Wattage
High Voltologist
I replaced the broken reflector knobs with a full set of speed knobs.
Then I swapped out the stock neck and bridge pickups with an SD Vintage FB neck and a Seymourized FB bridge. I disconnected the middle position and dropped the pickup down so it is out of the way. The difference these pickups made is just incredible, more clarity, definition and a huge tonal range. The original pups had a nice output and were pretty fat sounding but rather muddy with very little high end definition. The guitar sounded good but it's unamplified sound made me think there was a lot more to be had out of it, I had no idea how much.
While I was at it I replaced the stock pots, still 500k, I put in new .022 caps and cleaned up the bird's nest of wires that Epi shipped it with.
For now I've taken the bar off. It works fairly well for light stuff but fronting the band and steering this thing with the bar is a little messy. Now I can just play it without thinking too much. I was also able to find a replacement truss cover for it since it was long gone when I acquired the guitar. I had to drill new holes for the cover but there are no visible reminders. Next will be a bone nut and then maybe those cool new Kluson banjo style Firebird tuning pegs.
Oh yeah I removed the Epi Dodo bird from the guard, it looked a little Gumby-ish compared to the real Gibby bird.
when I first got it
Then I swapped out the stock neck and bridge pickups with an SD Vintage FB neck and a Seymourized FB bridge. I disconnected the middle position and dropped the pickup down so it is out of the way. The difference these pickups made is just incredible, more clarity, definition and a huge tonal range. The original pups had a nice output and were pretty fat sounding but rather muddy with very little high end definition. The guitar sounded good but it's unamplified sound made me think there was a lot more to be had out of it, I had no idea how much.
While I was at it I replaced the stock pots, still 500k, I put in new .022 caps and cleaned up the bird's nest of wires that Epi shipped it with.
For now I've taken the bar off. It works fairly well for light stuff but fronting the band and steering this thing with the bar is a little messy. Now I can just play it without thinking too much. I was also able to find a replacement truss cover for it since it was long gone when I acquired the guitar. I had to drill new holes for the cover but there are no visible reminders. Next will be a bone nut and then maybe those cool new Kluson banjo style Firebird tuning pegs.
Oh yeah I removed the Epi Dodo bird from the guard, it looked a little Gumby-ish compared to the real Gibby bird.
when I first got it
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