Confused Englishman...

[56jnr]

Apologies in advance if this has been brought up before but I frequently read of upgrades such as RS kits, changing pots, Tonepro's stuff and the like and what I'd like to know is if, for instance, I were to install a wiring kit, what differences in performance would I notice?
The reason I ask is that, apart from replacement pickups, modifications away from stock don't seem to be very common over here. What am I missing out on and how can I get the optimum out of my Standard?

Thanks guys-you must be really bored to death by these questions!

Andrew

 

[dwagar]

best thing to do is make a few pots of coffee, and start reading through the threads here.

tons and tons of info on changing things, upgrading and mods.

and use the Search Function, it'll find threads that would take you a long time to search out on your own.

 

[NOSBIG]

Apologies in advance if this has been brought up before but I frequently read of upgrades such as RS kits, changing pots, Tonepro's stuff and the like and what I'd like to know is if, for instance, I were to install a wiring kit, what differences in performance would I notice?
The reason I ask is that, apart from replacement pickups, modifications away from stock don't seem to be very common over here. What am I missing out on and how can I get the optimum out of my Standard?

Thanks guys-you must be really bored to death by these questions!

Andrew

Look at the thread "rs kits" thats on at the moment?
Terry

 

[56jnr]

Yep, sorry, I'd only just woken up and missed the thread mentioned; too much vin blanc affecting my perception!

 

[moonweasel]

56jnr,

Plug your standard into an amp. Start playing with your tone knob. See how it doesnt do much until you get to about 3 and then it comes on way too much, way too fast?

An RS kit turns that usable range on your tone knob from 2-3 to 1-10. The pots themselves are simply a higher grade pot, might be quieter or more durable etc.

I don't get too carried away with mods because it can be a slippery slope into never being satisfied with a guitar. RS is worth it though.

 

[fatnecks]

I don't get too carried away with mods because it can be a slippery slope into never being satisfied with a guitar. RS is worth it though.

This is a good point. I've not gone as far as some and messed with the heavy vs light tailpieces and such...... But Moon is right, replacing ALL the pots and caps in your guitar is worth every penny. I don't and probably never will have a Gibson with stock electronics.

RS Kits are great, I've got several of them, but they're not the only ones out there. If you're on a budget, you can still make a big difference just going to (2) 500k Linear CTS pots for volume and (2) 500k Audio CTS pots for tone and Sprague Orange Drop caps can be had for like $1 each. This will probably be about half the $ for an RS kit if you get your parts from the right places, but I've always liked their custom taper in the superpots so I use 'em.....