I'd thought I was over this stuff.

[gball]

So, both volume pots in my 2016 Les Paul Traditional have gone tits-up (a separate subject deserving of a separate thread - my god, the quality of potentiometers has fallen off a cliff recently. This guitar is only 6 years old). So, I've ordered all the parts to gut the guitar and update it: JEL "Centralab Spec" harness with bumblebees (I know the type of capacitor makes no difference but they look cool, so why not?), new switch, jack, etc. I love the '57 Classics so they stay but everything else is being replaced. Anyway, got me to thinking of other things I could "update" while I have it taken apart and I decided I am going to pull those goofy textured back covers off and put regular smooth ones on, give it some new pickup rings because the originals have discolored, and a biggie: the Gibson Deluxe tuners are getting yanked for a set of Kluson Revolutions. I have never liked the old-school tuners and the Revolutions are about the best machine heads I have ever used.

As a result of making this decision I also decided to replace the tuners on my 2020 Goldtop Standard, as I happened to have a spare set of the Revolutions with nickel finish laying in a box (the Trad has chrome hardware so I had to order a set). So I did the surgery over the weekend, and hot damn, what a difference they made to the tone. The guitar has better sustain now, better string-to-string balance, better note bloom. I'd forgotten what adding a little mass to a Les Paul headstock can do.

Guess I am back to modding guitars. I've fallen off the wagon, my friends.

 

[eSGEe]

Welcome back down the rabbit hole ........

I am looking at a set of Pbass pickups I bought months ago.......and some mini hums..........that I just CANT seem to get around to installing.........
I have several "projects" piling up but work....... life.........rum -- all seem to get in the way lol

 

[guitarweasel]

It never stops........

 

[Don O]

 

[gball]

View attachment 67399

Haha, yeah I'll have to do that. I've been avoiding modding for years because it becomes like a sickness. Right now I am thinking about ripping the dumb ABR bridge off of the Goldtop and dropping a Nashville on there. There's a reason they changed the bridge design after all.

 

[Inspector #20]

The guitar has better sustain now, better string-to-string balance, better note bloom. I'd forgotten what adding a little mass to a Les Paul headstock can do.

Guess I am back to modding guitars. I've fallen off the wagon, my friends.

On my main Les Paul, despite being a fake, even the screws are genuine Gibson. The tuners are genuine gold Grovers and the bridge is Gotoh with a Faber TP-59 Aluminum Tailpiece and Steel Studs.

Top shelf parts make a difference...

 

[iblive]

Feel your pain man. One tone pot puked on my 2 year old Strat. So decided to replace all three with quality ones.

 

[SG John]

Don't worry. Winner take all capitalism and contracting to the lowest bidder for maximum profit will ensure that no one will ever be done modding or repairing anything.

 

[iblive]

I have an 07 G400. Replaced all the pots on that one. But as I’ve read and come to believe. Yes… Epi did not use the highest quality electronics in their guitars. But it would seem neither did Gibson in their off the shelf models. Custom shops maybe got the good stuff.

 

[eSGEe]

Don't worry. Winner take all capitalism and contracting to the lowest bidder for maximum profit will ensure that no one will ever be done modding or repairing anything.

this --- yes.....................

for argument I have a 1970 Gibosn Les Paul recording gutiar that is all (all) except strings 100% original -- (there is NO WAY IN HELL ID EVER TOUCH THAT poop) to fix it.........
I mean really -- LEs hung out in jazz clubs so he was SMOKING THE GOOD DAMN STUFF look at this bleeding disaster!


YEt mine is all original and all works flawlewssly (this is not a pic of mine Im not taking it apart again for a pic ...... sorry

 

[Don O]

Don't worry. Winner take all capitalism and contracting to the lowest bidder for maximum profit will ensure that no one will ever be done modding or repairing anything.

“Lowest bidder”.

