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Post by newey on Dec 22, 2021 22:19:14 GMT -5
I've posted this guitar before, many years ago, but I recently brought it back home from the cabin, where it's been pretty much a campfire strummer for the past eight years or so. It needed a restringing and general spitpolishing, which it has now had. But this is an opportunity for you all to mock me on how clueless I was when I built this. This was the first guitar I ever modified, back in about 1998 or so, but then I did the collage pickguard in 2010. It started life as a Yamaha EG-112, I got the body minus all the hardware off Ebay, and the neck off another EG-112 in a separate auction. The body was black poly-thick finish that took me a hootload of sandpaper to remove. It is far from perfect. And, I was too dumb to know that a regular Fender pickguard wouldn't just bolt on, you'll notice the butcher job I did cutting the new one in 2010 around the bridge area; the original black guard from 1998 was equally butchered. (I learned that it is hard to accurately cut a pickguard without proper tools- which I still don't have). And one of the pickguard screws hit nothing but air- and fell out years ago. My approach to the pickguard was "make it fit", and the pole piece alignment/spacing suffered as a result. I also didn't know that there were "white" pickup covers, knobs, etc., and also "cream" ones, the pictures on the web all looked alike. The redone pickguard was a clear one, and I glued the various ticket stubs to the underside with decoupage paste. That's the one thing that I thought came out pretty well. But it plays well and sounds decent, it has GFS pickups. IIRC, the body and neck cost me about $30, and I probably have about another $100 or so in import tuners and bridge,the pickups, and other hardware. Here's the detail on the pickguard: So, all y'all can all tee me up for random abuse over this one. The moral of the story is: "We all had to start somewhere". .
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Post by gckelloch on Dec 23, 2021 13:07:10 GMT -5
Oh, contraire. I commend your frugalness. My bro swears by Yamaha Pacifica necks for his S-type builds. I just did a custom wiring for one I donated a nice white Alder Agile ST-625EB body. Nothing wrong with GFS pickups either. I mentioned in another thread that the Lil' Killers might benefit from a piece of Cu tape to ground the second blade, but those are perfectly good Steel core pickups. What's silly is paying ~$500 for an S-type set of SC pickups because of internet hype when virtually the same thing can be had for less than 1/3 the price if buyers are willing to do some research. Swapping or weakening the A5 magnets on a ~$30 Chinese S-type set and taping 2.5" Steel nails to the bottom may even get those results. I think the pickguard was a cool idea. Granted, I might have chosen some different articles at my age, but it still looks cool.
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Post by cynical1 on Dec 23, 2021 13:30:00 GMT -5
Yamaha makes some of the best sleeper guitars out there in the resale market. Even the inexpensive guitars seem to get the same CNC treatment. I probably said this before, but the mating between neck and body on Yamaha instruments are typically some of the most consistent and tightest I've seen in production instruments.
I vaguely remember seeing that pickguard years ago. I like it.
I sold my first guitars back when I had hair, so any incriminating evidence is likely in the landfill by now...
If it were my guitar...I rip out the GFS pickups and toss in some Wilde or old Bill Lawrence pickups. You have a platform which will accept those with a smile.
HTC1
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Post by gckelloch on Dec 23, 2021 14:18:42 GMT -5
Yamaha makes some of the best sleeper guitars out there in the resale market. Even the inexpensive guitars seem to get the same CNC treatment. I probably said this before, but the mating between neck and body on Yamaha instruments are typically some of the most consistent and tightest I've seen in production instruments. I vaguely remember seeing that pickguard years ago. I like it. I sold my first guitars back when I had hair, so any incriminating evidence is likely in the landfill by now... If it were my guitar...I rip out the GFS pickups and toss in some Wilde or old Bill Lawrence pickups. You have a platform which will accept those with a smile. HTC1 No argument from me. The original $150 Wilde 'Micro-Coils' are still my favorite true SC pickups. The ability to adjust note timber per string via the (Permalloy?) pole screws is more important to me than no hum, but they are very quiet anyway. The middle and neck are a bit lower inductance than typical Fender SC's (1.8H vs ~2.4H), but the strong output more than makes up for that. They aren't really any brighter due to the lower Q-factor but they do have a more extended high-end. A low capacitance cable will give the best results. Funny that some players have said they can't get what they want from them, but they don't even try adjusting the pole screws...doh! I have a few sets of the noiseless NF series with a Q-Filter in one guitar as well. All great stuff. Otherwise, those GFS might benefit from weakening the A5 poles (if they are A5) using Antigua's method, and taping some galvanized Steel nails to the bottom with Cu tape to increase efficiency and "warmth", while reducing string pull. Ah, I remembered this brand. For more classic SC designs, Tonerider are supposed to be exceptional -- under $100 a set, and they actually list the full specs. The pole stagger also makes more sense than the classic vintage stagger. The 'Pure Vintage' set is like early '60s Fenders. I'd hope the AlNiCo V poles aren't full strength. The 'Surfari' set would be like '50s Fenders. The lower-Guass/higher-permeable A3 poles will produce a sweeter attack character with more warmth than A5. Output is irrelevant if you have something to adjust the level b4 your amp. Some of the other sets have fairly high inductance bridge models, but that can be fine if you want a more Tele-like bridge sound. My old Wilde NF L280SL is 3.6H. The NF series all have Cu-coated Steel baseplates. It's very punchy and versatile.
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Post by newey on Dec 23, 2021 18:14:04 GMT -5
I'm onboard with the Yamaha guitars. I also have one of their dreadnaught acoustics.
Even in my 1998 cluelessness, I knew that fitment between the neck and body was important in bolt-on guitars. Having bought the body some time prior to the neck, and coming from different guitars although the same model, I was worried about fitment. But the neck fit perfectly, thanks to Yamaha's CNC machines.
I've never tried any of the Wilde pickups, but if I do so in the future, they'll be put into a different axe, with a better bridge, tuners, etc. You know, the old "lipstick on a sow" theory . . .
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Post by b4nj0 on Dec 24, 2021 5:22:56 GMT -5
Total Yamaha fanboy here.
I have a Pacifica 904, a 1977 SG2000, a 1982 SA2000, an LS400vt all solids acoustic and a 2009 CG190 all solids classical.
Cyn1 is right on target about the neck fitment going by my PAC 904. It was definitely true about PAC-type "sleepers", (Yamaha have made many idiosyncratic types that can be described as such) but I think that horse may have bolted a good few years ago.
My '904 has barely half an inch of timber shelf in the body below the neck pocket but does that guit fiddle ever sing.
With advancing years I tend to fall back on acoustic guitar, and the LS400vt was my main squeeze right up until I acquired a ludicrously more expensive handbuilt jobbie, and you know how that story goes ...
でつ e&oe ...
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