Andy 40's Artist LP60 needs a pimpin'

I needed a win lately so i dug up my Artist Guitars LP60 and decided to pimp it a bit.:cool:

I bought this little guy for my 40th and like the finish and the way it played. They are about $250 nowadays but back then it was closer to $200 new.

It isn't bad stock, the body is mahogany with a flame maple veneer - tobacco burst, it says the neck is maple but I think its mahogany. It comes with a plastic nut, 2 x Wilkinson Humbuckers and from what i can see most of the wiring and parts come from Korea and/or China.

It sounds ok, but against my PBG LP............ it doesn't even come close. I needed to pimp it....or I'll never play it.

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Sooooo over the past 2 days been workin' on some pimpin'

Upgrades are:-
1. Bone nut and new control knobs;
2. Gotoh Audio Taper Pots (the ones I couldn't fit into my ES-1G) and add treble bleed;
3. Switchcraft toggle switch;
4. replace all wiring with vintage push back wiring;
5. Tonerider Generators;
6. Klusons 3 a side.

Im also gonna get rid of the rhythm/treble indicator and the plastic pickguard.

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Interesting try out...I got a bone nut from realparts Gibson specs and only had to file down each end a little and the base a little and it fits pretty well.

Finished by lunchtime today:D

pick of the wiring

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Sufficiently pimped...

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nice work Andy, that looks heaps better than it did. How does it sound and play now much improvement ?

yeah eons better.

It wasn't bad before though the wilkinsons but the sound and tone lacked punch and clarity and was quite muddy or wolly. I suspect that it was a combination of the plastic nut and korean/chinese parts that caused it.

this is my G n' R guitar so it will spend its life in Eb tuning...

I'll probably re-use the Wilkinson in my double neck.

good stuff Andy, you will need another pair of Wilkinsons for the SGD though. The electronics looked pretty cheap so sure the upgraded pots/caps/switch has also helped the sound.
Zebra pups go really well with the cream surrounds too !

looks kick ass now mate, nice job, amazing what changing a few simple things can do for an inexpensive guitar

Thanks guys, I think i spent about $200 on the upgrades. so that's about $400 all up and i'd be damned if it didn't sound just like a "G"

Choice upgrades, looks & no doubt sounds great!

Hi Andy, Looking good and no doubt it sounds way better. Mind you those Wilkinsons are supposed to be equivalent to original spec PAF's so another pair in the SGD would be way better than the stock Chinese units.

What were the replaced tuners like as they looked OK from the pics? I need to replace tuners on my Slash epi as per these shots and was wondering if your replaced ones were working properly and if we could do a deal?
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Waz you can have 'em. I owe you anyways. They are really similar to the PBG style but better quality. I thought they were Wilkinsons at first but they don't have the "W" on them. They work fine.

Would love to play that Epi Slash one day.

Andy the original pups had Wilkinson stickers, what was printed under the pickup ? I suspect the stickers are fake !

Nothing but N and B stamped into the back plate. I'd be surprised if Artist guitars weren't using proper wilkinsons

Thanks Andy, I have responded to your PM. The tuners will be better than the crap ones that came as standard and if yours are slightly better than PBG stock Chinese, Bonus.

Happy to catch up one day and swap axes for a play if you like. Mine looks the part but has a bolt on neck and made in China. Sounds OK but reckon yours would be better being all mahogany including the neck which is set not bolted. The Slash EPI retails for about $400 and I picked it up at 2015 end of June sale at Gallins guitars online for $199 delivered which was cheaper than doing a kit at the time, but that was before I saw all the sexy spalted LP's being made on PBG forum. It will do as my LP for now even if it is more of a show pony.

@ Woks.....the Artist Guitars website has a full description under LP60 which states Wilkinson Humbuckers. For budget pre made axes they are reasonably good value for money, just looks like the typical cheap Asian electronic bits that need upgrading with something decent.

cheers Waz for the info. I've been to Gallins in Melbourne and it's Gibbo city there. Sounds like you got a great deal on the Slash epi mate !

I reckon! great deal on that Slash Epi.Next time im up on the Sunny coast I'll bring up some axes and drop you a line.

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

cheers Waz for the info. I've been to Gallins in Melbourne and it's Gibbo city there. Sounds like you got a great deal on the Slash epi mate !

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Hi Woks, they always have specials online and bought a Yamaha keyboard for the missus about the same time. Have been very tempted looking at their cheap end Steinberger headless Basses too which come with EMG's as standard. Last time I looked they were $500- $600 price range and that included delivery & a gig bag too. Maybe one day as there are no kits for anything similar.

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Originally Posted by Andy40

I reckon! great deal on that Slash Epi.Next time im up on the Sunny coast I'll bring up some axes and drop you a line.

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Sounds like a great idea and have a couple of decent amps to assist with making a racket.

High five.