Riminds of a quote from 1981, when the first space shuttle was landing the pilot radioed something like this:
”Here we are, landing a space craft with over a million parts; all built by the lowest bidder”

 

[gball]

this --- yes.....................

for argument I have a 1970 Gibosn Les Paul recording gutiar that is all (all) except strings 100% original -- (there is NO WAY IN HELL ID EVER TOUCH THAT ) to fix it.........
I mean really -- LEs hung out in jazz clubs so he was SMOKING THE GOOD DAMN STUFF look at this bleeding disaster!
View attachment 67416

YEt mine is all original and all works flawlewssly (this is not a pic of mine Im not taking it apart again for a pic ...... sorry

Oh, naturally the original pots in my '79 work absolutely perfectly. It's the newer ones that are throwaway junk.

These JEL/VIPots ones that I ordered are touted as clones of original '50s Centralab pots. No info I could find on who manufactures them for VIPots, but got my fingers crossed this will be the last time I have to crack open the chest cavity of that guitar.

Vintage Inspired Pickups | Beverly, MA, USA

 

[eSGEe]

“As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.”
― John Glenn

he too was FROM OHIO ...... (aint no one right there)

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Damn nice parts list gball.And i got a set of Kluson Revolution locking tuners on a SG JR i got and they are superb.I got a set of Gotoh locking tuners on my other JR .I dont jave the one JR with me on our Bus or id take a pic.But heres the Gotohs.Complimentary gut shot.Oh ya,i think locking tuners are the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[syscokid]

So, both volume pots in my 2016 Les Paul Traditional have gone tits-up

What are these pots with boobies doing, or not doing anymore?

Guess I am back to modding guitars. I've fallen off the wagon, my friends.

Congratulations...

 

[gball]

What are these pots with boobies doing, or not doing anymore?

Just the regular end-of-life stuff: Reduced output, snap-crackle-pop, cutting in and out. It started about a year ago and was easily fixed with a squirt of Deoxit, but they've steadily declined and about a month ago got really bad. And this is a Traditional, so it doesn't have the PCB they were using in a lot of models at the time and instead has CTS 500k's that are PtP wired.

Look, this is my most-played guitar by a fairly wide margin and I am an obsessive knob-tweaker when I am playing, but I feel like 5 years to noisy and 6 years to failure is absurd. However, I did notice that Gibson only warranties these parts for 5 years, so that speaks volumes.

 

[SG John]

Oh, naturally the original pots in my '79 work absolutely perfectly. It's the newer ones that are throwaway junk.

These JEL/VIPots ones that I ordered are touted as clones of original '50s Centralab pots. No info I could find on who manufactures them for VIPots, but got my fingers crossed this will be the last time I have to crack open the chest cavity of that guitar.

Vintage Inspired Pickups | Beverly, MA, USA

Beverly, MA!!! Where in Beverly? I've never heard of them, and I'm right here.

The photo of the Centralab box says Wisconsin. I found in the website that a company called Bourns makes the pots.

Would like to know where they are, and repair my Gibson steel guitar P-90.

 

[gball]

Beverly, MA!!! Where in Beverly? I've never heard of them, and I'm right here.

The photo of the Centralab box says Wisconsin. I found in the website that a company called Bourns makes the pots.

Would like to know where they are, and repair my Gibson steel guitar P-90.

I've never tried these, so no idea where they are specifically. I ordered them on the recommendation of a friend, so will report back after I get the harness installed. Good to know Bournes makes them - they are much, much better than CTS in my experience.

I think they were just using the old Centralab box as a prop as these are supposedly copies of the original ones.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

HORY MORY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I saw the title and did not read one word after that before clicking. NOW I have to say,

Gball is the KING of Click Bait. NOW to find out what the scuttlebutt is.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

My Bourns pots were spec'd to last something like 15,000 twists and turns. All I know is that sounded like they should last and not get wonky like my CTS/Gib ones did in the Faded SG with similar results as Gball experienced.