Upgrade....My Guitar?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ingoloid
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Ingoloid

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HI....I've posted in the newbies forum for awhile and have lurked here alot. I have a simple :rolleyes: question about an old guitar i bought years ago. Here goes.

I've done some research on the web, and have found some info. Some people say i should keep it. It all depends on the serial number...?? and where it was made, blah, blah. From what I found, mine might be a keeper.

Guitar is a les paul copy made by Bentley. Model is Series 10.

The guitar feels wonderful, kinda heavy but not a boat anchor. Great sustain. The thing is, it has crappy knobs, making lots of noise when I use them for volumn, or treble, etc. Pick-ups are pretty bad , too. But, running it through my marshall it sounds downright evil. Lots of crunch, but also lots of highs. I've enjoyed this guitar for years the way it is, but I'd like to know if it's worth investing any time and money by getting new parts for it. Looking at new pick-ups, pots, switches, and tuners.

Anyone got any suggestions? I only payed about $100.00 for it and a small practice amp. I'm trying to keep the amount I'm willing to spend within reason.

I guess I'm looking at this project like re-storing an old car. :p

Thanks for listening, hope to hear something!
 
If you like it then it should be obvious iif its worth the money. Volume and tone pots are like $1.50 each (if you buy them from someone that sells electronics and not "Gibsons replacements". A toggle switch is about maybe $4 for top of the line (again...this ain't a Gibson, and it you know what to get, you can hit up Radio Shack or some other store and get a stylish switch that really adds to the guitars appeal for under $5.

As for pickups, if the guitar really does play well and stays in tune and is intonated, then getting a nice Gibson pickups would be worth it IMO.

Hell, you could even add coil tapping with a push/pull pot and a pickup that can split to single coil if you really want to do this guitar over and widen its tonal capabilities at the same time.
 
Thanks for info. I'm gonn take it by a local shop and see what they have to offer. Is it hard to do these suggestions by myself? Any reading material you could suggest?
 
These EMG's sound sweet. Doesn't look like it be that difficult to do. The only thing I see that might be an issue is where to put the battery?
 
Battery...

Ingoloid said:
These EMG's sound sweet. Doesn't look like it be that difficult to do. The only thing I see that might be an issue is where to put the battery?
Click to expand...

Do you have a control cavity in the back where the volume and tone pots go? If so you should have room there. I have installed this set in 4 different guitars and only 1 had space issues..

A small wood chisel and a careful touch and you should be able to dig out a small section inside the cavity for the battery...
 
Outlaws said:
As for pickups, if the guitar really does play well and stays in tune and is intonated, then getting a nice Gibson pickups would be worth it IMO.
Click to expand...


you might also want to look into the bill lawrence pickups, esp. the 490 and 500 series ... way cheaper than gibsons and imho way better.

i got a set of BL 350s in a LP copy and they put my Gibson LP to shame


best of luck
alfred
 
Thanks for all the great info!!!!!! I'm gonna look around and see what i decide to get. will let you know when things progress!

Once again, THANKS!
 
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