I was up there the other day and dropped in to Mooloolaba Music. For 10am on a weekday they were pretty busy. I sat down with the American Nashville tele and had a bit of a strum and dream.

Interesting though, they made me try and guess what was they biggest selling electric solid body was at the moment....

I got it wrong, wrong and wrong...

No idea what is their biggest selling electric as I don't venture in there too often.

Their website shows a mountain of Fenders, some cheaper brand called Diamond which may be a candidate, but my bet is on the Ibanez Iceman or Ibanez RX40 that looks like a HSS Strat. Mind you at about 50 pages in there were some cheap Ltd's too.

Edit: Finally got to the end of their online shop and saw the Yamaha's and reckon it has got to be a Pacifica as the slight hint thrown out there was probably a reference to the Antique White one in the same shot as the Slash Epi LP.

Fender Jazzmaster (the cheaper version). reckon they can't get them in fast enough. must be an indie band thing eh?

sorry I meant to write that at the end of my last post.

That is surprising.

Nice job on the upgrades, Andy!

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Fender Jazzmaster (the cheaper version). reckon they can't get them in fast enough. must be an indie band thing eh?.

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maybe a new "wave" of surf bands are coming *tish boom

Wipeout!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNkxPAReT5I

Yeah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXnOUkouIOM

;) I ordered a custom Jagmaster kit set up for Bigsby last week. All the kool kids are doin it

this thread has turned into a cool surf music/Jazzmaster thread ! hard to beat that sound !
Tell us more about the kit you ordered Dedman please ?

Just a JM with maple board,gretch/sharktooth markers inverted head stock and set up for a bigsby. Won't be here till next year :P and its going to be pastel turquoise !

yea, we hijacked the thread, mistook it for one of Doc's. :p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ngDRqxOF8

sounds awesome custom JM there Dedman, good work, can't wait to see that build !

yeah Doc has been quiet of late so have to hijack someone else's thread hahah

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

sounds awesome custom JM there Dedman, good work, can't wait to see that build !

yeah Doc has been quiet of late so have to hijack someone else's thread hahah

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I just had a few things that needed my attention, I think that my problem is that I get too focused on one thing, and I still haven't learnt how to walk away from something and come back to it later on....hahahaha.


There's definitely some things that I get a bit too OCD about, like whether I am really a genuine human-being, and not just a figment of my vivid imagination, but why should I take myself too seriously anyway?, that's my dilemma....hahahaha.

We understand, running an evil empire must be stressful.

no worries Doc good to have you back. If you don't mind mate no thread jacking please bwhahahahaha

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Originally Posted by Dedman

We understand, running an evil empire must be stressful.

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Hahahaha....that's only the half of it, there's the hiring of new henchmen recruits, dealing with public relations (need to keep my organization respectable and politically-correct), finding new sites for my underground lair (had to pay a huge premium for the last one that got blown-up....prematurely), even my psychologist is giving me huge bills to pay.....money, money, money....it all adds up, I might seriously consider giving up a career in evil and become a crime-fighter....lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

no worries Doc good to have you back. If you don't mind mate no thread jacking please bwhahahahaha

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What?, me hijack a thread?....*looks all innocent*....I tell you it was my evil twin-brother of no relation twice removed that did it....*nods vigorously*....yep....it was him.....hahahaha.

Back on topic......thanks Andy for personally delivering the recycled tuners out of this axe. Good to meet you in person at last.

Been playing the Slash Epi since after dinner tonight through my Vox VT80 with headphones on and man those stock PUP's are scorchingly hot. My left hand's fingers are killing me as I am that much out of practice. Mind you, I have been giving the 5 string bass a fair workout for the past few days too so maybe that is why the fingertips feels so tender.

Looks like all I need to upgrade are the tuners as it already has a bone nut and the internal electronics look too high end for the usual cheap Asian stuff plus I had already installed a treble bleed mod several months ago.

Thanks again and hope to catch up another day when we both have more time.

@ Doc...no worries about thread jacking here!

Yeah Waz likewise, good to finally meet you too....sorry I had a couple of toddlers in the car and had to run....you remember what that was like?

Next time for sure.

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Originally Posted by Andy40

@ Doc...no worries about thread jacking here!

Yeah Waz likewise, good to finally meet you too....sorry I had a couple of toddlers in the car and had to run....you remember what that was like?

Next time for sure.

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Cheers mate, I get my fair share of thread-jacking too, I don't let it worry me cause there's not a whole lot I can do about it so I just accept it as something that comes with starting threads in a forum.

No problem with the thread jacking as it is all in good fun and totally organic so always good to let things run and sit back and see where it ends up.

@ Andy....toddlers, hmmm, that was definitely last century for me as mine are now 27 & 25 years old. Mind you we were still in our twenties when they were born so not completely over the hill and ready for the retirement village and walking frame just yet, haha.

Well you build and play guitars so not anywhere over the hill at all!

have you had a chance to put the tuners on?