NGD - Singlecut Goldtop with dots

[Andrew Paul]

This is a John Mann modified vintage locking tuner:

This is how the guitar looked when I got it, with gigantic Gibson pickup rings:

Those pup rings are ridiculous!

 

[shimmilou]

Fantastic! Congrats

 

[Tahlee]

Thank you, guys. I can’t wait to get it back to see if I like those Wizz PAFs.

 

[Warmart]

Congrats, mister! I've always loved a gold top, excellent choice! I also have your palm reading ready, whenever you'd like the details

 

[Tele295]

In a heartbeat! I’ve been playing Peter Green lately, and this goldtop would nail it!

 

[Tahlee]

So, while I’ve been waiting for the black pickup rings to arrive at the guitar shop, something else arrived at home: a second set of Seymour Duncan Bonamassa Amos pickups. I have a zebra set in my raspberry Singlecut and I absolutely love them. I went with nickel covered this time.

I dropped the Amos pickups off yesterday. I don’t even need to hear the Wizz. It won’t be long now.

 

[Luthier Vandros]

Nice retirement plan!

 

[Straight_six]

Sounds like you've got a killer combo - I've heard those pickups before and they sound great!

 

[Tahlee]

Sounds like you've got a killer combo - I've heard those pickups before and they sound great!

Thanks! Yes, these pickups sound huge. Not your granddad’s PAFs. They are louder and better suited to higher gain. I love them. The moment that the guitar store calls to tell me that the goldtop is ready, I will drop whatever I am doing and drive down there to pick it up.

I’m going to sell the Wizz pickups. I am still waiting for my Suhr Doug Aldrich pickup set to arrive so they can go into my Tremonti. That has Alpha/Omegas and I’ll sell those, too.

My next set to try is a 57/08 in the neck and a 59/09 in the bridge. That combination will go into another Singlecut.

 

[Tahlee]

So, I got my goldtop back and I’m thrilled with it. I love the black pickup rings and amber lampshade knobs. The Amos pickups sound huge and powerful. The frets have been polished so they are slick now.

Here’s the before, although I had already added the vintage locking tuners modified by John Mann:

This is how she looks now:

 

[bodia]

So, I got my goldtop back and I’m thrilled with it. I love the black pickup rings and amber lampshade knobs. The Amos pickups sound huge and powerful. The frets have been polished so they are slick now.

Here’s the before, although I had already added the vintage locking tuners modified by John Mann:

This is how she looks now:

Totally approve!

 

[docteurseb]

This would look killer with gold leaves, I've done many over the years.

I too hate the 'square' seams' look. Avoiding that is simple: just scrape the edges of the leaves using an X-acto knife to make them fuzzy and you won't end up with noticeable seams. Then apply the leaves with only as much overlap as needed and clean up the excess (leaves on top of leaves won't stick unless the size is bleeding through).

For genuine gold leaves I normally need 2.5 books of gold leaves for an entire body. If it's your first time I would get 2 books of genuine leaves.
I would recommend patent leaves instead of loose ones as they're considerably easier to handle.

Here's one I kept for 14years and only sold recently:

Imitation leaves are much larger and thicker, for those using loose leaves is fine.That makes gilding much faster but not all brands have a convincing good look. The one Michael's sells are very realistic and good looking. Here's a body with imitation leaves:

And a kandy lime green over imitation leaves, that guitar I still have and play:

For more questions PM me.

 

[Tahlee]

This would look killer with gold leaves, I've done many over the years.

I too hate the 'square' seams' look. Avoiding that is simple: just scrape the edges of the leaves using an X-acto knife to make them fuzzy and you won't end up with noticeable seams. Then apply the leaves with only as much overlap as needed and clean up the excess (leaves on top of leaves won't stick unless the size is bleeding through).

For genuine gold leaves I normally need 2.5 books of gold leaves for an entire body. If it's your first time I would get 2 books of genuine leaves.
I would recommend patent leaves instead of loose ones as they're considerably easier to handle.

