mbberry Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) With the news that nothing is changing with the Dot I thought now would be a good time to post my “1962 ES-335 TDC”. It began life as an LE ES-335 PRO but the only thing that’s still original are the frets. I swapped the pups for Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, controls were replaced with CTS pots and pickup selector and Gibson Bumblebee caps. Swapped the tuners for Kluson double rings, the nut replaced with a Nubone. Bridge was replaced with a period correct ABR-1 tune-o-matic. Added the period correct truss rod cover, knob pointers and strap buttons. I had to get a little creative to get a pickguard bracket given the depth of the Epi compared to Gibby. Bought an ES and a mandolin bracket and mix matched the two. It’s holdong up a period correct Gibson style pickguard. This is a guitar that is truly “Inspired By Gibson” Edited January 22, 2020 by mbberry Typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Vee Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Hi, thank you for sharing your customization. It is beautiful! Nice job! I just purchased an Epiphone ES 335 Pro, and without getting into the details like you have done, I wanted to do some cosmetic changes. I wanted if you could share some technical specification about some componnets. I never done any customization to a guitar, so please apologize for stupid questions. - Volume and Tone knobs : can I buy Gibson type? Does it fit the Epiphone pot? - Knob pointers : Do I have to get other nut to fit them? - Nut : you changed for Nubone, do you have a reference to fit it perfectly or dis you have to cut a standard one? - Truss rod cover : the original screw holes sid not seems to be visible. Did you have to change anything? Is there some technical specification to check? (same as Les Paul?) I saw a Gibson PRTR-010 for 10 euros or a Gotoh F-400t for 2,2 euros. - Tuners : is it standard hole distance? Can I swap the tuner easily without to enlarge existing holes? - Pickguard : is it the same size as Gibson ES 335? Can I order a pickguard fro Gibson? - Pickup screws : I saw that the yours are black, I removed mines. There is 2 different lenght (neck and bridge). Do you have the reference of the screws? - pickup selector switch tip : Do you have a reference of yours? If not, do you know the thread size? (but I think you changed the switch, so maybe not the same as original) Thank you, Valery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbberry Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 Hi Valery! Terribly sorry for not replying sooner. I don’t have notifications set up and didn’t realise you had commented. I assume you found the information you needed but in case you didn’t here goes... -volume and tone knobs: they will have to be metric if you aren’t replacing the pots. They’re easy to find on ebay -knob pointers: as far as I know any will fit. It’s not a real snug fit on the post, they are held in place by the nut -nut: the nut and the electronics were done by a guitar tech -truss rod cover: that took a bit of modding. I used a small piece of cork painted black to go in the hole for the truss rod for on screw and made a new screw hole for the other. A little dab of paint in the existing screw holes makes them barely noticeable -tuners: vintage style klusons fit the existing hole. Modern grovers with the nut and washer would require enlarging the hole -pickguard: this was the trickiest bit. If you want to use the same bracket there are options available on eBay. Be sure to measure the distance between you pickups. I’m not certain a dot replacement pickguard will fit without modification -pickup surround screws: I bought from Stew Mac. If I remember correctly I bought two different lengths -pickup selector switch: if you just want to replace the tip you’ll need to buy metric. Standard Gibson won’t fit Hope this helps. Again sorry for the late reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charliemc2004 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 11:28 PM, mbberry said: Hi Valery! Terribly sorry for not replying sooner. I don’t have notifications set up and didn’t realise you had commented. I assume you found the information you needed but in case you didn’t here goes... -volume and tone knobs: they will have to be metric if you aren’t replacing the pots. They’re easy to find on ebay -knob pointers: as far as I know any will fit. It’s not a real snug fit on the post, they are held in place by the nut -nut: the nut and the electronics were done by a guitar tech -truss rod cover: that took a bit of modding. I used a small piece of cork painted black to go in the hole for the truss rod for on screw and made a new screw hole for the other. A little dab of paint in the existing screw holes makes them barely noticeable -tuners: vintage style klusons fit the existing hole. Modern grovers with the nut and washer would require enlarging the hole -pickguard: this was the trickiest bit. If you want to use the same bracket there are options available on eBay. Be sure to measure the distance between you pickups. I’m not certain a dot replacement pickguard will fit without modification -pickup surround screws: I bought from Stew Mac. If I remember correctly I bought two different lengths -pickup selector switch: if you just want to replace the tip you’ll need to buy metric. Standard Gibson won’t fit Hope this helps. Again sorry for the late reply Hi where did you get the pickguard from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbberry Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 (edited) http://www.mojoaxe.com/ is the only one I could find with the correct bevelling Edited May 27, 2020 by mbberry Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charliemc2004 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 What tuners did you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbberry Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 On 1/13/2021 at 8:27 AM, Charliemc2004 said: What tuners did you use. Kluson deluxe double ring https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/tuning-machines/solid-peghead-guitar-tuning-machines/kluson-3-and-3-deluxe-series-tuning-machines.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2021-01-gp&gclid=Cj0KCQiA9P__BRC0ARIsAEZ6irguMraf2h6VO8Vmfg-t8nFW1OplHaUr_jiulpQYHqj9pLzk7QYQGEsaAmYoEALw_wcB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt J-C C Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Hi Valery, You've probably already done this, but for anyone else coming to this thread for the same reasons as me ... I recently fitted a GRAPH TECH TUSQ XL PQL 6061 nut to my 2016 ES 335 Pro and it was a perfect fit for the slot. It's a mm or so too long each side, and too tall for decent action, but it can be carefully sanded down using fine wet-and-dry for a perfect fit (I taped the new and old nuts back-to-back to trim exactly the right amount off the ends, but this won't work for the height). You'll need feeler gauges or a string height tool to set the string height at the new nut, but it's a pretty easy mod to do yourself and I found it makes a HUGE difference to tone, playability and tuning stability. @mbberry, would you mind telling me the distance from the guitar body to the hole for the threaded rod on the pickguard bracket foot, as marked "x" below, please? I'm having the same challenge finding a replacement pickgard assembly to fit 😉 Thanks! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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