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wazkelly
23-09-2018, 04:14 PM
Having built a few Guitars and Basses over past 3 years most of them have been upgraded or modified in one way or another and felt that it would be a good idea for forum members to share their experiences and also the why, what and how so the broader community can benefit from some of these changes to standard kits.

My kit building journey began about 3 years ago and had been stalking the PBG site for a few months before ordering the 1st kit. At that stage I had no idea what were the essential upgrades, ie the must do items, compared to the higher end desirable but not so important things. Hoping that this part of the forum brings an insight into why some members have chosen to do things a particular way, combined with what they did and how things turned out, whether good, bad or indifferent, as let's face it, not all mods or experiments work out as planned.

By no means should this become a voice to trash the standard kits as they are built to a price and are a great place to start with to create a decent playable instrument at an affordable price. Hopefully this should offer an insight into some of the many optional extras and what to expect based on the reviewer's comments.

I will kick off with the most obvious upgrade and that is the standard guitar tuners which are functional and remain on 2 out of my 7 builds however Adam's special offer for the Grover locking units will be the best $45 - $60 spent on your guitar. Bass tuners are a different story and will create a separate thread with pictures.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing about all the mods & upgrades done by fellow forum members.

Cheers, Waz

dave.king1
23-09-2018, 08:16 PM
I'll play.

On my PB-4H I swapped the pups for equivalent GFS items and GFS high mass bridge, all this happened at the build stage so I have no comparison to fall back on. It sounds great and plays well but it sits in the case because I don't play much bass these days and my office is just too tight to swing a 34" neck around, and I have a nice Yamaha 30" scale bass with a Fender Seth Lover 1970s HB ( pup is worth far more than the bass )

The Strat, I have only replaced the pups twice, I recorded with the kit pups and got a very credible Hank Marvin sound which is what I was looking for, not so good with James Wilsey ( Chris Isaak) sounds though but I had a set of Seymour Duncan Stacked Humbuckers that changed the sound into everything I wasn't looking for. Today I have Tonerider Vintage Classics and now have the sonic territory I was looking for well covered.

Next upgrade on the Strat will be a new 5 position switch because the kit item has become noisy.

My Tuff Dog Tele has a few mods all done from the get go to try and recreate the image of the Merle Haggard Custom Shop guitar, gold Tonerider Hot Classics because the CS has Texas Specials, gold 6 saddle bridge, gold oval jack plate and a white switch tip. The only thing I have to replace is the tuners to be gold with pearl buttons rather than all gold, still looks classy so may not bother.

The Strat and Tele have bone rather than plastic nut, bass yet to be replaced.

I also have a non PB Tele kit that has vintage Schaller Humbuckers in place of the single coils, Wilkinson compensated hardtail style bridge and bone nut. I rarely play this one and have put Elixer flatwounds on it for recording rhythm parts to get rid of string noise, will probably jack the action up and tune it open D or G for slide because the HBs really rock.

ps. On the subject of the Tuff Dog I saw Redd Volkaert at Penrith RSL in Feb this year who informed me that he had changed Merle's Texas Specials to Seymour Duncan's but couldn't remember which ones.

Sonic Mountain
24-09-2018, 07:32 AM
Have to agree - Tuner upgrade is the best value for money improvement you can make. I also prefer a graphtech nut to the kit one.

The next best upgrade I think is the bridge. The kit ones are perfectly serviceable, but an upgrade really makes setup a lot nicer to do and easier to achieve. I've also found on the tunematic style bridges that they tend to rattle/buzz a bit - I'm planning on swapping them out eventually. So far I've found the stock pickups to be surprisingly good, it is fun to change and muck around with them, but I think that's the last thing I'd spend money on to change. My favourite combo so far is a stock neck humbucker and a vintage series Tonerider bridge pickup on the Sonicaster. The amount of tonal shade is amazing for such a simple setup.

dave.king1
24-09-2018, 08:31 AM
Weird, I posted in this thread and now it's disappeared.

