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So a couple of months ago, I was really digging the new Neal Schon Les Paul, the prototypes that were for sale on Bananas.com. 25 1/2 scale, ergonomic pot placement, flat top, sustainer system, not to mention the Floyd Rose. Too bad they were recessed, I hate recessed trems. Yeah, that and the $7K+ price tag kept me from getting one of those! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Then one day, I am surfing at collectguitars.com and I see Brad Gillis' Floyded Les Paul, and EVH's LP Standard with a Floyd, not to mention Neil Schons fleet of Floyded LP customs and standards. So I see that it is possible to modify a Les Paul with a Floyd, why don't I have one of these? I get a bit green with envy, if these rockstars can get them, why can't I?
So begins my mission. First to find a donor guitar. I could never do it to my 81 LPC, that thing is a metal monster and I did not want to f**k with it. So I need a Les Paul, and I prefer customs, that it suitably beat up, non-original, possibly modified, that I wouldn't feel sacrilegous in having carved up. Off I go, to where else? Ebay. Takes me only a couple of weeks to find a suitable guitar. It is a 1970 Les Paul Custom without one single original part left on it. Changed tuners, bridge, pickups, pots, capacitors, even the pickup rings and speed knobs have been changed. Also the finish is largely worn off of the neck, and there is significant belt buckle rash to the back (conveniently located right where a Floyd cavity might reside hmmmm?). Not to mention the stress cracked, crazed laquer, and the paper thin frets (plenty of meat left on them, according to the seller, [img]/images/graemlins/eyes.gif[/img]).
However, this guitar has plenty of good qualities, not to mention the significant amount of mojo! Bought it from the 2nd owner. The guy is an Ohio native, and he tells me that he was scouring the pawn shops and guitar stores for Les Pauls, around the same time that Gary Ricrath was building his outstanding collection. He got the guitar in 72 from a pawn shop after the original owner had pawned it for money to buy H. Shortly thereafter, he modified it to look like Jeff Becks guitar from the cover of 'Blow By Blow' Custom for Standard, not withstanding. So the guitar has been played in smoky bars and clubs for the past 30 years. The binding is a beautiful rich yellow, and it is all intact without even a single crack, try and find that on a modern LP. If only Gibson would simply trim the fret ends, they wouldn't bust through the binding, but I digress. The neck is thick with a substantial 50's backshape, and the volute is giant. Perfect for a Floyd locking clamp, even if I had opted for the through-the-neck style mounting, which I did not. The tuners are Grover Super-Rotomatics, not really suited for a LP, and they don't work very well, but they are also 30 years old, and if they are mounted behind a locking clamp, the tuners are really secondary, right?
So, off she goes, to my local luthier, Tucker Barrett. He assures me that the LP is a perfect candidate for a Floyd transplant, due to its' neck angle and very thick body. He also tells me that he did tons of them, back in the 80's, when he was a luthier in NYC. I am extremely lucky to have such a competent luthier in my area, as it is quite rural. Tucker even has a bridgeport milling machine that he will complete the 'routing' on. He will also be doing a complete refret at the same time, he works on all of my guitars and his fretwork is outstanding. So he tells me 1-2 weeks, and in typical repairman fashion, 3 1/2 weeks later, I have her back in my possession! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
The work is impeccable, second to none. The Floyd route is perfect, and actually quite small. Normally a Floyd route is shaped like an 'L' to accomodate the bars mounting assembly. Well, mine is rectangular shaped, with only a small route on the guitars face, to accomodate the bars mounting 'nut' assembly. The long and short of it, he removed the smallest amount of wood necessary, leaving plenty of mass left in my LP(F). Also the locking clamp is perfect, and he didn't damage a bit of binding or laquer throughout the entire process. He did route it to accomodate to both raise and lower the pitch, I requested that the route be done in a way that essentially blocks the trem, for downward movement only, which I prefer. Really not a big deal, I easily blocked it off with a small aluminum shim that I glued in, and painted the cavity black while I'm at it. Next comes the electronics.
