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Noob guitar modding

Have had an Ibanez ART100 for a little while--my only LP-ish guitar--and I have recently fallen in love with the Bigsby vibrato thanks to my new Hot Rod. So I started thinking about getting a Silver Jet (oooh, sparkly) but the price wasn't in my budget. I've heard a few negatives about the Korean-made Electromatics so I ruled those out.

Well, slodave's epic Les Paul build thread got me thinking "hey, I can do that!" ( :rolleyes: ). So after a trip to stewmac.com and a few hours of fiddling around, I think I'm about 95% where I want to be.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1295763665.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1295763676.jpg

Parts list:

1) Bigsby B7
2) No-name humbuckers
3) 4mm MOP dot inlays in fretboard
4) Sperzel Trim-lok tuners
5) 3-ply pickguard
6) Too-small polished aluminum knobs
7) Gretsch strap knobs (love these!)

Things left to do:

1) Get decent knobs that fit the cutouts in the body.
2) Replace bridge with a floater--the current one is FUGLY.
3) Get some p'ups from Wolf when the budget recovers.

In the meantime my guitar teacher no longer complains that he can't tell what frets I'm hitting, I get to fool around with another Bigsby, and the new tuners don't feel like they're lubed with sand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte (Post 5802222)

...

2) Replace bridge with a floater--the current one is FUGLY.

Nice work... But I like the bridge. Leave it the way it is... :D

Very cool! It's fun, isn't it? :) And at the end rewarding - although I have a while to go before I'll know that. :D

How do you like the pup covers? A lot of the LP guys removed them. They do change the magnetic field a bit. Most thought the LP sounded better without - at least in the rock world. I plan on installing them at first, then play and see what I like.

Good job! Before you know it, you'll be making your own as well. :)

Hey thanks!

The covers are soldered on these things (they're all new pickups). I honestly don't have the "ear" to detect the differences among most pickups. I suppose I could train myself but then I'll just start an endless quest for the perfect tone. Ignorance is bliss. :)

I'll tell you one thing, with all of the additional metal on this guitar it's almost as heavy as a real LP now. :D