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More modding madness - Part I

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  • More modding madness - Part I

    Part II coming soon!

    Ok, I ordered 3 Custom Shop Duncans for a Warrior Pro back in October, but sold the guitar soon after to pay for my War Angel and 7-string customs.

    Since these were single-spaced Jr format, I didn't have anything else to put them in.

    So then I had the brilliant idea to put them in a 2-hum guitar, and finally got around to doing it.




    Yes, the pickups are upside down. The leads come out of the bottom but are glued down and I didn't feel like risking ripping them out, so the only way to get the pickups to sit anywhere near flat was to turn them around.

    I ordered a Distortion Jr, Custom Jr, and Jazz Jr. Pictured here are the Distortion and Custom. Still have to do the mod for the Jazz.

    This was a fun and easy project. The hardest part was finding a spare push/pull pot (which I didn't have). I scraped out the corners of the pickup route with a 1/2" chisel, and tested the fit. Then I mounted the pickup ring upside down and put the pickups in upside down to mark the holes, then drilled them out.

    Next, I shaved a bit of the top (veneer) corners to get both pickups in at the same time once they were mounted in the ring. That's when I realized they would have to be turned around

    Wiring it up was the hard part. I had some push-push pots but the shafts were too big for the holes already in the guitar, so I tried screwing the threaded shaft into the hole slowly, but it wouldn't go. So I bit the bullet and went at it with a 3/8" drill bit in reverse. Worked like a charm, and there's no finish chipping.

    I had already put in a push-pull Volume pot a while back to split the JB in the neck, and when I had the push/push Tone knob all wired up and the knob put on it, the first thing I did was pull up on it, stripping the internal position lock for the switch

    So I had to desolder all the wires and start over

    Finally got it all done about an hour ago.

    For Part II, the Jazz Jr will go in the neck, but I'm thinking of moving the Custom Jr there with it, and putting either a J200, Classic Stack, or a straight-up single coil in the bridge with the Distortion.

    All this thing needs now is Variax guts and it'll be the ultimate Swiss Army Guitar
    I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

    The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

    My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

  • #2
    Thats pretty kick ass bro, rock on. How's it sound?
    Guitars:
    '04 Jackson SL1 - Flametop Cabo Blue Trans Burst
    '94 Charvel Predator - Fire Crackle
    '77 Ibanez LP Custom Copy - Black
    Amp:
    VOX AD30VT

    Comment


    • #3
      Yeah... :this thread is worthless without sound samples: *lol*
      Cold Hollow Machinery

      Comment


      • #4
        I'll do sound samples when I get it all done. Gonna order that true 3-way toggle first.

        As for the sound, the Distortion is rated at 17K, and the Custom is rated at 16.31K. I originally had them placed so that the Distortion was closest to the bridge, but since I had to turn them around, they're not in the optimal place for their tonal characteristics, so they sound fairly similar.

        The JBJr I used to have in another Warrior was great - sounded like a Distortion with boosted mids - much better than a full-sized JB. The Distortion Jr doesn't have the mids of the JBJr, but it's definitely got the output of a full-sized Distortion.

        The Custom Jr sounds just like the Custom hum I took out to put these in, which is why I'd really rather leave it in the bridge and put a single in the neck with the Jazz Jr.
        I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

        The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

        My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Pretty cool! Is this project what made you think about designing a 5-way toggle?

          Comment


          • #6
            Pretty much.

            I just ordered a bunch of stuff from GuitarElectronics.com - 6-way rotary switch, 2 concentric pot sets (V/T on each), and had a wild idea to make a concentric push/pull switch, but it would only fit on a jumbo acoustic

            Actually, it could work in an electric - there's another patent I need

            Hmmmm. While I'm at it, a 6-way rotary switch has 2 layers, and if you make it concentric....
            I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

            The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

            My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Newc, you have entirely too much time on your hands.

              Comment


              • #8
                very cool, Matt, I look forward to hearing the samples -

                What kind of midi setup do you use? I've often thought about getting into that, but haven't taken the plunge.
                Dave ->

                "would someone answer that damn phone?!?!"

                Comment


                • #9
                  I've got a Roland GI-20 I bought from HippieTim into an Alesis QSR.

                  I've always wanted to try the MIDI pickup thing, and it's neat to play around with. It definitely lets you know how sloppy you are
                  I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                  The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                  My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey, you made a "motherbucker" =) Wired in series that's gotta SMOKE!!!


                    oh, and how much do you sell your gk-2a hex pickup?
                    "It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. [ ... ]
                    The truth will seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker, a raving lunatic."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Cool idea. Dr. Newcenstein is still alive after all it appears

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Ok, here's the final result:



                        Note the 3rd knob - that's a 6-position switch (Varitone), wired as:
                        1 - Bridge1 (DistortionJr)
                        2 - Bridge2 (CustomJr)
                        3 - Neck1 (JazzJr)
                        4 - Neck2 (Classic Stack)
                        5 - Neck1 Split
                        6 - Nothing (yet)

                        Here's an mp3 of the various positions.



                        I used a Line6 AM-4 amp modeler with the Match Chief patch straight into the PC - only EQ came from the AM4 itself.

                        Still haven't decided what I want on the 6th position of the switch - probably split Jazz and split Custom for cleans, or the Classic Stack and split Jazz.
                        I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                        The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                        My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

                        Comment

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