Gibson Sonex Modifications

[GibsonExplorer14]

Hey all,

 

I have a 1980 Gibson Sonex Deluxe 180, and I'm thinking of laying some cash down on a sweet modification for it. Picture an ES-5 Switchmaster and a Jaguar love-child...

 

The idea is (remember, the Sonex is identicle in function to a LP Std.) to add a middle humbucker, give each pickup its own on/off slider switch (3 total), and each pickup will have their own volume and tone controls.

 

Where the knobs are concerned, there will be 6 total, with a V/T for each pickup. The 3-way toggle will be replaced with the middle volume, and there will be a new hole drilled for the middle tone. The catch is every knob will be a push/pull pot.

 

The volume pots tap each humbucker to single, and the tone pots are a phase inverter.

 

So. Each pickup has 3 controls to it: an on/off switch, a volume p/p coil tap, and a tone p/p phase inverter.

 

Now, this is all on paper for the moment, so can someone tell me whether or not this is all possible. Money and time aren't an issue, so I just need to know if it can physically be done.

 

Thanks!

[Morten M]

In '85 I installed a dual sound switch in a Gibson Sonex. As far as I can remember, the body was made of some kind of artificial material (resonwood, whatever that is).

Maybe it would be an idea to check out whether routing is possible in that meterial.

[GibsonExplorer14]

In '85 I installed a dual sound switch in a Gibson Sonex. As far as I can remember' date=' the body was made of some kind of artificial material (resonwood, whatever that is).

Maybe it would be an idea to check out whether routing is possible in that meterial.[/quote']

 

Well, "resonwood" is a composite/wood ply that goes around a mahogany core. The routing is possible, but I'm wondering if the existing cavity is deep enough for the push/pull configuration I've drawn out, and if the wiring I'm proposing is possible.

[Morten M]

Well' date=' "resonwood" is a composite/wood ply that goes around a mahogany core. The routing is possible, but I'm wondering if the existing cavity is deep enough for the push/pull configuration I've drawn out, and if the wiring I'm proposing is possible.

[/quote']

The wiring should be possible. Diagrams should be available with a little googling.

Push/pull pots comes in different sizes. So you'll have to do some measuring of the cavity and compare it to the pots available.

Good luck.

[Rame]

I agree that the wiring should be possible. If push pull pots that are small enough cannot be obtained perhaps you could use mini switches for the coil taps.

[Franzi]

In '85 I installed a dual sound switch in a Gibson Sonex. As far as I can remember' date=' the body was made of some kind of artificial material (resonwood, whatever that is).

Maybe it would be an idea to check out whether routing is possible in that meterial.[/quote']

 

 

It is a wood core with an outer layer of resin around it. Should not be that different from working on a guitar with a wood body.

[Franzi]

Although....giving it a second thought it could make a difference. Resin is a stiff synthtic material which might be more prone to crackling if you drill or rout. The vibrations of the machine might cast crackles through synthetic material. I would consult a luthier for this. Thanks.

[Stevie B]

I too added a third pickup into the circuit of a Sonex.

 

The way I did it was to put a push pull/volume pot where the Jack socket went and rout a hole on the side of the body and put a telecaster style jack input in the side.

 

The only problem with this mod, was that the push/pull was borderline too deep, so I ended up using a rotary pickup choice pot, and wired the middle and Neck to it. This allowed me to either go all Neck, all Middle, or a blend of both. By blending both of these pickups and using the original selector switch in the middle position, I could get all three pickups together.

 

As a further mod, I added Two 3 way micro switches (one for the neck and one for the bridge) and managed to get the choice of; Full Humbucker, Single Coil and Parallel, for each of the neck and Bridge pickups.

 

I tried an out of phase pickup setting, but it caused a thinness and shrill sound when it was merged with any other pickup setting or choice, so amended it to parallel and that made all the settings more usable.

 

By blending these options in with the original selector switch and the Rotary selector pot, I could get loads of different sound combinations....In truth, there were probably too many choices, but it was an interesting experiment.

 

Off the top of my head, I could get about 18 different sounds, plus the blending effect between the middle pickup. (which was only ever set to humbucking) I did intend to experiment further by giving the middle pickup a 3 way switch to create more sounds, but with so many already and the problem of remembering which sound setting i was on, seemed a little "Too Much!"

 

Incidentally the solid wood core is Maple, not Mahogany. The Resin did not crack when I routed the hole in the side, but has cracked through being dropped. The material is a pain when trying to repair cracks in it, so be careful.