What are THE best electronic parts?

KeeperOS

KeeperOS

Active member
Come tomorrow I'm gonna go to the guitar shop for new pickups for my latest guitar (the Swing EZ-10) and at the same time I want to replace EVERY electronic part.
The guitar is an HH, has a master volume, master tone and a 3-way and I want to utilize 2 push/pulls for splitting the (new) neck and bridge pickups.

What are THE BEST possible electronics I can go with, I'm talking going all-out (well within reason anyway, not really intent on spending 50€ on a 3-way or 20€ for a cap or sth :D)

(BTW, the reason I didn't say WHICH pickups is because I actually don't know, I'm gonna go there when they're closing and we're gonna go alligator clip on everything they have there that I'd probably want :naughty::cool2:)
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

Then I'd have had a 1500€ worth of WOOD and I'd STILL want to replace every electronic part in it as well ;):D

In all honesty I am particularly sensitive about the quality of electronics manufacturers put in their production guitars.

I have tried a great deal of guitars from many manufacturers and of many price points (up to about 1500-2000€).
So far THE ONLY guitar whose stock electronics I'd leave stock was the Taylor SolidBody (the Ash one). Those pots I instantly fell in love with.

The second one (and by far although not unacceptable) was Carvin (I have to admit I haven't had a chance to try out the EBMMs but they're more than as little off my price range and not ordinary production guitars either...).

And in case someone missed it I am asking which are THE best aftermarket push/pull pots (I'm not talking about the push/pull part but about the pot part ;)), the best 3-way and the best output jack. (oh, and bar the really expensive ones, also caps and resistors)

If no-one has a better idea I'm looking at DiMarzio push/pulls (unless I can find CTS ones), a Switchcraft 3-way and whatever jack they'll suggest me as the best :9:

BTW, the guy is even gonna use Evidence cable for all the wiring, get what I mean about going all-out? :D
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

The DiMarzio Push/pulls are nice. I haven't had one in my hands in a while so I don't remember who makes it...

For Blade switches, I like CRL, they are positive in their contact and smooth/quiet operating. 3 Way toggles I like the open leaf type that AllParts sells that are not made by Switchcraft. I don't remember who makes them, but they are nice to wire and work with, and good solid contact.

Switchcraft jacks are my favourite.
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

Thanks man, I'll see who's making the 3-ways, the DMZs I think are made my CTS although not 100% sure.

Thanks!
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

Hey pinto79, btw, for us non-english natives, what are the open leaf type? :p

Sorry for the trouble man :p
 
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Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

KeeperOS said:
Hey pinto79, btw, for us non-english natives, what are the open leaf type? :p

Sorry for the trouble man :p
Click to expand...

I was referring to the kind of switch where you can see the contacts rather than the ones that are an enclosed box.

This one:

EP_0066-B00.jpg
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

I've always liked the pots that japanese Tokais use the best. Sadly I don't know what brand they are. I've also had a couple of DiMarzio push-pull ones and they were very good as well. Switchcraft jacks are also good.
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

pinto79 said:
I was referring to the kind of switch where you can see the contacts rather than the ones that are an enclosed box.

This one:

EP_0066-B00.jpg
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, due to space restrains (the controls cavity is rather tight) using SG-style 3-ways was out of the question and I kinda feel that the enclosed type (like the one I have now) are cheaply made so I was going for that one from the start.

Great minds and all that huh? ;)

Now about Japanese Tokais, I just hope I could even have access to playing one, sadly that is not an option here...

*Sigh*, I just wish Taylor would sell their pots/electronics as aftermarket parts, then my search would be over like THAT...:(
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

Well, just got it back, wanna hear what got in it?

Neck pickup: Suhr Doug Aldrich
Bridge pickup: Tom Anderson H3
(Sorry guys, I REALLY wanted to use Seymour Duncan but at least from the Pearly Gates, Full Shred and Crazy 8 that I tried the Suhr and the Anderson were a MUCH better fit...:dunno:
If anything at least the pickup rings I used were (black matte plastic) Seymour Duncan :9:)
Push/Pull pots: 2x DiMarzio 500K - Audio taper
3-Way: SwitchCraft Right Angle (SG style) 3-way toggle (yes, much to my amazement he actually managed to fit it).
Output Jack: SwitchCraft locking (wow, never tried one before, LOVE it!:D)

And, to top it off, the wire he used for the wiring was none other than Evidence audio while I also asked him to add the (150K res/.001uF cap in parallel) treble bleed mod in the volume pot.
Needless to say the pickups alone cost me the exact amount the entire guitar cost me but the results are MORE than satisfactory :D

Now all that's left is to install a Gotoh Floyd Rose and new (locking :D) tuners and I'm done :D
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

How does that SWING play? There's a distributor in AU so I'll probably give them a call sometime and find out what the prices are like.
 
Re: What are THE best electronic parts?

Personally, I LOVE it, Swing guitars have very good necks in general but it was this model in particular that I found to be a mirror of my hand so I just bought it, knowing full well that it was a finely made cheap guitar and that if I wanted it to sound and function as good as it played (always IMO) I'd have to shell out a heck of a lot more than what I did when I bought it; and I did.

I bought it for a mere 300€ (it is one of their cheapest, if not THE cheapest they make) and right now I've spent for the pickups alone 300€ (150€ a pop :D). I figure the electronics must have cost me another 50-60€ or so, not sure what he'll charge me for the work (he hasn't told me a final price yet because I got it when he was closing for the day) and I still want to install a Gotoh Floyd Rose that'll cost me approx. 170-180€ (not sure if the nut is included in that price either) and some locking tuners (cause I sometimes like to just strum some chords or play with down-tuning for which the fine tuners aren't NEARLY enough) which I estimate will cost me another 80-90€.

So, I expect in the end to have spent about 650€ for a guitar that I originally bought a mere 300€.
However, once I'm done with it for LESS than a grand I'll have a guitar that plays like a (wet :D) dream (check), sounds like Heaven (after today a BIG FAT check) and functions to perfection (that's what I'm still working on).

And, naturally, once I'm done with all that then at some point I HAVE to install some type of a stop-bar (like the Tremol-No for instance) to be able to switch it to dive-only and/or hard-tail :D
 
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