So, who has gone back to "stock?"

T

Tele-Bob

New member
A few years back I got real caught up in modification madness and was buying and selling guitars just so I could tear their guts out and do crazy things with them. All sorts of wiring schemes, p'up configs, and experiments with hardware. Some of it was good. Some of it was interesting. Most of it was a passing fancy.

I had a few guitars with more switching and pickup options than a sane man could ever use. They covered everything. But when it was time to go out and play a gig, I'd reach for my P90 Tele with a 3 way switch. Or my Suhr Pro Series H/S/S with standard 5 way switch.

The funny thing is, I HAD TO HAVE series, parallel, coil tap, coil splitting and phase options all of which I now find completely useless unless I'm recording.

So, one by one all of my "hybrid" guitars are going back to simpler schemes or they're getting sold.

Anyone else come full circle like this?

Yes, I must be old! LOL!
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

...I prefer guitars that have those types of wiring options stock :D

I suppose the nature of most people changing pickups in axes is to increase output and etc., (I mean who puts APSs and 59s or Phat Cats in Ibanez RGs with Floyds and such... or who puts singles in pauls might be a better example, when hbs in a strat are common... or maybe i've lost whatever point i was trying to make on the nature of modding, lol) where I've always wanted my stock guitars to sound MORE stock if that makes any sense... which is I guess the point of the "vintage" voiced pickup market.

My least stock axe is the Tele which I've destroyed basically to put Jazzmaster hardware and pickups in. It's not going back to stock :laugh2:

The stock pickups aren't going back into my Japanese Jaguar, that's for sure :)
 
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Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I've modded (changed pickups) for 4 of my guitars. I think they'll stay as they are. However, my Gibson Les Paul with the stock '57 classics will stay stock. That one isn't going to change. If I did mod it chances are I might go back.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

Dru Edwards said:
I've modded (changed pickups) for 4 of my guitars. I think they'll stay as they are. However, my Gibson Les Paul with the stock '57 classics will stay stock. That one isn't going to change. If I did mod it chances are I might go back.
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+1

I am totally digging the '57 Classic Plus/'57 Classic combo. Never thought I'd like A2 pickups but they sound great to me. Classic+ is like a more 3D Duncan Custom with more bottom and reduced treble, but very warm.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

As far as wiring schemes are concerned, I used to want a ton of crazy superswitch options on the Strat, now it's just 5-way. For the Paul, I like having the JP wiring, mostly because with all the pots in, it's just like a stock LP. However.... I'm itching to add a split to the single HB guitar....
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I don't like the stock pups in any of my axes (though 2 of them are cheapos). My tele has humbuckers in it, which I love. My Squier strat will eventually get humbuckers too. I just like my guitars to be more customized, especially in looks. Then I can have it look and sound just right for me.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

Before, I loved switching pups and mixing things up. Lately, I havn't touched my Lp or strat since I got them, and seem to be liking it.

My next purchase is going to be an good gibson. It's never going to be modified. My philosophy now is instead of buying a guitar and then spending money to upgrade, just get a better guitar to start with.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I had a single Humbucker Peavey tracer once that I installed 5 toggles on.

1) Shut off 1 coil
2) Select which coil got shut off.
3) Parallel or Series wiring
4) Coils in/out of phase
5) Remove tone control from curcuit

There isn't much I didn't try back in the day. These days I still tweak to get what I want but I am far more likely to remove cute factory wiring and go with the simplest circuit possible.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

phil_104 said:
Before, I loved switching pups and mixing things up. Lately, I havn't touched my Lp or strat since I got them, and seem to be liking it.

My next purchase is going to be an good gibson. It's never going to be modified. My philosophy now is instead of buying a guitar and then spending money to upgrade, just get a better guitar to start with.
Click to expand...


