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I love the smell of fresh guitar strings!

L

LikeLinus

Lifer
I decided the ESPs needed a good spring cleaning maintenance weekend. I completely disassembled the Floyd rose systems on 3 of my guitars (the other is a string through) and cleaned them totally and replaced a few parts (new springs and screws). I then adjusted the truss rod and intonation on each one and put a new set of strings on. They?re all tuned different for the various music I like to play.

They play wonderful and I?ve been goofing around the house all morning playing guitar and listening to music.

Next up ? I have a brand new set of tubes coming tomorrow from dougstubes for my 5150 head. I worked with him to select some Ruby 616GCMSTRs for the power tubes and Tung-Sol reissue in V1, 2 x Penta Labs in V2-V3, then a Ruby (9th Gen Chinese) C5 in V4 and an EH Gold in V5 for the 12AX7 preamp tubes. This should help me clean up any noise/hiss, brighten up the highs but keep the bottom end tight. I?ve had this amp since 1991 and it?s still a beast.

It?s like having fresh new gear!! This is my little guitar playing nook in my office.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/feedthegod/guitars.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/f...hegod/guitars_wall.jpg
 
Not only the smell, but the feel and sound too of course 😀 I recently changed mine, but for a good reason -- I popped in some Lace Sensors into my Strat and changed some pots. Apparently 250K pots give the best tone for strats, so I decided to try it out. It sings now. :thumbsup:

Obligatory pics:

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New strings have a certain appeal. They're quite bright, and vibrant. Ultimately I prefer them broken in. They're most functional after a few hours of play time imo.
 
Beautiful guitar CraKaJaX!! Yeah, It does make them play so nice and they sound good 🙂

I've been giving thought to doing the 18v mod to the EMGs. All of my guitars have EMGs and the 18v is supposed to brighten them up and just drive them better.
 
I hear you. EMG's are a solid choice. My buddy has almost the exact same guitar as the one with the Les Paul body. Floyd rose system, EMG (71's I think?) and it sounds great. Over summer break I'm looking to add an active 9V pre-amp circuit to mine to get a nice Buddy Guy/Clapton tone. It basically turns one of your tone knobs into a 25 dB pre-amp. All I can really say is watch this video -- Text.
Watch him turn the tone knob at ~1:01 and listen to the tone he gets. Fuckin' beautiful! He does it to a bigger extent at ~2:27. That's going to be my summer project. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
I hear you. EMG's are a solid choice. My buddy has almost the exact same guitar as the one with the Les Paul body. Floyd rose system, EMG (71's I think?) and it sounds great. Over summer break I'm looking to add an active 9V pre-amp circuit to mine to get a nice Buddy Guy/Clapton tone. It basically turns one of your tone knobs into a 25 dB pre-amp. All I can really say is watch this video -- Text.
Watch him turn the tone knob at ~1:01 and listen to the tone he gets. Fuckin' beautiful! He does it to a bigger extent at ~2:27. That's going to be my summer project. 🙂
Click to expand...

Great video, you should def do the mod. Love the bluesy tone that has, it really kicks up the mid bass. What amp do you use?

I had an American Strat back when I was probably 17-18 that my parents bought for me. It was midnight blue with the fade (like a sunburst) and had lace pickups. I eventually sold it because I play mostly hard rock and the ESPs just suit me better, but damn now I realize I made a huge mistake by not keeping it. It was such a great guitar to play.

Edit: Found it. This was exactly what it looked like
http://i46.photobucket.com/alb...07/PatGlove/30e7_1.jpg
 
Yea, I'm a huge bluesy-rock guy. My dad actually says that he will be able to route out the body (to the right of the knobs where there is nothing underneath) to fit the circuit board that I'm installing. We are then running the 9V battery jack through the hole where the body is grounded to the back plate so that I will be able to store the 9V in the back right next to the springs. This will require a bit of routing too, but nothing too bad. We're going to coat it so that moisture doesn't affect anything and stuff like that. I'll be sure to take pics and post them when I'm done. My main amp is a Fender Blues Jr (1x12, 15W all tube). I'm looking to mod that too because apparently fender has the bias voltage across the tubes WAY too high. This involves adding 2 trimmer pots and a cap I believe... nothing serious. I was looking at a site talking about it about a week or so ago. I'm mostly a drummer (~13 years now) and just started playing guitar about 3 years ago... so my gear is rather... limited 😛
 
You can check this thread that has most of my gear. Though the setup of almost everything is completely different now. I've also gotten a couple new stands and stuff like that.
 