Talked about the changes I made to the PB, ST & TL kits

Brendan
24-09-2018, 10:29 AM
Weird, I posted in this thread and now it's disappeared.


Looks like you'd accidentally deleted it. Good news - I could restore it.

dave.king1
24-09-2018, 10:57 AM
Thanks Brendan, the edit function when posting from my phone does strange things.

Now that I am on the PC I have redone the edits in the post that disappeared

wazkelly
24-09-2018, 06:11 PM
Thanks Brendan, Sonic & Dave, all good contributions.

What I envisaged was for us to create some sort of catalogue of the individual mods & upgrades, and specifically reviews on any branded parts used so that others can gain an insight into whether that would be a good option for them too.

Case in point was my recent search for information and feedback on GFS Bass pickups before diving in the deep end to try them out for myself.

I reckon it would be handy if the search function could pick up on keywords used throughout the many forum threads to help find such information, but if that is too hard maybe this corner of the forum could be a good place to drop various reviews for others to discover and help them make better informed decisions on what might work for themselves.

Really keen to see this grow and become a vast source of useful information to share with our fellow kit builders and forum members.

Andyxlh
24-09-2018, 06:39 PM
Ok here's my list off the top of my head...
For me, I have 2 guitars with Gibson style bridges on them. It is very cheap to replace the knife edge bridge with a roller saddle one from eBay, they're come in all colours, and this solved a string breakage issue.
Again from eBay, the 42mm bone nuts are great if u take the time to fit them well.
The knock off Schaller strap locks, at about $1.50 each, eBay, are outstanding value. I remember paying about 30 quid for a set of real ones over 25 years ago (funny the things you remember).
I have had a fair few tonerider pickups in the guitars and found all of them superbly made and nice sounding
I have an Artist Bullbucker in the Frankenstrat which is amazing for about 30dollars
The locking nut on my SV1 has stripped the threads, and the replacement I got on the cheap did the same. I need to invest in an all steel nut to solve this which I did when I fitted the floyd rose special to the Frankenstrat.

DarkMark
25-09-2018, 09:51 PM
Everyone seems to talk up upgrading the tuning machines, what is advantage? My guitar is still young but I can’t say I have any issue with the stock tuners. This question has been on my mind for quite some time.

Simon Barden
26-09-2018, 12:37 AM
There are four different reasons to upgrade that I can see.

1) For looks. If you are trying to recreate a vintage style guitar/bass, then the stock generic kit tuners aren't going to do it.

2) For operation (1). If you are a heavy trem user, then you'd probably benefit from locking tuners.

3) For operation (2). The stock kit tuners are often quite low geared, some with a 12:1 ratio (though the only set of kit tuners I have handy are 15:1). The higher the ratio, the easier it is to get the guitar tuned, as each turn means a smaller movement of the string. As you can now get guitar tuners with 18:1 ratios, then you may want to upgrade for that reason. There is also less backlash in the gears. Once you get to 12:1 and above, there's enough resistance to stop the string tension pulling the posts round, so there's no need to upgrade for that reason.

4) For operation (3). The stock tuners are of varying quality. You may get a set where they are all fine, or you may get some where either they are very hard to turn or the peg is very loose so an upgrade is a good idea. A good set of tuners should have a consistent smooth feel with no graunchy bits and minimal backlash in the gears.

With the cost of upgrade Grover tuners from Pitbull being so cheap (for guitars at least), as long as you can get a set of tuners that fit the looks you want, then for me it would be an easy decision to upgrade them each time.

wazkelly
26-09-2018, 04:33 AM
I have tried to persist with standard kit tuners for guitars and their overall design is ok as they look like cheap schaller knock-offs. As Simon mentioned, sometimes you will get one or two in a set that gradually stop operating smoothly which quite often brings on tuning instability.
Cannot ignore the fact that they are built to a price and therefore unlikely to the same QC standards as mainstream upgrade units.

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dave.king1
26-09-2018, 05:49 AM
Pedant alert.

