I am considering getting an SD Pearly Gate pickup in the bridge and an SD '59 in the neck. Any thoughts?
Also, would a Wilkinson 52.5mm (2-1/16 inch) String Spacing Hardtail Fixed Bridge for a Squier/Mexico Fender Strat be a good replacement for the stock bridge? It seems to be the right size (I hope!), and of a reasonable quality. I am open to suggestions (as long as the bridge comes in gold)
Last edited by cj18; 25-04-2021 at 12:22 PM.
A good pickup choice for a classic rock/blues sound. Both are PAF-style pickups, so will go well together, with the '59 being a more generic PAF pickup, and the Pearly Gates based on the pickups in Billy Gibbon's Les Paul.
Wilkinson bridges are great value and I often recommend them where appropriate. Assuming the kit bridge has a flat base plate and the top of the guitar is flat where the bridge sits, then it should be fine and you'd have to pay a lot more to get any slight improvement.
The bridge can be used for both string-through and top loading, so you could always drill the body and fit ferrules on the rear if you wanted to.
The bridge mounting holes may be in slightly different positions to the kit bridge, so some plugging and redrilling may be necessary. Even if the holes are in the same place, if the Wilkinson screws have a larger diameter than the kit screws, then you may need to enlarge the pilot holes to suit. As with any screw hole, it should be the same size as the solid centre section of the screw (or just under).
Thanks for the feedback Simon.
I am considering splitting the PG, but not the '59. Internet 'wisdom' seems to go that direction.
The bridge that came with the kit is flat, so there should be no problems there! I'm going to go with top loading, but it is good to have the option.
It is a public holiday here tomorrow, so I have a 'building day' scheduled!!
Split humbuckers rarely sound anything like a proper single coil. Half of the bridge PG's 8.1k ohms DCR is 4.05k ohms, so is significantly less than the typical 6.5kohms DCR of a vintage Strat pickup. In addition, the PG having alnico 2 magnets, which are less powerful than the alnico 5 magnets of a Strat pickup. So a split vintage-type humbucker will always sound thinner and weaker than a true single coil. A neck '59 has a lower DCR than the bridge PG, but it does have alnico 5 magnets, so it may sound a bit stronger when split.
There's nothing stopping you splitting both pickups,. I have a 1998 Jimmy Page Model Les Paul, obviously with all the switching options, but have fitted PAF-style BK Mules to replace the original Gibson 496R and 500T ceramic humbuckers. The ceramics certainly sounded better than the Mules when coil split due to them being overwound (compared to a PAF) and with far more powerful magnets. But the ceramics were useless for anything subtle. A weird choice of pickups to fit in the guitar IMO.
The split sound is still useable, and if you don't want to take a humbucker guitar and a single coil guitar to a gig just for a couple of single coil songs, then splitting is an easy option to add. And if you split one pickup, you might as well split both. The both pickups on and split in parallel sound I find more interesting than juts one pickup split on its own.
These are just my thoughts, but other peoples views are equally as valid (if based on experience and fact). There's some good info out on the web, but there's a lot of bad info that gets repeated as much as the good stuff does, so it's best to have some experience of your own on the subject to help pick out the good bits.
And if you are putting the guitar through a lot of pedals with compression and drives, then you can generally make any pickup give you the sound you want. It's only the 'guitar straight into an amp' situation where you'll hear all the subtleties, with bits being lost the more processing you add.
Just curious, how'd you go with removing the glue? Did you get it sorted?
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I just gave it ANOTHER go, and it is still the same
I am going to try very lightly sanding next, as I am now at the point that I don't care if I damage it. I have kind of written it off in my mind, hence I can't exactly ruin it, as I doubt it is really fixable.
I think the lesson might be to avoid buying veneered bodies.
I am going to buy a replacement body from Guitar Fetish, if it all goes wrong, as I know their product is of a reasonable standard for the price.
I have to say that I am pretty annoyed about all of this, and someone on here might be getting a good deal on my unopened explorer kit...
Ok, back on track!
I can tell you that acetone with a toothbrush did not work, but acetone with 0 grade steel wool did. On the body, anyway.
I tried this combo on the join down the centre, but it had minimal effect at best. What worked on that part was 240 grade sandpaper. I was firm, but careful, and it sorted it out!
Brave man! Let!s hope it’s plain sailing from now on.
Good result. Sometimes persistence pays off!
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I've got a bit of a finish issue, if anyone can help. A light patch after my first base coat of wudtone.
Has anyone experienced this? I thought the area would blend in with the first base coat, but it hasn't...
I am referring to the centre line that I had to sand. I hope this isn't related to the acetone making the wood less porous...
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