Major Mod Questions

[shreddermon]

Let's say I have a guitar with a single hum, vintage trem, strathead-ish layout. But I want to mod her to convert to a non-recessed Floyd and add PUs, say two SCs.

- Will the Floyd nut mod to the headstock end up looking horrible? I'm under the impression that the lack of a Floyd-style nut shelf in the original design will make it look a little off. Any structural issues to be concerned about?

- Will the original trem's mounting screw holes be hidden by the Floyd? (If you have a pic, please share!)

- In adding PUs, will the new routes pretty much ruin the finish, thereby requiring a refin? (Not necessarily a problem, as I may want this anyway.) Does it make a difference if the original finish is a solid vs. transparent?

- Anything else to be concerned about that I haven't thought of?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

P.S.- Relax. No, I'm not ruining a vintage axe. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Major Mod Questions

Plan on a refin or at least a pickguard. That much routing usually ends in some finish damage or at least chipping. If the Floyd is a top mount and not floating it will hide the 6 vintage trem screw holes. You can adapt a Floyd nut on your neck with no problem. It is done every day. Structurally... just don't make your pickup routes too deep and you will be fine. A plunge router or at least some good templates will help out alot. Stew-Mac sells them.

[shreddermon]

Re: Major Mod Questions

BTW, not doing the mods myself. Assume these will be done by a pro. I'm adventurous, but this is way out of my league.

[eaeolian]

Re: Major Mod Questions

[ QUOTE ]
Let's say I have a guitar with a single hum, vintage trem, strathead-ish layout. But I want to mod her to convert to a non-recessed Floyd and add PUs, say two SCs.

- Will the Floyd nut mod to the headstock end up looking horrible? I'm under the impression that the lack of a Floyd-style nut shelf in the original design will make it look a little off. Any structural issues to be concerned about?



[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on the nut style. If it's the Fender style, with the end of the board behind the nut, I've seen them look pretty good.

[ QUOTE ]

- Will the original trem's mounting screw holes be hidden by the Floyd? (If you have a pic, please share!)


[/ QUOTE ]

Mostly. I have a Zion that had the Floyd added, and you can't see the holes except at a few odd angles.

[ QUOTE ]

- In adding PUs, will the new routes pretty much ruin the finish, thereby requiring a refin? (Not necessarily a problem, as I may want this anyway.) Does it make a difference if the original finish is a solid vs. transparent?


[/ QUOTE ]

I've seen this done - carefully - on solid finished, but always with humbuckers. With the singles not having mounting rings, I dunno.

[ QUOTE ]

- Anything else to be concerned about that I haven't thought of?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

P.S.- Relax. No, I'm not ruining a vintage axe. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, what fun is it, then?

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Mike

[jackson1]

Re: Major Mod Questions

[ QUOTE ]
- Will the Floyd nut mod to the headstock end up looking horrible?

[/ QUOTE ]

Consider going without a Floyd locking nut and put locking tuners on it instead + make sure you have a correct cut and smooth working normal nut.

[ QUOTE ]
- Will the original trem's mounting screw holes be hidden by the Floyd? (If you have a pic, please share!)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not much help here, but make sure that the existing trem route is in the correct place on the body for the new trem to fit.

[ QUOTE ]
- In adding PUs, will the new routes pretty much ruin the finish, thereby requiring a refin?

[/ QUOTE ]

I am NOT an expert here, but i have done quite a lot of routing on a guitar lately, and paint chipping never occured. In fact the cuts were pretty clean and beautiful. Some of the secrets in routing is to route gently and take small areas as you go. Not full depth in one go. But the pro's know that. I would just go for the routing and see how it turns out. If it's bad, then refinish. If it's good then great! You haven't done any unnecessarily work.

[ QUOTE ]
- Anything else to be concerned about that I haven't thought of?

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you tried an H-S-S guitar?. If you haven't, you should be aware that many players don't like that middle single coil - they hit it with the pick. Just a note. You probably know this already.

