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Hi Folks,
During the research for an upcoming guitar project of mine ("Baby Snakes" - Aussie version!) I stumbled across an ever-so-interesting article on dirt cheap mods for your axe. Having learned from experience that often such "tips" can range from verging on the ridiculous :? to the mythologically impossible 8O , I'm wary of putting too stock in them until I've tested them myself.
However in this case, the source is someone I would regard as eminently qualified to write about tips and tricks ... having built (multiple) guitars for the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Police, Pretenders, Def Leppard and many others, as well founding Hamer Guitars and having his works displayed in the Smithsonian Institute, Jol Dantzig has the lineage to know his stuff.
1. Cavity Packing - stop microphonic squealing by the pickups by packing the cavity they sit in with a soft foam (he recommends the grey foam packing that pick-ups come packed with is ideal!). Packing the cavities also modifies the p/ups sound at higher sound levels. He actually packs it enough foam so as to have to push (lightly) the p/up into the foam to get it mounted (providing greater pressure on the p/ups backing plate).
2. Twang-up those Strat P/ups - original tele p/ups will probably already have this mod (but if they don't - then do it!). Get bundles more TWANG and SNAP from your single coils by adding a sheet metal plate to the underneath of the p/up. He uses a 0.047 (18 guage) sheet steel, trimmed to the shape of the p/up and attached with hot glue (epoxy works to but hot glue is easier to remove if you want to take it off later) - NB Avoid the plate touching any of the lead wires!! This mod (developed by Fender themselves) is called an Elevator Plate because it "elevates" the magnetic field upward toward the strings and is also utilised by Evan Skopp of Seymour Duncan. (tried this one myself and it really does make a hell of a difference! ... thought I'd been dumped in Nashville! 8O )
3. Headstock Mass - don't just go for lighter machine heads (tuners) because of the weight factor - you might be losing more tone and sustain than the gain in weight reduction is worth. Apparently its quite a complex subject but the proven principle is that more mass in the headstock lowers the resonant frequency, reducing mass raises it - (string) vibration is absorbed or reflected back (into the strings and body) depending upon this frequency. Unfortunately not just as simple as "more mass = more tone & sustain", it all depends on the instrument's construction, h/stock size, etc. but it seems that in his opinion, generally more mass (up to a point) will provide better tonal and sustain properties ... this might explain why I once saw a bass player practicing with a G-clamp attach to the headstock of an bass he was working on (at the time I thought it was some weird bass-player type of thing! :D )
His article also goes on to talk about simple mods to p/up magnets, changing capacitor mounting points (i.e. vintage vs Modern wiring) and here's the link
http://www.premierguitar.com/article...one_Dirt_Cheap
Amazingly interesting stuff - I thoroughly recommend taking the time to wander this site as there is literally a plethora of tech articles on mod, tips and tweaks for you axe/s. I hope you all enjoy it as much I did!
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...g-Cavities.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...ngle-Coils.jpg
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Cheers for this Scott always good to find ways to give you that unique sound
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Pink and wet, they make the best kind of pet.
Seriously though, great post.
