may go in together and do these ourselves. I look forward to seeing your Les Paul when it's done Alex! I bet the guy will get it in tip top shape judging by his guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Apr 1 2012, 01:22 AM) Those zebra coils look great with that top! Indeed, not that the black coils or the nickel covers didn't look good. I have always liked the look of the Zebra style bobbins. I have been researching the history and from what I've read in early 1959 whoever was molding the bobbins ran out of the black plastic so he asked Seth Lover if he could make a run of creme colored bobbins. Since the pickups were covered Lover said to go for it. For the most part, maybe 95% of the Zebra pickups came with the adjustable pole pieces on the black coil like the ones I got. However there are Zebras with the adjustable poles on the creme bobbin and sometimes referred to as "Reverse Zebra." Now if you go to the Gibson website Zebras that ship on guitars appear to be reverse Zebra, but not labeled as such. Duncan and DiMarzio Zebras are pretty much of the reverse variety to attract the "rare" pickup seeker. Perhaps that is Gibson's thinking recently. Who can guess with them anymore? Anyway, sometime in the 60's some players thought they could get a better sound if they took the covers off which is how the Zebras became discovered. So PAFs prior to '59 were both black bobbins then from '59-'61 could be either double black, Zebra, or double creme In 1962 they changed the design slightly by reducing the length of the bar magnet by about an eighth of an inch, stopped putting the Patent Applied For stickers on the backs in lieu of a stamped patent number into the metal as well as changing the wire they used from purple to a reddish color. They also changed the shape of the bobbins. Those are referred to as "T Top" bobbins. Man, these Gibson aficionados are anal about this stuff.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Apr 1 2012, 12:12 PM) Man, those are some pretty acoustics! I guess Merle commands a little more attention. I have an old Squire Strat that needs a fret job. I paid $200 for that guitar in 1987 and have a hard time justifying spending $250 for someone to refret so since I am feeling daring I think I am going to get StewMac's basic fretting tool kit and do the job myself. I mean, why not? What better guitar to experiment on? A friend I've been recording with has an old Kramer Focus super stratty guitar that has frets in real bad shape too so we may go in together and do these ourselves. I look forward to seeing your Les Paul when it's done Alex! I bet the guy will get it in tip top shape judging by his guitars. He's good, without a doubt. As far as wait time goes, yeah, it's hard to compete with a living legend. I'm not going to complain, though. I'm getting an excellent discount and my guitar is next in line after Merle's is done. That's kinda cool in its own way. I watched a refret job on a Strat (I think it was a Strat) on the MLP forum. It was done by a man who posts as Freddy G on that forum. After watching his video, I thought to myself, "I can do that!" After I realized that I was suffering from delusions of grandeur, I screwed my head on straight and decided to leave it to a professional. I'm fascinated by this sorta stuff. The talent needed to work with wood and such when building/fixing guitars is second to none. There's another thread on that site of an SG that's being custom built for Tony Iommi. [spicoli] Totally awesome! [/spicoli] Very cool that you're gonna go for it with your Strat. Personally, I would chicken out, but like you stated, a good guitar to try it on. You should watch the video I referred to earlier in my post. He takes you step by step on how to do a refret. Looking forward to seeing the outcome when I come down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Well, I hadn't replaced pickups before I put the 59s in. Any fear I had is pretty much gone after doing that twice now. I've been doing neck adjustments and intonation for years. Earlier last year I decided I wanted to get further into guitar tech work after stumbling across StewMac. The details appeal to me personally. I don't think I could put a guitar together from scratch, but putting the pieces together isn't nearly as daunting. I've got plans... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) Speaking of StewMac, they sent me a catalog along with the tuners that you recommended to me. Some of that equipment is freakin' expensive! I hope it all works out for you. I would have more than likely wound up raping and pillaging my rosewood fretboard. From what I've read, buy coiled or pre-bent (not exactly sure of the correct term) fret wire. It'll save time and is much easier to work with. Good luck! Edit to add: Here's a link to the refret tutorial. LINK Hope it helps out. Edited April 1, 2012 by Perchance to Dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Fender and Gibson sell pre cut, pre rounded fret wire. Gonna get some of that. