The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

[Chistopher]

Here's the planning thread for anyone interested in asking or answering any questions. This thread is for submissions only. The contest will end May 31st at 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time, afterwards there will be a thread posted to vote on submissions.We are still looking for a suitable prize, but rest assured, there will be one.

The rules are simple:

1-List the initial guitar, replaced parts, work done, and other pertinent information as well as the price. The guitar most be modded, it can't be an original build or a partscaster. If this contest goes well, we'll have other contests for those categories.

2-Post pictures.

3-Add neat/interesting information (such as "I got the idea for this guitar from such and such a player" or "the idea for the finish came from the color of my first car")

4- Sound clips are preferred, but not required.

5-Must be able to verify that it was made by the forum member, possibly through a photograph.

6-In the sound clips, every part of the signal path must be identified, such as pedals and amps. No excessive signal coloring, this is a contest about guitars, not about how nice the rest of your rig sounds.

7-All work must be done by entrant.

8-Multiple entries are forbidden.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

All right, I'll bite! Let's see how well I do in terms of the rules etc....I present The Chopsbuilder as my entry!

1-List the initial guitar, replaced parts, work done, and other pertinent information as well as the price:

The initial guitar is a Dean Vendetta-XM (B-grade), a Chinese Import. Original price from shop selling Dean B guitars was $50.
* Filled neck cavity
* Filled knob hole
* Painted the body; I had a mask made for the words/image, and added the sticker by the pickup. Paint and mask ~ $25
* Rewired switch as off/off/on
* Replaced pickup with a Duncan Live wire - $25 (there is a thread in PU Lounge verifying I did it wrong the first time!)
* NY Neon Strings
* Caution strap, and duct tape "Strap Locks" as a style decision
Total Cost approximately $125

2 Pics:

Original Dean Vendetta XM



Construction Phase





Completed

3-Add neat/interesting information (such as "I got the idea for this guitar from such and such a player" or "the idea for the finish came from the color of my first car")

My build was inspired by our very own Dominus and his awesome multi-color work. He did some amazing work with similar sorts of guitars. The pickup was purchased for $25 at the SDUG User Group day. The guitar has been played on stage at a Dean Owners of America event. Original thread about this: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...D!!!!-(Dominus-Dean-Content)&highlight=NDIDVD

4- Sound clips: Taking it for a quick spin...

5-Must be able to verify that it was made by the forum member.: See above

6-In the sound clips, every part of the signal path must be identified: Guitar to Roland Cube 30, Recto setting and delay.

7-All work must be done by entrant.: I attest; Aceman.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Bump for competition. There HAS to be someone better than this....

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

I'll submit something within the next 24 hours.

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[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

K, here we go. I present to you, the Coffin Lid. It started life as a stock Ibanez RG-120 in black gloss. I replaced the pickups with an RCA4 Distortion neck model in the neck paired with an Trembucker Alternative 8 in the bridge. Both in Triple Shot Rings. Tuners were replaced with Grover locking tuners. Body was swapped with an Ibanez RG-321 with a hardtail bridge. String saddles were replaced with Graph-Tek string savers. Knobs were replaced by Zombie skulls, as was the switch plate,the jack plate and the truss rod cover. The body itself was stripped on the top and bottom and finished with Wipe on Poly. Strap locks were replaced with Dunlops. Oh and I swapped out the tone cap for a 0.22 Orange Drop.

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

And since it wouldn't let me post more than 10 photos in a post, here's one of me holding it:

I'll see if I can come up with a recent sound clip.
The signal chain was simple: My Line 6 Spidervalve Mk II into my 4x12 Carvin cab. I can't remember the exact setting, but I think that its the Insane Amber with just some reverb on it.

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

The Forum just doesn't seem to like my YouTube videos. :gurmpy:
It seems to automatically change the save text into something unreadable. I save it as one thing and when I go back and check it in an edit function, it's completely different.
I'll try putting it up just as a link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgDdXI0nTw

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

This is bizzare, it wouldn't show up on my desktop, but I can now see it on my phone.

