Poll; to mod or not to mod?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Markedman
  • Start date Start date

Leave alone or modify?

  • Leave it alone and just look at it.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Leave as is and find a solution that makes it sound great.

    Votes: 4 16.0%

  • New pick ups and bridge, rock that axe!

    Votes: 21 84.0%
  • Total voters
    25
Markedman

Markedman

Well-known member
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?
 
It’s a 73, it’s cool to keep it original but I understand. I’d say keep it original and sell it to someone who does like it. Get something you do jive with. But it is your guitar and there’s no right or wrong.
 
Since you like the way it plays, minus the tuning stability, I would say to keep trying finding some combination for one more go, and then if you've exhausted all options go with the swap outs. There's definitely a "cool" factor to getting something vintage working with your setup that can make it inspiring to play. If you ultimately don't ever end up there then nothing wrong with making changes to get it to that point.
 
I had one I loved the look of, actually played good too bit sounded thin. The bridge PU is too close to the bridge or at least that was my theory. I tried various pickups, still sounded plinky. Sold it and bought a les paul lite, never looked back.
 
Markedman said:
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?
Click to expand...

Bro I dropped $7k on a 76 wine red custom. I had the guitar absolutely gutted. Upgraded to linear 500k Bournes pots, 59 style wiring with the original oem caps, new pickups, new bridge, jumbo stainless frets with my custom contour 12” to the 12th and 14” above the 12th. New bone nut.

Guitar is an absolute tone monster and insane to play. I had it appraised before and after. The value was not decreased at all and actually increased to 8k. I had to have it professionally appraised for insurance reasons. These guitars are timeless and bringing one back to life correctly is beneficial to you and also the guitar. They’re built to play and collectors hate to admit it that all original just means all original.
 
‘59 Hybrid Duncan in the bridge, change the wiring to the way Glen Buxton had his and get someone to cut the nut correctly. Could be the original pickups are faulty, check them with a multimeter. That Hybrid 59 is a great pickup in these, I tried a bunch in mine.
 
Mod it. I’m sick of the collecting mentality. We all worship Eddie Van Halen, a guy that modded the shit out of everything (except his amp apparently) and then we all are scared to individualise things to suit us. They’re instruments to make music on. Get to it.
 
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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!
 
Id mod it. Pots, pickups, nuts, and tuners aren’t a biggie. A better playing/sounding guitar is a better guitar. For every one dentist buying new decorations for his office theres 10 players who want the same thing you do. I can’t speak for everyone here but stuff like nuts, frets, and pots are value additions on older Gibsons.
 
Greazygeo said:
‘59 Hybrid Duncan in the bridge, change the wiring to the way Glen Buxton had his and get someone to cut the nut correctly. Could be the original pickups are faulty, check them with a multimeter. That Hybrid 59 is a great pickup in these, I tried a bunch in mine.
Click to expand...

How was Glen Buxton's guitar wired?
 
If modding I would go non invasive and definitely keep the old parts.

Try to put some lubricant in the nut. There is stuff out there specially made for guitar nuts. If it doesn`t work, let an experienced luthier look at the nut slots. A roller bridge makes sense for guitars equipped with tremolo systems. With TOM bridge guitars, tuning instability mostly comes from bad nut slots.

Have a look at the stop bar tail piece. Is it screwed down near the body of the guitar? The further down, the stiffer the string-tension gets. Lifting it up, will result in less stiffness which will result in a bigger amplitude of the strings that might give you a fuller tone and different overtones. If your tuning instability is connected to the bridge, this might help as well.

Check the distance of your strings to the PU. There is a sweet spot. To close will sound harsh, fizzy and compressed, to far away and you will loose output that usually is perceived with lack of bass.

As mentioned before, the PU position makes a lot difference in tone and in SGs, the bridge PU is usually shifted to the bridge giving a brighter sound. There are PU out there that tame bright guitars, but don`t expect getting LP tones out of an SG.
If changing PUs, keep the old ones. Wrap them in bubble wrap when storing them, so the magnets don`t get close to other magnets of other PUs.
 
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.
 
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