15:1 is lower than 12:1, higher the ratio number the lower the gearing ;)

15 or 18:1 are much less likely to slip than 12:1 because of the mechanical advantage, compare pushing your car on flat ground in 1st or 5th, it will be easier in 5th.

[/pedant]

DarkMark
26-09-2018, 06:25 AM
Ok, now I understand. Thanks folks.
Has anyone used the (expensive) Benson humbucker pickups? I’ll be in the market for a single neck humbucker pickup soon. I’m looking for something warm and mellow to complement Jazz. Any recommendations?

Sonic Mountain
26-09-2018, 10:32 AM
I have the Benson Custom '54 Vintage neck and middle singles in my Washburn. They are really nice, warm and creamy with a decent amount of 'poink' when you get plucking, especially on the middle one. I know they aren't the ones you are looking at, but they seem like really quality items with a lot of care put into them.

I'm not really a big Jazz guy so I'm not sure what you are looking for. I have 2 guitars with the PBG neck humbuckers in them and I really like them.

I was just looking to see if Waz had started a 'Pick up' Up thread......

Dedman
26-09-2018, 10:34 AM
I use the Grovers and mini Grovers or Wilkinsons on most builds but if you can afford them Duesenburg tuners are frikken awesome.

wazkelly
26-09-2018, 10:39 AM
Not yet Sonic but will get to that soon.
I have Bensons in the EX5. Not cheap but sound awesome and very few alternatives to pick from to fit that particular Bass.
Plenty of decent cheap Humbuckers to choose from. Personally have only used Entwistle Dark Stars & Tone Rider Alnico 4 which would be a bit to hot for a Jazzy.

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Andyxlh
26-09-2018, 03:02 PM
I have Tonerider AC2 in my SG, they are wonderful, don't know what is needed for jazz but they might be worth looking at.

Simon Barden
26-09-2018, 03:26 PM
A lot of the classic jazz boxes have actually had pretty clear sounding pickups in them. All those classic Gibsons with P90s or PAFs. So you'd really want something low powered with clarity, but not as thin sounding as a Strat pickup. The mellowness comes from the use of the guitar's and amp's tone controls and having the pickup as near to the neck as you can. The more powerful the pickup, generally the higher the level of mids and the less treble you get, which means that the sound gets more muddy than mellow when you start turning down the treble. So for a humbucker, something that's close to an original PAF, with Alnico 2 magnets (for lower power rather than the more powerful Alnico 4 or 5 magnets also used in PAFs - they varied a lot) and nothing overwound. So yes, the Tonerider AC2 or Iron Gear Blues Engine. Seymour Duncan Jazz (a very clear sounding PAF style neck humbucker). The standard Bensons on the PBG site look a bit hot to me, though you can get one made to your own specs.

And flatwound strings are a must.

DarkMark
26-09-2018, 05:11 PM
Thanks Simon (once again). Helps when you know what you are looking for.
Flatwounds are a must! I found out about them years ago and stuck with them ever since. A little bit more expensive but I only change them once every couple of years. Got a set on the ES-5V with the stock pickup and it sounds pretty agreeable.

Fretworn
26-09-2018, 06:21 PM
I have used Wilkinson tuners on two guitars so far and are very happy with them.

Marcel
26-09-2018, 06:57 PM
I'm no expert but have a few builds in the done tray so I'll offer a few tid-bits

My general order of upgrade priority on kits is as follows...
1/ Tuners. 2/ Nut. 3/ Pickups. 4/ Bridge. 5/ Electronics.

As my IB-1Q build proves (due to locking nut and Floyd bridge) it's not a hard and fast rule, yet there are reasons based on experience.

1/ Tuners... There is nothing more disparaging than tuning a guitar and then have to re-tune two seconds latter because of tuner slack. Three or Four more tuning attempts latter and then the tuner gears start to bind up. It's never an issue with quality tuners. For ease and confidence in tuning your wonderful build or partscaster a good set of quality tuners are a God send. Pretty well every PBG kit that I've purchased was ordered with a set of upgrade Grovers with the exceptions being those builds where I got Klusons or Wilkinsons or Fender from elsewhere.

