Poll; to mod or not to mod?

[Dan Gleesak]

I believe every SG deserves a nice set of T-tops. (Assuming yours has tarbacks)
David Allen Powerage set is my favorite so far

 

[Greazygeo]

How was Glen Buxton's guitar wired?

He took the middle pickup from the switch and changed one of the tone pots to a volume. So it becomes three volumes and a master tone. Now the middle pickup can be blended in with either the neck or middle or run all three or just one etc…with the bridge on 8-9-10 range and middle on 7 is my go to with it.
The stock pickups were decent on mine but squealed so swapped the neck to a ‘59 and bridge to the Hybrid ‘59. Wanted to keep it a stockish tone.

 

[* velcro-fly *]

Floyd Rose that mofo

 

[shar-vell Dan]

I good augmentation can enhance performance. ymmv.

 

[JackBootedThug]

it's yours. do what you want. Me personally-I would only do reversible stuff. Sounding thin could be something simple. Fuck it. Gut that mofo....

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

It's strange to me that this is even a conversation about a norlin guitar.

 

[jabps]

I recently bought a 1973 Gibson SG Custom.

The guitar plays nicely with a really outstanding neck. I just can't bond with the tone and the fact it won't stay in tune at all. That's probably why after 51 years it's in near new condition.
My choices are, leave it in the case and look at it every once in a while. Keep trying to find the right something, a pedal or amp, that works with the guitar. So far, everything I've tried, pedals, amps, string height and gauge, haven't done much to changed the overall thin tone. I hear the tone in some songs because it's a tone I hate. Or, put some new pick ups in and install a roller bridge.

What would you do and why?

If you really dig the way it plays, feels and looks then I'd start simple, try and fix the tone first with pickups. If that works tackle everything else which would probably be a little more invasive with new nut, tuners, maybe even a new bridge etc... for the tuning.

My reasoning with the pup first is every guitar has it's own sound and sometimes you gotta take the dive into pups to get what you like. For me I want the guitar to sound consistent to all my others that way I don't have a specific amp or pedal just for a guitar. My amps and rig is constant.

Then again, I've had plenty of guitars that just don't sound good no matter what I've done, in that case they're gone. Example, my Gold Top LP...played good, looked good but for whatever reason it just always sounded kinda flat. Same pickup setup as my other Pauls but always just kinda blah. Flipped bridge pups, even updated the pots and again, always just kinda blah and dark. It had to go.

 

[Beyond Black]

Shouldn’t have to do much to test it out as a keeper.
Usually tuning issues are due to a problem with the nut. Have the nut properly cut or replaced.
Try out different bridge pickups that you dig. If you can get a tone you’re happy with, experiment with neck pickups next. And save the originals in case you ever decide to sell.

 

[glpg80]

I would definitely sell it in stock form for max $$$ to someone who wants a stock vintage Gibson. Then take half of that money and buy something built better that stays in tune with tone for days and plays like a motherfucker, and that you can actually bond with.

I've learned the hard way to just go directly for what you want in a guitar or amp instead of trying to change the guitar's nature. Once you start modding and tweaking it's hard to stop. And then you just have an expensive frankenstein that's lost it's value because collectors want ALL ORIGINAL guitars.

Then don’t sell to collectors and sell to someone else. Collectors ruin guitars. They know nothing of regular maintenance, the woods dry out and crack, necks aren’t adjusted, strings and nickel allowed to tarnish and rust, the cases are all falling apart, overdue for a refret so badly that strings have carved wood out of the fretboard, and all of that is somehow supposed to increase value? FUCK that mess. I’ll sell a fully restored vintage at market value because now the window of demand is so much higher and the quality of the instrument has been properly maintained before actual legitimate irreparable damage is done.

 

[glpg80]

It's strange to me that this is even a conversation about a norlin guitar.

73 was actually a great time period for Norlin era. They’d just purchased and hadn’t had time to implement total cluster fuck shit quality practices yet.

 

[Exo-metal]

Wtf just mod it or sell it. Do u really need a thread for every fuck's opinion?

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

73 was actually a great time period for Norlin era. They’d just purchased and hadn’t had time to implement total cluster fuck shit quality practices yet.

Oh, well I figured they had by that point given the rest of the SG line . I guess whether or not there was still a decent quality average, I swear this guitar was maxing out around $1k a few years ago. That's mostly what I meant. To me it's insane to see the prices and a lot of people are going to be left "holding the bag" in the near future if they bought these as investments, imo. But like I also said; smoke them if you've got them.

 

[glpg80]

Oh, well I figured they had by that point given the rest of the SG line . I guess whether or not there was still a decent quality average, I swear this guitar was maxing out around $1k a few years ago. That's mostly what I meant. To me it's insane to see the prices and a lot of people are going to be left "holding the bag" in the near future if they bought these as investments, imo. But like I also said; smoke them if you've got them.

Decent by Norlin standards is still low. In one of my 76’s I found oem solid core guitar string used as ground wires for the oem pots. They cut corners to save money and time like you wouldn’t believe. It’s why I believe if there’s any era of guitars that actually increase value being gone through, it’s Norlin era guitars.

You can thank collectors and Murphy lab for the insane prices maple neck customs and now SGs are now. Rarity combined with high demand is a dangerous combination for affordability. I mean look at what mark2C+ are going for now. I didn’t buy my guitars to invest, I bought them to hand down to my kids when the time comes. They play and function better now than anything new on the market.

 

[Markedman]

I would definitely sell it in stock form for max $$$ to someone who wants a stock vintage Gibson. Then take half of that money and buy something built better that stays in tune with tone for days and plays like a motherfucker, and that you can actually bond with.

I've learned the hard way to just go directly for what you want in a guitar or amp instead of trying to change the guitar's nature. Once you start modding and tweaking it's hard to stop. And then you just have an expensive frankenstein that's lost its value because collectors want ALL ORIGINAL guitars.

I have a feeling that you are right about that. I bought the guitar because I thought it was really cool. And, it was all original, early Norlin. I won’t take a bath selling it and if I need to play some songs that are not rock, it’s a great choice.

In real life, the neck and overall feel is very comfortable and desirable with almost no fret wear that makes playing it seem effortless. Hence, modding and rocking.

SG’s are funky to play and they have a really cool approach for picking because of their neck angle and the fact that there’s a bunch of pickups in the way. Everything about the guitar is different than anything else I’ve ever played. I have played “Master of Puppets” with it, but I will leave that stuff to the Jackson.

I thought about buying a 2x4 with barbed wire (telecaster) because I thought it might make me play differently. This was a very close second to that bad decision.

I never learn. I spent 3 months on this decision. No regrets though, I always wanted to own a bar, and I did. Legendary chaos. I had to learn the hard way about how you need to be careful with what you wish for.

Maybe I should just stick a different bridge pickup in and see what happens. Quick and easy way to get an idea of what could be.

 

[jtees4]

Hype it up like crazy on Ebay and rave on about how clear and unmuddy it sounds. Then sit back and watch Angus and Iommi get in a bidding war over it. You make a nice profit, give me some commission for the idea and we all win!

You forgot to say how great it stays in tune!