syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
This is my recently acquired '02 Gibson SG Special Faded, and I'm pretty much done with, as JohnnyGoo would say: "Beat the guitar into shape". The only parts the guitar actually really needed was a new nut and a bridge. But I also replaced the original tuners with the Grover Locking Rotomatics (106 series), replaced the pots... twice, and added a pair of chrome spacers for the Stopbar. At least for now, I do not want to change the stock 490 pups. I really like these pups, and they give me a different sound from any other of my guitars with hummers. This SG Special Faded is just wonderful to play and rock out.
TonePros AVR-1:
Minimal notching:
Chrome spacers, 3/8", from Miner's Ace Hardware. I got the idea from Faber and Callahams offerings, which are much more sophisticated:
Original pots were replaced with regular CTS pots bought from my local guitar shop. They get their CTS pots from Allparts. I wasn't happy with the taper. So then, I ordered another set of custom CTS's from RS Guitarworks. Two of their Superpots for the volumes and two "not as super" for the tones. There was no big revelation here. IMO, the taper improved by only a little. If I measured right, the RS CTS's measured at 25% taper, whereas the regular CTS's came in at less that 20%. 50's/Vintage wiring with a slight alteration of the grounding scheme:
The back of this guitar came with this subliminal message:
The Grover Locking Rotomatics. I can't remember how many times I heard that the single screw mount will line up with the bottom screw mount of the original tuners. Well, it didn't... but an attitude adjustment was easy. I need to work on my toothpick skills, too:
I see no stinking hole...
:
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing:
Love these new tuners and love the 18:1 ratio:
This is the third TUSQ XL nut that I shaped and installed on this guitar. The first Tusq, I shaved way too much off the bottom. The second one, which was black, ended up being the tiniest bit too thin. So when it was installed, the nut from the side look like it leaning towards the headstock at full string tension. The third time was the charm, but I kind of prefer the look of a black nut on this guitar:
On to the next project...
TonePros AVR-1:
Minimal notching:
Chrome spacers, 3/8", from Miner's Ace Hardware. I got the idea from Faber and Callahams offerings, which are much more sophisticated:
Original pots were replaced with regular CTS pots bought from my local guitar shop. They get their CTS pots from Allparts. I wasn't happy with the taper. So then, I ordered another set of custom CTS's from RS Guitarworks. Two of their Superpots for the volumes and two "not as super" for the tones. There was no big revelation here. IMO, the taper improved by only a little. If I measured right, the RS CTS's measured at 25% taper, whereas the regular CTS's came in at less that 20%. 50's/Vintage wiring with a slight alteration of the grounding scheme:
The back of this guitar came with this subliminal message:
The Grover Locking Rotomatics. I can't remember how many times I heard that the single screw mount will line up with the bottom screw mount of the original tuners. Well, it didn't... but an attitude adjustment was easy. I need to work on my toothpick skills, too:
I see no stinking hole...
:A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing:
Love these new tuners and love the 18:1 ratio:
This is the third TUSQ XL nut that I shaped and installed on this guitar. The first Tusq, I shaved way too much off the bottom. The second one, which was black, ended up being the tiniest bit too thin. So when it was installed, the nut from the side look like it leaning towards the headstock at full string tension. The third time was the charm, but I kind of prefer the look of a black nut on this guitar:
On to the next project...
