freezerburn Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Hey it's a distant step cousin of the 'Pauls so give me a break I'm broke. At any rate I'm putting a tremolo on my sonex which already is heavy. I'd like to route a bit of the epoxy (rosinwood) out of the back to lighten things up a tad. Anyone done any routing for pickups or anything that has to do with where the landmarks are to help me out with locations? It's not a bad guitar but not collectable so I don't mind a little careful planned trimming. Did I mention how HEAVY t is:) Any insight thanks -freezerburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old mark Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I just bought one yesterday. First, they generally run around 8 pounds, which is about 2 to 4 pounds lighter than a non-chambered Les Paul. They have plastic - OK, "resin"-overtop of a mahogany slab core. the pickups mount on the pick guard, much like a Stratocaster, and there already is a large open space under there...I don't know that I'd open it up any more, and I don't know that I'd go with the Bigsby, either... These guitars are increasing in price almost by the month. I see them selling for near $700 now, and the high end models for much more, so I don't think I'd screw it up too much. It actually IS becoming a collectible...they originally sold for under $300 new. The Sonex Deluxe, the lower end model, had unique pickups, designed by Bill Lawrence when he worked for Gibson. Gibson called them Velvet Brick pups, and they are pretty hot, but can be dialed back to give some pretty good tones, especially if you set the treble on your amp down a bit...you can get a clean jazz tone out of them. They had a different mounting plate from other Gibson humbuckers, and the backs were stamped Deluxe. The higher end versions had Dirty Fingers HB's, also very hot pups and still available. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I'm with Old Mark in that I wouldn't cut it up either. I don't know whether you have already bought a trem/vibrato unit but the Stetsbar gets good reviews. The advantage is there is no need to mod your guitar; http://stetsbar.com/index.html P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezerburn Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Thanks for the replies folks. Mines heavier than noted above. It does sound good that's for sure though. Fyi, I just got my Stetsbar in the mail and it will not work. The break over of the strings on my Sonex is right at 9/16" The Stetsbar breakover, when adjusted all the way down, is right at 3/4" -no bueno unless you want to add 3/16" to the action:( What a bummer -freezerburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezerburn Posted November 15, 2013 Author Share Posted November 15, 2013 I could have shimmed the neck but I'd rather lose the trem frankly. I did put some nicer tuners on it though- the og's were ok but used up pretty well imho -fb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I could have shimmed the neck but I'd rather lose the trem frankly. I did put some nicer tuners on it though- the og's were ok but used up pretty well imho -fb I'm slightly surprised the trem doesn't go low enough but I've just checked their other models for the Strat and Tele and both versions also come with a shim so obviously they wouldn't work either. Ah well... Can't think of anything else, fb, sorry! Good luck if you do decide to carve some 'heft' from the body! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezerburn Posted November 15, 2013 Author Share Posted November 15, 2013 Thanks 'P, I did order a pickguard in cherry red pearl (guitars og white/yellow). I moved the 3 way switch up on top like a les paul and that will require a tad of routing but very little in the grand scope of things. The pickguard is made with the switch hole deleted in the og spot and added in as per the les paul's. I do not dig the switch in the way to my controls and in the middle of the road when I strum. Some folks dont care but I wasn't digging it. It will cause a double take when folks see the switch forward, lol:) -freeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezerburn Posted November 15, 2013 Author Share Posted November 15, 2013 Oh yah forgot, I had the truss adjust cover done in the cherry red pearl as well. The pickguard on it was a repro anyway so I thought I'd replace the pos and do my little customizing there as it was handy and immediately noticeable. Did I mention cheap? The switch wires needed a bit of lengthening but not much. I'll post up a pic or two one of these days -freeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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