Magoo Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Thanks for the compliments guys! I am going to put a bone nut on mine and I'm interested to hear what difference you heard between the stock nut and the bone nut. Beautiful guitar BTW. jv Yes, I can notice more clarity and sustain with open chords, which I play a lot, and open notes. It stays in tune longer as well. I had to change the stock nut because the strings were digging too deep into it which prevented the action from being right. And the bone nut just looks much nicer. Having it replaced was inexpensive, since I combined it with the fret dressing and setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Marlowe Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 My 1961 50th anniversary SG with P-90s came without the adjustment screws for the wrap around bridge. Gibson was great and send me out a whole new bridge that just got here. But I honestly didn't care much for that bridge. I got a lot of vibration transfer from the D to the A string. I could pluck the D, Stop it and the A was sounding almost as loud as the D was. I ordered some cheap $5 bridge from China and while it's a bit higher than the stock wrap around, it's capable of getting JUST low enough to make the low E string vibrate so I guess it's good enough for now. Seriously looking at both the Wilkenson with the two string adjustment, or the harp bridge from Shaller in the future, but for now I can get my guitar intonated and no more vibrational transfer on the wrap around bridge. I also had to get out a block of wood and knock a few frets down flat that were sitting up high and had a hair's worth of space between them and the fretboard. They were up near the neck/body joint and now that I've done that all the buzz in the upper register is gone. Adjusted the truss rod to be a little flatter, and lower the action, but not so much I'd get buzz etc. Raised the pole pieces on my pickups to get a slightly stronger bite. Every nut on every pot and the jack were loose. Like every Epiphone or other budget guitar I've bought in my life. Not a big deal. Overall I'm pretty happy with it's playability. Bone or graphite nut is really the only other thing I'm looking at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 My 1961 50th anniversary SG with P-90s came without the adjustment screws for the wrap around bridge. Gibson was great and send me out a whole new bridge that just got here. But I honestly didn't care much for that bridge. I got a lot of vibration transfer from the D to the A string. I could pluck the D, Stop it and the A was sounding almost as loud as the D was. I ordered some cheap $5 bridge from China and while it's a bit higher than the stock wrap around, it's capable of getting JUST low enough to make the low E string vibrate so I guess it's good enough for now. Seriously looking at both the Wilkenson with the two string adjustment, or the harp bridge from Shaller in the future, but for now I can get my guitar intonated and no more vibrational transfer on the wrap around bridge. I also had to get out a block of wood and knock a few frets down flat that were sitting up high and had a hair's worth of space between them and the fretboard. They were up near the neck/body joint and now that I've done that all the buzz in the upper register is gone. Adjusted the truss rod to be a little flatter, and lower the action, but not so much I'd get buzz etc. Raised the pole pieces on my pickups to get a slightly stronger bite. Every nut on every pot and the jack were loose. Like every Epiphone or other budget guitar I've bought in my life. Not a big deal. Overall I'm pretty happy with it's playability. Bone or graphite nut is really the only other thing I'm looking at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 It depends with me, other than basic setup/dail-in. My les pauls I've left entirely alone. The sorrento- totally stock. My Fenders I usually change the pickups, thinking about putting a callaham trem block in my Strat. But I've changed my Casinos up a lot, changing everything that can be changed. Same with my ES-355, currently changing everything on this guitar, including a 4mm->6mm bridge swap- almost done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 I have a stock Pelham Blue 2013 Epiphone ES-355. Interesting to see the modifications being done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I have a stock Pelham Blue 2013 Epiphone ES-355. Interesting to see the modifications being done. did/does your's have white splotches on the fingerboard in some areas? This one had that pretty bad but while I've been working on it I've been cleaning/oiling & cleaning/oiling it and the splotches are almost gone! It's taken quite a few times though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Been thinking about this a bit... One thing that gets me to chuckling is how in the old days folks would die to get some Grovers on any old guitar that had strings - and now folks figure they're horrid. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 No splotches on the neck (or anywhere else) I played it for a while earlier this afternoon, it sounds like a nice electric should (to me). Loud when needed, not muddy or muffled, good sustain, low action with no neck string buzz. I have no complaints with it, yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Zeplin Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 It depends with me, other than basic setup/dail-in. My les pauls I've left entirely alone. The sorrento- totally stock. My Fenders I usually change the pickups, thinking about putting a callaham trem block in my Strat. But I've changed my Casinos up a lot, changing everything that can be changed. Same with my ES-355, currently changing everything on this guitar, including a 4mm->6mm bridge swap- almost done. Are the bridge and tailpiece black chrome? I need those for my casino. Where did you get them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Are the bridge and tailpiece black chrome? I need those for my casino. Where did you get them? They're black nickel. The trapeze is TOG and the bridge is graph tech resomax. The tuners are also black nickel, Grovers. All from Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucille64 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Well this is an interesting topic. First I'd like to say that most Epiphone's are fairly well made in structure. That being the wood used and the quality of the body and neck construction. In the case of my current Epiphone, a B.B. King model Lucille I bought this guitar as a sort of project. As far as adjustments go... well I sort of made a huge adjustment...... I removed all the hardware, wiring, pots, switch, pickups, nut, tuners, knobs and capacitors and jacks. I then sent it to one of the East coast's very finest repairmen and had him replace the pickups with Golden Age Parson's Street PAF ones. Alnico 5 at the neck and an Alnico 2 at the bridge. Then install NOS CTS Alpha pots, Gibson spec vintage wire, NOS Jensen paper in oil .022 capacitors, Switchcraft 3 way switch, Switchcraft jacks, a better quality Varitone circuit, an aluminum gold plated NOS Gibson stop bar tailpiece, hand made vintage unbleached bone string nut, Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuning gears, level, dress and polish all the frets, remove the Varitone switch plate and replace the original black speed knobs with Gibson gold bell top knobs. When I received it back it was just an amazing instrument. It played as sweet as any Gibson semi-hollow body ES335/ES345/ES355 I have ever owned without a doubt. What I really liked about the Lucille model was that it is a semi-hollow body with NO F holes. That is an appearance look that pleased my eye and it also creates a tone somewhat like a chambered Les Paul only with a much bigger chamber. In the end result I now have an excellent playing / sounding ES model that my total investment was only 1500.00 instead of 3 to 5 thousand dollars. This is what it looked like before the adjustments...... This what it looks like now...... Here is a better picture of the final product...... a picture of the hand made vintage bone string nut.... it turned out to be a piece of art if you can appreciate the detail and finess it takes to make an excellent string nut.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Marlowe Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Spent a couple hours this weekend countersinking the studs on my epi sg's wrap around bridge so I could use the $5 chinese cheapie I got off ebay, then dressed the frets a bit with 600/800 sand paper and checked with a ruler. Man, it's like my friends 1960s SG now. Huge improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joevacc Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I just got my '62 Sheraton reissue back from my luthier. He made a bone nut and replaced the bridge with a new ResoMax NV1 bridge. No more rattles from the bridge! That was driving me nuts! ;~) He had to fabricate shims for the bridge posts because the NV1 posts were too small. They are made of brass tubing and pressed in so it is completely reversible. These mods have made a nice difference. It really woke up the sound. He polished the new nut and it looks fabulous too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberpunk409 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I once owned an Epi LP, and I think I made the most amount of changes in the history of epi mods... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 I once owned an Epi LP, and I think I made the most amount of changes in the history of epi mods... No changes to the pick guard ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Were you happy with the results after all the work you put into it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 And I thought Rickenbacker's needed no further adjustments. Interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 My latest Epi, ready for adjustments! It's a 2008 '56 goldtop reissue and it's fantastic already so I'm planning on adjusting most everything. I mean this guitar plays nice!! , except for the pickups and I am seriously wondering about pinstriping to wrap it up, billy gibbons style but my striping design. anyhoo, $305 delivered: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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