Experienced opinions of stock supplied kit hardware

[Sundragon]

Hey guys.

I am curious as to the opinions and experience you have all had with the stock hardware of PBG kits.
Trying to work out if I need to factor in cost of tuners, electronics, bridges and pickups etc to achieve really true guitariness. (That is a technical term loosely meaning things like Intonation and holding tune and sounding decent.)

I will by default be installing Graph Tech TUSQ nuts.

So, please feel free to share your thoughts and experience, however brief or detailed.

Thanks in advance

[wokkaboy]

Hi Sundragon, what kit are you building again ?

The stock hardware is pretty good for the cost (next to nothing in a kit) but if you are chasing a better sound, intonation and keeping in tune then I recommend nut (which you are upgrading), bridge, tuners, pickups and electronics upgrade

[Brendan]

Built 5 guitars / basses - changed out the electronics on most (personal choice) and pups on 1. Audiophiles may notice the difference - depending on your playing level and what you want from the guitar. As for tuning stability - rarely need to tune my basses - gut feeling is that most of the issues with tuning are more to do with temp variation than tuner stability. Rarely now play my genuine Ibanez bass...

[tonyw]

I always do the electronics, even on expensive guitars i have bought off the rack.

Pickups usually

nut more often than not

Tuners... check out whats on it if i dont like them i get new ones.

Sometimes i change the bridge, last 2 teles i have didnt like the saddles.

You dont want to be throwing good money after something, that in the long run makes no difference to the stabilty or sound of the guitar.

[dingobass]

Hey guys.

I am curious as to the opinions and experience you have all had with the stock hardware of PBG kits.
Trying to work out if I need to factor in cost of tuners, electronics, bridges and pickups etc to achieve really true guitariness. (That is a technical term loosely meaning things like Intonation and holding tune and sounding decent.)

I will by default be installing Graph Tech TUSQ nuts.

So, please feel free to share your thoughts and experience, however brief or detailed.

Thanks in advance

I have always replaced the pots caps and wire, but only because I am pedantic..

Bone nut is a given, unless I am after a more metal sound in which case a Brass nut..

Oh, and on page seven hundred and six of the twenty seven terabite list of crimes that carry an automatic sentence in the Naughty Warehouse, you will see that synthetic nuts are worth six months...

Woks will pour you your beer of choice on entry

[Sundragon]

LOL Dingo.

from my experience and further research, the Graph Tech nut equals bone for most characteristics, but has complete control over density variations.

I like it, but I understand some guys just like the traditional vibe of a bone nut.

OH, and Wokks..... The first one will be an ES-1GT

[wokkaboy]

Hey Sundragon, the TOM bridges from the kits are reasonable quality, so at this stage if you upgrade most of the electrics and nut as you say the ES-1GT should sound good.
If you aren't happy with the tuners you can always upgrade them later

[Brendan]

Ultimately - pretty much everything can be replaced post build - bridges and scratchplates can be a bit more tricky due to drilling, but most other stuff can be replaced if you're not happy later. If experience tells me anything - if you enjoy the process, it won't be the last build you do, so if you're wanting to try them out - you can then upgrade later - or try with a second build.

[wazkelly]

Ultimately - pretty much everything can be replaced post build - bridges and scratchplates can be a bit more tricky due to drilling, but most other stuff can be replaced if you're not happy later. If experience tells me anything - if you enjoy the process, it won't be the last build you do, so if you're wanting to try them out - you can then upgrade later - or try with a second build.

Replacing tuning pegs later can leave behind screw holes in different positions. Only an issue to person playing the guitar as the audience won't see that.

[DrNomis_44]

The hardware I got with my STA-1M kit is pretty good, I opted to upgrade the tuners to a set of Grover mini lockers, and upgrade the stock plastic nut to a bone one, later on once the kit has been built up into a playable instrument, I'm going to upgrade the bridge to a Gold SuperVee Bladerunner Strat bridge, a stock Strat bridge can suffer from an issue caused by friction against the six mounting screws that the bridge pivots on, this friction issue prevents the bridge from returning to it's neutral position, the Bladerunner bridge overcomes this issue by using a thin piece of spring-steel as the pivot, the mounting screws securely fix the bridge to the body of the guitar enabling maximum transfer of energy, the result is increased sustain and better tone.