elantric Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 After my Father passed away in October 2008, I purchased the Dark Fire to keep his memory alive. So far its been a very good purchase. I have been able to use the Dark Fire during rehearsals this past week - I currently work with a female singer songwriter who composes every song in a different tuning, or Capo position. This is very typical of most alt rock/folk guitarists today. I played the Dark Fire thru my pedal board ( Barber Tone Press compressor, Tube Screamer, Volume pedal, Line 6 Echo Park) and then fed a Roland Cube Street on Black Panel setting - as the other guitarist just plays a high end Taylor acoustic no PA rehearsal in a living room. I have to say the Dark Fire is a wonderful sounding guitar. Really good intonation, and amazing Sustain! even at low volume! It was a joy to go between standard tuning and DADGAD in 2 seconds, and using my new G7th Nashville Capo worked well - even with the factory .010" gauge strings. http://www.g7th.com/ I employed the Piezo blend a lot, effectively giving me an Acoustic sound - it was a joy! BTW - I removed the pick guard and my Dark fire looks rather good. Nice matching flames left and right. I ordered a set of Gibson black speed knobs so all 4 would match the MCK. I'll probably swap truss rod covers too. In other news - I just heard Fender is raising all prices 20% across the board - effective Feb 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 After my Father passed away in October 2008' date=' I purchased the Dark Fire to keep his memory alive. So far its been a very good purchase. I have been able to use the Dark Fire during rehearsals this past week - I currently work with a female singer songwriter who composes every song in a different tuning, or Capo position. This is very typical of most alt rock/folk guitarists today. I played the Dark Fire thru my pedal board ( Barber Tone Press compressor, Tube Screamer, Volume pedal, Line 6 Echo Park) and then fed a Roland Cube Street on Black Panel setting - as the other guitarist just plays a high end Taylor acoustic no PA rehearsal in a living room. I have to say the Dark Fire is a wonderful sounding guitar. Really good intonation, and amazing Sustain! even at low volume! It was a joy to go between standard tuning and DADGAD in 2 seconds, and using my new G7th Nashville Capo worked well - even with the factory .010" gauge strings. http://www.g7th.com/ I employed the Piezo blend a lot, effectively giving me an Acoustic sound - it was a joy! BTW - I removed the pick guard and my Dark fire looks rather good. Nice matching flames left and right. I ordered a set of Gibson black speed knobs so all 4 would match the MCK. I'll probably swap truss rod covers too. In other news - I just heard Fender is raising all prices 20% across the board - effective Feb 1st.[/quote'] Steve, my condolences to you. I am sure your dad passed very proud and content with the son he raised. What a great way to remember him and cherish his memory. This is great feedback. I enjoy the sounds and feeling from my DF on a daily basis but its a test tube situation. Getting such insight from a working musician's perspective is priceless. Can you please post the link for the knobs you purchased? I share your sentiments on the truss rod cover. I looked for a black one but my shop didn't have it. I then decided to take the matter in my hand and now i'm making one from a matching carbon fiber plate. I'll post photos once I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Plain Gibson Truss rod cover http://www.allparts.com/store/gibson-factory-parts-prtr-010,Product.asp http://store.gibson.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx/en-us/hardware/covers-pickguards/prtr-120 Gibson Black Speed knobs http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Speed-Knobs?sku=360918 http://store.gibson.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx/en-us/hardware/knobs-dials/prsk-010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Thanks for that. Too bad the knobs don't ship overseas. Will get a colleague to buy for me and ship. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locka Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Steve (if I may call you that), I'm very sorry to hear that your father passed away. My father had heart problems a about a year and a half ago, and I was pretty freaked out when I thought we were going to lose him. A couple of weeks ago I actually pulled the black speed knobs off of my Epiphone Les Paul Custom and put them on my DF and they looked much better than the tophats (I put the tophats back on when I shipped it back to Nashville for some work) and I wonder why they used the tophats instead. Then I went to order some genuine Gibson speed knobs and they were sold out pretty much everywhere. I've been wondering if other people have been doing this and that's why there seems to have been a run on them. I have been able to order the truss rod cover however, and got mine a week ago. Also, when you took the pickguard off, didn't it leave holes in the body somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLexxiTronic Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I had been desiring to do the same with the knobs. I just haven't had time to locate any. So, thanks! I really like both types of my 6-string G7th capos; they're great products. Bad thing for me is that I'm without tools and not sure how to actually go about swapping out the knobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Singapore source for parts: http://flexguitars.com/shopfront/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=158_148_154&products_id=1064 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulhuru Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Did the same, my dealer had the parts in stock. Lucky me :-) I also put back the tophats when I returned it for fixing MCK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraku Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Nice session report, elantric! I also dislike the look of tophats and am planning to replace them with black speed knobs. But I have never done that before. How do you take of the tophats without damaging the top? Thanks, Giraku Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zed91 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 For France, you can try this : http://www.customshop.fr/ . You'll find every part you need there. The shop is in Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 If you carefully / slowly pull up - the old top hat knobs remove easily, New Speed knobs will press right on - provided you obtain genuine Gibson Speed Knobs - a few Asian copy knobs are designed for the smaller Asian pot shafts, and will not fit. Re - pickguard screw holes - An old repair trick, I filled the top one with a dark red crayola , the side one with a dark brown- color matched from a box of these: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Tease ... More here on the project ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraku Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Thanks, elantric, for the input. I will be gentle pulling up the tophats... Nice work, MCK!!! That looks much better than the original red one. