Bernie Marsden upgrades

[Mark burgess]

Please delete still cannot understand how to post pictures

 

[Tucson Thump]

Please delete still cannot understand how to post pictures

Go to imgur and create an account, and once you've done that sign in and hover over your screen name on the top right. There you will see "images". Take your jpeg ( I usually size them to 1200 pixels for the longest side at 96 ppi) and drop it into the picture area. Once it is part of your gallery click on it and look at the right side where you will see a number of options. Choose the fifth option down, BBCode, and click "copy" to put it on your clipboard. Now come to this forum and start typing your message and when you are ready to drop your image in look at the symbols at the top of your message and the tenth one from the left is "insert image ( or use the shortcut "command+P") and paste your BBCode link in that space.

I'm looking forward to more on your Bernie mods.

 

[Mark burgess]

I think this is a bit marmite.People will either love it or hate it since I learnt how to post on Imgur and do the link ( many thanks Tucson ) The haters have voted it down 2:1 I prefer to think of it as jealousy rather than hate lol. Besides they are probably Gibson lovers and I tagged it Les Paul beater.
So here it is guys let me know what you think ?
Personally I love this guitar. It feels very personal to me and will be something I hand down to my 6 year old son when I die. It has a really low action nice balance even with the metal Kluson heads and it screams on gain and sounds classy on cleans . The coil taps always work well on Aldridges it’s a darn good stratty funk sound.
Parts list :
Kluson gold Revolution machine heads
Kluson gold knobs ( seperate item )
Graphtec Tusq xl nut
Musiclily pickup selector switch gold
Musiclily toggle surround ( looks great on dark burst)
Suhr Aldridge gold humbucker pickups
Musiclily control knobs imperial
Dimarzio full size conversion metric pots
Coil tap switching innner outer coils and together giving me position 2 on a PRS 5 way selector switch.
Schaller signum bridge ( intonation is now perfect )
Schaller gold S locks
Gotah football Jack surround gold
Switchcraft Jack socket in Gold

This guitar is at least twice as good as the LP standard I sold to fund its the upgrade. Because the build was so good and it felt right I just wanted it to be the best guitar it could possibly be (for me at least) The gold looks amazing on the darker burst . The upgrades actually cost me the same price as the guitar but I did get lucky as the Suhr Aldridges had to come from the USA and I never got fingered for the import tax .

 

[DISTORT6]

Looks great! How does it sound?
Do you like it?
That’s all that matters.

 

[Mark burgess]

Sorry I edited the post as you asked the question. It’s amazing, it sounds very very LP without any of the muddiness. The flubby tendencies of the original pickups have been sorted and the sound is very focussed. I could not be happier with this guitar.
It’s like the best of a SC345 and a Suhr Aura (though that uses Thornbuckers and they don’t have the gain I like) . The Aldridges I have used since launch on my artist 22 and later swapped them into my Suhr standard. What I learnt from fitting all the bits was how well made the SE is . I have heard it said the Bernie is the best of them along with the myers . Simple things like the straplocks of the Schaller S which is normally bigger than any screws I replace on a guitar ( including my other PRS guitars) on this was the same size ! The jack socket looks the same and is as tough as the switchcraft . The only real weaknesses were the poor toggle switch and the machine heads which were both poor and needed replacement . However they inspired me to start this. I love the poker chip on the toggle it it is very Gibson I know but it looks just perfect cosmetically,

 

[Birdsofprey]

I like it when people personalize there equipment, I do it on most of my guitars because I can. Can always return to stock as your not adding a third middle pickup (or are you)? Looks great.

 

[Fullmoon 1971]

That look freakin' AWESOME,

I personally think all guitars should be modded to suit the owner as long as it's not anything destructive.

The only thing that I would change would be the knobs, either amber lampshades or amber "Gibson" bell knobs.

may you play her in good health for many years to come.

And yes you are right about them being Les Paul killers, I got my first one and sold 2 LP's (50's Tribute and a Classic Custom) because neither felt or sounded as good.

 

[Bahnzo]

That looks nice! The gold hardware gives it a Custom vibe.

 

[Mark burgess]

I like it when people personalize there equipment, I do it on most of my guitars because I can. Can always return to stock as your not adding a third middle pickup (or are you)? Looks great.

I never can lol I sell the bits off to help keep the wife off the scent on the price of the mods . Besides if you do a good job whilst you never get the money back it can become more desirable. I have seen Bernie’s selling at almost double the RRP on Reverb. There there is one now for £1200 not as heavily modded as this or in as good condition) shop price on these was £799 (?Europe limited edition 300 of each colour ) at launch the limited edition PRS with core pickups was £950 maybe 10 years ago . I think this would sell well but I won’t it’s going to be handed down to my son when he’s ready ( there’s 53 years between us ) .

 

[Mark burgess]

That look freakin' AWESOME,

I personally think all guitars should be modded to suit the owner as long as it's not anything destructive.

The only thing that I would change would be the knobs, either amber lampshades or amber "Gibson" bell knobs.

may you play her in good health for many years to come.

And yes you are right about them being Les Paul killers, I got my first one and sold 2 LP's (50's Tribute and a Classic Custom) because neither felt or sounded as good.