I have been intrigued with the sustainer systems for a while, now being popularized by Phil Collen, Neal Schon, and Steve Vai. I don't want to modify the guitar to accomodate the Fernandes system, but Sustainiac, who actually invented/perfected (I believe that they originally licensed it to Fernandes) the technology offers a Stealth system that more easily retrofits existing guitars. At $200 I think it was a bargain, only $40 more than a Duncan custom shop pickup. I also pick up a DiMarzio Protrack, single coil sized rail pickup, for the neck position, which mounts next to the sustainer, and a DiMarzio Super Distortion for the bridge ala Ace Frehley and Randy Rhoads. Also went with gold hardware for the pickup rings, switch tip, jackplate etc. to match up to the gold Floyd. Well, the neck pickup cavity needed a bit of gentle massaging, to swallow the sustainer/protrack assembly, as did the DiMarzio protrack pickup itself. I had to trim the mounting 'ears' off of the pickup, being careful not to damage the wires, which are actually contained in the circuit-board base of the pickup. A little judicious filing of the pickup also helped to ease the placement. Suffice it to say, it was not easy, but at least it was fun! Turns out that mounting the pickup was the easy part, when compared to the wiring! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Took me just under 5 hours to wire the sustainer up with the pickups, new jack, 3 way switch and battery. Actually 4 1/2 hours to wire it up, another 1/2 hour to get it right! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] But the end result was worth it!
I think that I have a guitar that is better than the Schons. Mine has a non-recessed Floyd, with a minimal route. All of the Sustainiac circuits are contained in my LP cavity. No giant accessory cavity, nor a battery box. The back of Neal's guitar looks like swiss cheese! I also prefer the traditional block inlays over the diamonds Neal went with, but that's a matter of personal taste. Also it is interesting to note that the production Gibson/Schon signatures are carved top and 24 3/4 scale, curiously enough. Mine also has giant Dunlop 6100 frets ala Zakk Wylde, same as the majority of my Jacksons. I guess I incorporated features of a lot of different LP's in mine. Not quite a 'Swiss Army Knife' guitar, but she does a lot! The sound is fantastic, not unlike a traditional LP, but I use a lot of Metal distortion and gain, at any rate! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] Stay tuned for the pics, I will post them directly.
So begins my mission. First to find a donor guitar. I could never do it to my 81 LPC, that thing is a metal monster and I did not want to f**k with it. So I need a Les Paul, and I prefer customs, that it suitably beat up, non-original, possibly modified, that I wouldn't feel sacrilegous in having carved up. Off I go, to where else? Ebay. Takes me only a couple of weeks to find a suitable guitar. It is a 1970 Les Paul Custom without one single original part left on it. Changed tuners, bridge, pickups, pots, capacitors, even the pickup rings and speed knobs have been changed. Also the finish is largely worn off of the neck, and there is significant belt buckle rash to the back (conveniently located right where a Floyd cavity might reside hmmmm?). Not to mention the stress cracked, crazed laquer, and the paper thin frets (plenty of meat left on them, according to the seller, [img]/images/graemlins/eyes.gif[/img]).
However, this guitar has plenty of good qualities, not to mention the significant amount of mojo! Bought it from the 2nd owner. The guy is an Ohio native, and he tells me that he was scouring the pawn shops and guitar stores for Les Pauls, around the same time that Gary Ricrath was building his outstanding collection. He got the guitar in 72 from a pawn shop after the original owner had pawned it for money to buy H. Shortly thereafter, he modified it to look like Jeff Becks guitar from the cover of 'Blow By Blow' Custom for Standard, not withstanding. So the guitar has been played in smoky bars and clubs for the past 30 years. The binding is a beautiful rich yellow, and it is all intact without even a single crack, try and find that on a modern LP. If only Gibson would simply trim the fret ends, they wouldn't bust through the binding, but I digress. The neck is thick with a substantial 50's backshape, and the volute is giant. Perfect for a Floyd locking clamp, even if I had opted for the through-the-neck style mounting, which I did not. The tuners are Grover Super-Rotomatics, not really suited for a LP, and they don't work very well, but they are also 30 years old, and if they are mounted behind a locking clamp, the tuners are really secondary, right?
