Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

[phil_104]

Just looking for general feedback. I got a Kirk Douglas SG this week and I absolutely love the resonance of the body, the carve of the neck and the overall feel of the guitar. I also really dig the vibrola for subtle, vintage trem work. With that said, the pickups and electronics are 'meh' at best. I have 57s in my ES339, and I think they sound great, but in this guitar, they do absolutely nothing for me. The bridge pickup is weak and the neck pickup is overpowering. The middle pickup is a neat addition, but I don't feel like it's a selling feature for me as much as I though it would be. It can be blended in with the 3 way switch by twisting the stem, but I find myself sometimes tripping that accidentally.

So long story short, love the guitar, not the electronics. I'm thinking this guitar needs a few changes, to really become something I could use as a main guitar for a gig. Firstly, with the vibrola, I will be adding locking tuners and I will have a graphite nut cut for it. I will also add straplocks, but that goes without saying. My question to you is, if this was your guitar, what would you do about the pickups and the pickguard. I am torn, because 3 pickup SGs are not an every day occurrence, so having that 3rd pickup there is cool, but I don't feel like I need it. It's not in the way of my picking btw. Also, black guard, or white pickguard?

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Just trying to get insight here. Bellow you will find a picture of what the guitar looks like now and what it could look like if I changed the guard to black with 2 pickups. I'm also considering doing something different, like mini humbuckers or filtertrons, just because I already have 2 other humbucker equipped Gibsons. Just looking for a bit of variety.

 

[Jermo3178]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Black pickguard. With all that going on around it, it is definitely the way to go... but I prefer black pickguards... so... yeah... don't mind me.

But seriously, that is a nice SG.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

prefer stock.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

prefer stock.

Well, I'm going to change the pickups regardless, so it's not really a question of stock VS non-stock. I guess I'm fishing for ideas as to what I'm going to do with it. I could keep it the same, cosmetically, but I would still change the guts (not a fan of coil taps or the blend knob).

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Well, I'm going to change the pickups regardless, so it's not really a question of stock VS non-stock. I guess I'm fishing for ideas as to what I'm going to do with it. I could keep it the same, cosmetically, but I would still change the guts (not a fan of coil taps or the blend knob).

well, you could change the pickups and it would still look stock, unless I'm missing something. I forgot how it looks stock- I'm assuming its a three pickup SG stock. You could lower the middle if it gets in the way of your picking. Whatever works best for you though of course.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

well, you could change the pickups and it would still look stock, unless I'm missing something. You could lower the middle if it gets in the way of your picking. Whatever works best for you though of course.

Not missing anything, it wouldn't change the look. I'm thinking Filtertrons could be interesting in that guitar though. I had a gretsch back in the day, and I've always had a soft spot for those. With the vibrola, it could be a pretty unique SG.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Having owned a Gibson SG Custom in the past, I'd say the new config. looks and works better. The middle pickup gets in the way and even lowering it seems to impact the tone on the other pickups. It kinda goes back to why some folks like having single pickup guitars. There's better tone when there's a more focused magnetic pull and realistically, the middle humbucker doesn't really do anything worthwhile anyways.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

There's better tone when there's a more focused magnetic pull and realistically, the middle humbucker doesn't really do anything worthwhile anyways.

You do know that a recent thread on this topic wound up in a fist fightwith a couple members treated for minor injuries. Some people can't deal with such frank comments as yours. Be careful you don't rile them when they're having a bad day. All hell will break loose.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Having owned a Gibson SG Custom in the past, I'd say the new config. looks and works better. The middle pickup gets in the way and even lowering it seems to impact the tone on the other pickups. It kinda goes back to why some folks like having single pickup guitars. There's better tone when there's a more focused magnetic pull and realistically, the middle humbucker doesn't really do anything worthwhile anyways.

You do know that a recent thread on this topic wound up in a fist fightwith a couple members treated for minor injuries. Some people can't deal with such frank comments as yours. Be careful you don't rile them when they're having a bad day. All hell will break loose.

And I don't want to get into that, not in this thread. I don't mind 3 pickups, I don't see it as a problem, I just don't necessarily need it with humbuckers. Another option would be 3 Phat Cats which could be interesting, or three Filtertrons.

I think I want to go with lower output pickups, since I have a JB in the bridge of my Les Paul, and the more I play, the more I realize that too much gain isn't my thing.

3 filtertrons would actually be a neat combination, if I can get a pickguard made for them.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

I think a black pickguard with three gold humbuckers would look great.

 

[Jermo3178]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

I think a black pickguard with three gold humbuckers would look great.

YAY!! I'm not the only one... it would give it that whole LP custom vibe. And on that body, it'd be sweet

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

I think three P90s or Filtertrons would be awesome. But you know what would be REALLY awesome... this combo. Tele bridge pickup in an SG? Why the fudge not?



That said, if you decide to go to two pickups, I'd be happy to take that toggle switch off your hands.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

That said, if you decide to go to two pickups, I'd be happy to take that toggle switch off your hands.

Lol, you're not the first person to say that. I have a few friends who've already inquired. I think, when I change the electronics, I'll take out the wiring harness and I'll keep it intact, just so that I can throw it all back in if I decide to sell the guitar.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

An SG with filtertrons would be a disaster. P-rails would be great.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

An SG with filtertrons would be a disaster.

Just out of curiosity ; how so?

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

I'm a sucker for Pearloid, and I'm gonna suggest it for you. A red/gold pearloid or diamond dust full SG pickguard with either gold filtertrons or something wacky like these:


I'm going to try and jam as much white pearloid on the Pelham Epi SG I just got, along with a Dream 90 in the front and a Dream 180 in the back in chrome/white pearloid.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Awesome guitar!

The '57s do blow though, so I ordered three Antiquities for mine.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

I love the look and I'd go either:
Brobucker/ phat cat/ Ant or Seth n
WLH / phat cat/ WLH
Disclaimer - I have no experience with WLH or Phat cats as yet but that's how I would roll I'm sure. However I do have a Bro in an SG type along with an Ant n and I'm not changing those out for anything!

 

[Wolferine92]

Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

Black guard and keep the electronics, it has the blend thing right? Must be a pain in the ass to re-install if you ever wanted to sell it. I think blending is a great way for great sounds, if you want a point and play guitar then its probably not for you though.
Try adjusting pickup heigth and the polepieces to counter the weakness/harshness before changing the pickup entirely

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Changes to my new SG : thoughts?

You shouldn't need locking tuners for that guitar, I'd have the nut worked on so there is no binding of the strings in the slots. It's not like a Strat Trem that does heavy dive-bomb whammy action. With a properly cut and finished nut, there should not be any problems with the strings going out of tune. Just my opinion.

Have you tried adjusting the pickups?. To get more out of the bridge, screw the pole pieces down into the pickup, and raise the height of the p/u. On the neck, if it overpowers the bridge, raise the polepieces and lower the pickup. Also, check to see if it has 500k pots all around, Gibson puts 300k linear volume pots in most production guitars, changing them to 500k audio pots will get more out of the pickups. The tone pots should already be 500k audio.

I'm wondering why you got the 3-pickup model if you don't like having the middle pickup?. Why didn't you just get a 2-pickup model?.

Al