Here's one I kept for 14years and only sold recently:

Imitation leaves are much larger and thicker, for those using loose leaves is fine.That makes gilding much faster but not all brands have a convincing good look. The one Michael's sells are very realistic and good looking. Here's a body with imitation leaves:

And a kandy lime green over imitation leaves, that guitar I still have and play:

For more questions PM me.

Thank you so much for the detailed advice. Yours looks fabulous!!

 

[docteurseb]

Important 'detail' I learnt the hard way: using spray can lacquer/nitro always caused the finish to crack/peel in less than a day after being applied. It just seems to shrink the gilding size/leaves causing cracks that quickly need to be peeled off.

Never had a problem with poly applied by pro shops though.

 

[Tahlee]

Thank you very much. I’m going to bring it to a reputable guitar shop nearby that has a spray booth.

 

[Jo-]

Congrats nice score. Those old SC gold tops and dots are just classic. I’ve always wanted one (except maybe with soapbars)

The goldleafs look amazing too.

 

[eecamichael]

So pretty! Great looking collection!

 

[BrianC]

I like what you're doing with your guitars - inspiring.

 

[Tahlee]

Thanks guys! This is my work from home room for the past couple of months, and it explains why there is always a smile on my face on Zoom calls. One of my co-workers asked while on a call if I played the guitar after seeing a bunch of them behind me, and my response was that I work from the Hard Rock Cafe on Fridays.

If you look close, the picture next to the orange custom is a life-size PRS cake my wife made for my 40th birthday.

I like what you're doing with your guitars - inspiring.

Thank you very much. I like to tweak my guitars a little to make them my own.

I’ll tell you what, the best modification I’ve done is to add those John Mann modified vintage locking tuners. I bought them from his website but you can also send him your old ones, and he will modify them.

I am loving this stripped down Singlecut so much that I know what my next guitar will be. I’m going to order a McCarty Singlecut 594 in Antique White with hybrid hardware. They come with Old School Birds which I like better than the bird chips with white plastic around the perimeter. Don’t hate me for my honesty. If I order it now with a 25% deposit, I’ll have about 9-12 months to save up the balance.

 

[g.wizz]

While I will always love fancy guitars with birds and killer tops, I thought it would be cool to go in the opposite direction. This is exactly what I was looking for: a goldtop with dots, no neck binding, and vintage tuners.

I bought it at an amazing price. It’s a 2002 and in mint condition; except for the frets, while not worn, could use a good polish. I love the gold inlaid PRS signature on the headstock. I miss that.

It came with aged Wizz Premium Clone PAFs, which are highly regarded and usually sound amazing. However, they come premounted in tall Gibson pickup rings. So, instead of putting the PRS rings on there, someone raised the bridge really high to go above the taller Gibson pickup rings.

Ridiculous. It wasn’t evident in the pictures.

Anyway, the guitar is so sweet that I didn’t complain. Oh, also the wiring isn’t right and it sounds like ass. Again, I’m so happy with the price and condition that electronics are not an issue to me.

So, I dropped it off at my tech. I asked him to polish the frets and to install all new pots, bumblebee caps, and a new input jack. I put the PRS pickup rings on there and I lowered the bridge but I’ll have him give it a full set up. I want to try the Wizz pickups with proper wiring and set up before I yank them out. It has a cap in there now that is for single coils. So, I am expecting that the Wizz will sound so much better.

I had a set of John Mann modified vintage tuners on hand so those were the first things to go on. What can I say? I like quick and easy string changes, especially when playing out.

I will give you a full report when I get it back from the tech. I ordered black pickup rings and three way tip because I think it would look good. I hope they arrive in time for me to run them over to the shop before he does the work. If not, I can put them on later. I’m also changing the speed knobs to the amber lampshade knobs.

Congrats, that's mojo right there, enjoy.