It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
… to tinker with a guitar that you love and that plays great?
I've got a killer Mattos Rat Rod that's basically a single pickup Cabronita and it's a phenomenal guitar … however 2 things would make it perfect for me - the addition of a neck pickup and bigger frets. But I'm worried to get it modded in case it totally alters the feel of the guitar .. has anyone regretted modding a great guitar or an I just over thinking it all?
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
The router turned up a day late so I had a bit of time with it as a single pickup guitar.
Now it has two pickups it's exactly what I needed and works well, so no regrets, but it did lose a little bit of magic on the way, which may or may not be psychological.
I've modded lots of guitars, some successful, some not so much, but how will you know what works unless you try.
They are both mods that give significant change, doesn’t mean it will be bad
Instagram
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
The single pickup puts me off that guitar and I’ve had similar thoughts...
If it’s something you only like, or don’t really like, then get the router out.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I put bigger frets on my Paisley Tele, and while it's still awesome, and in many ways an easier guitar to play, it doesn't have quite the same character it used to, which I'd had ~10 years to get used to. In this case it just needs a solid fret dress to bring the fret height down and it'll be perfect again, so no issue long-term.
Worse was the 2 Casinos I added Bigsbies to. The first one was good but a little dull pre-bigsby. It got much better and more lively with the bigsby fitted - all good. The second one was a much better more resonant guitar when it had the stock tailpiece, and the bigsby just took a fraction off the sparkle it had. I'm not sure if it was the weight or the different string geometry that did it, but it was a shame.
If I'm totally pragmatic about it and ignore the neck pickup it's still exactly the same guitar it was before, I think a lot of the magic attributed to single pickup guitars (apart from possible magnet pull on some) is that you can set your amp up for just that pickup with no compromises.
I needed a usable backup guitar and fancied a Firebird, but you can't get a two pickup Firebird with a through neck and banjo tuners outside the custom shop, so no regrets from me, it's a great guitar.
http://i68.tinypic.com/296ltv6.jpg
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
I'll jump in if that's ok. The pull of the magnets from the neck pickup can dampen the string vibrations a bit.
I think there is a school of thought that says the lack of a neck pickup is why Les Paul Juniors and Fender Esquires sound so good.
I've played one or two Esquires that just had something really special to the tone. I like the extra options that the neck pickup gives on a Tele, but I am wondering about an Esquire, or maybe a Tele modded with a neck pickup that has lower string pull. I think gold foil pickups are meant to have low string pull. Need to research it a bit.
it’s such a great guitar I’d hate for it to lose any of its mojo and I can live with the frets
I'm sure I’ve asked this before but has anyone had good results from using an EQ pedal or something similar with a single pickup guitar to mimic a neck pickup?
Oh yeah, this thread needs a pic!
https://imgur.com/gallery/SKjRlqr
if the guitar seems lively now, expect to lose a bit of that. For many, the extra tonal options are more than worth it
Instagram
The - "I wonder if I..?" - doesn't happen in my world as if I want something sounding/looking dramatically different, I save up and buy it additionally.