Needles Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Hi all you lovely knowledgeable people. I have a quick question regarding an old gibson guitar i inherited from my late dad. Its an es 120 T and somewhere along the line i was told its a student model and worth very little. All i know is its the only guitar i have that i love to look at but it doesnt sound great in the higher frets probably due to the floating bridge being slighlty off. Has anyone ever replaced pickups in these guitars and is it possible to change the bridge to a more stuck in the right place sort of bridge or is that a total mission? seems a shame its just sitting in a cupboard and im looking to buy an es 137 to replace one that got stolen last week. My anti-buy-more-gear brain is trying to get me to fix up the old 120 tone but my 'ooh look es 137 custom lightburst' brain is saying i deserve the new one! I know the es 137 will be a better guitar in many ways but if anyone out there has been in this position please humour me with a little advice or at least ideas about pickups to put in it. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 A luthier can set it up for you - probably a good idea if it hasn't been looked at for a while, and he or she will also correctly position the bridge and tell you how to not lose position when you change strings. What are you hoping to achieve by changing the pickup? My first impulse would be to leave it as is. Does it work? RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needles Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 A luthier can set it up for you - probably a good idea if it hasn't been looked at for a while' date=' and he or she will also correctly position the bridge and tell you how to not lose position when you change strings. What are you hoping to achieve by changing the pickup? My first impulse would be to leave it as is. Does it work? RN[/quote'] Its a single coil pick up but it doesnt quite look like it sits in properly as if the neck is scrunched up against it. perhaps the guitar will be fine with a proper set-up. it does work but up until now ive never had adecent tubeamp to put it through. It sounded quite muddy through the roland jazz chorus which normally makes things sound quite clear so im guessing the pots are dirty or something. it definitely doesnt sound like it did the day it was made. once i figure out how to post images here ill stick one up. Thanks Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 For an amp, maybe look at a 5E3? RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougg330 Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hi - I own an ES-120 that was badly hacked by someone who tried to install 2 humbuckers. My favorite luthier fixed the cut braces and installed a less microphonic Melody Maker pickup than the one that was in it... and the guitar is fantastic. Sounds great, plays even better. I say fix the 120 - then go buy the 137, too. Dougg330 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needles Posted August 26, 2008 Author Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hi - I own an ES-120 that was badly hacked by someone who tried to install 2 humbuckers. My favorite luthier fixed the cut braces and installed a less microphonic Melody Maker pickup than the one that was in it... and the guitar is fantastic. Sounds great' date=' plays even better.I say fix the 120 - then go buy the 137, too. Dougg330[/quote'] Thanks. Ive just left it off with a muthier so he may have to reset the neck dont know yet. Funds dont seem to be there for new 137 yet but maybe the blues/rock set im working on will generate a rake of winter gigs and the new year sales are always nice.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanC Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 It is possible to pin a floating bridge and it doesn't have to be a big piece of work. I have an ES165 that I've pinned. Not costly to do it. Ask your trusted luthier to provide advice as to whether on THAT guitar it's a sensible thing to do. The luthier I regularly use to set my guitars up, thought that it was technically straightforward, justifiable and didn't affect the tone. Regards, AlanC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 No need to pin the bridge, just trim a piece of light sandpaper to perfectly fit under the bridge -- friction plus string tension = no more skidding bridge. Use the lightest grit you can (in fact, use normal paper as a starting point). Good luck with it, that's a sweet guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needles Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 two year on an e120 t is now my favourite guitar. it i great for jazz and charlie chritsiany soloing which im aicte to deciphering. brige i happy. pick up i happy and recently trie rotosound jazz flatwound elevens which make it sing. overall happy to have not madea mistake messing with it too much. charlie christian is god amen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needles Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 incidentally d and s not working on my keyboard hence typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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