mud guy Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 This is probably as close as I'll ever get to owning a 1954 LPC black beauty. I just completed my latest mod on my LPC. I added a B70 bigsby and roller bridge. Ordered it from Stewmac on tuesday and they arrived yesterday (to Canada none the less). I haven't had time to give it a good work out, just a restring and setup on action and intonation. Anyway, here are some pics: (sorry, stock LPC 54 black beauty image) cal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 MG - Ahhhh.... BEAUTIFUL! YOUR pickups look better than the Stock ones in the picture! Wow. Do you have any Step-by-step pics you can add commentary to as to HOW you did it???? Man, with all that hardware, it looks like something from a TERMINATOR movie! Excellent work, a NOBLE project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 That looks sooooo sweet man. That really is a beauty. Now change the toggle switch tip to a vintage amber one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Moore Tribute Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Looks fantastic! Make me wanna add one to my custom.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleWide Revival Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Really awesome looking! Classic for real! Did you have to drill some holes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Very nice. What's it weigh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Now thats nice. i like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mud guy Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Now change the toggle switch tip to a vintage amber one! Wow, you're as anal as I am...it bugs me everytime I look at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 sweet mod what a beuty even if it only has two pickups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mud guy Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Thanks everyone. I didn't photo-document the installation. Everything pretty much went as described on youtube videos (check out one from bigsby guitars where the install a b700 on a dot studio and you'll get the idea). There was one surprise. The top screw hole on the bigsby on the base side partially intersects the bushing hole for the stop bar, making it impossible to install a screw as is. A quick search on google lead me back to the gibson forum where someone said this is normal, and the solution is to plug the hole with a 1/2" dowel. I cut a ~1" plug and tapped it into the bushing hole. The fit was snug, so I did not think it was necessary to glue the dowel. It will also allow me to remove the dowel if I decide to put the stop bar back on. I coloured the top of the dowel with a black furniture touch up marker I happened to have. I popped out the stop bar bushing on the treble side and realized that the ground wire makes contact with that bushing, so I popped the bushing back in. It's mostly covered by the bigsby and because it makes contact with the base of the bigsby, it maintains ground. So in the end, it's 4 holes; two 5/64 " holes on either side of the strap pin, and two 3/32" holes on the top. The Stewmac roller bridge studs screwed right into the existing bridge studs. The deal from stewmac for the bridge and bigsby was cheaper than if I bought the bigsby alone from Canadian sources. Technically it should weigh about 1/2 lb more, but it still feels about 2 lbs lighter than my elite lpc! I will have to weigh them both sometime. I'll have to update on tuning stability once I get some time to mess around with it a bit. -Cal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mud guy Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 sweet mod what a beuty even if it only has two pickups The original black beauties were two pickup, a P90 in the bridge and Alnico V in the neck. Stop bar or bigsby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleWide Revival Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 I have to post again. I generally don't like gold hardware at all, but that thing looks killer!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Ah, black and gold, an absolute classic of a colour scheme, excellently executed, fantastic job Cal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mud guy Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Very nice. What's it weigh? Hi Brianh- I weighed it this morning, 9 lb 5 oz with the bigsby. I was kind of right on my elite LPC, it weighs 10 lbs 7 oz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hi Brianh- I weighed it this morning, 9 lb 5 oz with the bigsby. I was kind of right on my elite LPC, it weighs 10 lbs 7 oz. Thanks, 9 lbs ain't bad at all for an LP with a Bigs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mud guy Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 So I've had a chance to wobble the bigsby (played on and off for about an hour) a bit now and I have to say that the tuning stability is better than I expected, in fact it seems to be staying dead on once the new strings set up. I'm not sure if it is the roller bridge that is helping with that or not. Nothing like adding a bit of shimmer to a big ol' open Em chord or trying to cover some "walk don't run". It certainly is a different beast now from my other LP, which is not a bad thing. So overall, quite satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Bumperoo.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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