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Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 3:42 pm
by BatUtilityBelt
This Hadean had a great day today. I took the plunge and swapped all electronics except the pickup switch. I shielded all cavities, and the new pickups are Guitar Fetish Vintage Split Humbuckers (KPH95 and KPH96). It now has audio taper 500K pots all around, and ,022uf drop caps. Luckily I had some witch hats on hand to finish the picture.
After Upgrades Small.jpg
The biggest surprise is that I got all that wiring right the first try! This thing is dead silent when not being played, and sounds awesome in every position. The bridge is as bright as you ever want a tele to be, and the neck fulfills that Gibsonish crossover a Deluxe promises. I am smitten, and I've never used that word before. I'm just wowed by how good this turned out. Here's the gory stuff:
During Upgrades Small.jpg
Yes. I did accidentally trap the pickup selector wires on the wrong side of the pickguard when wiring them up. The good news is that switch is easily removed and that let me pull them around before closing it up. I felt like a moron doing that. I'm glad I bought a 2nd copy of this guitar as a B-stock with finish issues. For that one, I will have to do pretty much the same electronics, but I will give it an arm contour and maybe a belly cut and refinish it in surf green with a matching headstock. Today's upgrade tells me all that work on the 2nd one will be worth it.

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:01 pm
by tonebender
Looks like some good work. The only Guitar Fetish pups I have experience with are the Retrotron series. I currently have them in a Telecaster I build many years ago and the Gretsch semi that I recently acquired. I have used that Tele for recording several times with much success. I have been happy with both sets.

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:37 pm
by BatUtilityBelt
tonebender wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:01 pm Looks like some good work. The only Guitar Fetish pups I have experience with are the Retrotron series. I currently have them in a Telecaster I build many years ago and the Gretsch semi that I recently acquired. I have used that Tele for recording several times with much success. I have been happy with both sets.
Thanks! I agree GFS pickups seem to be absolutely good for recording. I need to try more sets apparently. I have a set of their '59 classics waiting for me to choose their guitar too, and now I'm more interested in hearing them. Kudos on the Gretsch - rewiring a semihollow may take more patience than I can muster!

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 8:20 pm
by tlarson58
Congratulation to you and the guitar! I wish that I had skilz like you.

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 8:34 pm
by dabbler
Looks good! I have the same pups in my SX!
IMGP2280a.jpg

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 9:13 pm
by BatUtilityBelt
dabbler wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2023 8:34 pm Looks good! I have the same pups in my SX!
IMGP2280a.jpg
That looks awesome too. Small world.

Re: Hadean rebirth

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 9:15 pm
by BatUtilityBelt
tlarson58 wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2023 8:20 pm Congratulation to you and the guitar! I wish that I had skilz like you.
I usually have to open them back up to redo something 2 or 3 times. This one was dumb luck.