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 FreddysFrets is our own LerxstLuthier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Ha! It's a small world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Ok, the continuing story of my Les Paul rewire... I ordered some Seymour Duncan Triple Shots which are small switches mounted on a pair of pickup mounting rings. They have a cool video where one of their techs shows you how to install them. I was really eager to check them out because of the functionality. But when I got them I wired them according to the video instructions, the written instructions, and their color code chart for all makers of pickups with 4 conductors. After several hours of rewiring I plugged her in but everything was wrong. On the bridge pickup especially one of the switches seemed to defeat the pickup which was annoying. I thought I had wired it wrong so I did the whole thing again along side the video but only yielded the same results. So I decided to scrap that idea and went for push/pull pots all the way around. All of the new Standards come with them now as Gibson is responding to customer requests. So I went ahead and wired it so that when all switches are down the guitar is "normal" as it would be without the extra functionality. On the tone pots I wired the switches to be coil taps with the volume pot switches reversing phase of the respective pickup. With just the tap switch up the "slug" coil is active then with the phase switch up the adjustable coil is active. When in humbucker mode the phase switch acts like a true phase reversal which gives a very Andy Summers vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 Very cool, Cyg. Sounds like a complicated process. My refret is finally finished and I'm very happy with the results. That being said, I decided to have someone else work on my tuners. The person who I initially wanted to do my refret didn't get back to me in time (he was out of town) before I sent it in, so I'm gonna throw some work in his direction. There is an issue with my headstock. Apparently the peg holes had been reamed to accommodate the tuners that are on it right now, and some work is going to have to be done to make how I want it. I know this guy can do it. He moved up here recently from L.A. and is a fellow member over at MLP, so I want someone with that connection to do the work. I'll be picking up my guitar on Monday or Tuesday as the electronics are still being worked on. After that, I want to fekkin' play it for a while before I send it in again. I haven't had it in over a month and I have missed her! Yeah, so that last sentence sounds sort strange....get your mind out of the gutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 I bumped this thread in order to show the final results. I had been waiting for over a month to have my tuners and humbuckers replaced. Out of frustration I went to the shop and pulled my guitar. I was tired of waiting and I knew that I was having smoke blown up my ass. I paid them for the services which were performed and walked outta there. Enter CygnusX-1Bk2. Doooood! Thank you so much for hooking me up! I appreciate it very much! Cyg replaced 4 out of the six tuners (two had stripped screws which made them impossible to remove); installed and soldered the wiring for two new DiMarzio Super Distortion Humbuckers; threw on a new set of strings, and did the setup and intonation. Again, thanks! You did in three hours what those dipsh*ts at the shop couldn't do in over a month! So.....this morning I managed to remove the two remaining tuners. Getting the stripped screws out was a bitch, but I managed to get 'er done. I replaced them then threw on a new set of strings, etc. So without further ado, here she is! Minor cosmetic issues resolved. New bracket for pickguard, new knob for the switch, two new humbuckers, and new tuners! http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/Perchance/100_2270.jpg A closeup of the humbuckers. Cyg replaced and did the wiring on the bridge and middle humbuckers. The neck humbucker is original. http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/Perchance/100_2265.jpg There are still a couple of screws that I need to install. No biggie. Here's a shot of the new tuners. I replaced the high E and B string tuners this afternoon. Cyg installed the others. http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/Perchance/100_2269.jpg I'm totally stoked. She sounds like a fire breathing dragon when she's going balls to the wall and has a nice clean tone when I want that, as well. I am a very happy camper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 The tuners look and work SO much better than the crappy Schallers along with the half-a$$ed job by whoever did it before you got it. I mean using a set for a one sided headstock was the biggest issue. The Klusons look right. They even say Gibson on them. They feel so smooth. Way better than what was there. Those pickup rings are a little knackered and they need better screws. You may want to replace the rings eventually, but at least she sounds good. Definitely get some better screws. The toughest part was getting the middle pickup cable into the control cavity because of the hack-job wood work. There is a small hole drilled near the top of the neck pickup under the middle pickup that tries to piggyback on the neck pickup rout, but it is misaligned and very small compared to the original rout which is at least an inch and a half wide. Once I used another wire to pull the pickup wire through the connection just barely got through. It took a few attempts to get it but we did it. The guitar was already set up for 3 volume and 1 master tone so wiring it back up wasn't terribly difficult because we didn't have to totally rewire everything. Once I plugged it in I was jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
default236 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Looks amazing!! Glad your happy. I recently acquired a Schecter Blackjack and it sounds great. It's a metal guitar and well I don't play metal, but the neck is huge! Anyways, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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