Reviews of Upgrades and Modifications

[Marcel]

I'm no expert but have a few builds in the done tray so I'll offer a few tid-bits

My general order of upgrade priority on kits is as follows...
1/ Tuners. 2/ Nut. 3/ Pickups. 4/ Bridge. 5/ Electronics.

As my IB-1Q build proves (due to locking nut and Floyd bridge) it's not a hard and fast rule, yet there are reasons based on experience.

1/ Tuners... There is nothing more disparaging than tuning a guitar and then have to re-tune two seconds latter because of tuner slack. Three or Four more tuning attempts latter and then the tuner gears start to bind up. It's never an issue with quality tuners. For ease and confidence in tuning your wonderful build or partscaster a good set of quality tuners are a God send. Pretty well every PBG kit that I've purchased was ordered with a set of upgrade Grovers with the exceptions being those builds where I got Klusons or Wilkinsons or Fender from elsewhere.

2/ Nut... Plastic nuts are simply annoying. Yeah, they are able to be used to tune a guitar for the first time, and may work okay for a while, but the tuning stability and the "Ping!" that you get when you use your Whamy bar and the subsequent angst will have you soon wishing for better. Be it TUSQ or something made from bone it matters little as both are far better than the dreaded plastic.

3/ Pickups... I can't say any of the kit supplied pickups are bad as the few I have used in my builds have been quite awesome. For me it's more of having a known starting point. Kit pickups for the most part are an unknown quantity and brand name pickups frequently have a history that can to various levels be tracked on various websites and places like YouTube. The issue is what goes into their DNA. Knowing what magnets are in them and reported balance/performance/tone helps in making decisions on what a 2nd pickup upgrade may consist of if it ever happens. I will say here the only choice disappointments I've had so far has been a set of SD rails in a partscaster Strat build and a set of AC2 Toneriders in my ES-1TL build so both are candidates for a 2nd round on the pickup upgrade bench. Two outstanding first choices of note (maybe I'm simply getting better at it) were the Dimarzio IBZ's in the IB-1Q build and the Entwhisle AT52 set in the TLA-12 build. I'll include that I've been impressed with some choices like Yibuy P90's in a LP build and some Chinese Alnico 5 beasts that found their way into a SGM-1 build and the passive EMG select in the RCM-4F build so all is not lost in the forest of guitars I have.

4/ Bridge... The biggest reason I have here is the ease of doing a guitar setup with better quality parts. For the most part I'll use the kit parts unless I have outstanding reasons to change them. So far it has been things like adding a Bigsby or switching to a different size trem block that instigated most changes though switching from Black to Chrome hardware was the reason on one other build.

5/ Electronics... For me there is only one reason to upgrade the other electronic parts in any build and that's reliability. Cheap parts will work and do the job well, possibly for many many years, however quality parts will do the job reliably for many years more. Quality parts are a must for a working/giging guitar that does shows 6 nights a week, though cheap parts make economic sense for a guitar build that only gets played a few times a year.

As for the other bits like straplocks I'll take a pass. Standard kit hardware for me is more often than not just fine...

I hope my comments make sense to some... Everyone’s mileage will vary & everyone has different tastes...

[blinddrew]

Just another plus one for buying a set of Grovers with the kit. I've got Grovers on a couple of guitars and Schallers on another and they are a step up from the standard issue. Easier fine tuning and hold the pitch better. Given the savings on offer here its definitely worth your while.

[wazkelly]

Great stuff Marcel. You have saved me writing lots as you have covered it all.

One big question for those more knowledgeable than myself.....

Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.

We should all have a basic understanding of difference between A (Audio taper) & B (Linear taper) plus the 250k vs 500k requirements by now.

Other than price point and the unique way CTS pots look, why would someone overlook Alpha which seem to be the cheapest, Bourns somewhere in the middle, and CTS at the upper end?

I have used mostly Bourns minis as all my guitar builds have had very tight & cramped control cavities or F holes to contend with. On one Tele I chose CTS minis and really liked how easy they were to solder up and on the recently finished ES1 Alphas were used purely based on cost and trying something different to see if in fact there was any discernible difference at all (I couldn't pick any).

On both explorers I used Bourns Push/Pulls and from memory they are minis or maybe only come in the one size, can't remember. Seem to recall one played up and swapped it out only to discover the pickup was faulty instead. If space is tight in the control cavity and you want to do coil splitting I highly recommend the Bourns. They work well, are easy to wire up, and not noisy when switching between HB mode and split. An alternative is mini DPDT switches but that can end up looking messy if there are too many of them.

[Marcel]

Can anyone explain the differences between CTS, Bourns & Alpha pots and a sensible argument as to which is best.

Some would argue the "you get what you pay for" theme, and to some extent they would be correct... but it's not the full story.

Firstly, Predominately both Bourns and CTS come out of the USA whereas Alpha mostly comes from Asia, so there will be a price disparity immediately simply because of that.

And secondly, there is slight differences in Q&A and 'purity of materials' which have some effect on the wear and longevity of the parts.

However I think the largest factor in any pots life is its use and environment. How often it is used and the conditions it needs to survive in. I've seen Alpha pots last many years as a main volume fader in an air conditioned studio on a commercial radio station mix console as opposed to $85 ABB pots lasting 3 months as a throttle control in an ocean going boat. Inside a guitar is a relatively tame environment so even with regular use most of the cheaper pots should last quite a few years of reasonable use.

