pippy Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 (edited) That's the thing for a question like this. There is no right or wrong answer...This, of course, is absolutely correct. There's no bad blood here. I respect what others choose to do with their own possessions...I think we are all old enough and hope we are all wise enough to see this is the only logical standpoint....Why did you buy the guitar in the first place if you don't like the way it sounded?...I am firmly in this camp myself.Although I would not be remotely averse to modifying an Historic if I felt it would improve the instrument I probably wouldn't have bought it in the first place if I wasn't 99.9% happy with how it sounded. Pip. Edited March 15, 2019 by pippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauloqs Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I didn’t know some RI came with BB. Mine has CustomBuckers which I really like. I also like Bare Knuckle’s the Mule/Riff Raff or the Mule/Black Dog Neck/Bridge combos. Personally, I wouldn’t swap any of the other electronics, just the pickups. Furthermore, for a custom shop guitar, I would go all out with the pickups and either get the 57 Classic/classic+ or custombucker, if he can find a used pair, or either one of aforementioned Bare Knuckes combos. Though, I’d probably lean the BK route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Mustard Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I've said this in other similar threads but if you bought a custom shop guitar and paid the premium price for it, and then you find fault with it... What I think you should do is sell that guitar unmodified to someone who values it more than you do. Don't mod it, sell it, and use the money to buy what you really want. There is no reason for any Gibson guitar pickups to sound 'too bright" or 'too muddy" or what. Gibson pickups are accurate. The tone achieved by the player is a combination of many factors, beginning with the pick he selects, (or his bare fingers) and continuing through all the magnetics and electronics and output through the speakers he chose to install in the amp he chose to play. If you can't figure out how to find your tone with a Gibson Custom shop guitar, then I recommend you sell that immediately to someone who can. Then use the money to go on your quest. Go where they sell them...Play as many as they'll let you. Buy the one that comes alive in your hands. That's the only way to find the right guitar. Because with Gibsons, it doesn't matter if it's a custom shop guitar or an SG faded special... One will be a clunker, and one will be gold. And there's really no way to know, until you play it. Play a lot of them, and one will emerge as THE ONE. It might surprise you, and be of much more humble origins. But still a Gibson. It really doesn't matter if a guitar was made in the custom shop, if it doesn't come alive in your hands when you play it. Players like me regard the Custom Shop as a con game. All Gibsons are excellent. Custom Shop makes instruments for guys that can afford to pay extra for the same thing the rest of us already have. *shrugs You don't have to believe me. Just go on the personal quest that I recommend, and make up your own mind. But before you do, unload the Custom Shop guitar that doesn't please you. Unload it without devaluing it by ill considered modifications. Somewhere there is a player who would respect that instrument much more than you do. Find that person, and get their money, and turn over the Gibson, and let it all go. Then begin your quest in person. I predict that you'll have a lot of fun in the search, and you'll end up with something that makes your music soar like an eagle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 What I think you should do is sell that guitar unmodified to someone who values it more than you do. Don't mod it, sell it, and use the money to buy what you really want. Hey there Col. I guess i'll take a couple more postmortem kicks at the horse. I don't disagree with your overall sentiment about this. But, my answers are largely based on the fact that the OP said he'll never sell the guitar. I agree that I never would have bought it if it didn't sound good when i played it. I'd have just kept shopping, but that wasn't what he asked. As for the opinion that a Custom Shop Historic is just a USA guitar with a different price tag, I'll have to respectfully disagree on that. Jam on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Mustard Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 (edited) sorry I repeated myself... I musta been dreaming about people tearing down beautiful guitars... Love this from Black Dog: "They take a perfectly good historic, take it apart completely, strip the finish, re-carve the top and neck, change the fretboard and put it all back together claiming it's even more historic than when it was historic ... Of course, that was for the older generation historic's which were less historic than the current historic's. Nothing is more historic than the current historic's. To get anything more historic now you'll need a time machine." Love it love it. And yeah, it's always the privelege of the OP or anybody else to make up their own mind and do as they wish. Be well, play loud... Edited March 24, 2019 by Col Mustard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtryme Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 So what would happen if the OP does change it out for himself and keeps the original stuff in a box somewhere if the guitar will sound better after the alteration? It is his guitar and if he is planning on keeping it what difference does it make? I am thinking of putting an upgraded pre wired set of emerson pot harness in mine with different caps. I do not see the big deal if the OP is going to keep the guitar. EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtryme Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 I didn’t know some RI came with BB. Mine has CustomBuckers which I really like. I also like Bare Knuckle’s the Mule/Riff Raff or the Mule/Black Dog Neck/Bridge combos. Personally, I wouldn’t swap any of the other electronics, just the pickups. Furthermore, for a custom shop guitar, I would go all out with the pickups and either get the 57 Classic/classic+ or custombucker, if he can find a used pair, or either one of aforementioned Bare Knuckes combos. Though, I’d probably lean the BK route. Yes I think your right, its the custombuckers I dislike, the burstbuckers I despise. Thanks for that clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtryme Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 I've said this in other similar threads but if you bought a custom shop guitar and paid the premium price for it, and then you find fault with it... What I think you should do is sell that guitar unmodified to someone who values it more than you do. Don't mod it, sell it, and use the money to buy what you really want. There is no reason for any Gibson guitar pickups to sound 'too bright" or 'too muddy" or what. Gibson pickups are accurate. The tone achieved by the player is a combination of many factors, beginning with the pick he selects, (or his bare fingers) and continuing through all the magnetics and electronics and output through the speakers he chose to install in the amp he chose to play. If you can't figure out how to find your tone with a Gibson Custom shop guitar, then I recommend you sell that immediately to someone who can. Then use the money to go on your quest. Go where they sell them...Play as many as they'll let you. Buy the one that comes alive in your hands. That's the only way to find the right guitar. Because with Gibsons, it doesn't matter if it's a custom shop guitar or an SG faded special... One will be a clunker, and one will be gold. And there's really no way to know, until you play it. Play a lot of them, and one will emerge as THE ONE. It might surprise you, and be of much more humble origins. But still a Gibson. It really doesn't matter if a guitar was made in the custom shop, if it doesn't come alive in your hands when you play it. Players like me regard the Custom Shop as a con game. All Gibsons are excellent. Custom Shop makes instruments for guys that can afford to pay extra for the same thing the rest of us already have. *shrugs You don't have to believe me. Just go on the personal quest that I recommend, and make up your own mind. But before you do, unload the Custom Shop guitar that doesn't please you. Unload it without devaluing it by ill considered modifications. Somewhere there is a player who would respect that instrument much more than you do. Find that person, and get their money, and turn over the Gibson, and let it all go. Then begin your quest in person. I predict that you'll have a lot of fun in the search, and you'll end up with something that makes your music soar like an eagle. Oh make no mistake I found the right guitar. It just has the wrong pickups in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01GT eibach Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Oh, make no mistake; I found the right guitar. It just has the wrong pickups in it. I don't know if I have ever thought "this is the right" guitar when I hate the pickups in it. Just one opinion, though ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Of course, that was for the older generation historic's which were less historic than the current historic's. Nothing is more historic than the current historic's. so the prehistorics are older than the posthistorics but with a smaller historical quotient. Meaning the prehistoric is more novel than the posthistoric. Its like some hysterical novel?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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