gush
Where is that speedo pic
I think my wife gave me this guitar 15 years ago?? It is a great guitar but I've felt the need to mod it a bunch.
I also think my desire to make changes have been caused by my changing needs.
When I first got it I was in a cover band and used a lot of higher gain setting on my old 5150 which is a bright sounding amp anyway. Didn't care for McCarty bridge pickup so i switched to an HFS. Definitely didn't care for HFS so I had a Gibson 500t laying around. With a slight mod, it fit. Kept it that way for a little while.
Soon after, I got a cu24 with 5909s which I absolutely love so I put a set of 5909s in my McCarty. That setup sounded REALLY good, very happy with that.
Started using it in lower tunings and 5909s Didn't work so well down there so HFS/VB. HFS sounds good in lower tunings but it wasn't clear enough so in went M set.
Great pickups down low. Good output, good tone and excellent clarity.
Started tuning it to Eb again and didn't like the M pickups quite as well so started searching for replacements.
Scored a set of 8515 pickups incredibly cheap so I put those in.
Did not care for the bridge pickup but that neck pickup is the bomb! My all time favorite neck pickup to date.
Soon after I decided to install prs adjustable bridge and locking posts plus a bunch of rosewood bling. Then, off to prs for 408 style switching (push pulls on vol and tone pots) and while they were at it i had them put a 5909 bridge pickup in. For some reason the 5909 didn't sound like before, not sure if custom switching had something to do with that or not.
Next was kluson/mann locking tuners, they ROCK!!!!
After playing this format for a while I got to feeling that 5909 bridge just wasn't a good match for 8515 neck so I started thinking about a different bridge pickup.
I had 5708, dragon 1, 5310 and T reissue to choose from. Really wasn't sure which way to go but by this time I had quit the band I had been in and started recording tracks for my buddy's band.
I felt like I needed a bridge pickup that could go from hot to warm to cold easily which made me think dragon 1. Round bobbin dragon 1 would look goofy with square bobbin 8515 so I started searching for square dragon 1.
Found one in Japan, paid just a little more than I wanted to but done deal.
I've been working on a song most of the day and I have decided this version of my McCarty is exactly what I need. I can dial up any tone I need with the pickups and switching I have. I hate to say it but my mods might be done with this guitar, it is great the way it is.
I can get blazing bridge pickup tones and very convincing single coil tone with dragon 1 plus I've got super warm tones with 8515 with single coil options on tap. Any combo I use sounds good. Great guitar
Now, who can I rely on to remind me of this post when I start thinking about McCarty mods again???
I also think my desire to make changes have been caused by my changing needs.
When I first got it I was in a cover band and used a lot of higher gain setting on my old 5150 which is a bright sounding amp anyway. Didn't care for McCarty bridge pickup so i switched to an HFS. Definitely didn't care for HFS so I had a Gibson 500t laying around. With a slight mod, it fit. Kept it that way for a little while.
Soon after, I got a cu24 with 5909s which I absolutely love so I put a set of 5909s in my McCarty. That setup sounded REALLY good, very happy with that.
Started using it in lower tunings and 5909s Didn't work so well down there so HFS/VB. HFS sounds good in lower tunings but it wasn't clear enough so in went M set.
Great pickups down low. Good output, good tone and excellent clarity.
Started tuning it to Eb again and didn't like the M pickups quite as well so started searching for replacements.
Scored a set of 8515 pickups incredibly cheap so I put those in.
Did not care for the bridge pickup but that neck pickup is the bomb! My all time favorite neck pickup to date.
Soon after I decided to install prs adjustable bridge and locking posts plus a bunch of rosewood bling. Then, off to prs for 408 style switching (push pulls on vol and tone pots) and while they were at it i had them put a 5909 bridge pickup in. For some reason the 5909 didn't sound like before, not sure if custom switching had something to do with that or not.
Next was kluson/mann locking tuners, they ROCK!!!!
After playing this format for a while I got to feeling that 5909 bridge just wasn't a good match for 8515 neck so I started thinking about a different bridge pickup.
I had 5708, dragon 1, 5310 and T reissue to choose from. Really wasn't sure which way to go but by this time I had quit the band I had been in and started recording tracks for my buddy's band.
I felt like I needed a bridge pickup that could go from hot to warm to cold easily which made me think dragon 1. Round bobbin dragon 1 would look goofy with square bobbin 8515 so I started searching for square dragon 1.
Found one in Japan, paid just a little more than I wanted to but done deal.
I've been working on a song most of the day and I have decided this version of my McCarty is exactly what I need. I can dial up any tone I need with the pickups and switching I have. I hate to say it but my mods might be done with this guitar, it is great the way it is.
I can get blazing bridge pickup tones and very convincing single coil tone with dragon 1 plus I've got super warm tones with 8515 with single coil options on tap. Any combo I use sounds good. Great guitar
Now, who can I rely on to remind me of this post when I start thinking about McCarty mods again???