CraKaJaX
I'm still debating a preamp or mid-boost circuit for my squier tele, to go with the new pickups I already ordered.

I know you probably don't want to take the pickguard off every time you need to change the battery, but if you can possibly avoid it, don't route anything in your guitar - it won't sound the same!

BTW I definitely gave my string winder a workout in the last week - new strings on 5 guitars. Not much that's better than nice fresh strings...

 
Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
CraKaJaX
I'm still debating a preamp or mid-boost circuit for my squier tele, to go with the new pickups I already ordered.

I know you probably don't want to take the pickguard off every time you need to change the battery, but if you can possibly avoid it, don't route anything in your guitar - it won't sound the same!

BTW I definitely gave my string winder a workout in the last week - new strings on 5 guitars. Not much that's better than nice fresh strings...
Click to expand...

You CAN fit the circuit into the hole that is already there for the pots and switch. I've read that it's tight as all hell though. I really don't want to do that. I'd rather have a nice clean job underneath. And yea, taking off the pickguard every time the battery dies would be a PITA. The tutorial here adds a killswitch to turn the board on or off... which would allow you to draw juice from the battery or not. I'm still weighing my options.
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX

You CAN fit the circuit into the hole that is already there for the pots and switch. I've read that it's tight as all hell though. I really don't want to do that. I'd rather have a nice clean job underneath. And yea, taking off the pickguard every time the battery dies would be a PITA. The tutorial here adds a killswitch to turn the board on or off... which would allow you to draw juice from the battery or not. I'm still weighing my options.
Click to expand...

Pretty cool project. I might save it for another guitar if the tele sounds like I want when I'm done rewiring and shielding.

I'm in the market for a strat, too, at make-this-month's mortgage payment recessionary prices.
 
Gorgeous equipment guys. I have a Fender acoustic on a stand in the corner right here. All I can get is a few chords reliably. LOL. I suxors (right now)....
 
Originally posted by: KDOG
Gorgeous equipment guys. I have a Fender acoustic on a stand in the corner right here. All I can get is a few chords reliably. LOL. I suxors (right now)....
Click to expand...

Just keep practicing! I'm so glad I learned guitar. It's a good outlet and I like just closing myself off in the office sometimes and playing after a long day or on the weekend for a bit. It's also nice to have a few beers and play too! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: KDOG
Gorgeous equipment guys. I have a Fender acoustic on a stand in the corner right here. All I can get is a few chords reliably. LOL. I suxors (right now)....
Click to expand...

I felt like that not too long ago. Once you get comfortable with using all your fingers, playing becomes much easier.

And amen to new strings. I'm always amazed how much nicer my guitar sounds with shiny new ones!
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
Not only the smell, but the feel and sound too of course 😀 I recently changed mine, but for a good reason -- I popped in some Lace Sensors into my Strat and changed some pots. Apparently 250K pots give the best tone for strats, so I decided to try it out. It sings now. :thumbsup:

Obligatory pics:

1
2
3
4
Click to expand...

Almost identical to my Fender Strat.. mmm.. sexy.
 
Originally posted by: TheVrolok
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
Not only the smell, but the feel and sound too of course 😀 I recently changed mine, but for a good reason -- I popped in some Lace Sensors into my Strat and changed some pots. Apparently 250K pots give the best tone for strats, so I decided to try it out. It sings now. :thumbsup:

Obligatory pics:

1
2
3
4
Click to expand...

Almost identical to my Fender Strat.. mmm.. sexy.
Click to expand...

Really? I have YET to come across a strat with the same finish/color as mine. My buddy said that his friend has an old vintage strat with ALMOST the same looking finish, but not quite. When I got it it was the only one they had in that color. I've been all over NYC and still haven't seen anything like mine. :Q
 
This thread makes me want to restring my Hellraiser. I've been neglecting it lately in favor of my Les Paul and acoustic, but it's such an amazing guitar for shredding. Guess it's time to work out the chops and get back into BTBAM.
 
Originally posted by: guitarslingerchris
This thread makes me want to restring my Hellraiser. I've been neglecting it lately in favor of my Les Paul and acoustic, but it's such an amazing guitar for shredding. Guess it's time to work out the chops and get back into BTBAM.
Click to expand...

I've got a 7 string version, not a bad axe for the price. I got it because of the 26.5 scale and for tunings exactly like BTBAM, etc.
 
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