Hello, World!
I have a guitar that I have been modding over the years. Although she is just a "Rocket Special" (Marshall starter pack) and I've had many better guitars over the years, I will always keep it since she was a Xmas present from my dad, and also my first electric guitar ever. I usually play classic rock, some Metallica and try to learn some DT/Petrucci songs.
Here are the mods done so far:
You can see her in the pics below. I have a few questions and ideas too. But the main one is in the title, since the guitar is almost finished, "What little changes can I do that will have a big impact on the sound and playability"?
What do you think?
Any thoughts and ideas will be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Walt
I have a guitar that I have been modding over the years. Although she is just a "Rocket Special" (Marshall starter pack) and I've had many better guitars over the years, I will always keep it since she was a Xmas present from my dad, and also my first electric guitar ever. I usually play classic rock, some Metallica and try to learn some DT/Petrucci songs.
Here are the mods done so far:
- Replace 21 fret maple/rosewood neck with a 22 fret single piece maple one
- Isolate pickup cavities
- Replace pickups and all electronics, by a single Gibson 498T and a single volume labeled "Tone"
- Remove tremolo springs and block bridge with a wooden block (Clapton style?)
- I installed the neck and calibrated her all by myself, so she is well intonated and the action is just right.
You can see her in the pics below. I have a few questions and ideas too. But the main one is in the title, since the guitar is almost finished, "What little changes can I do that will have a big impact on the sound and playability"?
- I think it sounds a bit too high for my taste. So I'm thinking about adding a tone control?
- I saw a used Dimarzio DP159 Evolution Bridge that I'm tempted to buy and install. Any knows how it compares to the 498T? I like Steve Vai's sound a lot.
- Some of the machine heads are a bit stiff, and since they are the original cheaper ones, I might replace them with some Wilkinson EZ-LOK ones for better tuning and stability.
- The neck is on bare wood and has a (strange to me) dry feel. I have a Gibson Care Kit (Low Abrasion Metal Cream, Premier Fretboard Conditioner, Pump Polish Finishing Cream). Can I use some of these products to clean and seal it?
- I think, that some of the fret edges are a bit sharp. How can I smooth them out?
- I like the all-black body look, but I'm tempted to swap the pickguard for a pearl-white one to make her look more elegant.
- In my opinion, it sounds well. Would she benefit from a Black TUSQ nut and/or bridge saddles? Anyone ever used Graph Tech products?
- Since the HB is wired in series it is a one sound guitar, which is fine by me, but sometimes I wish it would do a bit more. I thought about adding a switch to change the wiring from series to parallel and (maybe) out-of-phase too. Would this be a noticeable difference?
- Last, the third & fourth pics show a custom Halo guitar that I designed on their website. I understand that they make custom hand made guitars to each one's specification. This "copy" of mine would cost over 2k with almost identical specifications. What would be so different about them?
What do you think?
Any thoughts and ideas will be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Walt
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