Incoming Project - What have I Done?

bgmartinsbridge

So this is something you'd normally do if you were drunk - two in the morning oh I pressed the buy button by mistake but I was sober.

I listed a WTB on this forum ages ago and been looking for a Gibson SG Special SG 89 90. Not particularly collectible but was my first guitar (ahhhhh).

Ebony neck, 1 Vol and 2 tones, and needed to be in Ferrari Red. 

Well, nothing came up...

So last night I bought this... 
https://imgur.com/a/x6Bd0


All I need now are one or two parts. 

stickyfiddle

Well done! 

CHRISB50

It's definitely red. 

Good luck with the project!

JerkMoans

Look at it as a blank canvas.

i look forward to your ‘project’ thread

bgmartinsbridge

I'm thinking original Gibson pups and tuners.

Electrics, I don't have a scooby!!
Might have to buy a soldering iron and give it a bash... 
Any advice on decents pots etc? 

maltingsaudio

Buy a soldering iron and watch a few YouTube s on how to solder, then buy some cheap bits and bung them in see if they work then once your confident your vaguely competent splash out on the expensive bits you aspire to. Don’t advise learning to solder on very expensive parts that’s what cheap Chinese stuff is for!

FX_Munkee

If it were me...
Grover tuners.
Faber Bridge parts.
Oil City or Mojo pickups.
CTS pots.
Switchcraft switch and jack

First job would be the mechnical parts to make sure it can be setup to play well.
then I'd be searching ebay and the classifieds here for second hand electrics.

Don't worry about doing loads of soldering practice. The most expensive thing you could damage is a pot (assuming you don't do anything mental)

paulnb57

What you have done is got yourself a fab modding platform, where you can have your choice of hardware....what's not to like?

Wolfetone

I've done what you did a couple of times. Once on an old Aria Pro 2 '335 a like' and once on a Signature STR1-HB. I just loved both of those guitars and they were special to me. Well done. Get down to Maplin, buy a soldering iron, learn to solder, (not hard) and you'll have a guitar that's all yours. 

bgmartinsbridge

Thanks guys, good advice on getting the parts  to make sure it can be set up properly before splashing out on pups and more expensive parts.

Faber-Castell would be cool - just spotted a cheap bridge and stoptail from a secondhand Gibson Explorer on ebay, which could be a good start. 

DulcetJones

Hey, it's got pick up rings though!  Seriously, looks like a good start.

skaguitar

SG's are going to be this years go to guitars..

Chalky

bgmartinsbridge said:

I'm thinking original Gibson pups and tuners.

Electrics, I don't have a scooby!!
Might have to buy a soldering iron and give it a bash... 
Any advice on decents pots etc? 

490/498 set? Open or covered?

bgmartinsbridge

Those are the ones - and open to keep it original.


But then, do you go totally different - War Pigs!! 

richardhomer

JerkMoans said:

Look at it as a blank canvas.

i look forward to your ‘project’ thread

Could you sell him any tuners that would fit?

Branshen

Maybe consider a pre-soldered wiring loom? You'll still have to solder the pickups to it, but there are less things to get wrong? 

Funkfingers

bgmartinsbridge said:
been looking for a Gibson SG Special SG 89 90.

There were two eBay vendors listing those for ages. At least one of them had been modified. The vendor had factored the value of the upgrades into the starting price. I do not recall the item selling.

bgmartinsbridge said:

go totally different - War Pigs!! 

Good suggestion.

I'd use a guitar like that to host Oil City Winterizer II humbuckers. (All the fun of the Firebird without the inconvenience of a vulnerable headstock.) Volume control per pickup. Switchcraft angled selector switch. Master tone control. Decent gap between the pots and the jack socket.

Get sliding.

bgmartinsbridge

One of the SGs is still on ebay for a stupid price, the other was a white one with a big dink on the back of the neck. Started at a high price and slowly came down to I think 425.

Nearly bought it, as it had the original pups with it and tuners - but it was white and I wanted red :-)

Good advice on pre-soldered loom. 

ellwood

Swan Vesta?




Joking. Good luck with it. I couldn't solder for toffee, but bought a decent (correct wattage) iron on Amazon, with all the bits, watched some Youtube tips and went for it. Am now quite happy swapping pickups in and out etc!

bgmartinsbridge

So, I've managed to get hold of the original pups - 490/498. Lucky, cheap find.
Ive done a bit of soldering but need to practise as the solder generally falls off!!!

Got my eye on some original hardware and tuners but time will tell. 


Now starting to look at which Pot to use - yes, I know! 

2 vol, 1 tone, 3 way and the input.

So,
Linear v Audio - Any advice great fully received!?? 

500k v. 250k - 500k seems right for an SG. 
0.22 cap? - Seems Standard

bgmartinsbridge

So, the body arrived today and the guy who shipped it gave me a nice surprise and I seem to have paid very little to customs :-) 

Spent the last few weeks pulling parts together and here it is, after about an hour, fully fitted.. 
SG https://imgur.com/a/PkiKY

School boy error, no strings in the house - so a job for tomorrow and I'll have a play around with the set up and see if the nut is OK.

The job I have and haven't been looking forward to - wiring.
All parts in place and cut the wires.
Soldering iron out and guess what...
The solder just kept falling off. Lol.
Off to YouTube for some lessons and I'll crack on again tomorrow.

Here's a nice wiring picture if working to.
2 vol, 1 tone...

https://imgur.com/a/smXJ4