The one big difference between all the pots and that is very important to guitarists is how they feel when you turn them. Does it feel stiff or firm or free and loose? Easy to turn or snug and stays in place? It is on this point that most prefer one way or the other (or don't care)... This is where CTS seems to be the default favourite between guitarists being a pot that's firm and definitive yet reasonably easy to turn with the edge of the palm. Alpha and Bourns feel noticeably looser, turn easier but can leave you wondering if you turned it or not causing that (often annoying) momentary visual check.

Where you would notice the most is having a volume that's one brand and a tone that's another. Worse is when you discover that you'd prefer the combo the other way round... And having one combo in a Tele and a different combo in a LP and yet another combo in a Strat is not as scarce or as sacrilegious as you may think,...

[wazkelly]

Shall we open the Tone Capacitor can of worms too?
It would be good for someone to also explain why Sprague Orange Drops are better than Brand X, etc.
Must confess i have exclusively used Spragues, only because everyone else does, yet i rarely use a tone control. Go figger! Would be nice to know that my 'follow the herd' mentality wasn't a waste of time & money.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[Marcel]

Lol.... Hmmmm.... Capacitors..... In guitars..... Hmmmmm.....

I guess it's pretty much whatever floats your boat will do the trick.

When you think about it technically the only must have requirements is the correct value and a sufficient voltage rating. The value in uF or nF will set the maximum amount of attenuation of higher frequencies that the tone control will have, and the voltage rating is merely to ensure the little buggar doesn't pass out on you mid performance. When you know that the maximum signal level out of any combination of pickups it typically less than 1VAC and presuming we have active electronics the maximum DC volts ever encountered will usually only be 9VDC then a working voltage rating of 100V is completely sufficient for any component within a guitar. Considering the popularity of those 100V GreenCaps in most commercially available guitars and in kit guitars I'd say most manufacturers would agree.

But then there is Mojo..... 650V Orange drops, 1000V Yellow cylinders, 500V Brownies, 2kV Silver foil, the humble Bumble Bee.... They all bring their own kind of 'special' to the Mojo table (the "I can stand up to anything" kind of thinking)... and it is up to the artist to decide if they want that little bit of 'special' up there with them when they perform. It's a little like the 'plastic nut' debate where the cheapest plastic item available will do the job but do you want that knowledge in your head when you're on stage giving that performance of a life time? Do you want or need that excuse to be able to say your most recent performance wasn't your best, or are you a solid enough player that little things like this are important yet don't matter that much?

There is the 'it does the job' thing, and there is also 'Doing the JOB' and 'It does it well'. I suppose it boils down to how you want or what you need to get it done.... Do you believe its a bedrock foundation of your tonal image, is it something of nil consequence, or is it a part of the magic that is, or is it a crutch for you to lean on?

Hmmmm.... Capacitors..... In guitars..... Hmmmmm.....

[wazkelly]

That's the spirit Marcel, you have me seriously questioning what are the truly essential minimum upgrades you can get away with.

Might as well peer a little deeper into the can of worms and seek some opinions on upgrade switches whilst we are in the neighbourhood. Jack sockets too perhaps?

Not a fan of the box style 3 way switch that comes as standard with G style kits and also found on some F styles too. Generally find them quite noisy when selecting different pickup combinations and have mostly upgraded with a Gotoh type thing like this one....


Not on any endorsements or deals with Real Parts but they are a better and safer bet than eBay and the gear seems to be quite good quality for the price, $10 bucks for the one in above shot plus postage.

As for Strat & Tele those box style blade/lever ones seems to be OK for a while but eventually start playing up too. Have installed a couple of 4 way Oak Grigsby's in both Tele's and they worked fine when initially installed but lately I am lucky to get 2 out of 4 positions actually working? Need to find time to open them up and check things out, probably just shorting somewhere as they are so deep and there is not much room or depth in a Tele control cavity.

Hopefully one thing we can all agree on is upgrading to a better grade of wire for connecting all the electronic bits. Since discovering the vintage cloth push back wire I have gone back and re-wired some of the earlier builds that were done with cheap kit supplied multi colored plastic coated stuff that simply breaks way too easily.



I mostly use black for earth and white for hot signal. Only downside is when you are trying to poke a couple of wires (or maybe 3) into the same hole on a lug, whether that be a switch or pot, as the gauge and number of strands is a decent thickness on its own but almost too thick when using common solder joints. Maybe it is just my poor soldering technique too?

[Andyxlh]

Excellent thread and wonderful replies. I have enjoyed reading this!
I'm interested tha the number one upgrade wasn't locking strap buttons to stop you dropping your precious new creation!

[wazkelly]

I reckon a fair number of us rarely play our creations standing up so maybe no need for strap buttons at all?

Have to agree about strap locks as they are on every guitar & bass in the house. Need to watch out where you buy them, particularly on eBay as they might look the same but not necessarily interchangeable. What I mean is one strap setup may not want to attach to the strap buttons on another guitar and vice versa.

[DarkMark]

For what it’s worth I still use a strap when I’m sitting down, just in case I do something clumsy with the guitar (apart from my clumsy improv).