That's exactly how I feel these days. I love gear shopping but I never buy a guitar unless it has a great sound just the way it is. And then I won't change it. Instead of constantly changing my gear to get the sounds I want, I'm now simply trying to work the gear I have to better effect.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I never really got into the Swiss Army Knife tone geek thing, although I have a set of pickups wired for standard/series/parallel in an SG style body to fill the hole left by a top-jack to side-jack conversion.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I just try to keep everything stock. I mean, if you don't like it stock upfront, despite some minor mods, you might as well not pick it up. It'll spare you some heartache. But, after saying that, you can still learn alot of b.s. modding everything to hell, believe it or not. No right or wrong really, just experience.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I used to - did wiring mods on basically every guitar I bought. Done the whole series/parallel/tapped/split wirings, 5 way switches with dual buckers, push/pull pots, dual concentric pots, killswitches, etc...

My current favorite axe, which is honestly the best axe I've ever owned and definitely the most suited for me, has a single EMG81 in the bridge and a single volume knob. It's dead stock and staying that way!
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

Stock pickups are for newbs and complicated wiring is for geeks. :approve:

I don't like most stock pickups, although its more common now for manufacturers to use Duncans and EMGs as stock pickups so I'm just referring to those that don't. While I'm sure there can be some more useful tones squeezed out of a set of pickups I'm both too lazy and simple in my approach to tone to bother with that. I think tons of switches on the guitar does look pretty cool though, and the first line I wrote was just a bit of an exaggeration.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I swap out my pickups. Most of my guitars have come with coil tapping stock, but if they don't I typically won't add it. 2 buckers and a three way is more than enough for me.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

i'm thinking about it with one of my strats, ive got mini humbuckers in it, and it just doesnt sound good, ive got the SAME pickups in another strat, and love it, so i'm thinking about doing something else.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

Honestly, only when I am selling a cheap guitar that I will lose money on by leaving Duncan's in it. Other than that if I change pups, I leave them in or upgrade to a different set.

-dave
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

Sounds familar. The stock pickups that were in my MIA I pretty much replaced right away. I wish I would have given them a chance. I've come to like single coils and kick myself for not giving them a chance when I had them in my strat... :smack:
I've been gassin 4 single coils for a while now. :32: :)
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I've only done mods that were definitive upgrades, like putting those vintage 60's Strat single coils i got for free in my Fender that came with Tex-Mex pickups...that was like a no-brainer.

I think those wiring tricks are pretty cool. I think that if Gibson knew what they were doing every one of their guitars would have two volumes, two tones and the Jimmy Page schematic. The thing is, these days there are so many different tones possible from all the different pedals, 4-channel tube amps and 12-channel Spiders and 100 something preset Vettas, that the subtle nuances and dynamics achieved are almost insignificant.

I mean a cranked Marshall with a Big Muff in front of it doesn't care if you're in series, parallel or split. It's gonna sound huge, fuzzy and heavy...and if you're the kind of player who goes from a chorus, delay, and reverb-soaked clean part to an epic lead solo, the pickup selection is just gonna be the finishing touch after switching off the effects loop and turning it to the crunch channel.

I think those fancy wiring tricks work best for guys like me who use simple amplification. I just plug into my Bassman and crank it until i like the distortion then let my fingers do the talking. The dynamics of the different pickups on my Strat or the split / full humbucker tones on my SG are really important to my sound because going from a 14k CustomCustom to a 6k 60's single coil is almost like turning off a weak overdrive pedal, similar to how splitting my SG's 500T literally halves the output...

I want some more effect pedals for trippier music (:smokin:))) but my rig as it is allows for some extremely dynamic playing. I want to get that P-Rails for my SG-X cuz then i'd have the hot humbucker and chilled single coil tones plus that raunchy P90 in between (like upgrading from two channels to three!) but honestly, i really love the tone i'm getting lately.

all i really think would improve it would be some Orange amplification.
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

I like realatively simple circuits. My Roadstars don't get any mods but everything else is pretty much fair game. Simple is the name of the game for me tho...
 
Re: So, who has gone back to "stock?"

i've wrecked a few axes myself doing lots of mods instead of just playing the dam things... most i do these days is change PU's if i need to, and repair what is broken... i've taken some new axes in the past and had the frets changed, bridge changed, tuners changed, PU's changed... it gets to the point where i should of used the money i spent on aftermarket parts and just bought a better guitar... so most of my guitar buys over the past 8 years are pretty much stock if not stock
 
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