New Bernie Owner....Mods are in the works.

[Boze-63]

Hey All.

I've been here only for a very short time but I really appreciate the info and guidance I received in regards to updating a few details on my recently acquired Bernie (Santa must have forgotten it back at the factory & delivered it a bit late). In any regards, I’d thought I share this story if you have the time/are interested. If not, I’ll just post the pics--if I can figure it out....Lol!....BTW, I've got mods going as this posts....

Here goes:

 

[bodia]

Bernie's rock hard!

 

[Boze-63]

So, I'll skip the long story on how I got this Bernie and just show the MOD-steps I'm currently doing., better for all us no?

Start off with the aesthetics of the pups.
Last few weeks of playing, these SE245 pups sound really good. Better than I thought they would be as I planned to drop some $$ for a set of modern/vintage pups.
So since I hear no real reason at this point to change them, I op'd to add raw nickel covers for the looks. I really do not like the zebra-pup look on this Bernie. I choose raw nickel over chrome, alum, anything plated due to what I read about the possible sound/tone change. Nickel is a transparent as you can get as far as covers but some might like the shiny look of chrome for example so it could be subjective to what you want.

I also want to add a little something as I named her "Silvi" so I thought about engraving that on the covers. The covers were not expensive at all so if I have a change of mind, I can always order another set and start over.
The process: Some of you more experienced tinkerers will no doubt know of this so forgive if this covers some entry-level info. this was new to me so I found it fun along the way.
These came with some type of oil so you have to clean them with some alcohol which does a good job without adding wax or polish-there's a bottle of polish in the pic, but I did not use it to clean the covers, just alcohol.

I used the sharpie to mark the N-cover from the B-cover as they were 2 sizes I had to order: for the Bernie it was 50mm & 52mm.
For the engraving on the nickel, I went back to high-school and remembered that when you apply a small electrical current to salt-water or vinegar, it will eat-away metal. So I gave that a try.
I made a stencil from nail-polish, let it dry a little bit and used a toothpick to scratch-out what I wanted. Then I soaked a Q-tip swab with salt-water, jumped 2 9 volt-batteries for 18 volts, grounded the cover with the "+" lead and used the "-" lead to hold the wet swab and start going over the stencil. You can see that area getting black-ish and you should actually hear and see "bubbling" as the salt-mixture/voltage starts to strip the nickel surface. That was the fun part!!!! After tracing over the stencil, clean off the residue with nail-polish remover or some light acetone and then clean again with alcohol.

 

[Boze-63]

Now for some simple soldering.
I must state an obvious precaution here: if you're gonna leave the pups soldered in and just extend the pup cable out as far as needed, USE A TOWEL to COVER the Guitar!!! lol!

I didn't at 1st and after a minor heart-attack where the iron almost touched the face of the guitar, I quickly placed a micro-fiber cloth across and placed the pups upside down so I can work in safety.
The Process: If you've worked with solder before, you know that solder won't stick to everything if it's too smooth. so you have to scuff up the areas where you intend to solder. I took some fine to med grit sand-paper and scuffed up the inside of the cover as well as the areas on the baseplate of the pups where I intended to solder. Just a little back-n-forth so that the solder can "grab" on the face.

Now 1 thing you hear when adding covers to pups is that if it's not tight enough or a little vibration exists, you're going to get some pickup squeal when its not wanted at higher volumes. So there are a few ways to do this;
a) some place tape across the slugs (NOT the pole-screws!)
b) some pour heated wax over the top of the coil bobbin.
c) some use RTV (silicone) adhesive.

Now, trying not to add ANYTHING that will affect the tone or cover it up, I rubbed some bee's wax over the center of the bobbin and placed 3 evenly spaced drops of RTV. Also, before I placed the cover on the pup, I slightly bent (more like pushed in) the sides so that there wouldn't be any tendencies for the cover to push the sides outward as I've seen some do. This might not be an issue in some or many cases but I've seen where the push-out of the cover kept the cover from being properly soldered in place. Also why I used small hand clamps to keep the pressure on the cover.
Make sure the pickup screws line up with the cover holes and press firmly until the screws protrude through the cover. Clamp the cover from the bottom and if needed, from the sides as well--be sure the clamps have a soft tab so they don't leave any unwanted impressions on the cover face.

I must admit, I've done cleaner, prettier solder jobs before.....but this worked and I noticed that the solder tip I was using was getting bad. New solder tip on its way but for now...we're staying with this.

 

[Draconomics]

Very nice! Man I love Bernies. They have such great tops. One of my bucket list SEs.

 

[andy474x]

Great work! You're a handy guy.

I also like the 245S pickups. I have an SE ZM that had the zebra 245's, went down the rabbit hole of trying some others I had in the parts drawer as well as a new set of Seth Lover's, ended up with the stock 245 bridge back in the guitar (with a cover on it) and for now still have the Seth in the neck, but that could change. Interesting to me that, yet again, aftermarket pickups aren't really doing much for me that the stock pickups weren't already. The only replacement pickups I've ever bonded strongly with are PRS USA pickups, and the Starla S pickups.

 

[Boze-63]

Great work! You're a handy guy.

