Has this ever happened to you?
I bought a mint 2005 Standard which seemingly had never been played. After a minor setup and a few adjustments, the guitar sounded great. Full, with great treble bite and tons of sustain.
After a few months, i decided to try a few upgrades that i had done in the past with good success.
I bought a 550k pot wiring harness with oil filled caps and wired it using the 50's style scheme, which has provided great results in previous LP's using paf clones. This guitar has stock BB's.
After installing the new components however the guitar sounded like crap. I tried pickup height adjustments to no avail. The guitar had lost its wonderful 'alive' character in both sound and feel. With the vol rolled down it was lifeless. Full vol was overbearing and harsh. Just no fun to play.
I got out my volt meter and measured the pots in the original gibson wiring and found the vol pots measured around 270k! The tone pots were in the 320k range. What had worked so great in other guitars just sucked in this one.
So out came the new harness and i reinstalled the original. Tone in spades!
I would have never believed it. Great low end, tight and clear with beautiful ringing highs.
After a few more weeks, i decided to upgrade the bridge. The stock bridge (pw stamped on the bottom...ping work??) was beginning to collapse in the middle and had a noticeable bow in it.
So, i did some research here and other places and placed an order for a fairly expensive German made bridge, milled from bell brass. It arrived very quickly and looked impressive. Within an hour it was installed, slotted and adjusted with new strings. Plug in. WTF! Clunk, clunk. All that ring and sustain was now reduced to a dull and lifeless tone. I really couldn't believe it.
After 30 minutes i decided to put the original PW bridge back in place.
Bam! That marvelous ringing bell tone, sustain and feel was back.
I guess there's a lesson here. You ever had this experience?
I bought a mint 2005 Standard which seemingly had never been played. After a minor setup and a few adjustments, the guitar sounded great. Full, with great treble bite and tons of sustain.
After a few months, i decided to try a few upgrades that i had done in the past with good success.
I bought a 550k pot wiring harness with oil filled caps and wired it using the 50's style scheme, which has provided great results in previous LP's using paf clones. This guitar has stock BB's.
After installing the new components however the guitar sounded like crap. I tried pickup height adjustments to no avail. The guitar had lost its wonderful 'alive' character in both sound and feel. With the vol rolled down it was lifeless. Full vol was overbearing and harsh. Just no fun to play.
I got out my volt meter and measured the pots in the original gibson wiring and found the vol pots measured around 270k! The tone pots were in the 320k range. What had worked so great in other guitars just sucked in this one.
So out came the new harness and i reinstalled the original. Tone in spades!
I would have never believed it. Great low end, tight and clear with beautiful ringing highs.
After a few more weeks, i decided to upgrade the bridge. The stock bridge (pw stamped on the bottom...ping work??) was beginning to collapse in the middle and had a noticeable bow in it.
So, i did some research here and other places and placed an order for a fairly expensive German made bridge, milled from bell brass. It arrived very quickly and looked impressive. Within an hour it was installed, slotted and adjusted with new strings. Plug in. WTF! Clunk, clunk. All that ring and sustain was now reduced to a dull and lifeless tone. I really couldn't believe it.
After 30 minutes i decided to put the original PW bridge back in place.
Bam! That marvelous ringing bell tone, sustain and feel was back.
I guess there's a lesson here. You ever had this experience?