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[BriGuy1968]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

I present to you “The Phoenix.”

For the record, even though she has a very unique finish, I didn’t perform that work so the only things I’ll talk about are the modifications I’ve actually made myself.

“The Phoenix” is a 1985 Westone Spectrum LX which I purchased used in 1987. The short story is that in 1995 I almost lost her in a house fire but couldn’t bring myself to throw her away. The finish was ruined, the electronics fried, and the hardware became corroded and unusable after being soaked by the firemen and then just sitting for years. In about 2004 a buddy refinished her and did his best to clean up the hardware. It became barely usable at that point, with only the bridge pickup working and the tremolo being squeaky and rough. He did a great job on the finish though and it was at that time that I named her “The Phoenix” after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes.

So here’s where MY modding begins.

This guitar ended up being a big learning project. I started by investigating what would be involved in replacing pickups and decided that I could probably pull it off. I listened for hours on end to sound samples and demos and read tons of reviews. Finally I decided that I was going to put in Seymour Duncan’s... a Hot Rodded humbucker set (JB & Jazz) with a Hot Stack in the center. However, as I was learning about pickups I also started learning about all these cool wiring schemes like splits, parallel and out of phase. I decided that I wanted as much variation as I could cram into it, so I set upon the task of coming up with a unique wiring setup.

The original wiring was as follows:
• 3-way toggle for the two humbuckers
• Volume with push-pull for splitting both humbuckers
• Neck Tone with push-pull for turning on the center pickup
• Bridge Tone with push-pull for phase reverse

I decided I wanted to put Series/Split/Parallel switches on each pickup, I wanted a treble bleed on the volume, I wanted a varitone (.005uF, .022uF & .047uF) on the bridge tone control, and that I would turn the push-pull on the volume into a switch to turn the bridge & neck pickups OFF so I could run just the center pickup.

After playing it for a bit I came up with the idea of sacrificing a tone control for a blend pot with a MN taper (so the center is full volume of both sides) to blend from the neck & bridge (HH setup) to adding the center, to center only. I changed the volume push-pull to a master series/parallel switch, made the bridge tone a master tone, and reversed the coil split on the neck pickup.

My final changes came when I decided to pull the Hot Stack in favor of something with more power so I wouldn’t have such a volume drop when I added the center pickup. I decided to go with a GFS Lil Killer instead (a choice that I’m VERY happy with). I changed the 3-way mini for that pickup from Series/Split/Parallel to Split North/Series/Split South so I could set any combination of two split pickups to be hum-canceling. The neck 3-way mini had developed a short, so I changed it to a 2-way between Series and Split (I’ve learned that I’m not really a fan of parallel in most cases). I also changed the varitone to have a .005 cap, no cap, and a Black Ice passive overdrive (just for giggles).

Along with the electronics I also replaced all the hardware, opting for gold color, including the trem (a cheap FR copy), locking GFS Sperzel-style tuners, pickup rings and knobs.

This pic is NOT my guitar, but this is pretty much what it looked like before the fire:

...and here’s what I had to work with when I decided to start modding:

...and roughly the same shot AFTER the pickups and hardware:

...and the guitar as it is today:

Oh yeah, and just to show that it’s mine, here’s a couple shots of me playing her:

I don’t have much for sound clips, but here’s a link to my cover of Triumph’s “Little Boy Blues” in which I play several of my guitars. The guitar showing at any given time in the video is the one you’re hearing at that time and The Phoenix makes a couple of appearances. (By the way, the sound doesn’t start until about 40 seconds in.)

Anyway, there’s my submission... thanks for taking the time to read it! [emoji41]

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Saved from a house fire.
Dang!!!

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[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Instead of editing my post, I'll add to it. Here's the Coffin Lid, through my Picovalve with the closed back 1X12 cab, C-Rex Speaker. Keeley MT-2 for the distortion.

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

This is the Dark version. The only difference in settings is that I turned the bright switch off on the Picovalve.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

We got us a contest!


