cravest Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 ok guys well it didnt take me long to succumb to the urge of upgrading my LP. I do admit that its still fantastic stock but i cant resist. Play blues, southern rock mostly and have just finished hording my new parts. SD 59's neck and bridge. 50's vintage braided wiring with s/craft 3 way input, CTS 500k pots .015 and .022 caps Gibson vintage reissue .10 strings gotoh tuneomatic bridge aluminium tailpiece Black tusq nut Now i know thats a lotta stuff and i only really wanted the electrics and pickups but the hardware and nut was a present. The point is what do i put in first?? i was gonna get the pick ups/strings done with a set up first then add others bit by bit by a tech when have time. this way i thought i could try and see what improvements or problems each upgrade cost.. or should i just get them installed and worry afterwards.? will be cheaper in regards to tech costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Cravest, As you have already decided to have someone else do the work, I would have it all done at once. For a few bucks extra I would also have the toggle switch and output jack replaced. Personally, I don't like others working on my guitars. I've heard too many people complain they got their guitars back with nicks, dings, or scratchs that were not there before. They end up with anything from a gift certificate for a few bucks to "Gee, it must have been that way before." (dosen't help the guitar any) If, however, you feel you have a tech you trust, the cost should be a little less if all the parts are replaced at once. One benefit to having a tech do it for you is that if there is a problem you have someone to take it back to. Still, as far as I'm concerned, the less trips to the shop the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canine Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 My thing is that I just don't like it when other people go mess around with my axe. I took one of my guitars once for a simple replacement of the output jack and, for some strange reason, the action was completely different and the guitar just felt strange. I can't explain it, but it just felt weird. I tried to find a reason as to why they had to mess around with the action, and it drove me crazy! There's lots of tutorials out there you can watch, they'll give you some guidance, you can also buy a book and practice on spare parts and gone bad projects, if you have any. I had my Frankenstein guitar to lean with, even that became useful in the end. I'm no luthier but I do try to do my best and most importantly, I do it the way I like it, no shortcuts to save money, no shortcuts to save time. I got my new guitar coming today and I already identified a few areas I'm going to be improving on. I also have the new pups for my project guitar I'm gonna try to install today, along with other parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I replied to this.. then lost my connection. *sigh* first off.. I recently had my sheri apart to check some parts fit for a guy, and it took me a couple of tries to make it feel like it did to start. When you to to a tech, he doesn't really take the time to get to know the guitar as well as you, even measurements don't always tell the tale. So, for my money, you're on the right track. You want to: remove strings. check bridge and tail for spacing. hold bridges together, and tails. that will tell you if the post spacing is the same. Next look at bushings and post threads, if they don't interchange, you have to pull the bushings to install the new ones. remove pickups, put in new ones. no soldering in. build a pice of cardboard with correct component spacing and solder parts together. remove old parts. put in new. solder in pickups. remove nut. hold flat screwdriver tip to nut end, tap with handle of another screwdriver, lightly. several times each side until it breaks free. smooth the groove out if it needs it. put nut in..check for width first, removing what you need to to make it the right width, a little on each end if it's too wide will keep the strings spaced right. don't glue it in. put on old strings. check nut slot height. press any tuned string at 3rd fret.. check distance between bottom of that string and top of 1st fret.. should be a hairs breadth.. or as someone said, thickness of a piece of copy paper. if nut is too low, use original, or get one that isn't. if nut is too high, place med. sandpaper on flat surface,and sand bottom of nut down, step by step, gradually, until it's the right height, end to end. when you have the nut right, tune up with old strings recheck everything. then you can glue the nut down with strings off using elmers.. elmers holds tight but breaks free easy.. good stuff to use here. clamp with a capo. if you don't have one, get a piece of wood and fit it evenly across the radius of the nut and use rubber bands to tighten it up like a capo would. let it dry for an hour, seated correctly. put on new strings. I'd do it all at once. step by step. bridge/tail. pups. electronics. nut. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.