Tearing apart cheap guitars, modding the shit out of them

[Obulus]

I got a router for christmas, so now I can finally execute some ideas I had for my cheapo guitars. Actually my goal is to train my routing (and general guitar modding) skills and at the same time gain some cool guitars on the cheap. So here are my plans:

I've got this mockingbird knockoff, already took all the electronics out:


I hate the color, so I'm going to strip the paint and probably paint it pelham blue or something similar. I'm also going to ditch the normal tailpiece and install a tele bridge as a tailpiece so i can have a behind the bridge pickup with tunable harmonics. I'll probably have to fill the holes where the tailpiece was as I don't think the tele bridge will cover them up. Dropping in some chrome covered epiphone humbuckers with chrome pickup rings. For the wiring I'm going stereo, sending the neck and bridge pickups to separate outputs (switchable), only volumes for each 'chanel' as I probably won't have room for more. For the behind the bridge pickup I'm installing a push/pull volume pot as on/off and a separate on-on-on style switch to assign it to either output or both at the same time.

For this one, I think I have everything sorted except for the paint. Anyone knows a resource for pelham blue spray paint in a can? Preferably in Europe! I'm also no finishing master so any tips regarding refinishing this bitch are welcome!


Then there is a second project taking form:


I already teared up this one with a drill to install a humbucker in it and sprayed it black on top of the original finish (camo with purple accents, what were they thinking?) once. Didn't turn out that great, so I'm going to do something comepletely different with it now. I'm converting it to some weird tele deluxe! Here's what I'm aiming at:


Combining humbuckers with single coils to get some kind of triplebucker and getting a 4-way rotary switch with sc only/parallel/humbucker only/series for each of the pickups. I'm thinking of installing a "master" series switch to so I'll have six coils in series, just for teh lulz . Shit will be ridiculous. I may be having some volume drop problems on some settings, but that's something I'll need to sort out afterwards. I really want to make this work actually. I don't even know if the strings will even be able with all those magnets pulling the strings. Vol, tone and pickup switching will be the same as a regular deluxe with vol and tone for each 'triplebucker'. I'm probably going to order some powered by Lace humbuckers and combine them with strat single coils I have lying around. Ideally, I'd install a strat tremolo, but this would require a whole lot of routing and the bridge pickup route is where a strat bridge would be anchored, so I think I'm just going to use the bridge I had on this guitar and cut it of where it meets the pickguard.

Also, the finish on the mockup is something that was standard on the online guitar creator I used. It was called noise. Anyone has an idea if something like this could be achieved in real life? I think it looks pretty killer. If that can't be achieved, I'll go for black or brown. I added the black and the brown mockup in a NSFW to not make this post even more monstrous

NSFW: show

I also need some advice on the neck for this one. I don't like the feel of it, but I'm not going to buy a new one for it. I think the main problem is the finish, it just doesn't feel smooth enough for me I guess. Anyone knows how to cure this problem?

Any advice/opinion/input on these projects is welcome. I have exams coming up, so I don't really have time to get near my workplace the coming month, meaning I have time to order the parts and plan some more!

[Chankgeez]

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice, but, wow, both of these projects look like they've a lot of potential.

Good luck.

I'm definitely interested in seeing the progress on these. Please, keep us updated.

[mathias]

This thread is off to a good start!

[Obulus]

Thanks, I sure hope they do turn out well!

I think I already found some paint for the mockingbird. I keep on looking for parts/paint and stuff for these projects instead of studying . I really need to remind myself to study well, so I'll have more money to buy gear next year!

[ryan summit]

oh
i love this

[IEatCats]

I love these ideas. I can't wait to see the build progresses!

[Digideus]

Sweet projects!

Do a search on youtube for finishing tips. Theres LOTS on there. ultimately, dont strip away more than you need. As long as you key the surface for the new coat of spray, thats enough rather than removing every coat of paint and sanding sealer.