So, off she goes, to my local luthier, Tucker Barrett. He assures me that the LP is a perfect candidate for a Floyd transplant, due to its' neck angle and very thick body. He also tells me that he did tons of them, back in the 80's, when he was a luthier in NYC. I am extremely lucky to have such a competent luthier in my area, as it is quite rural. Tucker even has a bridgeport milling machine that he will complete the 'routing' on. He will also be doing a complete refret at the same time, he works on all of my guitars and his fretwork is outstanding. So he tells me 1-2 weeks, and in typical repairman fashion, 3 1/2 weeks later, I have her back in my possession! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
The work is impeccable, second to none. The Floyd route is perfect, and actually quite small. Normally a Floyd route is shaped like an 'L' to accomodate the bars mounting assembly. Well, mine is rectangular shaped, with only a small route on the guitars face, to accomodate the bars mounting 'nut' assembly. The long and short of it, he removed the smallest amount of wood necessary, leaving plenty of mass left in my LP(F). Also the locking clamp is perfect, and he didn't damage a bit of binding or laquer throughout the entire process. He did route it to accomodate to both raise and lower the pitch, I requested that the route be done in a way that essentially blocks the trem, for downward movement only, which I prefer. Really not a big deal, I easily blocked it off with a small aluminum shim that I glued in, and painted the cavity black while I'm at it. Next comes the electronics.
I have been intrigued with the sustainer systems for a while, now being popularized by Phil Collen, Neal Schon, and Steve Vai. I don't want to modify the guitar to accomodate the Fernandes system, but Sustainiac, who actually invented/perfected (I believe that they originally licensed it to Fernandes) the technology offers a Stealth system that more easily retrofits existing guitars. At $200 I think it was a bargain, only $40 more than a Duncan custom shop pickup. I also pick up a DiMarzio Protrack, single coil sized rail pickup, for the neck position, which mounts next to the sustainer, and a DiMarzio Super Distortion for the bridge ala Ace Frehley and Randy Rhoads. Also went with gold hardware for the pickup rings, switch tip, jackplate etc. to match up to the gold Floyd. Well, the neck pickup cavity needed a bit of gentle massaging, to swallow the sustainer/protrack assembly, as did the DiMarzio protrack pickup itself. I had to trim the mounting 'ears' off of the pickup, being careful not to damage the wires, which are actually contained in the circuit-board base of the pickup. A little judicious filing of the pickup also helped to ease the placement. Suffice it to say, it was not easy, but at least it was fun! Turns out that mounting the pickup was the easy part, when compared to the wiring! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Took me just under 5 hours to wire the sustainer up with the pickups, new jack, 3 way switch and battery. Actually 4 1/2 hours to wire it up, another 1/2 hour to get it right! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] But the end result was worth it!
I think that I have a guitar that is better than the Schons. Mine has a non-recessed Floyd, with a minimal route. All of the Sustainiac circuits are contained in my LP cavity. No giant accessory cavity, nor a battery box. The back of Neal's guitar looks like swiss cheese! I also prefer the traditional block inlays over the diamonds Neal went with, but that's a matter of personal taste. Also it is interesting to note that the production Gibson/Schon signatures are carved top and 24 3/4 scale, curiously enough. Mine also has giant Dunlop 6100 frets ala Zakk Wylde, same as the majority of my Jacksons. I guess I incorporated features of a lot of different LP's in mine. Not quite a 'Swiss Army Knife' guitar, but she does a lot! The sound is fantastic, not unlike a traditional LP, but I use a lot of Metal distortion and gain, at any rate! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] Stay tuned for the pics, I will post them directly.
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