I would like points subtracted from Demaniac for 'Old Shirtless Man' video.....:earl:

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

We got us a contest!


I would like points subtracted from Demaniac for 'Old Shirtless Man' video.....:earl:

[emoji41]

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[ChAoZ]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Will this be like the last Official SDUGF Contest where it just fizzled out into nothing?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Will this be like the last Official SDUGF Contest where it just fizzled out into nothing?

You never know until you try! [emoji6]

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

My most modded guitar appears to have no mods.

 

[Demanic]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

My most modded guitar appears to have no mods.

Don't know how to help you with that.[emoji52]

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[Chistopher]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

I'll throw mine in as part one of a two part series:

View attachment 89257

It's not done yet, I still have to wait for a few more parts to arrive and the first color I painted it didn't go as planned. The white paint I used had a yellow hue to it. But it should be good and ready by some time this or next week. I'll post my official entry as soon as it is done. I plan to paint it a zebra striped pattern.

As for the modifications, this is what I have done so far:

• I replaced the stock ceramics with GFS A5 "Jimi's" which I have installed upside down to fix the reverse stagger.
• I shielded the pickup covers.
• I've drilled to accommodate a GFS Badass style bridge.
• I've installed a bone nut and GFS "true mechanical" locking tuners.
• I've made the tone pots have independent tone caps and have included a bass cut on each tone to make it similar to a more subtle Greasebucket tone control.
• I replaced the frets with stainless steel.
• I gave the neck a smoother feel and a slightly asymmetrical profile, nothing too radical, but the neck feels a lot better.

Pictures and more info will be posted when the guitar is finished.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: The Official April 2K18 SDUGF Modding Contest

Okay, I will play!
1976-ish Gibson Marauder. Bought it for $125 including a Gibson gig bag off of the floor at a guitar show. It was literally laying on the concrete floor under a table! I bought it because I wanted a Gibson worthless enough to modify without guilt. This was perfect because the finish was bad and the pickguard was broken.
Modifications:
-Thinned down and reshaped the neck, including heavily "rolled" fingerboard edges, although I had never heard the term at that time.
-I broke the nut the first time I played it on stage, replaced it with a bone nut.
-made a pickguard out of sheet aluminum, routed out the body with a grinder bit in a drill press
-bridge humbucker is a first-generation 1978 Ibanez V-2 I had pulled out of an ST-50. I have had 4 or 5 different humbuckers in the neck position but it is now a Wilde Bill Lawrence K-500C. Both pickups are fantastic in this guitar.
-rewired it for a standard 3-way switch (from a badly warped Aria Pro hollowbody I had smashed onstage) and volume/tone with a toggle switch to take the tone pot out of the circuit. CTS 500k pots & .22 orange drop cap.
-planed at least 1/4" thickness off of the back, contoured the heck out of the body to get it all much sleeker feeling and lighter. (My other guitar at the time was a '62 SG Special and I basically SGized this one.)
-stained the mahogany body black and sprayed it with clear automotive enamel from a spray can I bought at Oreilly Auto Parts.
-made the tailpiece by hand from a piece of aluminum bar stock.
-recessed the neck bolt plate. (Why don't ALL bolt-neck guitars have this feature? Made it much more comfortable to play.)
-recently bought a custom truss nut cover with the name the other guitar player in my band at that time gave it, the "Marlocher."
The fact that my name is on it should verify that it is mine.
I have no sound clips but I can record some sound with my daughter's iPad if necessary. Both pickups are strong and clear with a huge bottom and clear mids. Along with the mahogany body, maple bolt neck, 24.75" scale length, and the harmonica bridge (the ONLY original & unmodified part of the entire guitar) it sounds warm and full like a good Les Paul but with more snap and clarity from the maple neck/fingerboard. It is a powerhouse!

Edit: although it looks dull gray in these cell phone photos it is actually a glossy dark chocolate color. The fretboard wear is 100% natural, NOT a relic job!