Changes to one of my 2020 builds

[McCreed]

I posted awhile ago about a neck I finishing for one of my LP-style guitars (I had an issue with the stain bleeding onto the binding when I applied the clear).

Well, I overcame that and got the clear all sprayed 3-1/2 weeks ago. Last week did a fret level, got it installed and set up (it's a screw-fixed neck).

I'm definitely liking the new neck compared to the previous. It was always just a tad too narrow to my liking. I am always amazed how much difference 1mm here or there can make with how a neck feels.

The new one is only 1mm wider at the nut (43mm) and the taper is only .5mm wider at the 12th, but it's chalk and cheese in how it feels. I think the thickness is [just] marginally deeper too. (I can't find my pre-finish measurements, and it's hard to re-measure with the strings on).

Oh, neck info: Maple neck; Purpleheart fretboard; 12" R; Single ply binding on fb, 4-ply on headstock; Stain is a blend of FW Golden Teak and Old Baltic; Clear coat is satin poly. (FYI: this was a Haze brand neck off of eBay for $50)

The other change I made was putting in a pair of Warman Firebuckers (low output mini-HB's).
They sound great. I don't know how they compare to the vintage Firebird mini's, but I don't really care .
I've become a major fan on mini HB's. I got them in 3 guitars now!

Anyway, though I'd share some pics of the new & improved model:



Thanks for looking!

[Trevor Davies]

Nice. The neck looks really good for $50.

[McCreed]

Thanks Trevor.
Yes, I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t come with a nut, but I would have changed it to the TUSQ one anyway.
The frets required the typical end dressing etc but they were quite good when it came to levelling them. Didn’t take a lot of work.

The first thing I check, especially with budget necks, is the truss rod and this one (dual action) had no issues at all.
There were (are) some micro fissures in the headstock binding that I didn’t become aware of until the black stain was applied, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. It’s not too horrible, so I can live with it.

[RocknRolf]

Such a beautiful guitar!
Where did you get the body from?
And if you don't mind me asking, what makes mini hb's better than hb's to you?

[McCreed]

Such a beautiful guitar!
Where did you get the body from?
And if you don't mind me asking, what makes mini hb's better than hb's to you?

Thanks!

The body is a totally stripped, heavily modified Epiphone LP Special II. Mahogany body is finished in acrylic lacquer.

Mini HB's are brighter than full size. Many describe them as between a HB and a single coil, which I think is good analogy.

I play SC's 98% of the time, so when I switch to a HB guitar, I typically find them too dark without totally readjusting the amp EQ (especially the neck pickup). I find the mini's closer to my SC tone so usually just a little bump in treble is all I need. Sometimes I'm happy with no tweaking at all.

Before anyone says it, I know there are a number of ways to combat the switching back & forth etc, but I'm just speaking in a general sense about my attraction to mini HB's.

[RocknRolf]

Thanks!

The body is a totally stripped, heavily modified Epiphone LP Special II. Mahogany body is finished in acrylic lacquer.

Cool haha, unfortunately there are not too many lefty's in Aus to pickup, otherwise it could be a nice platform to start from.
Was there a problem with the neck, or did you change the neck because as you said "too narrow" for your liking?

Thanks for explaining the mini hb's.

[Simon Barden]

Nice work, Mick.

Your Warman pickups are a different construction to Firebird pickups, so are really standard mini-humbuckers. Not quite sure why Warman added a Firebird reference in the name, apart from attention drawing. If they are made like the Gibson/Epiphone mini-humbuckers, then you'll have a bar magnet on the base, a row of screw slugs and a steel bar for the other pole. A normal humbucker would have individual steel slugs instead of the steel bar.

The Firebird pickup has two bar magnets on their sides 'blade' style, which the coils are wrapped around so they are a very different construction indeed.

In terms of sound, the traditional Firebird pickups are a closer to a single-coil sound than mini-humbuckers, though obviously the minis are a lot brighter than full-sized humbuckers.

I recently changed the stock Gibson ceramic pickups on my Firebird, which were over-bright and piercing, for some Oil City 'Winterizer' alnico V units, which sound a lot nicer indeed. I generally find that ceramic pickups don't do subtle very well. Fine for very distorted sounds, but sound pretty flat on clean and edge of break-up sounds.

[Simon Barden]

Forgot to say as intended that I think the neck is at least 70% of a guitar. It's the part you interact with the most and if it doesn't feel right, then you simply don't want to play it. If it is just right, then you don't want to put it down.

[McCreed]

Cool haha, unfortunately there are not too many lefty's in Aus to pickup, otherwise it could be a nice platform to start from.
Was there a problem with the neck, or did you change the neck because as you said "too narrow" for your liking?

Thanks for explaining the mini hb's.

Yeah, the more I played it, the more it just didn't feel right. Mainly to narrow at the first 3 frets. I remeasured the nut width today and it was actually a smidge under 42mm. (41.72mm to be exact!)
Which was probably my own fault because I stripped the original finish and must have sanded more down than I should have.

Maybe I'll cut a new nut for it and use it for a 4-string Cigar Box Guitar!

[McCreed]

Thanks Simon.
I missed your post because I hadn't refreshed the page before writing my last post.

I agree with you about the neck being a real make or break component (sometimes literally!).

The Warmans are actually the Firebucker II's which have the adjustable pole pieces. The regular Firebuckers are solid covers, but have no idea if the internal construction is the same or different as the II's or how similar/dissimilar to the FB ones they are.

These are also ceramic which I'm generally not a fan of, but since Warman posts both the DCR and the Inductance (6.6k and 3.1H), I had at least some idea of what to expect in regard to "brightness". (I wish more pickup manufacturers would do this)
They also claim that they use "high quality ceramic magnets" which is allegedly suppose to make for better tone. May just be marketing speak, I don't know.

In the end, I'm very pleased with how they sound both clean and with overdrive.