Marcel's GAS SGM-1 (PBG build #5)

[Marcel]

I totally get that Waz.

When I did my last Strat build the body wasn't accepting the stain very well so before it dried I wiped as much of it off as I could, and then when it had dried I gave it a gentle touch with some sand paper. I actually liked the result so went ahead and clear coated it. Since then it has become my favourite Strat to play.... but that may just also be the SD HR/VR/CR combo that it has fitted....

[Marcel]

While waiting for my nephew to turn up I did a dry fit of the SG, and checked the neck position relative to the bridge. Mahogany body and Mahogany neck.... With the Alnico 5 Belcat PU's it should sound interesting when built.

313mm to the 12th fret, 630mm to the high E string end of the bridge, with just enough room left to squeeze in the replacement neck PU. With those measurement and if things go as hoped it also should intonate okay.

Will need the TimberMate treatment to get closer to an ideal finish. Thankfully nil major dings anywhere in the wood
Still undecided on colour...

[Andy40]

Today was a surprise... Aussie Post originally said the kit would take it's normal 10 working days and be here next Tuesday however it was delivered today. Only 3 working days.... Aussie Post must have found the overtime cheque book, or are trying (and succeeding) at beating TOLL for cross country deliveries...

Get out of Town! from WA to Qld, no way

[Marcel]

It's true.... Sent from PBG HQ in WA at 4pm on the 18th, delivered to destination in regional Qld (650km north of Brisbane) 11am on the 24th.

I'm impressed...

[Marcel]

After a bit of hunting around, and weighing up the options over what colours and finishes I can achieve on hand, the direction I want to take this build can be envisioned in these photos from the net.

Essentially I'll be trying for a 1979 SG special type look ...

[wazkelly]

That looks nice.

[Simon Barden]

That's a 2014 SG special (120th Anniversary neck inlay) in the pictures. Otherwise you are more likely intending to refer to either the 1979 The "SG" model with a walnut body and a small scratchplate...

...or the similar looking Firebrand SG which replaced it in 1980 with a mahogany body. The original SG Special of course had the twin P90s (which is now re-made as the SG Classic model).

[Marcel]

Main thing on the pictures was the colour and finish aspects. I know I'll never exactly match the colour but the picture is indicative of the target I'm aiming for.

So with that finish, moving the switch to match the Firebrand layout would create a Mahogany grain matching nightmare in trying to fill the existing switch hole that exists now. Hence my reasoning for not attempting that.

As for the scratch guard.... For the moment I'm liking its absence more... We will see how that progresses...

I note that in the original Gibson 80's model the P90's were made with Alnico V magnets which apparently made those SG's quite bright, Hoping my Belcat HB's with their Alnico V's show themselves to be a slightly less bright and less noisy alternative.

[Simon Barden]

Alnico V is a pretty standard fitment for P90s and Gibson have been using it in P90s since 1957 (Alnico 3 before then). There's a lot more than the magnet that contributes to the pickup's tone. The more windings you have, the greater the inductance and the lower the resonant peak, so the hotter wound pickups can sound a lot darker overall (and often too muffled). But remember they are single coils, so they should have quite a bright element to the sound.

My Gibson Melody Maker Les Paul has 'P90S' pickups fitted, which have A5 magnetic pole pieces (rather than the screws and bar magnets of a true P90 and near identical to a Jazzmaster pickup's construction) which makes them a bit brighter than a P90 but they still sound fine.

Yes, you can play about with different magnets if you want to fine tune the sound, but the classic rock sound of the P90 is based on P90s with Alnico V magnets. A lot of the earlier jazz boxes fitted with fixed height dogear P90s would have had Alnico 3 magnets, but the pickups were often a lot further away from the strings than with adjustable soapbar P90s, which leads to a mellower sound.

[Marcel]

That's one area that has me perplexed.... physically identifying an Alnico II or a Alnico V or even a Ceramic magnet.

After 40 years in electronics and broadcasting I totally understand the whole impedance and resonance and coil winding aspects of the coils, so that side is a doodle... but the identification of the magnets, and the properties of the various types still has me wondering. For the moment I've just trusted what the label on the box or what the receipt says...so I know for me when it comes to magnets there is a huge opportunity for error...