Reviews of Upgrades and Modifications

[Marcel]

Despite sharing the same birthday date going the full on Angus Young on stage isn't a part of my guitar playing style, so straplocks are low on my priority list.

As for switches and jacks, I find they generally fall in the same boat as pots, though exceptions are surprisingly frequent. I bought a brand new Gibson LP and the selector switch in it failed after only 6 months. It was replaced with a Switchcraft item under warranty and in the intervening years I've had nil problems since. By the same token the 3 way switch that was fitted to my '70's era Strat copy has never given any problems despite the seriously harsh treatment I gave it way back then as a teenager.

[fender3x]

This will be a bit bass-centric...

Talking about essential upgrades....

On an ES style guitar or bass where everything goes in through the f-hole, I just would not put anything in there that I thought was the least bit iffy. Upgrade all the pots. Bournes are the favorites here. I also like CTS and Alphas which get a lot less love. But I don't put anything in without testing first for ohms, scratchiness and taper. Switchcraft or Neutrik jacks. Switchcraft or (my favorite) C&K switches. Then test those too. And the wires. Test everything.

This logic probably holds for other guitars and basses too, since you don't want a pot or switch to fail if you gig with it. Also good parts are relatively cheap so why not updrade? But it's probably less critical on a guitar like a Tele or a Jazz bass where it's easy to swap out unless you don't like to solder.

Pickups! Nothing has made more of difference in the sound of my basses than upgrading the pickups. I have Alnico V's lipstick tubes in my first PBG bass. Not perfect, but better than the originals. I have passive EMG Geezer Butlers PJ's in my Frankenbass and they are just amazing. Particularly for the less-than $150 that they cost me. I had DiMarzio J's in this bass before that. Also good, better than the originals. I don't think you need to spend $400 for Virgil Arlos to get good sound, but a $100 investment in pups can make a huge difference.

Cheap Chinese bridges and tuners work amazingly well on the two basses I have them on. the machine heads are heavy, but they seem to keep the bass in tune, and they turn well. Must be easier to make them for basses than guitars. I agree with what others have said when it comes to guitars.

The standard Fender bass bridge has all the adjustment anyone really needs to set up the bass properly, and the cheap Chinese ones actually seem just fine to me. Such was Leo's genius that they are not only effective but they are not hard to make. The alternatives are expensive and don't add that much sonic or other value IMHO. That said, if you do want to upgrade for more sustain or higher mass, I'd consider the KSM. It's pricey, but it will improve sustain.

The three point Gibson style bridges are problematic even in the originals. If your bass uses one, I would recommend either replacing it or adding ferrules so that you can run the strings through the body. This is not a "stock" option (maybe it should be?), but I think this mod should keep the string tension from pulling the bridge-posts out of the bass.

I can't prove that bone or nuts are better than plastic by an A-B test, but I have never had a bone one disintegrate over time as I have with plastic ones. I just made my first bone nut and was surprised to learn that it's actually not that hard to do... I am just not going to go to the trouble of setting up a bass or guitar with a plastic nut when a bone or tusq nut is not that hard to replace it with and not that expensive.

[wazkelly]

All good comments Fender 3 and agree that anything going into a semi hollow body needs to be the best quality you can afford as it is such a pain getting everything in there and for it to work properly in the first place. Trouble shooting afterwards will most likely require removal of the entire wiring loom. Not sure my patience would be up for that.
On the one & only semi hollow build it took about 6 attempts to get everything installed and working properly.

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[wazkelly]

Hey Marcel, same birthday as Angus. Exact same date too?

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[fender3x]

On the one & only semi hollow build it took about 6 attempts to get everything installed and working properly.

When I finally finished mine, I broke a ground putting it in. I ended up re-soldering the connection through the f-hole because I could not bear to take it all out and put it all back again.


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[Marcel]

Hey Marcel, same birthday as Angus. Exact same date too?

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7 years apart. He's older...

[wazkelly]

Thought so.

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[blinddrew]

Straplocks on everything here, but then we practice standing up and gig fairly regularly. And my standard set up is with three guitars so there's a fair bit of off-and-on.

[Andyxlh]

Straplocks on everything here, but then we practice standing up and gig fairly regularly. And my standard set up is with three guitars so there's a fair bit of off-and-on.

I'm with you there. I use the cheapy eBay ones at about $2 each, cheap insurance I think. I have had no problem with any of them, and a few have done a fair bit of rehearsal and gig work. Waz is right though, some of them aren't interchangeable so it's probably worth stumping up for a batch from the same supplier so you can swap straps.

[DarkMark]

Can anyone recommend a brand/where to get jack inputs? I have the stock on my ES-5V but I find after a while the connection is not great. Lucky I can poke my finger through the f hole and bend the metal to remedy the problem. I would rather it didn’t happen in the first place.