Fingers Crossed

[ZMAN]

Well I just dropped off my Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Classic at my local tech.
I have owned it for about a year and a half and the Ceramic pickups were good but just a little too bright. I placed an add in the local Kijjiji and picked up a set of hand wound Burstbucker 1 and 2 pickups from a Historic, for a great price. I also had an RS guitar works vintage kit with the 500k pots and the 022 caps delivered, and that will be going in as well. The tech said that it will sound killer and he will have it readay early next week. He said he will throw on a new set of strings ang give it a quick set up as well.
So we shall see if it was all worth it. This is actually my first mod to one of my guitars other than bone nuts.

 

[Jimi75]

Don't have to cross my fingers as is is as sure as the Amen at the end of a prayer that your guitar will sound KILLAH! The RS kit is well known and has proven its quality more than one time and the burstbucker 1 and 2 are not unknown to the LP afficionado, he

Thumbs up, you will love your Gold Top even more after it comes back!

 

[ZMAN]

Thanks Jimi I was originally looking for a standard. I really like the 60s neck and this was a bargain. It is one of the chambered models and is really a reasonable weight. So the only thing I didn't like was the pickups.
Only a couple of days will tell.

 

[mrmudcat]

Your goldie is going to like the refresh .........me thinks!!

 

[ZMAN]

Thanks Muudy I am really looking forward to it. I was surprised to find the hand wound custom shop pickups for 70 a piece. The guy spent 375 C. on a set of Lollars. I was also surprised by the cost to do it. My tech is charging me 45 dollars, plus the cost of a set of strings. They are a Gibson, and Fender custom shop dealer so they do good work.

 

[otaypanky]

I have a VOS '58 re-issue that has the BurstBuckers in it. I don't have any place around me where I can go and play something like that so I bought it from a shop I do business with that's about 250 miles away. So there's always a little bit of a surprise to what I'm getting ~ lol
Anyway, I was surprised by how bright sounding I thought the BB's are. I have a 91 Custom Shop Custom, (is that a stupid redundant name or what?) and a '93 Deluxe GT with mini humbuckers and neither one is as bright as the BB's.
I hope they are not too bright for you ~
Are you having it wired up 50's or modern style ?

 

[ZMAN]

I will get it done modern style, I have that on all my Gibbies.

 

[ZMAN]

I have a VOS '58 re-issue that has the BurstBuckers in it. I don't have any place around me where I can go and play something like that so I bought it from a shop I do business with that's about 250 miles away. So there's always a little bit of a surprise to what I'm getting ~ lol
Anyway, I was surprised by how bright sounding I thought the BB's are. I have a 91 Custom Shop Custom, (is that a stupid redundant name or what?) and a '93 Deluxe GT with mini humbuckers and neither one is as bright as the BB's.
I hope they are not too bright for you ~
Are you having it wired up 50's or modern style ?

I talked to my tech and he seems to think it would be killer done up with the 50s style wiring, so I am going ahead with that. He will be doing it on Wednesday so I will get it back on Thursday, or Friday. I can't wait.
I will give it a good workout this weedend and report back on how much I like it.
These are not the regular Burstbuckers. They are the hand wound ones from a Historic LP. So they should sound pretty good.

 

[hubberjub]

You'll love it. I was never a fan of the 490 or 500 series pickups Gibson was using. I through in a set of DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups in my Les Paul Studio a couple years ago and have really enjoyed it ever since. Those hand wound pickups will sound great.

 

[Jimi75]

I talked to my tech and he seems to think it would be killer done up with the 50s style wiring, so I am going ahead with that. He will be doing it on Wednesday so I will get it back on Thursday, or Friday. I can't wait.
I will give it a good workout this weedend and report back on how much I like it.
These are not the regular Burstbuckers. They are the hand wound ones from a Historic LP. So they should sound pretty good.

Puhhh, 50's wiring makes your LP sound thinner which could subjectively heard sound "brighter". You will have to back the tonepoti in this case, when the PUs already sound brighter.

I have decided to stay with modern wiring and I am pretty happy with it.

Good luck Z.

 

[ZMAN]

Well I got it back on Wednesday and it sounds amazing. The aged covers look really cool. I found some "issues" with the install and I had to return it because of a grounding problem. There were a couple of problems due to the fact that my tech has obviously not used an RS guitar works kit before.
I will talk about that when I get my guitar back. I was a lttle upset with him af first but I talked to the owner and he promised that it will be fixed.
I have been a customer at this shop for 10 years and I have purchased 12 guitars and a couple of amps and pedals for over 12 grand.
I have never had an issue with any of my guitars and absolutely love the way he sets up my guitars.
Of course this is the first time I modded any of my guitars other than a bone nut.
The tech was off on Thursday and he comes in today. We shall see what happens.
Still got my fingers crossed. LOL

Update:
Well I went in and picked up my guitar. It was redone to the wiring spec that RS put in the kit. The tech didn't realize the pots were specific to each position and mixed them up. I had sent an email to RS guitar works tech support to see if there was any reason for the loud hum.
I got an immediate reply from Roy Bowen VP of RS guitarworks. He requested pics of the control cavity, which I sent to him and he immediatley pointed out several mistakes. They were very prompt and one of the replies was after 8 pm. Excellent customer support from them.
When my tech realized they had the postitions in magic marker on each one he was embarassed. He IS better than that.
Before there was a terrible hum when ever I plugged her in. Now it is totally gone.
This kit has opened up the tone and the pickups are really sweet and I am getting notes with little nuances that I didn't know existed. It is really nice.
This is a totally difference guitar, and I can't say how happy I am with the results. Oh and the store owner threw in a Planet Waves guitar cord for me having to bring it back. Really a great place to deal with and I guess we are all entitled to a "Brain Fart" as he described it once in a while. LOL