My first Gibson mod

[thatbastarddon]

Well, i never thought i would do it... But... I have installed a trem on one of my Gibsons. Hell, it's the first trem I've had on a guitar in 15ish years (other than the one i never use on my strat). I know how you all are about pictures, so here are a couple of quickies...

I know it's not the prettiest of choices(to some), but i like the steampunkish look of the Stetsbar, and the idea of zero mod to the guitar itself.
I have not had much opportunity to assess the mod in depth, but so far:
Easy install
Precise feel
It seems a bit more resonant acousticly
Reasonable tuning stability(set for down only so i can still drop tune)

I'm happy so far.

Don

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Nice job and nice pics, Don. love the body grains and coloring of that guitar. glad you are pleased with the mod so far

 

[njpaulc]

Is it held in place by the bridge posts and the tailpiece studs?

 

[thatbastarddon]

Njpaulc...Tailpiece studs only. The bottom plate has two recess areas to accomodate the bridge bushings protruberance.

And thank you chilipeppermaniac:)

Don

 

[dbb]

It looks OK, I've seen the Stetbar and they are well made, and although I now think the SG's need no trem and a Strat does, for a while in the 70's I gigged with a blocked Strat (no trem) and an SG Special with the short vibrola, so I've been there.

Have fun...and how far can that thing bend a note?

 

[thatbastarddon]

It looks OK, I've seen the Stetbar and they are well made, and although I now think the SG's need no trem and a Strat does, for a while in the 70's I gigged with a blocked Strat (no trem) and an SG Special with the short vibrola, so I've been there.

Have fun...and how far can that thing bend a note?

I hear you on the strat front(mine just plain refuses to stay in tune when the trem is used at all...i have some really nice locking tuners, have had a graphite nut, and all...just a no go for me ), i just have not learned on the SG side of things yet.

Regarding pitch change:
Strings d'addario nickel 10-46
Tuning standard -1 semitone...so D#/Eflat
Low Eflat string drops to G when the arm is taken to the deck. So...2/3ish of an octave/8 semitones...plenty flabby.
I'm really liking the way it comes back up so smoothly.

Don

 

[BlackSG91]

Now you can take those old, digitally remastered records off the shelf and play them on your SG! Hey, your guitar is looking mighty fine with that cool looking trem arm. Now you can play your SG faster @ 45rpm's. I'll have a drink to that...cheers.

 

[PermissionToLand]

How do you like the Tribute? They're such a good deal I might have to pick one up.

 

[thatbastarddon]

How do you like the Tribute? They're such a good deal I might have to pick one up.

I adore this guitar!!! Just had a little session, breaking the new strings in... Wow! The gibson P90s get some really sweet creamy tones through a homebrew big muff, or red llama, and a homebrew 18watt superlite! The SG Standard P90 just sat on the stand...shocked.
I, highly, recommend picking one up(if you can find one these days).

The D, and A strings are hanging up on me though...the nut is well lubed... I'm betting too many wraps around the tuners for those two wound strings. The low E is not hanging up at all, and has fewer(1) wraps around. I see locking Klusons in my future.

Don

 

[thatbastarddon]

Update:
Today i installed a set of Kluson locking tuners in nickel finish. They were an easy install that, from the back of the headstock, is difficult to distinguish from the originals. The tuning buttons are not the snot green color of the originals...they are slightly creamy yellow(like the ones that came on my 2012 ebony standard p90).
From the front, the screw on locking caps are quite "evident", though not too unattractive for me.
This change, and some big bends nut sauce seem to be a possible cure for the tuning issues i mentioned before with the A, and D strings.
Final action, and intonation adjustments were easy enough to set up once things began to settle in to place with the new strings.
Disappointed that band rehearsal was canceled at the last minute this evening, as i was looking forward to breaking this in with a bang.

Don

 

[thatbastarddon]

Oops! Pic's:

Don

 

[BlackSG91]

That looks great, you bastard! It looks unique just like your turn-table vibrato arm. The best thing about these tuners is practicality. Changing strings have now become much less of a chore with these babies. BTW, how does that vibrato arm work? Does it work well? Can you do dive bombs with it?

