ChrisM Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Traded for a J-35 back in October. Since then I've played it a bunch and tried to modify it a bit so it suits me more. Both the cheesy pickguard and the electronics both really bothered me. The modifications: - new Tortoloid fire stripe pickguard nicely polished with beveled edges - removed under saddle pickup system - plugged 1/2" end hole with strap pin - filled and sanded two holes left on neck block where battery pack was - removed cable tie holders inside guitar - fitted new bone saddle - added bone bridge pins - aged tuner buttons (stock they were too white!) - let the guitar sit in natural light a bit, let the UV darken the top a bit - full setup The tusq nut still needs to go as the slots are cut a little too deep and the nut is not of great quality. Making and fitting a new nut is not something I can do so I will have to wait for my luither on that one. I'd also like some new tuners someday but that can wait. Action is now 6.5/64" on the bass and 4/64" on the treble (measuring at the 12th fret). Just a tad of neck relief, probably 2 or 3 64ths at the 6th fret. The guitar is very very easy to play now, probably the best playing of all my guitars! Much better playability than stock. A little polishing of the frets and lemon oil on the fretboard and my hands are flying across the neck. I realized I really do like Gibson's, the fundamental tone, design, look, etc. But there is a bunch of things I wish to improve on them and I always find myself doing these "upgrades" to them. Anyways here's some pics Also on a side note I've tried a bunch of strings on this guitar but I really like these one's pictured below. They came in the case (originally owner left them in). They are probably from the factory, an extra set. They were vacuum sealed and someone wrote "PB" on them (phosphorus bronze). I really like the sound and feel of them. Any info on them?? Will try to record a clip of the upgraded guitar soon Thanks for looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Nice looking pickguard chris. Nice guitar in fact. What tuners you thinking about ? Why remove the pickup though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Just awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 . That's a lot of work. The pickguard and tuner buttons look great. Nice job. . B) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Nice work! That pickguard looks sweet. Looking at the job you did on the saddle, I believe you could take on the nut. Of course it depends on your tolerance for aggravation. My first one took three tries but the third one was perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRC Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Looks great! What do you mean by 'aged tuner buttons'? Did you do something to make them look aged or did you actually buy buttons with an aged look and switch them out? That's not an easy thing to do, so just curious as to what you did. I'm considering different tuners for my J-35 and will definitely be removing the Element UST system. DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dawg Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 You did a great job! Really nice looking flat top.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Nice looking J-35. I know what you mean about stripping out the electronics if you aren't going to use them. Makes the guitar lighter too. I think the thing I like about the J-35 the most is the simple rectangular bridge. No extraneous material. I have a 2006 J-50 that is finally starting to lose the stark white, new guitar look on its way to that aged spruce color. Way to go with your 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefano Sunburst Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Agree entirely, especially about the pickup. Can't stand shoving a battery in an acoustic guitar. Lightening the weight in any way possible is a good thing. They did a pretty good job on these, but your improvements should really help.. I think it will age in and mellow out nicely. Swang on, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Nice work, I keep thinking about pulling the electronics out of my Songwriter but it sounds so good now unplugged I'm afraid of changing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks guys! I've never really like the idea of electronics inside acoustic guitars. Wires, a battery, pickup, etc. just doesn't seem to belong to me. By removing the electronics the guitar got even lighter and the acoustic tone improved more so. I never play plugged in so it made sense to me to remove the pickup. I also think the "Element" system Gibson buys and installs in bulk isn't the best sounding system either... Tuner buttons were "aged" warmed up brown show polish. Put on a coat of shoe polish, rub it in, rub it off and then repeat a few times. Anyone have any ideas on those strings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 the guitar got even lighter and the acoustic tone improved more so. While I'm not saying this is NOT the case, I'm curious as to how measurable it is? Are you sure it's not better because you think it's better now that you've satisfied a few personal preferences. For your ears to be able to significantly hear the difference between an element installed and an element system removed would take you in to super-ears territory, the powers you'd see on an episode of Heroes or something.... Out of curiosity how do you fair in sound-test clips? Most folk claiming to have this super hearing ability we read about on guitar forums tend to score roughly the same as us 'normal eared' people when it comes to the recorded evidence of changes and "improvements". Not being sniffy at all, glad you're happy with the changes, I just have my doubts that any other person would hear a difference between a element installed and an element removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 While I'm not saying this is NOT the case, I'm