I also like the 245S pickups. I have an SE ZM that had the zebra 245's, went down the rabbit hole of trying some others I had in the parts drawer as well as a new set of Seth Lover's, ended up with the stock 245 bridge back in the guitar (with a cover on it) and for now still have the Seth in the neck, but that could change. Interesting to me that, yet again, aftermarket pickups aren't really doing much for me that the stock pickups weren't already. The only replacement pickups I've ever bonded strongly with are PRS USA pickups, and the Starla S pickups.

thanks for the kind words, but I'm sort of hacking it really.
I know what you mean about boutique pickups....If I didn't like these 245 pups, I was dead-set to go get a set of Thornbuckers because of the lower output and what I've heard about the cleans.....but that's a good chuck of $$. But I was ready.. As I said, I was surprised about the 245s and how they sounded.
when you hear Bernie Marsden play his "Beast" LP and his Bernie back-to-back, you can hear that the LP pickups are a tad more controlled, maybe chimmier...? when I do that I have to look away cuz I swear sometimes I hear a difference cuz I SEE a difference.

 

[Boze-63]

Alright....next step. New tuners.

If tuners are working as they should, there would be no need to change them out, I agree...
However, I did experience some slight tuning issues over the last few weeks in playing my Bernie. My issue is that I have 2 possible areas where this could be the root cause and I wanted to see if changing 1 will take care of the issues I'm having.

Now, I did change the string gauge to 10s. Not sure what they came with outside of them being D'addario's due to the color beads at the end of each string. I've switched over to 10s about 7-8 years ago and haven't needed to go back to 9s. That change might have something to do with any tuning issues I'm having. The other factor might be the SE nut-material. A bone-nut could be in the works but that's for a luthier to work through, I don't think I have the working knowledge or skill to get a bone nut filed down. So....I'm doing tuners 1st.

Lots of choices for locking tuners, thanks to all who I asked and replied with choices from Hip-Shot, Gotoh, Grover..btw....., when did Sperzel US tuners go away..?? I don't seen them named any more as much as they used to...?
Anyways,....all good choices but I want to keep the footprint of the vintage Kluson tuner and not have extra holes on the back headstock. Also with a good ratio of at least 1:14. So I went with the Gotoh Vintage Kluson-type Lockers without the wheel lock.
These are cool as they lock using the tuner-key and the string's tension to lock in place. I have the same but "6-in-line" for my 62" spec Strat..and they work awesomely good and keep things in tune. I do have a TUSQ XL as well on my strat so that could be adding the tuning stability by making it very slippery....as I don't use it as cookware I'm safe.

So for my Bernie......I was a little worried about the headstock thickness as the tuners I chose do not have a staggered height as the 6-in-line do, but things worked out good with no adjustments. the Lockers have the green dot marker in the photo. There is also a slight color-change to the button vs the original SE buttons...but you only can notice it if I place them side-by-side. stand alone, I don't think anyone can tell really.

I noticed the feel of the 10s right away and they feel "like-home" ....you can see the size of the original SE nut in the photo.....I'll see what happens over the next month but right now, all is good BUT....I can see that going to 10s, the nut string slots could use a bit filing....but I'll wait on that to see..

 

[Boze-63]

Ok...last steps for the mods to do...for now.

I got some lamp-shade knobs to replace the cylinder speed knobs...which I do not like on this guitar. Thing is they come in sets of 2,....I only needed 3 for the Bernie layout. So the extra goes in the drawer for now.
But these look SO MUCH sexier/cooler on this top, I love this look. These were reasonably easy to remove, I just wedged a shoe-string under and gently pulled up little by little and they came off .....and no sharp instruments were used!!! lol!!!
Me again, worrying about scratching the top by mistake....all it takes is 1 slip with a screw-driver and I'm crying.....

So with the covers and the new lamp-shades on, new locking tuners in place, my Bernie "SILVI" is looking very sharp, I must say myself!!!

So I'm set for now.....Thanks to all the advice on getting these mods going and where to go for parts and all. and thanks for indulging me with showing off these updates. These were awesomely fun and even better with results..

As mentioned, I'll see what else maybe a candidate for change, (bone-nut, headstock decals, maybe pups..) and I'll be happy to show here.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Neat to watch the progress...thanks for posting...looking good. Enjoy them both.

 

[bodia]

That's great work!

 

[Boze-63]

Neat to watch the progress...thanks for posting...looking good. Enjoy them both.

Yes.... it's pretty cool to record this as it happens...I'm glad I remembered cuz in some spots, I was so eager to finish I almost did snap any pics...

This is a great pair to have as now I have this "classic rock" set of guitars,...for sound mainly but some-what looks as well.

 

[Boze-63]

That's great work!

thanks bodia....!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing with us.

Sweet look with the brushed chrome and lampshades.

 

[Broseph]

Awesome man. Great job. Love it.

 

[Boze-63]

Awesome man. Great job. Love it.

thanks Broseph, Alnus,........I'm thinking about the headstock now......looking for decals but I think I'll start with the truss-rod cover 1st...LO!!!!!

 

[Broseph]

Agreed. Old SE are not my fav. I don’t like the gigantic SE lettering. And if you can figure out a way to get rid of made in Korea on the back

 

[Boze-63]

Agreed. Old SE are not my fav. I don’t like the gigantic SE lettering. And if you can figure out a way to get rid of made in Korea on the back

Like a ..." Modified in USA-Jersey Side".....??
Would be cool!!!

 

[SinSir]

thanks Broseph, Alnus,........I'm thinking about the headstock now......looking for decals but I think I'll start with the truss-rod cover 1st...LO!!!!!

They sell veneer. A couple guys in here have done it.

Great work and documentation by the way!

 

[Boze-63]

Oh... veneer would be nice...but wow....that would mean to coat it...?
I heard that there are wood-decor vinyl that may be already coated..?

something else to look into...what are guys doing to me???!!!!