wrench87 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 i just purchased a 2007 61 reissue in antique ebony with gold hardware, i like that i found a black one but i am not to crazy about the gold hardware. i believe this guitar is a limited edition in wich they made 400. i wanted opinions on if i should or shouldnt switch out all the hardware to nickle. i know it doesnt change how the guitar will sound but i will like the look better. any thoughts?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Go for it. It's your guitar, you should be happy with the way it looks. You can always put the gold hardware back on if you decide to sell it. A benefit is that the gold will still look brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb76 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 If it were me I'd do the exact same thing. There are only a handful of guitars that I think don't look tacky with gold hardware, and I'd have loved that guitar if they'd released it with chrome/nickel instead of gold. Just save all the old parts in a box "just in case" you ever wanna' make it stock again (or sell it all to help fund the replacement hardware if you are content that you'll never go back), and swap it off for silver so it looks good! A piece of advice though, DON'T try to change the pickup covers, just get different pickups. Once you desolder those covers and break that wax potting it'll never quite sound right and will feed back like a mofo. Have fun, and let's see it when you get it done! H-Bomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 thanks for the advise on the pick ups, where is the best place to buy all gibson parts?,what do you think it would cost to buy every thing. any information would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 cheapest place for gibson stuff would most likely be Guitar Center... or Ebay if you don't mind used Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb76 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 thanks for the advise on the pick ups' date=' where is the best place to buy all gibson parts?,what do you think it would cost to buy every thing.any information would be appreciated.[/quote'] There might be some other Gibson dealers who would cut you a little better deal on a whole guitar's worth of parts (E.M. Shorts is a good one...tell Jon I sent ya'!), or you could search on eBay. There are a lot of dealers on eBay (and a lot of reputable sellers who have constant flux of new/mint/near-mint genuine Gibson parts and that could save you a ton of money. That'd be my first try if I were you. Here's a list of what you'll need, and what you oughta' be able to get 'em for on eBay (I'm not sure what the "new" price at a shop would be, but it'll be considerably more...if you can't get a good price on them otherwise I'd just buy 'em new): - Gibson Deluxe tuners; modern/bolt-bushing, not "Historic" press-in bushing ($25 to $40) - Gibson Tune-o-Matic bridge ($15 to $30) - Gibson Stop Tailpiece ($15 to $30) - Gibson strap buttons ($5 to $8) - Gibson pickups; '57 Classics are the "standard" for the '61 RI, but there are others that aren't bad ($50-$125 for the set depending on condition and model) - chrome/nickel/stainless screws for truss rod, pickguard, pickup rings, neck and back plates ($10 to $15) - Gibson or Switchcraft replacement switch ($10 to $18) - Gibson or Switchcraft replacement jack ($5 to $8) Now, keep in mind that you could cut your costs by a major chunk if you got some quality non-Gibson parts instead, including some good second-tier pickups (Duncan, GFS, etc). But that's your call, if you've got the money to do the full-Gibson upgrade go for it. It's just gonna' be a little harder to keep costs down that way and when you're playing it you won't know the difference between a Gibson bridge or other make as long as they're made the same. I wouldn't lose any sleep going this route at least. H-Bomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vourot Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Wow,Hbomb thats some solid advice. Some quality people on these forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickey Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I have a '61 RI with nickel hardware & heritage cherry. I would LOVE to have gold hardware on mine, and would be interested in a hardware swap, but I live in Florida--How would we go about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 i found out mine is one of 400 made, so i dont want to sell the original gold hardware, i would like to switch it out and hang on to the original stuff in case the guitar is worth something down the road. thanks any way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sok66 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 While I agree with Hbomb on gold parts, since that one's from a limited edition run I'd just leave it and enjoy it for what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 While I agree with Hbomb on gold parts' date=' since that one's from a limited edition run I'd just leave it and enjoy it for what it is. [/quote'] well if he's going to play it, actually not a bad idea to remove the gold hardware (that way, the finish stays intact).... would certainly help down the road if he ever sold it and had pristine unscratched and unworn gold hardware on it... i say do it... get chrome or nickel hardware.... get gibson stuff, you won't regret it... don't cheap out man... and maybe have a good luthier do the swap so nothing gets messed up (not that it's hard, but just some extra peace of mind)... post some pics too!!! cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 how do you post pictures on this forum?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 how do you post pictures on this forum?. host your pics on website... (flickr' date=' photobucket, whatever...).... get the "link", ie. url for them... then post them in your post as [i m g']http:// url address of your pics [/ i m g] (don't put spaces like i did... i just did that to show you, other wise the system would have tried to make it into a pic.... cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 here is a picture of the guitar.http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/stella63/th_200761reissue2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 here is a picture of my guitar. http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/stella63/th_200761reissue2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 here is tne 2nd picture. http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/stella63/th_200761reissue4.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 do all the sg's have the gold inlay on the head stock?. http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/stella63/th_200761reissue4.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench87 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 do all the sg's have a gold inlay on the headstock?. http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/stella63/th_200761reissue4.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 here is a picture of my guitar. wrench - you forgot to add [/ i m g] (no spaces) at the end of your image url... also' date=' can't put space after the [ i m g'] tag... i added it in this reply... now the pic is visible... ps... also noticed you grabbed the thumbnail url... so just deleted the th_ and the full size is visible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 do all the sg's have a gold inlay on the headstock?. i'm not a super big fan of gold hardware, but it really does look good on black... if it were me, i think i'd keep it, but would only change the gold pickup rings to black ones, leaving all the other gold h/w.... i think it's the only gold trim rings that make it look odd... definitely unique looking compared to a regular ebony SG like mine... but that gold inlay is even sweeter! i like it! P.S. - this looks like the larger size headstock.... do all 61 RI's have the larger headstock, or only a few special models?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmiJAMM Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I knew this guitar reminded me of something. Bandit, out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb76 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 do all the sg's have a gold inlay on the headstock?. The USA '61 Reissue has pretty much always had a larger headstock than the Standard, Special, etc. I've seen a few examples of 60's SG's which had varying headstock sizes, so it's neither historically accurate nor INaccurate. I knew this guitar reminded me of something. http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp53/neogeoriffic/Bandit_Driver_front.jpg' alt='Bandit_Driver_front.jpg'> Bandit' date=' out![/quote'] *****in'! I'm eastbound and down, Snowman! H-Bomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Hello Wrench87! I like gold hardware here and there. On my Les Paul for example - and on your SG. And I like the way it wears. Gold hardware creates a nice vintage look with the years. I´d keep it as it is. Very nice guitar. And Neogeoriffic - cooooooooooooooooooooooool car. Unfortunately we don´t see too many of those over here in germany. Greetings Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI_Canuck Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 stole this pic from another thread... but this should give you an idea if you just swapped the pickup trim rings from gold to black... would look good imo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagabond Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I dunno why you guys are always ragging on gold hardware. I've seen a lot of really, really nice looking guitars on these very forums with gold hardware (the natural finish Les Paul Studio + gold hardware was just magnificent, I forget whose it was), I saw a white SG + gold hardware (including gold bigsby) that was amazing, and lets not forget the reverent and many Black Beauties we seen running around. Personally, my gold hardware on my wine red les paul studio is staying forever. I couldn't imagine that guitar with chrome/nickel. edit: this is not to say I think all guitars should have gold on it. you do to your guitar what you personally like, and to hell with anybody else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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