[ QUOTE ]
P.S.- Relax. No, I'm not ruining a vintage axe. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Chicken! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[jackson1]

Re: Major Mod Questions

Again, i'm no expert but won't that non-recessed OFR sit higher over the body than your existing vintage trem? Meaning strings are higher over the body/neck = trouble?

My 1987 Soloist non-recessed OFR sits 18mm over the surface of the body. How high is you vintage sitting? Of course you can lower the OFR but doing so, decreases the chances of doing pull-up. Again, just a comment for you to consider.

[shreddermon]

Re: Major Mod Questions

J1...

- No way on the no-Floyd nut recommendation. Sorry, bud, but I just don't buy into the locking tuners thing. That kind of set-up is NOT as stable on divebombs. Yes, I've played 'em. ...Besides, I'm a stickler for the set-it-and-forget-it tuning stability of Floyds w/lock nuts. There is no substitute.

-Yeah, maybe you can get away without chipping, etc. for routing the new PU holes. But, even if you do, I'm guessing the pickup cavities for SCs will look poor, as they'll show bare wood then. Appearances do matter for me - I want this to be a pro job. I guess I'm more wondering if this can be "spot finished" black, or something comparable. i.e., Short of doing a full refin. But, like I said, I may do the refin anyway.

- Yep, I have many HSS layout guitars. It's my favorite, hands down. I like other layouts, too. Just not as much. No problems picking, either.

- As to neck angle, I'm assuming shimming will handle that fairly well?

[Tekky]

Re: Major Mod Questions

I'm curious if you can add a shelf to the end of the neck to accomodate a floyd nut?? I'm sure you can, but has anyone ever see it done?

[jackson1]

Re: Major Mod Questions

Lightly sand the edge of the fresh route to strengthen that fragile edge and paint the bare wood in the cavity afterwards. Here's an example of a route job i did recently (edge not sanded yet). There is no chipping.

[shreddermon]

Re: Major Mod Questions

[ QUOTE ]
I'm curious if you can add a shelf to the end of the neck to accomodate a floyd nut?? I'm sure you can, but has anyone ever see it done?

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't seen a closeup myself. I'm assuming that's how some of the old strathead Charvy mods were done, though. ...Well, at least the pro ones. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[jtr]

Re: Major Mod Questions

For the money you'll have to spend for all the mods you could buy one hell of a guitar with everything that you want. Then you'll have 2 guitars in their original condition that will be worth more than you'll ever get for a completely rebuilt one.

[etaeniura]

Re: Major Mod Questions

JTR beat me to it. FOr the price of the labor for the routing as well as the wiring channels, and the cost of the pickups and such, you could probably get a decent body from Warmoth, or a whole new guitar altogether. It is kind of like spending thousands of dollars to trick out an economy car, when you could have spent the money on a sports car to begin with.

[shreddermon]

Re: Major Mod Questions

Nope. If I do this, it'll be like supercharging a top of the line sports car. Trust me.

And the final cost will be somewhere in the neighborhood of a new custom shop order. So, from that perspective, it's even-stevens to me.

[jtr]

Re: Major Mod Questions

But if this guitar is all that then keep it original. Do the custom shop order. No matter how great you think the rebuild is it'll be worth next to nothing after the mod.

[skidd]

Re: Major Mod Questions

[ QUOTE ]
Let's say I have a guitar with a single hum, vintage trem, strathead-ish layout. But I want to mod her to convert to a non-recessed Floyd and add PUs, say two SCs.

- Will the Floyd nut mod to the headstock end up looking horrible? I'm under the impression that the lack of a Floyd-style nut shelf in the original design will make it look a little off. Any structural issues to be concerned about?

- Will the original trem's mounting screw holes be hidden by the Floyd? (If you have a pic, please share!)

- In adding PUs, will the new routes pretty much ruin the finish, thereby requiring a refin? (Not necessarily a problem, as I may want this anyway.) Does it make a difference if the original finish is a solid vs. transparent?

- Anything else to be concerned about that I haven't thought of?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

P.S.- Relax. No, I'm not ruining a vintage axe. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I have had a couple of OFR Nuts done. If you take it to a pro you will be fine.