The Mockingbird bridge replacement should be easy enough. use some dowel rods to plug the existing holes. Re-drill the hole for the earth strap and measure where the bridge has to go, but be aware that the tune-o-matic bridge relies on a neck angle to make the guitar playable. Im guessing there was a bit of tape or a shim of some kind in the neck pocket which gave the neck an angle, otherwise the strings would be so far above the fretboard, it would be impossible to intonate. Anyway, changing for a Fender style bridge will effect this, and I would check the difference in string spacing too. You dont want massive gaps at the top and bottom of the fretboard!

The Tele project looks good! Theres lots of wood coming out by the looks of it! Might make the guitar neck heavy. try to be conservative with what you remove.

I also need some advice on the neck for this one. I don't like the feel of it, but I'm not going to buy a new one for it. I think the main problem is the finish, it just doesn't feel smooth enough for me I guess. Anyone knows how to cure this problem?

refinish it! Wet sanding with some fine grade wet & dry will polish it nicely. I wouldnt advise stripping the neck completely, but you can smooth it out by buffing it. Youll be surprised how different a neck will feel once you effect the finish

[snipelfritz]

Rick Nielsen had a 6 pickup custom build from First Act. Not sure how it actually played/sounded, but ridiculous is that guy's middle name.

[Obulus]

Wow, thanks for all the advice. Not sure how far I should strip the guitars though? I was planning on stripping them all the way (shouldn't be too hard with a good paint stripper). I may learn something about finishing a guitar from scratch in the process. But if it can save me a whole bunch of work I'll surely consider not stripping it all the way. Will definitely try your suggestion about the neck too, sounds good! What should I use on the neck after I sanded/polished it a little?

The tele bridge is not going to replace the tune-o-matic though, it will only replace the tailpiece, so the angle between the bridge and the neck will be retained. Didn't think about the weight before, but now you mentioned it I can see this could become a problem. Not much I can do about it I guess, except for keeping the extra routing to a minimum. I once read about a guy who filled some of the control cavity of his SG with heavy materials taped to the control plate to prevent neck dive. That could be a last resort if I end up with neck dive I guess?

I ordered all the parts yesterday, apart from paint and stripping tools (which I'm going to look for locally). Can't wait till they arrive and I have the time to work on these guitars! Exams will only be finished in exactly one month though

Rick Nielsen had a 6 pickup custom build from First Act. Not sure how it actually played/sounded, but ridiculous is that guy's middle name.

Damn, that's a whole lot of knobs. I googled the guy too (had never heard of him) and dude surely has all the qualifications to earn the middle name ridiculous. 5-neck guitar? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

[kosta]

That Tele will be amazing if it comes to pass. Cheering for ya, sir!

[FoggyRock]

Rick Nielsen had a 6 pickup custom build from First Act. Not sure how it actually played/sounded, but ridiculous is that guy's middle name.

sweet fancy moses!! thats fucking cool!!!

[Obulus]

Soooo, I didn't have as much time as expected the last couple of months. Last week I was finally able to get some work done and the mockingbird is almost finished now:


When sanding the original finish, it became clear that one of the holes for the knobs was damaged with a shitty repair under the finish. Broke down, so there's a big ol' gap underneath that chrome control plate. Looks like shit but whatever! I also did a real shit paint job (lots of dripping and shit), but it still looks good cuz CHROME.

Need to work on the wiring some more though, not everything is as I wanted it to be. Series position of the 4-way rotary doesn't work, when turning down the volume of the normal pickups it also kills the behind the bridge pickup volume (may try jazz bass style wiring of the volume pots to prevent this, but I heard that it has tonal drawbacks) and the second output that is supposed to be only the behind the bridge pickup, outputs sound of the normal pickups in some positions. Some of these mistakes may have something to do with the fact that I wired this bitch up between 3am and 4am...

Anyhow, I already set it up and tried it out today and some cool sounds certainly can be had by combining the behind the bridge pickup and the normal pickups! Especially looking forward to having it in different outputs, so I can run the behind the bridge trough different effects.

[AxAxSxS]

good stuff!

[Chankgeez]

good stuff!

[Obulus]

Thanks! Really looking forward to solve the wiring issues and have it all done. Then I can start on to that ridiculous Tele idea (might try a silver or blue burst paint job for that one) or start on a new project guitar I got: Epiphone Goth SG!