2/ Nut... Plastic nuts are simply annoying. Yeah, they are able to be used to tune a guitar for the first time, and may work okay for a while, but the tuning stability and the "Ping!" that you get when you use your Whamy bar and the subsequent angst will have you soon wishing for better. Be it TUSQ or something made from bone it matters little as both are far better than the dreaded plastic.

3/ Pickups... I can't say any of the kit supplied pickups are bad as the few I have used in my builds have been quite awesome. For me it's more of having a known starting point. Kit pickups for the most part are an unknown quantity and brand name pickups frequently have a history that can to various levels be tracked on various websites and places like YouTube. The issue is what goes into their DNA. Knowing what magnets are in them and reported balance/performance/tone helps in making decisions on what a 2nd pickup upgrade may consist of if it ever happens. I will say here the only choice disappointments I've had so far has been a set of SD rails in a partscaster Strat build and a set of AC2 Toneriders in my ES-1TL build so both are candidates for a 2nd round on the pickup upgrade bench. Two outstanding first choices of note (maybe I'm simply getting better at it) were the Dimarzio IBZ's in the IB-1Q build and the Entwhisle AT52 set in the TLA-12 build. I'll include that I've been impressed with some choices like Yibuy P90's in a LP build and some Chinese Alnico 5 beasts that found their way into a SGM-1 build and the passive EMG select in the RCM-4F build so all is not lost in the forest of guitars I have.

4/ Bridge... The biggest reason I have here is the ease of doing a guitar setup with better quality parts. For the most part I'll use the kit parts unless I have outstanding reasons to change them. So far it has been things like adding a Bigsby or switching to a different size trem block that instigated most changes though switching from Black to Chrome hardware was the reason on one other build.

5/ Electronics... For me there is only one reason to upgrade the other electronic parts in any build and that's reliability. Cheap parts will work and do the job well, possibly for many many years, however quality parts will do the job reliably for many years more. Quality parts are a must for a working/giging guitar that does shows 6 nights a week, though cheap parts make economic sense for a guitar build that only gets played a few times a year.

As for the other bits like straplocks I'll take a pass. Standard kit hardware for me is more often than not just fine...

I hope my comments make sense to some... Everyone’s mileage will vary & everyone has different tastes...

blinddrew
26-09-2018, 08:23 PM
Just another plus one for buying a set of Grovers with the kit. I've got Grovers on a couple of guitars and Schallers on another and they are a step up from the standard issue. Easier fine tuning and hold the pitch better. Given the savings on offer here its definitely worth your while.

wazkelly
26-09-2018, 08:42 PM
Great stuff Marcel. You have saved me writing lots as you have covered it all.

One big question for those more knowledgeable than myself.....

Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.

We should all have a basic understanding of difference between A (Audio taper) & B (Linear taper) plus the 250k vs 500k requirements by now.

Other than price point and the unique way CTS pots look, why would someone overlook Alpha which seem to be the cheapest, Bourns somewhere in the middle, and CTS at the upper end?

I have used mostly Bourns minis as all my guitar builds have had very tight & cramped control cavities or F holes to contend with. On one Tele I chose CTS minis and really liked how easy they were to solder up and on the recently finished ES1 Alphas were used purely based on cost and trying something different to see if in fact there was any discernible difference at all (I couldn't pick any).

On both explorers I used Bourns Push/Pulls and from memory they are minis or maybe only come in the one size, can't remember. Seem to recall one played up and swapped it out only to discover the pickup was faulty instead. If space is tight in the control cavity and you want to do coil splitting I highly recommend the Bourns. They work well, are easy to wire up, and not noisy when switching between HB mode and split. An alternative is mini DPDT switches but that can end up looking messy if there are too many of them.

Marcel
26-09-2018, 10:38 PM
Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.