curious as to how measurable it is? Are you sure it's not better because you think it's better now that you've satisfied a few personal preferences. For your ears to be able to significantly hear the difference between an element installed and an element system removed would take you in to super-ears territory, the powers you'd see on an episode of Heroes or something.... Out of curiosity how do you fair in sound-test clips? Most folk claiming to have this super hearing ability we read about on guitar forums tend to score roughly the same as us 'normal eared' people when it comes to the recorded evidence of changes and "improvements". Not being sniffy at all, glad you're happy with the changes, I just have my doubts that any other person would hear a difference between a element installed and an element removed. Not saying I have super ears, no sound clips of pre-mods vs. post-mods either. To me personally it does sound a lot better. Having the saddle sit against the rosewood bridge instead of a metal braid transducer must be a positive??? Having the top and overall body weighing a bit less could also help the body vibrate easier??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
father_of_pearl Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Not being sniffy at all, glad you're happy with the changes, I just have my doubts that any other person would hear a difference between a element installed and an element removed. The improvement in tone is so very subtle that I guess only the owner can tell the before/after difference. I tried the bone saddle and pins upgrade, heard a difference while playing but could not objective it on the recordings. I really like the new firestripe guard. I tried the shoe polish trick on the bright white tuner buttons but it does not seem to last very long... Do you heat the polish till it becomes liquid ?? The strings are the Gibson Masterbuilt Premium MB12, I think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Not saying I have super ears, no sound clips of pre-mods vs. post-mods either. To me personally it does sound a lot better. Having the saddle sit against the rosewood bridge instead of a metal braid transducer must be a positive??? Having the top and overall body weighing a bit less could also help the body vibrate easier??? I don't think you need super ears to hear the difference. My Father put a Fishman Matrix in his AJ500m once while he was changing his strings, it didn't sound bad but something was missing. Pulled out the pickup and changed the strings again a week later and there it was. I'm not sure if it's more the under saddle pickup mutes certain acoustic frequencies or if it's that the one piece of bone contacting the bare wood that enhances them. I don't know, but I do know there was a significant difference in the tone of the guitar before and after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Piezo manufacturers would've had a lot of bother if there was a change in sound when they introduced their option. I can sit alongside the option of no electronics ,fine , rip em out . but you're brilliant if you can spot the difference between a bridge with a strip of metal and one without. Or kidding yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Not saying I have super ears, no sound clips of pre-mods vs. post-mods either. To me personally it does sound a lot better. Having the saddle sit against the rosewood bridge instead of a metal braid transducer must be a positive??? Having the top and overall body weighing a bit less could also help the body vibrate easier??? Cheers. Glad you're happy with it. Just, the weight is only a matter of grams, is it really that noticeable? I do agree about the theory of the ribbon, but never heard anyone who could identify a pickup loaded guitar from one without. If I'm honest at this point I'm convinced it's better because the owner wants it to be better rather than being in anyway quantifiable. Generally speaking.... Again not being sniffy, just an opinion. All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Piezo manufacturers would've had a lot of bother if there was a change in sound when they introduced their option. I can sit alongside the option of no electronics ,fine , rip em out . but you're brilliant if you can spot the difference between a bridge with a strip of metal and one without. Or kidding yourself I'm not saying I have amazing ears, just that there was a difference. Could I tell you if the guitar sound dead if it was stuffed with socks... I'd say so. Could I tell you the difference between a guitar stuffed with fruit of a loom or hanes? I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeljohnr Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Nice work and I love these 35s! Have fun with it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry K Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Nice pickguard! Like you I removed the electronics recently on my 165 maple and put a new endpin and bone saddle. The guitar's volume increased. Noticeably so. The guy at Gryphon who did the work remarked on it too. I am going to make a tusq saddle just to compare the tone of bone and tusq. The guitar feels lighter and the endpin kicks those Baggs endpin jack thingies to the curb. Seriously, Gibson should rethink all these pickups. The default should be no pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Nice pickguard! Like you I removed the electronics recently on my 165 maple and put a new endpin and bone saddle. The guitar's volume increased. Noticeably so. The guy at Gryphon who did the work remarked on it too. I am going to make a tusq saddle just to compare the tone of bone and tusq. The guitar feels lighter and the endpin kicks those Baggs endpin jack thingies to the curb. Seriously, Gibson should rethink all these pickups. The default should be no pickup. They should give away free big spoons :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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