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Les Paul 12 string guitar mod project

Oh sweet, same as me then :) I thought strat necks were slightly slimmer, could just be mine though, it's about 3mm thinner than my Les Paul neck at the base, keep me posted on it though, would love to see the final result :)
 
Oh, it'll take a while. I'll be buying another cheap strat as a 6-string project piece first, so don't hold your breath. You just gave me that 12-string idea. :p
 
That's fair enough, don't blame you, I love my strat, did contemplate using it as the base for the project, but it would such a shame to rip apart a perfectly useable guitar when the Les Paul has been sat around broken for ages now.

On a side note, I an SG which I replaced the pickups on ages and ages ago, it gives a noticeably quieter output and has a noticeable buzz (probably caused more by the increase of gain to compensate the quietness, but still), any tips on how I could fix that? It's not a major issue as I don't play my SG much anymore, prefer the strat so much more.
 
Wow, on your SG it could be a couple of things.

When I get that type of buzzing, I check solder joints, dust, and lastly the pots. Some people switch out pots and pot values and it could make a great difference in sound and noise. It's a whole big project in itself but one where many techie guitarists really enjoy what they come up with. You can also shield pickup cavity and back plate, too.

As for getting great gain, and very little noise, with a wide variety of tones, and a lot of control with volume knob while retaining very good sound, you can go active and get EMGs, Duncan Livewires, or similar. It's not the cheapest option but a permanent one where one is not as likely to find something better for an output to noise ratio.

Some of the noisiest pickups, hum wise, are the ones which yield my favorite sounds (Seth Lover humbucker, Duncan single coils with vintage output, and DiMarzio single coils with vintage output). Those tones are very sweet despite all the hum and unwanted feedback.
 
I have a feeling the pickups have a lower output as they might be single coil if memory serves me rightly (that was the point of them), thus the resistors are too high, I'll take a look sometime soon, it's not a desperate thing, just figured I'd ask is all, thanks :)
 
Hey guys, so all of the parts have yet to arrive, every seller is currently blaming the "xmas rush" even though I ordered them all on boxing day, only one seller has actually dispatched the item but it's taken so long there's a worry that it might not turn up...

The lacquer that I ordered 4 days ago however, turned up yesterday, so there's a nice satin shine to the guitar now, it's darkened the woodgrain quite a bit, which at first I wasn't that happy with, but it's grown on me over time.

Photo is after putting on a coat so it looks glossier than it'll actually come out. Also the colour balance is way off, not as orange as this.

Photo%2007-01-2012%2012%2033%2059.jpg


Also, I'm aware this isn't by any means a perfect coat, please note I don't care, once it dries it looks really nice, and it not being 100% smooth isn't a concern to me, if you think that's 2nd rate then good for you, I'm not that fussed.
 
Schtumple said:
Also, I'm aware this isn't by any means a perfect coat, please note I don't care, once it dries it looks really nice, and it not being 100% smooth isn't a concern to me, if you think that's 2nd rate then good for you, I'm not that fussed.
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Looks good to me, but then I would never even attempt such a project.

But I understand the impetus for your paragraph. ;)
 
Schtumple said:
Hey guys, so all of the parts have yet to arrive, every seller is currently blaming the "xmas rush" even though I ordered them all on boxing day, only one seller has actually dispatched the item but it's taken so long there's a worry that it might not turn up...

The lacquer that I ordered 4 days ago however, turned up yesterday, so there's a nice satin shine to the guitar now, it's darkened the woodgrain quite a bit, which at first I wasn't that happy with, but it's grown on me over time.

Photo is after putting on a coat so it looks glossier than it'll actually come out. Also the colour balance is way off, not as orange as this.

Photo%2007-01-2012%2012%2033%2059.jpg


Also, I'm aware this isn't by any means a perfect coat, please note I don't care, once it dries it looks really nice, and it not being 100% smooth isn't a concern to me, if you think that's 2nd rate then good for you, I'm not that fussed.
Click to expand...


That grain is gorgeous!

I too am a fan of satin finishes and when I am done, too, that's what I am going to use. Check out this satin finished Gibson in Swamp Ash. Swamp Ash may or may not be what you have, but the grain can be so dynamic. Of course, nothing beats a $50,000 dollar guitar with a piece of Teredo wood but I would rather eat mollusks instead of them eating my guitar. I also like uncut, smuggled Indian rosewood for a top, which is rare, but I don't want to get arrested by the feds, either. ;)

Anyway, here's where I am at so far with back of guitar (1st coat top, and 2nd coat bottom photos) and the artist is painting the back. After that the pickups will be painted like the purple and green ESP custom shop guitar in the middle picture. If I swap out pickups on my LTD/ESP Viper, then I will paint those, too...
 

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63Dot that looks incredible! Good job man, definitely something to be proud of :)

The bridge and strings have now arrived, however, the neck hasn't, and the seller seems to be a bit shifty about giving out the tracking number, considering I paid for priority shipping on boxing day... I don't really think he's sent it out and he's stalling, I'll wait on his reply and might have to get a refund, then order another one.

I hate dealing with incompetent liars.

EDIT: Turns out the seller had put my street (completely misspelling it), and 2/3 of my post code, and that was it, so no wonder it'd been stuck for the past week at Bristol... Should be arriving tomorrow, then the project is COMPLETE!
 
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So it's all complete, and it's incredible, the pickups probably aren't great at corresponding to chords being played, but christ alive I have a 12 string! I really employe everyone to try this mod if they have a 6 string lying around they don't care for anymore, the sound is gorgeous.

Photo%2011-01-2012%2015%2040%2024.jpg
 
Schtumple said:
So it's all complete, and it's incredible, the pickups probably aren't great at corresponding to chords being played, but christ alive I have a 12 string! I really employe everyone to try this mod if they have a 6 string lying around they don't care for anymore, the sound is gorgeous.
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Cool! Can you grace us with some sound? :)
 
Wow, that is really amazing!

Is there a way you can give us a sound clip?

It just looks beautiful.
 
Sir, you have just made awesome. Wooden awesome.


Also, if you should feel the need to up the sound quality a bit, I'd recommend some Dragonfire pickups, their quite cheap and reportedly produce very good sound for what you pay (comparable to EMGs apparently). :)

Would love to hear a clip!
 
Schtumple said:
So it's all complete, and it's incredible, the pickups probably aren't great at corresponding to chords being played, but christ alive I have a 12 string! I really employe everyone to try this mod if they have a 6 string lying around they don't care for anymore, the sound is gorgeous.

Photo%2011-01-2012%2015%2040%2024.jpg
Click to expand...

That looks awesome! Nice work
 
Schtumple said:
Hey guys, here's a clip of a song I'm currently recording :)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/158723/If love is the drug then I want to OD - BJM Cover.mp3


For anyone who wishes to chime in and give me their opinions on my mixing, don't, I record first, then mix, that is my system.

EDIT: Just incase people were wondering, that's 9 layers, hence the very WOS feel.
Click to expand...

I love that lush sound you have in the mix. Is that the 12-string, or the Les Paul in its six string incarnation? Either way, you have a great mix.
 
63dot said:
I love that lush sound you have in the mix. Is that the 12-string, or the Les Paul in its six string incarnation? Either way, you have a great mix.
Click to expand...

It's all 12 string :) I'll probably finish recording and mixing the instrumental side tomorrow and maybe lyrics if I have time.
 
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