the guitar mod megathread

tribal girl

tribal girl

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
13,269
OK, so I wasn't sure whether I should post this here, or over in SO. So feel free to move it on over if you like.

Last year I begrudgingly paid quite a hefty amount of cash getting someone to fix up my Fender Jaguar. I would have been more inclined to do it myself, only what with the amount of wiring, and given the cost of the guitar itself, I was understandably quite reluctant to do so. Not to mention a bit worried about messing it up.

Anyway, fast forward a few months and I recently decided to do a bit of modifying myself. I've had this cheapo Strat copy for over ten years now, and it's never been quite right. So instead of selling it for next to nothing, I've decided to take the plunge and fix it up a bit myself.

Here it is:
hondo.jpg


So far I've taken all the hardware off and separated the neck (which I'll be keeping) from the body. My dad's gonna strip the paint and respray the body and headstock all white using this method: http://www.shredaholic.com/painting.html

I'll be adding some brand new machine heads, a new jack socket, and I've ripped out the old tremolo bridge and I'll be replacing it with a hard tail one instead:
bridge.jpg


Also, I've got myself a loaded scratchplate on the way with a humbucker in the bridge position:
plateb.jpg


It seems there's only two wires which need to be soldered (one to the jack, the other to a piece behind the backplate), so it all seems relatively straightforward.

But I guess the main reason for starting this thread was to see whether anyone else has experience in this field. Have you built a guitar from scratch, given your guitar a complete makeover etc. If so, what tips can you offer a technophobe such as myself who's eager to add their own personal touch?.
 
This is a nice thread idea and I wish I had more to add. I've never worked on any of my gear other than a change in pickguard and accessories.

But I did bring a smashed strat back from the dead once with new pickups and neck.
 
The most I've done with my guitar (a cheap Strat copy) is draw on the back and replace the strings a few times. I'd love to fully pimp it out, but I just don't have the money for that and if I did I think I'd just buy a new guitar instead.
 
Aw, t'is a shame there hasn't been many responses so far. But I'm gonna keep posting updates to my progress, and hopefully that'll encourage a few more people to post some ideas/tips etc. :)

The original paint is almost completely stripped off already, I'll post some pics later on. :)
 
Here it is, completely stripped.

stripped.jpg


T'is awaiting it's application of primer, white gloss, and lacquer before I attach all the hardware and scratchplate to it. :)
 
Last edited:
Looking good TG :)

I went through a phase of wanting to learn how to build my own pedals but soldering always scared me, thought I'd mess up it up somehow :p

I've never modded any of my own guitars, I might just replace the bridge/pickups on my Jaguar myself if you reckon its easily done :)
 
The bridge is easy peasy if you wanna fit it with a Mustang bridge (I have a roller Schaller bridge on mine). Literally a straight swap, with maybe a few minor tweaks. Personally, I wouldn't fuck with the pick ups myself on something like a Jag. Far too much wiring to be dealing with. If you're ever in London again, the last guy I went to was very good and most of all, very affordable. I'll give you the details should you need them. :)
 
^Thanks. :)

The scratchplate and jack socket arrived in the post today. Looks like I'm gonna have to get my dad to rout a space for the humbucker. I've also Just ordered some new machine heads, paint, and a backplate.

With any luck it should be finished by next week. :)
 
OK, so all the dings and gaps have been filled with plastic wood on the body, and a space has been routed for the humbucker. It's been sanded, and a couple of coats of primer have been applied. I've loosely placed the scratchplate, bridge, and neck together so you can see the overall look. A W E S O M E. :D

white1.jpg

whitethang.jpg


I'm just waiting on the white gloss spray paint to arrive in the post before I can go any further. Hopefully it'll be here by Monday. Then it's on with the lacquer, a bit of soldering, and on with the machine heads etc. :)

C'mon. There must be someone else out there who's doing/done something similar?. Even if you've only had ideas about it. What guitars have you always liked, but always felt tempted to mod that one thing about it that always bothered you?. :D
 
Tribal girl said:
There must be someone else out there who's doing/done something similar?
Click to expand...
Up until I somehow made some money by playing, I had cheapo European and Japanese guitars which I customised by building or swapping pu's as well as working on fretting and setting-up - but since then I've stuck pretty much to 'stock' (Tele/Strat/LP), though I have been mucking about with wah-wah's'n'stuff again recently - including resurrecting a fuzz-box I put together in about 1974 :D

I've an acoustic I want to drop the action on but I'm going to cop out and get a professional to do it as, basically, I can afford it and would rather spend my time doing other things I can't fine time for :\ Things is, I also know it'd be damn good therapy for me to do it 8) Life, eh - full of conundrums ;)

So, what kinda twangtastic toons you gonna be conjuring up on that geetar of yours, TG? %)
 
I've got a mexican strat that I'm going to be fitting with a roland GK3 pickup that Ill run to a synthesizer in the hopes of turning my guitar into a real time MIDI controller. I'll throw pictures in here when I get to it

p.s. the guitar is beautiful. I love it.
 
Fishface said:
though I have been mucking about with wah-wah's'n'stuff again recently - including resurrecting a fuzz-box I put together in about 1974 :D
Click to expand...

Ooh, make me a fuzz box plz. :D

Nah, I'm just kidding. I know you're a busy man. But some tips on how to do so would be cool, and maybe some pics as well. :)

doesntmatter said:
I've got a mexican strat that I'm going to be fitting with a roland GK3 pickup that Ill run to a synthesizer in the hopes of turning my guitar into a real time MIDI controller. I'll throw pictures in here when I get to it

p.s. the guitar is beautiful. I love it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. And good luck with yours, and you most definitely need to put some pics up to show us your handy work. :)

Today is the day of completion. The lacquer isn't nowhere near a good a finish as I was hoping, it doesn't have a high sheen. But it'll do.

Attaching the machine heads:
geetarfin1.jpg


Attaching the neck and bridge:
geetarfin.jpg


Soldering the wires, attaching the jack socket, and scratch plate:
geetarfin2.jpg


I've put a cable in the jack and tapped the pick up so it's definitely wired up correctly. All I need to do now is string it up, and fiddle with the bridge saddle until I'm happy. :)
 
tribal girl said:
Ooh, make me a fuzz box plz. :D

Nah, I'm just kidding. I know you're a busy man. But some tips on how to do so would be cool, and maybe some pics as well. :)
Click to expand...
I'll PM you some info' soon. In the meantime, here are a coupla pics:

869hr.jpg


868p.jpg


Still makes a satisfyingly nasty sound =D
 
^That looks great, and fairly straightforward. I've always been interested in taking things apart and seeing how they work. It's just the putting them back together again part that I have trouble with. =D

I'd definitely be interested in that PM though. No rush and all that, mind. :)

Does it have good sustain?. I have a fuzz pedal which is great for tearing into random stuff, but lacks any real sustain and you can't really do any soloing with it which is a shame. I've got one of these:

dod_fx52.jpg


They don't make them anymore, and mine's seen better days. I bought it second hand about 14 or 15 years ago. 8o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top