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitareal Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 AMAZING!!! great idea MCK... (I m waiting to see what 's on your mind for the pick guard ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I thought of the pickguard too but like it or not, under the pickguard is one area with some flame on my DF so I might actually get rid of it to get more flame going ... This was a fun little project but I now know better why Gibson chose to go with the fake carbon fiber look rather than the real thing. It was a lot of Dremel grinding & sanding for such a little part and of course the side angle is not consistent as the original part. I wish I had one of those small home DIY CNC rigs... Maybe I'll build one of those first. If anyone is interested I can share more info. Let me know. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good work MCK Just a heads up, the "Carbon Look" on the pickup covers is the result of a photolithographic application technique. By sunday afternoon at NAMM, several demonstration Dark Fire bridge pickups were starting to show the true "chrome" of the underlying metal PU cover on the edges - as the photo carbon look paint had been worn off the corners of a few Dark Fires PUs. If this guitar actually becomes collectible, and you intend to play this guitar a lot and submit it to typical wear and tear - it may be wise to swap PU covers and keep the pristine originals in a safe place, as the carbon look paint on the pick up covers is vulnerable to chipping. In the future - i suggest Gibson refrain from using fragile cosmetic artistic touches in the playing area that do nothing for the performance of the guitar. Maybe its just me, but the fake carbon look is my least favorite aspect of this guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLB Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Great work MCK....it looks good. Very good job making that part. I know it took sum time and effort to get it done. I might be in the minority here, but I like the origial Dark Fire TRod cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good work MCK Just a heads up' date=' the "Carbon Look" on the pickup covers is the result of a photolithographic application technique. By sunday afternoon at NAMM, several demonstration Dark Fire bridge pickups were starting to show the true "chrome" of the underlying metal PU cover on the edges - as the photo carbon look paint had been worn off the corners of a few Dark Fires PUs. If this guitar actually becomes collectible, and you intend to play this guitar a lot and submit it to typical wear and tear - it may be wise to swap PU covers and keep the originals in a safe place, as the carbon look paint on the pick up covers is vulnerable. In the future - i suggest Gibson refrain from using fragile cosmetic artistic touches in the playing area that do nothing for the performance of the guitar. Maybe its just me, but the fake carbon look is my least favorite aspect of this guitar [/quote'] Thanks for the heads up. I agree I would have much rather preferred non carbon look all over. The only reason I went with the look for the truss rod cover was because I dis-liked the red one more and a black one was not available in my shop. Who knows it might grow on me after a while. Is it hard to swap the PU covers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Is it hard to swap the PU covers? If you never did it before - the Metal Bridge PU cover is the most difficult. requires soldering. Neck is no problem - simple replace with your choice: http://www.allparts.com/store/gibson-factory-parts-prpc-050,Product.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Great work MCK....it looks good. Very good job making that part. I know it took sum time and effort to get it done. Thanks. I enjoy the feeling of having a one-off DF however small the customization is... It wasn't too hard to do but I am wondering if it will be worth having lung cancer over it... I hope I didn't inhale too much. I might be in the minority here' date=' but I like the origial Dark Fire TRod cover. [/quote'] This is what makes our world a beautiful. If we all felt the same way about things it would be such a boring place. Keep well!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 If you never did it before - the Metal Bridge PU cover is the most difficult. requires soldering. Neck is no problem - simple replace with your choice: http://www.allparts.com/store/gibson-factory-parts-prpc-050' date='Product.asp [/quote'] Thanks once again. I think I will live with it for a while and not attempt this change for now. Let me go and hunt those knobs now.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitareal Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I might be in the minority here' date=' but I like the origial Dark Fire TRod cover. [/quote'] As far as the red color i agree with you, although i'd like to get rid of the "Dark Fire" text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 As far as the red color i agree with you' date=' although i'd like to get rid of the "Dark Fire" text[/quote'] Hmm.. maybe elantric's crayon technique can work there too... Another idea is to reverse it. The backside of the trod cover is still anodised aluminum but not so shiny... Also the beveling would be reverse but you would not see it from a distance. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLB Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 This is what makes our world a beautiful. If we all felt the same way about things it would be such a boring place. Keep well!!! Man, you're right on.....that's what keeps the world kickin ! One other thing that you've done in addition to making your DF different than the rest is you've kept ur DF where you can easily replace the changed parts to return it to original (with no modification to the DF itself). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitareal Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Hmm.. maybe elantric's crayon technique can work there too... Another idea is to reverse it. The backside of the trod cover is still anodised aluminum but not so shiny... Also the beveling would be reverse but you would not see it from a distance. Just a thought. Oh... so the back side of the cover is red almost like the from side?! (how could i know, since i have not received my guitar yet ...don't get me started with this issue again) Thanks MCK this is the first thing i will try. If it looks ok, maybe i'll also try to paint a black flame (or something ) in the center of the cover with some special marker, in order to give it a different identity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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