Some would argue the "you get what you pay for" theme, and to some extent they would be correct... but it's not the full story.

Firstly, Predominately both Bourns and CTS come out of the USA whereas Alpha mostly comes from Asia, so there will be a price disparity immediately simply because of that.

And secondly, there is slight differences in Q&A and 'purity of materials' which have some effect on the wear and longevity of the parts.

However I think the largest factor in any pots life is its use and environment. How often it is used and the conditions it needs to survive in. I've seen Alpha pots last many years as a main volume fader in an air conditioned studio on a commercial radio station mix console as opposed to $85 ABB pots lasting 3 months as a throttle control in an ocean going boat. Inside a guitar is a relatively tame environment so even with regular use most of the cheaper pots should last quite a few years of reasonable use.

The one big difference between all the pots and that is very important to guitarists is how they feel when you turn them. Does it feel stiff or firm or free and loose? Easy to turn or snug and stays in place? It is on this point that most prefer one way or the other (or don't care)... This is where CTS seems to be the default favourite between guitarists being a pot that's firm and definitive yet reasonably easy to turn with the edge of the palm. Alpha and Bourns feel noticeably looser, turn easier but can leave you wondering if you turned it or not causing that (often annoying) momentary visual check.

Where you would notice the most is having a volume that's one brand and a tone that's another. Worse is when you discover that you'd prefer the combo the other way round... And having one combo in a Tele and a different combo in a LP and yet another combo in a Strat is not as scarce or as sacrilegious as you may think,...

wazkelly
27-09-2018, 11:34 AM
Shall we open the Tone Capacitor can of worms too?
It would be good for someone to also explain why Sprague Orange Drops are better than Brand X, etc.
Must confess i have exclusively used Spragues, only because everyone else does, yet i rarely use a tone control. Go figger! Would be nice to know that my 'follow the herd' mentality wasn't a waste of time & money.

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Marcel
27-09-2018, 12:39 PM
Lol.... Hmmmm.... Capacitors..... In guitars..... Hmmmmm.....

I guess it's pretty much whatever floats your boat will do the trick.

When you think about it technically the only must have requirements is the correct value and a sufficient voltage rating. The value in uF or nF will set the maximum amount of attenuation of higher frequencies that the tone control will have, and the voltage rating is merely to ensure the little buggar doesn't pass out on you mid performance. When you know that the maximum signal level out of any combination of pickups it typically less than 1VAC and presuming we have active electronics the maximum DC volts ever encountered will usually only be 9VDC then a working voltage rating of 100V is completely sufficient for any component within a guitar. Considering the popularity of those 100V GreenCaps in most commercially available guitars and in kit guitars I'd say most manufacturers would agree.

But then there is Mojo..... 650V Orange drops, 1000V Yellow cylinders, 500V Brownies, 2kV Silver foil, the humble Bumble Bee.... They all bring their own kind of 'special' to the Mojo table (the "I can stand up to anything" kind of thinking)... and it is up to the artist to decide if they want that little bit of 'special' up there with them when they perform. It's a little like the 'plastic nut' debate where the cheapest plastic item available will do the job but do you want that knowledge in your head when you're on stage giving that performance of a life time? Do you want or need that excuse to be able to say your most recent performance wasn't your best, or are you a solid enough player that little things like this are important yet don't matter that much?

There is the 'it does the job' thing, and there is also 'Doing the JOB' and 'It does it well'. I suppose it boils down to how you want or what you need to get it done.... Do you believe its a bedrock foundation of your tonal image, is it something of nil consequence, or is it a part of the magic that is, or is it a crutch for you to lean on?

Hmmmm.... Capacitors..... In guitars..... Hmmmmm.....

wazkelly
27-09-2018, 07:48 PM
That's the spirit Marcel, you have me seriously questioning what are the truly essential minimum upgrades you can get away with.

Might as well peer a little deeper into the can of worms and seek some opinions on upgrade switches whilst we are in the neighbourhood. Jack sockets too perhaps?