I got rid of my 2007 standard which was still a good guitar but this was better raw material and the sale of it still left me with £250 profit after buying all the upgrades . I decided to go for gold had I have kept chrome it would have been about 1/3 less £179 for the bridge was still £30 less than the bridge PRS uses even on the SE Apparently made in Korea I’m not sure how that’s justified but I’m a big fan of Schaller. Please note though the bushings supplied with the sigma are longer and narrower I had to keep the originals (?hidden underneath ) and drill further into the guitar to take the bolt depth looking at the Schaller video it fits the core model 245 but not the SE . I also changed everything else to imperial pots and switches using dimarzio CTS pots . Highly recommend the coil tap to other Bernie players cleans are a joy.
My biggest issue right now is I just bought a Shijie strat and there is zero I would change it’s so perfect it’s horrible ….. but it’s a keeper

 

[Z_2k]

I think this is a bit marmite.People will either love it or hate it since I learnt how to post on Imgur and do the link ( many thanks Tucson ) The haters have voted it down 2:1 I prefer to think of it as jealousy rather than hate lol. Besides they are probably Gibson lovers and I tagged it Les Paul beater.
So here it is guys let me know what you think ?
Personally I love this guitar. It feels very personal to me and will be something I hand down to my 6 year old son when I die. It has a really low action nice balance even with the metal Kluson heads and it screams on gain and sounds classy on cleans . The coil taps always work well on Aldridges it’s a darn good stratty funk sound.
Parts list :
Kluson gold Revolution machine heads
Kluson gold knobs ( seperate item )
Graphtec Tusq xl nut
Musiclily pickup selector switch gold
Musiclily toggle surround ( looks great on dark burst)
Suhr Aldridge gold humbucker pickups
Musiclily control knobs imperial
Dimarzio full size conversion metric pots
Coil tap switching innner outer coils and together giving me position 2 on a PRS 5 way selector switch.
Schaller sigma bridge ( intonation is now perfect )
Schaller gold S locks
Gotah football Jack surround gold
Switchcraft Jack socket in Gold

This guitar is at least twice as good as the LP standard I sold to fund its the upgrade. Because the build was so good and it felt right I just wanted it to be the best guitar it could possibly be (for me at least) The gold looks amazing on the darker burst . The upgrades actually cost me the same price as the guitar but I did get lucky as the Suhr Aldridges had to come from the USA and I never got fingered for the import tax .

Did you upgrade the bridge, or did it come with the adjustable bridge.

PS: the model of your guitar is a Bernie MARSDEN

Bernie Marsden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mark burgess]

To the guy who posted and corrected my spelling of the Bernie then deleted . The guitar was as as original when I bought it if you look above I describe the issue with fitting the signum bridge and how I got round it.

 

[Z_2k]

To the guy who posted and corrected my spelling of the Bernie then deleted . The guitar was as as original when I bought it if you look above I describe the issue with fitting the sigma bridge

Sigma bridge ? Is that a BRAND, or a PRS product style . I've seen similar on newer SE guitars, but they are very expensive by themselves.

 

[Chuck_P]

Love all the gold bling. I have been pondering a gold hardware project on an ES-335 for years but I think I would need a home equity loan to do it right. Great stuff.

 

[Mark burgess]

It’s a Schaller Signum £130 ish in Chrome and if you can find one around £170 in Gold the PRS one is Korean made is on the new SE models and ridiculously priced at just over £200 . Plus i really like Schaller quality it’s excellent

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I think it might be a Schaller Signum. They are a lovely piece of engineering, expensive but nice.

 

[Mark burgess]

Yes guys sorry my bad, it’s a Schaller signum I will correct .
However to reiterate if you are using it as a replacement on the Bernie . It’s the metric version to fit the posts . The metric studs supplied fit the bushings thread but not the depth they are too short !
Only solution is to take out the existing bushings drill the hole to the length of the stud ( around 5 5mm) and then drop back in the existing bushings replace the existing bushings which are chrome but not really visible unless you go looking for them .

On the you tube video where the guy demonstrates the signum replacement on a core 245. The new pushing drop straight in and no modification or drilling is required as both the thread and diameter of the bushing are the same . It’s in practise an easy fix on the SE just make sure you mark your drill bit with tape so you don’t go through the body also the earth wire is in the side of the bushing hole so drill the same size thread as the bolt not the bushing as you are now drilling for the bolt to go deeper and is a smaller diameter than the bushing hole.

 

[Mark burgess]

Love all the gold bling. I have been pondering a gold hardware project on an ES-335 for years but I think I would need a home equity loan to do it right. Great stuff.

I have just bought an amazing Shijie strat I contemplated doing gold on that but I decided it’s perfect as it is so long as I get a perloid white scratch plate on it.

 

[Mark burgess]

I think it might be a Schaller Signum. They are a lovely piece of engineering, expensive but nice.

It’s a beautifully made piece of kit and whilst I thought king and hard about it ( the tone pros were much much cheaper but Naff ) it’s still a lot cheaper than the PRS bridge they sell fot over £205 but put it on guitars that are not more than 2.5 times that price . The Schaller made sense !!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It’s a beautifully made piece of kit and whilst I thought king and hard about it ( the tone pros were much much cheaper but Naff ) it’s still a lot cheaper than the PRS bridge they sell fot over £205 but put it on guitars that are not more than 2.5 times that price . The Schaller made sense !!

You could always consider Gotoh as well.