So, I thought I would create a new thread for these most current modifications, specifically duplicating the out-of-phase tone in the middle position with a twin humbucker conversion.
In this newest band, I've probably come closer to knocking the headstocks off my Gibson's than ever before, so duplicating the S-G's OOP tone - in the old Squirecaster - seemed like the cheapest and quickest way to finding a replacement.
Thanks to one of our eagle-eyed members, i was able to score a set of hand-measured, 500k CTS pots, all coming in around 550/560k.
I found a brand new CRL 3 way switch - still in its bag from 1998 - which will work perfectly for this project.
For the bridge, i took a Gibson 500T humbucker - which had two of its 3 magnets removed - and installed a new cloth lead, which was damaged. It spec'd out at 14.6k. The polarity on the magnet is reversed. I also repaired a stripped 'A' pole piece on this bridge pickup.
For the neck, I repaired a Gibson 496R and removed the nickel cover. It spec'd out at 8.7k.
I have 20+ feet of Gravitt push-back wiring, including a roll with a braided jacket, a mix of K40Y PIO tone capacitors and Orange Drops, from .033uf down to 0.01uf.
I will be selecting a combination based on tone while playing the completed guitar and switching between capacitors with jumper wires.
I will be making my own wire harness from scratch. The lowermost tone control is dedicated to the bridge pickup and the middle tone control for the neck and the master volume is shared.
This differs in how I normally wire 3-pickup Stratocaster's - to provide tone control on all pickups, so the H-H configuration is much more simple than a 5-way setup, as shown below.
I normally add a .015" aluminum shield between the back of the pickguard and the body to improve RFI/EMI resistance. This is SOP on any Stratocaster I build here.
However, on this project, I took a different approach. Instead of making a H-H aluminum shield, I went with a genuine Fender .057" thick, engine-turned aluminum pickguard with scalloped pickup openings. Although some may scoff at the $50.00 price tag, it's much faster and easier, plus will give a very unique look.
A new 1950's 'U' profile neck is also in the works as one of the planned modifications. That will give me a very similar feel to the Gibson 'rounded profile' that all of my other guitars have. I haven't decided on woods yet.
The newly ordered parts will be rolling in this week...
More to come...
In this newest band, I've probably come closer to knocking the headstocks off my Gibson's than ever before, so duplicating the S-G's OOP tone - in the old Squirecaster - seemed like the cheapest and quickest way to finding a replacement.
Thanks to one of our eagle-eyed members, i was able to score a set of hand-measured, 500k CTS pots, all coming in around 550/560k.
I found a brand new CRL 3 way switch - still in its bag from 1998 - which will work perfectly for this project.
For the bridge, i took a Gibson 500T humbucker - which had two of its 3 magnets removed - and installed a new cloth lead, which was damaged. It spec'd out at 14.6k. The polarity on the magnet is reversed. I also repaired a stripped 'A' pole piece on this bridge pickup.
For the neck, I repaired a Gibson 496R and removed the nickel cover. It spec'd out at 8.7k.
I have 20+ feet of Gravitt push-back wiring, including a roll with a braided jacket, a mix of K40Y PIO tone capacitors and Orange Drops, from .033uf down to 0.01uf.
I will be selecting a combination based on tone while playing the completed guitar and switching between capacitors with jumper wires.
I will be making my own wire harness from scratch. The lowermost tone control is dedicated to the bridge pickup and the middle tone control for the neck and the master volume is shared.
This differs in how I normally wire 3-pickup Stratocaster's - to provide tone control on all pickups, so the H-H configuration is much more simple than a 5-way setup, as shown below.
I normally add a .015" aluminum shield between the back of the pickguard and the body to improve RFI/EMI resistance. This is SOP on any Stratocaster I build here.
However, on this project, I took a different approach. Instead of making a H-H aluminum shield, I went with a genuine Fender .057" thick, engine-turned aluminum pickguard with scalloped pickup openings. Although some may scoff at the $50.00 price tag, it's much faster and easier, plus will give a very unique look.
A new 1950's 'U' profile neck is also in the works as one of the planned modifications. That will give me a very similar feel to the Gibson 'rounded profile' that all of my other guitars have. I haven't decided on woods yet.
The newly ordered parts will be rolling in this week...
More to come...
