Sacrilege

G

greiswig

New Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2015
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110
So I spent some time on my 20th Anniversary PS this weekend. I had liked it pretty well stock, but I actually thought it could sound better. So I bought a CU24 blade switch and went to work.

I was after a couple of things: less high end on the bridge pickup, more on the 2 and 4 positions, and more highs and less boom on the neck. So I now have three different tone cap values in there: instead of .033 on the bridge, I settled on a .047. It makes it so I can get a bit more midrange out of the pickup by adjusting it a bit closer to the strings, but it is a little less shrill. The neck pickup has a .01 tone cap on it, and (oddly) a .05 in series with ground for the neck only position. That is now getting a clearer tone and has a nice low range without sounding boomy. #2 position is also using the .01 cap, and #3 and #4 are both using a .022 cap.

I know, I know...sacrilege. You'll also hate what I did to the cream tone rings until I can get black replacements, and I replaced the plastic knobs with wooden creations of my own. Shameful.
 
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. If you're happy, it's a great outcome.

Plus, it's awesome that you aren't intimidated by your own guitar. ;)
 
I will magnanimously withold the pitchforks and torches without pics nor sound clips. Also because I'm far too lazy to organize a riot.
 
WOW. COJONES, MY GOOD MAN! I was half expecting while reading your post that you also decided to mill your own Gen III saddle locking bolts out of Tungsten or some sh!t like that! HAHAHAHA! But I like what JustRob said, and I second that call: OWNER. Faking A, dude. Nice.
 
If there is no pic by the end of the day, I'm going to replace this post with a video of Carly Simon's "Anticipation." OP, you have a lot of support here, and if it turned out less than perfect - it can't look worse than some of my failed experiments. Trust me :)
 
Lousy picture taken on my workbench with an iPhone. Clearly I'm not a photographer. You guys take all these nicely-posed photos in decent lighting, and I deliver this. I even have to beg pardon for the piece of plastic behind the bridge; it protects the finish when I'm working on the bridge and saddles. I'm having an issue with the way the Gen3 saddles are working.

Anyway, the pic. Clips will have to wait, as my DAW is currently dead.

(Sorry...it took forever to figure out that inserting a photo using a service that uses https doesn't work.)
image_1.jpeg
 
I should say something about the way this guitar plays and sounds. I have an early 1987 CU24, and a 30th CU24, and a Schroeder hardtail 22 that I really love. That Schroeder is kind of my gold standard for tone for a humbucker instrument, and plays really well.

The combination of the 408 pickups and the Narrowfield middle intrigued me a lot. Listening to Les's clips, I thought I heard what I wanted to hear: somewhere between single coil clarity and humbucker girth. She doesn't disappoint in that regard, but if you like either single coils or humbuckers, these may challenge you a bit.

These pickups are not easy to dial in. I tend to adjust the bridge pickup first, since that's where I spend most of my time, then adjust the others to taste and for approximately the same output. These are surprisingly hot pickups given the raw resistance value. There seem to be about two distances from the strings that really matter: up close to the strings, you get a lot of output (more than my WCR Godwood set dialed in to their sweet spot...by a fair shake) and a lot of clarity. Very bright. If that's your thing, cool. Then you adjust them down...and there is this big gap between close to the strings and down a few turns where nothing happens other than a bit of volume drop. Then, suddenly, there is another sweet spot. This is where I'm settling...it's a bit less bright, less sharpness to the pick attack, and with some more midrange to it but still plenty of lows. The neck pickup I like adjusted all the way down on this guitar. Especially with the reduced tone cap, it sounds very open and single coil-ish, but has its own thing going. Great bluesy tones to be had here. And even with a .01 tone cap on that pickup, dialing down the tone knob still gets you nicely into Metheny Jazz territory. 2 and 4 positions are great, and even the Narrowfield on its own I can hear good tones out of. I don't know that I've ever really used that position on my Strat much at all. But here, it sounds great.

How does she play?

Lawdy! When it came, the neck was virtually completely flat. Barely any relief at all. And the action not very high. But even so, no fret buzz. Sheesh! It actually threw off my playing a bit. I dialed in a bit more relief, then lowered the saddles a little, and now the action is very low, smooth as butter, and feels more like my Schroeder but better. The neck carve is great, and sweeps just kind of roll off my fingertips easily. Best playing guitar I've ever felt.

I feel guilty. Nobody at my level of musicianship should have an instrument this nice.
 
Greiswig, that looks great! Perfect location for the blade switch too, imo.
 
I love the rings and the knobs. Personally, I would leave them alone. No way black is going to look better. IMO! Way to be an owner!!
 
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