Hello all,
I got a Santana back in Chrismas time.
It sounded ok stock, But I have to tinker and make it the best it can be.
The neck pickup sounded pretty good for stock, but I really did'nt like the bridge too much. And I did'nt want to try to mix and match pickups.
So the 1st thing I did was replace the cheap saddles and six screws holding it to the body.
I also changed the nut to a graph tech- better then stock. but I usally use bone nuts in all my guitars but since this has a trem I figured graph tech would be better.
Result was a bit more clarity. But still it sounded like it has a blanket over the tone. Too dark, no chime and closed I guess would describe it.
I liked the taper on the pots and they are supposed to be 500k but I figured some god 525-550k pots could'nt hurt.
So I switched to CTS 525K pots and they both measured at 530-535K
I also went with a Russian PIO tone cap .022 but that was waaay too dark. I then switched to a .015 and thats more like it.
Little by little it getting better but still,I feel it has more to give.
I changed out the pickups for Manlius T-top Neck 7.4K short A5 magnet.
Hot rod 59 bridge at 7.8K A5 magnet. This pickup was at 8.5K but it was a bit too hot and I sent it back to Manlius (MICK) to remove some winds etc..
Manlius Pickups really are great and I highly rec. all hand wound by one guy with great customer service and Fantastic Tone/ price too.
So the pickups sound great, but i still feel something is hold back the tone.
So I decided to go with a American PRS Nut.
Glad i did.
I really liked it much better then the graph tech as it has a more lively sound. I heard they infuse brass in it, whatever it it it good.
The tone had opened up lots more then stock. Still i felt something was either missing or it was the Poly finish choking it off.
I considered stripping it but dam thats a heck of a lot of work.
So I got the last piece to the puzzle.
A Mann made USA Brass block for the trem. I always thought of brass as warm and dark sounding.
Mann made USA have some nice upgrades for PRS and Roxanne Jon Manns wife is really nice to deal with. friendly service. I wish all companys had customer service like they do.
Iam glad I got it. Opened up the Tone big time and the guitar just vibrates when strummed.
Last thing i did was Grover 406C locking tuners.
Wow is all I can say, Once the strings were stable it would go out of tune.
I used the trem bar bigtime and stii in tune. Left it out overnight and still in tune. The PRS nut and locking tuners really are worth it.
I put it through it paces today and the overall results were worth it.
Sounds fantastic!!!
I still may send the neck pickup back to remove some winds but overall it has some chime, cleans up with volume control, bridge sounds stellar, chime- grind, takes drive very well yet still sounds almost Acoustic with volume on about 2-3 thats even with the drive on.
Iam willing to put it up against any Gibson or PRS Iam sure It'll stack up just fine. I realize i put quite a bit of money in her but thats a personal choice.
I feel its worth it all an all.
Hope you guys enjoyed the read.
And may your tone runth over
I got a Santana back in Chrismas time.
It sounded ok stock, But I have to tinker and make it the best it can be.
The neck pickup sounded pretty good for stock, but I really did'nt like the bridge too much. And I did'nt want to try to mix and match pickups.
So the 1st thing I did was replace the cheap saddles and six screws holding it to the body.
I also changed the nut to a graph tech- better then stock. but I usally use bone nuts in all my guitars but since this has a trem I figured graph tech would be better.
Result was a bit more clarity. But still it sounded like it has a blanket over the tone. Too dark, no chime and closed I guess would describe it.
I liked the taper on the pots and they are supposed to be 500k but I figured some god 525-550k pots could'nt hurt.
So I switched to CTS 525K pots and they both measured at 530-535K
I also went with a Russian PIO tone cap .022 but that was waaay too dark. I then switched to a .015 and thats more like it.
Little by little it getting better but still,I feel it has more to give.
I changed out the pickups for Manlius T-top Neck 7.4K short A5 magnet.
Hot rod 59 bridge at 7.8K A5 magnet. This pickup was at 8.5K but it was a bit too hot and I sent it back to Manlius (MICK) to remove some winds etc..
Manlius Pickups really are great and I highly rec. all hand wound by one guy with great customer service and Fantastic Tone/ price too.
So the pickups sound great, but i still feel something is hold back the tone.
So I decided to go with a American PRS Nut.
Glad i did.
I really liked it much better then the graph tech as it has a more lively sound. I heard they infuse brass in it, whatever it it it good.
The tone had opened up lots more then stock. Still i felt something was either missing or it was the Poly finish choking it off.
I considered stripping it but dam thats a heck of a lot of work.
So I got the last piece to the puzzle.
A Mann made USA Brass block for the trem. I always thought of brass as warm and dark sounding.
Mann made USA have some nice upgrades for PRS and Roxanne Jon Manns wife is really nice to deal with. friendly service. I wish all companys had customer service like they do.
Iam glad I got it. Opened up the Tone big time and the guitar just vibrates when strummed.
Last thing i did was Grover 406C locking tuners.
Wow is all I can say, Once the strings were stable it would go out of tune.
I used the trem bar bigtime and stii in tune. Left it out overnight and still in tune. The PRS nut and locking tuners really are worth it.
I put it through it paces today and the overall results were worth it.
Sounds fantastic!!!
I still may send the neck pickup back to remove some winds but overall it has some chime, cleans up with volume control, bridge sounds stellar, chime- grind, takes drive very well yet still sounds almost Acoustic with volume on about 2-3 thats even with the drive on.
Iam willing to put it up against any Gibson or PRS Iam sure It'll stack up just fine. I realize i put quite a bit of money in her but thats a personal choice.
I feel its worth it all an all.
Hope you guys enjoyed the read.
And may your tone runth over
