swamprock Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Ok... it's a day off, and I'm bored, so let's upgrade the Special I in Worn Cherry that I picked up a month ago... Here she is stock: I picked up some generic Chinese Sperzel-type locking tuners from GFS, a Graphtech Tusq nut from an eBay seller, and a couple of .47uF Russian PIO caps from another eBay seller. The pots seems decent, and the P-90s in the guitar are great, so I'll leave those in. First off, let's remove the old tuners and nut, shape the Tusq nut, and ream out the holes so that the new tuners will fit. Next, we'll fill in the old bottom tuner screw holes with toothpick tips dipped in wood glue, and fill in the top holes with crayon wax that matches the finish (or gets it close, anyway). After a couple of hours of letting the glue set up a bit, let's install the new tuners and nut. Now we'll attack the tone cap. The pots are long-shaft Alphas, and they were obviously just laying around judging by the eight locking washers in the cavity. Let's remove the old cap and solder the new one in. I've used these same PIO caps from the same seller for all of my modded guitars. I love the tone range that they open up. Let's put her back together, string her up with some EB 10s, play her for a bit, and let her sit for a day to see if we need to adjust her truss rod. These mods have improved on an already great and highly affordable guitar. She sounded great stock, and now she sounds even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon S. Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Nice work!! I've got those same caps in most all my guitars (bought a batch of 200 from Russia years ago), and they are killer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 Nice work!! I've got those same caps in most all my guitars (bought a batch of 200 from Russia years ago), and they are killer! Thanks. Yeah I was very surprised the first time I tried them. Rather than spring for something expensive, I figured I try these instead. Now I use them in all of my mods, including humbuckers (.22uF). Great tone variation for the price, when coupled with the right pot(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Rocker 59 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I'm waiting for some Gold bell hat knobs and a Graph-tech NV-2 6MM bridge to come in for my Gothic Les Paul Studio. They should all be in by the end of the week. I took the pickguard off of it which I never really cared for. When I'm done modding my LP I'll post some photos as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprock Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 I'm waiting for some Gold bell hat knobs and a Graph-tech NV-2 6MM bridge to come in for my Gothic Les Paul Studio. They should all be in by the end of the week. I took the pickguard off of it which I never really cared for. When I'm done modding my LP I'll post some photos as well. There's a Goth Studio being sold locally for a really good price. It's an older, thinner one, but I may just jump on it for another strip and rebuild project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Rocker 59 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 There's a Goth Studio being sold locally for a really good price. It's an older, thinner one, but I may just jump on it for another strip and rebuild project. IMO, the stock Alnico Humbuckers on them are really great but cosmetically , they could use some changes if you're a old fart like me. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowerR64 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I like it! Look at the one i built up. Chrome pickup covers, pickguard, intonation style bridge and witch hat knobs. Then i added an LE headstock cover. I plays alot better then it did stock because of the adjustable intonation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Well that sure beats being bored don't it? I love spending a day doing stuff like that. Nice job on the mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CasinoLover Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hi Swamprock - nice work ! I too have this guitar in TV yellow. Bought it at MF for $100.00 delivered. I have also replaced the nut w a white Tusq unit and installed some Grover tuners from another project. I didn't use the toothpick trick though. I just used extra tuner screws to fill them. My guitar's problem is that it is constantly going out of adjustment. The other night I adjusted the action and it was perfect. Set it aside to let it acclimate to the adjustments and it held. I then put it back in it's new comfy HSC and the next night plugged it in and had open string buzz on E, A and D strings. So I raised the bridge on that side and kinda got rid of it. But the action is back to med high. Have you experienced this on yer Special ? The way it plays now I could never play clean. It needs to have gain. This is good and bad. Almost every song has a section that has clear open string notes ( think of the bridge in Eric Clapton's Badge and you'll get my drift) And this guitar doesn't cut it on that song. Too buzzy on the open strings. I should mention that I run Daddario flat wounds in 11/50 and have ran these strings for years on all of my electrics. My next plan of attack is to remove the neck and inspect the pocket for poor machining in that critical area. Your thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epistrat Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Awesome thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epistrat Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I did some mods on my most recent acquisition, an Epi LP Special II. I put a GFS XTrem, a pickguard from eBay made specifically for Epi LP Special IIs, Gotoh tuners and an unbleached bone nut from Stew-Mac, plus stickers from Redbubble.com on it. My touch isn't as expert as SwampRock's, tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epistrat Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Also, I installed a DiMarzio Super Distortion that I got from eBay for $50 in the bridge position (Posting from my iPhone I don't see any place to edit my replies). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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