ESP Gus G NT pre-2012 and BMP-1 Fail!

[Summerangel]

Hey all, just wanted to give you a heads up that the Gus G Fire blackout system will not fit the older 2011 ESP Japanese Gus G signature NT. Do yourself a favor if you want this guitar, get the newer 2012 version with the blackouts already stock in the guitar. The issue specifically is: the preamp will not fit, it is too wide for the older guitar's really narrow and cramped cavity, which just contains a 500K CTS pot and the DPDT coil split switch. Save yourself the heartache of having to mod this version of the guitar. I currently have the older Gus G model, and found this out the hard way. SD was gracious enough to send me a new preamp to replace this wider one, which they say should fit the older guitar, hopefully it will. Needless to say, SD customer service is fantastic and their attention to your issues is unsurpassed. They are amazing! This is one of the many reasons in addition to kick ass sounding pickups, why I have been a Duncan lover for years. They stand behind their amazing products. Now I'm waiting for my new preamp, hopefully it'll fit so I won't to take my guitar to anyone to rout out, re-shield the cavity, and do the install for me. The BMP-1 is supposed to make things easier not harder. Anyway, this would piss me off big time! A question to you guys: the blackouts instructions never mention either removing, or leaving, the previous cavity ground wires in place when removing the old components when prepping for the blackouts. I removed everything inside the guitar in preparation for BMP-1 install that was not required by the blackouts wiring diagram. Was this correct? I also have an extra wire that doesn't seem to go anywhere that I can't trace to anything. I think it may be a bridge ground. Should I ground this wire to the new preamp or remove it altogether also. I'm so frustrated at this point that I regret purchasing the Fire Blackouts. Please advise, thanks.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: ESP Gus G NT pre-2012 and BMP-1 Fail!

Welcome to the forum.

Surely, for owners of the older version of this guitar, paying for some routing work will cost less than trading up to the revised model?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: ESP Gus G NT pre-2012 and BMP-1 Fail!

Yeah, I mean, it's an ESP, not a Les Paul. Route the cavity to fit the preamp. You don't have to chop an entirely new shape, just shave the inside of the cavity.


As for the internal grounding, the external (not in a pickup housing like EMG) preamp will probably rely on the guitar's grounding system between the pots and bridge. If you've got active pickups in the guitar, you will only need grounds from pot to pot, unless it's a 1-knobber. You'll also need the battery/preamp/pickup grounds, of course, but not the bridge-to-pots-to-switch-to-pickups.

If you've got a wire you can't trace to anything, and it's going into a small hole, and the guitar isn't tremoloed, that's the ground wire running directly to the bridge or stopbar tailpiece.

 

[Summerangel]

Re: ESP Gus G NT pre-2012 and BMP-1 Fail!

Thanks the quick response, let's see if I understand. I should have left all of the old grounding wires in place that ran from the shielded pickup cavities back to the main grounding lug in the control cavity where the bridge ground was also connected. Then run a ground wire from the main lug to the preamp? or are the current bridge and toggle grounding wires to the preamp enough? thanks again!

 

[Summerangel]

Re: ESP Gus G NT pre-2012 and BMP-1 Fail!

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I fixed the problem, I re-ran all of the ground wires the I had removed to a central lug in the cavity, checked all of my connections several times, both in the guitar and on the preamp, fired her up and Wham! wow! what a difference. Grant it this test is with the preamp outside the guitar since it doesn't fit but now that all of the connection issues are ironed out, when the new preamp arrives it should be a snap, hopefully. The Gus G blackouts sound incredible. You've got check these out! take care!