 

[thatbastarddon]

Just an update. I see BlackSG91 has asked a question that i didn't see the first time around...
I am extremely happy with this set up. Two full band practice sessions with this have rendered all other guitars inert for the time being. I did break a high E string tonight, and rather than pick up another guitar, i was able to finish the song. No one noticed, at all. I chose to replace the string that had broken at the loop of the ball end. String change was quick, even though i was not prep'd. The band played a three minute song without me, while i climbed a flight of stairs, and found an E string. As the band finished i was stretching the new string out, and was just about ready to go.
Happy, happy i am. The stetsbar has been a pleasure to install, and play with. While some may find it unattractive, i find it curious looking, and extremely usefull. My only issue has been the D string... It seems to still be hanging up in the nut just a bit. It goes about three to five cents sharp after using the trem. If i bend/touch the D string (at all) after...it drops right back in to place/tune.
I saw on another thread that someone was curious about the stetsbar, so i thought that i would update this thread rather than further hijack the other thread.

 

[IommiSG]

I don't think it looks bad at all. Funny, we Gibsonites, we like what looks traditional, even if it doesn't work so well. I bought a Les Paul with a Floyd and have heard all the "that's just wrong" comments, but sometimes you just need a tool to do a specific job.

I have a Carvin with a Wilkinson/Fishman trem, Sprezel locking tuners and a graphite nut that stays in perfect tune even floating, so perhaps a properly cut graphite nut would be a solution. The only thing I question being a contributor specific to the Gibby is the string angle through the nut, the Carvin headstock allows for a straight shot to the tuner.

LSR makes a roller nut that isn't the awful looking contraption that the old roller nuts were, I read a positive review from an SG/Bigsby owner. Not surprisingly, you could expect a tonal change on open strings as we did from the brass nuts from years gone by.

Kudos for thinking outside the box and making it work for you.

 

[BlackSG91]

Just an update. I see BlackSG91 has asked a question that i didn't see the first time around...
I am extremely happy with this set up. Two full band practice sessions with this have rendered all other guitars inert for the time being. I did break a high E string tonight, and rather than pick up another guitar, i was able to finish the song. No one noticed, at all. I chose to replace the string that had broken at the loop of the ball end. String change was quick, even though i was not prep'd. The band played a three minute song without me, while i climbed a flight of stairs, and found an E string. As the band finished i was stretching the new string out, and was just about ready to go.
Happy, happy i am. The stetsbar has been a pleasure to install, and play with. While some may find it unattractive, i find it curious looking, and extremely usefull. My only issue has been the D string... It seems to still be hanging up in the nut just a bit. It goes about three to five cents sharp after using the trem. If i bend/touch the D string (at all) after...it drops right back in to place/tune.
I saw on another thread that someone was curious about the stetsbar, so i thought that i would update this thread rather than further hijack the other thread.

Hey, maybe scrape some pencil lead in the nut slots and that should help the strings from sticking or getting caught since graphite is a dry lubricate. I think you'll work out those issues the more you play, and I suggest playing it hard. Here's a video of Frank Marino, a Canadian guitarist who's pretty amazing! Look at what he does with a Maestro vibrato. I didn't think the Maestros were made for such extreme dive-bombs, but this guy proves otherwise. I bet you can set yours up the same.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbd8QEHY6Rc]Frank Marino - Guitar Solo 1979 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[thatbastarddon]

sad now. My D string is dull, and dead when played open. It seems as though the nut slot for the D string has collapsed.
Looks like i will have to order a new nut, and re-set/slot it... Sad.
Any suggestions?
I'm leaning toward a graphtec tusque nut.

Don

 

[Mr. Happy]

Nice, I'm diggin' it!

 

[Kalamazuu]

Divebombs eh?

Looks great, different but cool!

Could you take some closeups of it, and where'd you get it?
I think this would be cool to put on my SGJ (that hasn't arrived yet...)

And I've heard good things about Tusq nuts.

 

[Saintjonah]

Oh man, I REALLY like that guitar. The trem is so unique and cool, I can't imagine thinking it's "ugly". Along with the new tuners the guitar is taking on a very interesting look. Well done!

How do you compare it to the Standard P90? I have one as well and I just love it. I can't imagine anything topping it, but you've certainly got my brain spinning with this thing.

Mantra: "You don't have money for guitars. You don't have money for guitars."

 

[3 Headed Moses]

Looks pretty f'n cool.