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$255 Toggle Switch


Twang Gang

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Toggle on my LP Lite was faulty. I had pulled it out and bent it several times, but it wouldn't last so was time for a new one. Ordered from StewMac at about $18, but they charge $9.99 to ship it. Was the wrong size, and cost me about $7 to mail it back - full refund no problem, but spent $17 on shipping so far. Ordered correct size from a Switchcraft distributor (Gibson store did not offer them - length is unique to the LP Lite or LP Less models due to thinner body). Distributor said it was in stock ready to ship right away, but didn't hear anything for over a week. Called, they had made a mistake of some sort, but were nice enough to ship it overnight for free. Got it, had a tech install as I do not have soldering iron for small work like that and would mess it up for sure. Installation $45. Switch works great, but found one of the coils in the bridge pickup was dead.

 

Time for a new pickup. After some shopping and debate decided to go with the same pickup it came with 498T. Got the zebra one for $125 (saved $25 from the one with the gold cover) and just used the old cover so the patina (worn tarnish) looks the same on both. Great experience with Gibson on-line store a few simple questions answered through chat, free shipping and got it two days later. Old cover fit fine (pole piece spacing a little wider on bridge than neck) and another $45 to install it. So with some sales tax my faulty toggle ended up costing about $255 [scared]

 

So that was my Xmas present to myself. All's well that ends well, it sounds great and is once again gig ready!!

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Well I had a guy bring me an epiphone es 295 he picked up somewhere for 75 bucks. He thought it just needed a set of strings and a couple of tuning keys. Well he needed a whole set of tuning keys and a toggle switch, the thing had a bigsby and no bridge so guess what, he needed one of those too. I go to replace his toggle switch and drop a little alligator clip down into the guitar that I was using to hold things in place while soldering. I get to shaking the guitar around trying to get the alligator switch out and I notice something big sliding around in there. It was a freaking rat nest with chicken feather and hay all mixed into it. I get it all back together and guess what, now his pots and jacks are all messed up because I believe the rats had a field day in there with the wires on that end. I pull one of the plastic tome knobs off and it was all rusted and corroded like you never have saw before and this is already at 135.00 bucks in for what has been done so far too without touching the tone and jack pots. Go figure!! By the time he is done he could have purchased a good used one for like 450.00 without the rat nest you know!

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Ouch,

 

I bought a low profile switchcraft toggle switch for my semihollow Ibanez from the eBay seller The Art of Tone for $18 and it is the smoothest switch ever including all other switchcraft switches on my other guitars. I really like it and it is even better because the smooth action means less noise switching on a semihollow.

 

The low profile is the actual switch mechanism being shorter than a standard les Paul.

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Twang Gang. Wouldn't your Les Paul have been under warranty? How much does a good soldering iron and an old LP copy cost to practice on?

There are plenty of videos on YouTube on how to do it. I wouldn't trust anyone to do internal work on my guitars.

As a note. I want a red top Les Paul. I've been looking at a 18 Classic as a donor guitar. Who do I get to paint the top? I'm a painter and decorator by trade and wonder if I should do it myself.

The only worry is the binding scraping. I'm thinking of buying an old copy to practice on.

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Twang Gang. Wouldn't your Les Paul have been under warranty? How much does a good soldering iron and an old LP copy cost to practice on?

There are plenty of videos on YouTube on how to do it. I wouldn't trust anyone to do internal work on my guitars.

As a note. I want a red top Les Paul. I've been looking at a 18 Classic as a donor guitar. Who do I get to paint the top? I'm a painter and decorator by trade and wonder if I should do it myself.

The only worry is the binding scraping. I'm thinking of buying an old copy to practice on.

 

The LP Lite that I bought came with two volumes, one tone and a toggle switch for coil tap. I didn't care for that so much so had the toggle replaced with a second tone pot and a push/pull for coil tap. Since I had a tech replace the toggle and re-wire the pots, I figured the warranty was voided. I could have argued that the pick-up should still be under warranty, but with the wiring work that had been done not sure I would've won that argument. By the time I shipped it back and forth for warranty work (if I had won that argument) or bought a soldering iron and a beater guitar to practice on I think I would've spent $255 anyway, and not sure I would have gotten the job done properly. Fortunately the guy I use really knows his stuff, and I trust him to do any and all work I can't do myself.

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