Chibson ES-335 Modding Blogumentary

WezV

I had the old style of freeway switch which was unreliable - you certainly couldn;t rely on it for quick switching

Not tried the new version,  but I wish it had proper sturdy solder tags on it

frankus

is it still a chibson or chrigger's broom?

Gagaryn

Trigger's Chroom!

guitargeek62

Well there shouldn't be too many mods left to go, the only original bits of hardware left are;

• The nut (bone, incidentally)
  
• The Trapeze mount (for now)
  
• Pickup rings
  
• Strap buttons (nicely oversized)
  
• TOM bushings
  

I've asked Mojo to make the 'Trons with his solderless connectors (and send some spares) given that I'm planning to swapping back & forth between those and the 59/09s fairly regularly. I know that not everyone's a fan of them but they shouldn't be an issue for my needs at least.

@ICBM I wasn't sure if it was possible with these, I've got one of the old-style PRS rotary switches lying in my parts drawer but I can't see me using that here, those 2/3/4 sounds on it are great though, with the right guitar & pickups.

Thanks for the feedback on the Freeway's, reliability was one of my concerns so I'll probably skip it entirely as split tones don't feel "right" on an ES somehow. Besides, it's hardly going to sound like a tele! If I do stick with the 59/09s in the long run, then I'll probably just add 1 or 2 push-push tone pots and go for simple splits. 

I really fancy ordering another (normal) ES from them though, but pretty much in kit form so that I can do the binding properly and finish it off in a decent nitro. Even with the few niggles here & there, and the shoddy stock tuners I don't feel at all "ripped off" in any way and can honestly say that this is in the top 3 guitars I've owned for it's sheer enjoyment factor - the mods have added to that too, which is nice. Also helps that it sounds pretty damn good if I say so myself, I'll have to bring it along to one of the London/SE meetups once I'm up that way and see what the rest of you think.

ICBM

You can do simple splits with the tone pots, without needing push-pulls. Just connect the coil-split wires to the unused terminals. That gives single coil at 10, humbucker at 8 and normal tone below that. You can also get partially-split tones between 8 and 10 if you want.

With normal 'Gibson' humbucker construction that will split to the inner (plain pole) coils, which is the same as position 7 on a PRS rotary if it matters!

guitargeek62

Nice reminder - I saw that mentioned on here recently but haven't tried it yet!

GAS got the better of me earlier though once the Mojo'trons arrived and I installed them straight away. I'm very happy with the result, and they don't look as alien as I feared either! The 59/09's arrived a couple of days ago, but I'm not sure they're going to get much use after all, hmm...

marktheharp

Nice, how do they sound clean with a bit of reverb ?

guitargeek62

Like a choir of angels

guitargeek62

Had a bit of time on my hands this evening so I made a mockup for the label. Not sure if I'll go through with it - can't quite figure out a decent way to get it stuck in there without making a mess, but...;

Bogwhoppit

'fualty' Is that a freudian slip

guitargeek62

Nope, it's intentionally ironic

usedtobe

Nice touch. Like it!

guitargeek62

Quick update:

I recently moved to London and the guitar has gone from a pretty stable environment, to one that fluctuates from about 20c-30c daily here in the new flat. The neck had moved a little bit for the first few days but after a simple truss adjustment and a tweak of the bridge height it's as good as ever.

I'm still totally besotted with it, three months after receipt, and I'm at the point where I don't feel like anything else really needs to be changed. The Mojo'Trons capture exactly the detail & response I was looking for without really losing any of the warmth that you get from this type of guitar.

I still need to add the orange label, and also work on the tailpiece block (& inlay) as a finishing touch, but damn do I love this guitar. B-)

Basher

guitargeek62 said:

I still need to add the orange label, and also work on the tailpiece block & inlay as a finishing touch, but damn do I love this guitar. B-)

Have done the logo in the proper typeface, if that helps....

guitargeek62

Thanks but I'm not changing the headstock inlay unless I end up redoing the whole headstock. It's just not worth the hassle tbh, and the guitar really isn't going anywhere.

The inlay I was referring to will be going on the tailpiece block rather than a plastic plaque.

Basher

It was for the orange label.

guitargeek62

Ah I see! Fair point!

guitargeek62

Necro-bump!

It's been a while since I've changed anything on this except strings. Today though, I thought I'd see if some spare parts that I have lying around would work on the Trini.

The Hipshot tuners that I installed have been great since day one, I can't fault their feel or precision, but I'm still not sold on the button shape. I had a set of PRS Phase II tuners sitting here with ivoroid buttons so I thought I'd try them out and see how it looked. I definitely prefer the shape, and I'm not completely against the colour either! I changed the switch-tip back to a cream one too just to fit in with the colour scheme a little better.

I still need to get around to making the orange label and the inlaid trapeze block, but apart from that there's nothing else really that I want to change. The Mojo'Trons are superb and full of character, I'm tempted to put some humbuckers back in for a while though just for a change of pace again.

Before & after:

valentinik_15

Hi Guitargeek62, are you planning on custom making the rosewood insert badge at the trapeze?

TheOtherDennis

Basher said:

guitargeek62 said:

I still need to add the orange label, and also work on the tailpiece block & inlay as a finishing touch, but damn do I love this guitar. B-)

Have done the logo in the proper typeface, if that helps...

Can I 'borrow' that for my Les Dennis kit reboot, please?