Not a fan of the box style 3 way switch that comes as standard with G style kits and also found on some F styles too. Generally find them quite noisy when selecting different pickup combinations and have mostly upgraded with a Gotoh type thing like this one....
28270

Not on any endorsements or deals with Real Parts but they are a better and safer bet than eBay and the gear seems to be quite good quality for the price, $10 bucks for the one in above shot plus postage.

As for Strat & Tele those box style blade/lever ones seems to be OK for a while but eventually start playing up too. Have installed a couple of 4 way Oak Grigsby's in both Tele's and they worked fine when initially installed but lately I am lucky to get 2 out of 4 positions actually working? Need to find time to open them up and check things out, probably just shorting somewhere as they are so deep and there is not much room or depth in a Tele control cavity.

Hopefully one thing we can all agree on is upgrading to a better grade of wire for connecting all the electronic bits. Since discovering the vintage cloth push back wire I have gone back and re-wired some of the earlier builds that were done with cheap kit supplied multi colored plastic coated stuff that simply breaks way too easily.

2827128272

I mostly use black for earth and white for hot signal. Only downside is when you are trying to poke a couple of wires (or maybe 3) into the same hole on a lug, whether that be a switch or pot, as the gauge and number of strands is a decent thickness on its own but almost too thick when using common solder joints. Maybe it is just my poor soldering technique too?

Andyxlh
27-09-2018, 07:51 PM
Excellent thread and wonderful replies. I have enjoyed reading this!
I'm interested tha the number one upgrade wasn't locking strap buttons to stop you dropping your precious new creation!

wazkelly
27-09-2018, 07:56 PM
I reckon a fair number of us rarely play our creations standing up so maybe no need for strap buttons at all?

Have to agree about strap locks as they are on every guitar & bass in the house. Need to watch out where you buy them, particularly on eBay as they might look the same but not necessarily interchangeable. What I mean is one strap setup may not want to attach to the strap buttons on another guitar and vice versa.

DarkMark
27-09-2018, 08:43 PM
For what it’s worth I still use a strap when I’m sitting down, just in case I do something clumsy with the guitar (apart from my clumsy improv).

Marcel
27-09-2018, 09:24 PM
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
28-09-2018, 03:20 AM
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
28-09-2018, 04:30 AM
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
28-09-2018, 04:32 AM
Hey Marcel, same birthday as Angus. Exact same date too?

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fender3x
28-09-2018, 04:46 AM
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
28-09-2018, 06:10 AM
Hey Marcel, same birthday as Angus. Exact same date too?

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7 years apart. He's older...

wazkelly
28-09-2018, 10:55 AM
Thought so.

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blinddrew
29-09-2018, 04:21 AM
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
29-09-2018, 06:13 AM
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
14-02-2019, 11:13 AM
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.

Bakersdozen
14-02-2019, 03:05 PM
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.https://www.realparts.com.au/switchcraft-1-4-mono-jack-2120.html

DarkMark
14-02-2019, 04:15 PM
https://www.realparts.com.au/switchcraft-1-4-mono-jack-2120.html

Thanks Bakersdozen. Have you used them and are you happy with them?

Bakersdozen
14-02-2019, 04:51 PM
Thanks Bakersdozen. Have you used them and are you happy with them?Yes and yes mate!! Pretty much the go to standard for guitars. Tried and true =)

DarkMark
14-02-2019, 07:41 PM
Yes and yes mate!! Pretty much the go to standard for guitars. Tried and true =)

Thanks again. I have heard of other members using switch craft. Sold!

Simon Barden
14-02-2019, 08:30 PM
Yes. Switchcraft for me as well.

fender3x
15-02-2019, 11:47 PM
Cheapo eBay jacks are OK for jack plates where they can be replaced easily if they go bad.

Once you have fished everything through the f-hole of your ES and gotten everything to poke just the right part through the tiny little hole in the top you will see why it's best to use parts that are as unlikely to fail as possible.

1+ for switchcraft

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