Help replacing hardware on a 1984 Gibson Flying V DONE(ish)

Zachalou

Active member
So this is the first time I've tried to do anything like this, I've been playing guitar for a while but just recently I'm trying to learn about the mechanical aspects and upkeep beyond changing strings.

Anyway, I've got a really cool Flying V in a deal I couldn't pass up, I'm deciding to keep it and make it a bit more personal. What I'm wanting to do is basically replace all the hardware with black hardware, upgrade the pots, and upgrade the pickups.

So beside the pickups and the knobs, I don't really know where to start with everything else. I'm thinking Sperzel locking tuners, but as far as replacing the rest of the hardware, what are the best options? And can I get them in black? :rock:

Like I said I'm pretty new to all this

Here are a few (not so great) pictures of the guitar https://imgur.com/a/3AwaD
 
So I've found a site called WBmusic (never heard of it) but they have some drop in parts to replace the Nashville TOM bridge and stop bar in Zinc Black, looks cool.
Anyone have experience with this company?
 
Zachalou":3260s28z said:
So this is the first time I've tried to do anything like this, I've been playing guitar for a while but just recently I'm trying to learn about the mechanical aspects and upkeep beyond changing strings.

Anyway, I've got a really cool Flying V in a deal I couldn't pass up, I'm deciding to keep it and make it a bit more personal. What I'm wanting to do is basically replace all the hardware with black hardware, upgrade the pots, and upgrade the pickups.

So beside the pickups and the knobs, I don't really know where to start with everything else. I'm thinking Sperzel locking tuners, but as far as replacing the rest of the hardware, what are the best options? And can I get them in black? :rock:

Like I said I'm pretty new to all this

Here are a few (not so great) pictures of the guitar https://imgur.com/a/3AwaD
I’m pretty sure Sperzels require a larger hole so you might want to look into that before ordering any unless you don’t mind drilling out the headstock
 
Someone makes Kluson style locking tuners... maybe WD has them, but holes need to be drilled bigger for bushings. I’d do Tone Pros locking bridge and tailpiece.
 
LP Freak":28imoh5t said:
Zachalou":28imoh5t said:
So this is the first time I've tried to do anything like this, I've been playing guitar for a while but just recently I'm trying to learn about the mechanical aspects and upkeep beyond changing strings.

Anyway, I've got a really cool Flying V in a deal I couldn't pass up, I'm deciding to keep it and make it a bit more personal. What I'm wanting to do is basically replace all the hardware with black hardware, upgrade the pots, and upgrade the pickups.

So beside the pickups and the knobs, I don't really know where to start with everything else. I'm thinking Sperzel locking tuners, but as far as replacing the rest of the hardware, what are the best options? And can I get them in black? :rock:

Like I said I'm pretty new to all this

Here are a few (not so great) pictures of the guitar https://imgur.com/a/3AwaD
I’m pretty sure Sperzels require a larger hole so you might want to look into that before ordering any unless you don’t mind drilling out the headstock


Good to know, thanks! I'm not opposed to drilling the head stock but I'd rather not have to so I'll look for alternatives
 
Here is a quick pic of the finished product-

Did tonepros locking bridge (thanks paulyc, it functions great and I didn't have to do any drilling)
Gotoh Locking magnum tuners, (look cool, had to do a bit of drilling for these but turned out real well)
replaced the input, strap pins, all the screws and pole pieces and put a bone nut on in place of the original.

Also ended up redoing the wiring and getting rid of the old 300k gibson pots as they were a bit corroded, put in some gibson 500k and an orange drop capacitor.

Replaced the pickups with Seymour duncan distortions.. which I don't really like, but I got a damn good deal on a brand new set so figured I'd try them out.

Pretty happy with it, looks way better in my opinion. Only things left to do is find a great set of PUPs to replace the duncans (i'm thinking bareknuckle?) and I will probably end up dying the fretboard with stewmacs dye :rock:
 

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paulyc":3cjdasvm said:
The SD Distortion is my favorite pickup of all time, give them a chance...
I've been playing them tonight, they aren't bad, but I just think they lack a certain aggression that I like. I'm thinking of going back to a pair of Dimarzio's that I liked in a previous guitar, or trying bareknuckle pickups
 
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