G'day eh?

[laristotle]

Newbie here. Been browsing for a bit and found a lot

of useful info. Figure I might as well join. I have a few

guit's in my kennel including '92 Joe Pass II (samick).

It's my only Epi (I did have a 12 string in the late 70's,

but the neck was so warped I turned it into a planter).

Anywho.. I love the feel of my JP. The electronics/hardware

is why I'm here.

 

Pup's - So many choices out there. SD's, GFS, Gibby..etc.

Basically looking for bluesy-rock sound with just

the right feedback control, ala Sweaty Teddy (Nuge).

 

Bridge - ABS, roller, compensated?

 

Wiring - RS kits, Gibby, OEM..?

 

Tuners - Grovers vs Klussons or ?

 

I'm not to concerned about original parts (all my guit's are

players and they look it too). Any input is greatly appreciated.

Ciao fer now.

[matiac]

Pickups are a subjective thing, but I must say, seeing your avatar brought back some fond memories for me. I used to have quite a few Freak Brothers comix, them and Mr. Natural (R. Crumb), Shuman the Human, wow, thanks for the memories.

Edit: I'd go for them Grovers If'n it was me, the ones on the blue guitar pictured below are way better than the Gibson tuners on a Goldtop I recently sold. Them Grovers never go outta tune.

[JEPI]

laristotle - Welcome to the forum. If you do decide to change anything on your JP, SAVE your parts.........J

[sexygibson]

Wow G&F; you guys are really showing your age !

[matiac]

48 years young sir!! :-

[laristotle]

Tnx y'all. I grew up on Rip Off Press comics.

Well..any comic really. I'm sorta leaning to

the Grovers (mind you, anything I do will

probably be on the low budget. My wife has

better things to spend my money on after all).

Age? ha! I'm 19 with 27 yrs experience

 

BTW..how do you set up a sig here?

[matiac]

'Far as I'm concerned, ya just can't go wrong with them Grovers, even if they are Asian now! If I'm not mishtooken, their 18:1 ratio too, real responsive, I found the Gibson tuners were quite sluggish in comparison. As far as electronics go, the only thing I had a problem with was the selector switch, it got swapped for a Switchcraft, no more problem! The guts in 'ol Blue are still stock, haven't really found the need to replace them, I do fades with the guitar all the time, and no trouble there. Oh, where the hell are my manners? Welcome aboard! There's a ton and a half of real kool folks here would give ya the shirt off their back...well maybe not THAT extreme, but there's a vast pool of knowledgeable guys here will answer just about any question you got...'cept maybe serial number thingys! If I didn't hang out here, I'd be in the dark about just about ever'thin about my trusty Blue Bomber!

[laristotle]

The selector switch is the first thing I had to replace

(broken toggle). The bridge needs to go (not original),

it buzzes on the G saddle. Plus the posts are narrow,

causing it to lean in and throwing off the intonation.

Sometime in it's previous life the PG disappeared and

the TRC was swapped out for a plain solid black.

I don't regret trading a MIM strat for this though.

She just needs some TLC and attention (my other guit's

are getting jealous I think). I'll post pic's soon.

[carverman]

I have a few

guit's in my kennel including '92 Joe Pass II (samick).

Anywho.. I love the feel of my JP. The electronics/hardware

is why I'm here.

 

Pup's - So many choices out there. SD's' date=' GFS, Gibby..etc.

Basically looking for bluesy-rock sound with just

the right feedback control, ala Sweaty Teddy (Nuge).

Bridge - ABS, roller, compensated?

Wiring - RS kits, Gibby, OEM..?

Tuners - Grovers vs Klussons or ?

[/quote']

 

You didn't mention which guitar you want to customize..I'll assume it's the Joe Pass?

Well here's my .02 worth. (no particular order)

 

Pups: everybody's taste is different, but this is a archtop jazz box, so you are not going to get the

screaming electrified blues or tone out of this one. It's more of a mellow-yellow type of guitar.

 

I have GFS Vintage 59s on mine with push pull tone pots (.047uf traditional jazz box) and .022uf for

a bit brighter..but not too much tone.

SD makes some nice ones too, so do DeMarzio, so does Kent Armstrong (jazz pups), and even the

Stew-Mac Golden Age can qualify in the economical offerings.

Gibson 57 Classics, you can't go wrong with those..pricey but they do have that creamy sound.

Bendetto A-6, a very good Jazz humbucker (Guild uses them)

There a dozens more, but these are more appropriate for the JP.

 

Bridge: Either a t-o-m or the standard ebony. I use a GFS t-o-m and it has a slightly brighter tone

with it. Rollers are more for solid bodies, but if you like that style and do a lot of string bending,

it may be helpful for your style of playing.

 

Wiring: I like the old school Gibson vintage wire, but it's only good if your p_ups and pots are 1 wire.

(hot and shield). If you are going to 4 wire coil splitting (and push-pull tone pots), stick with the

shielded 4 conductor. You might want to use a molex male/female 5 pin connector (available from most

electronic stores) to make your p_ups connectorized so that you can change them out faster as

wiring up a archtop is a time consuming job, and you need to fish the pots, jack and 3-way.

Stew-mac do sell the kits though. Just check to ensure that the wire is the type you need.

 

Tuners: Another subjective component on a guitar: Grovers, Klusons, Gotoh, Gotoh Vintage (keystone type),

schallers,..the choice is up to you and what style of button you like and the gear ratio..16:1 14:1 etc.

 

EDIT: You may want to change the OEM tailpiece for a GFS one as well. Much better IMO.