Modifying a Sheraton - need input...

rlw

I'm not as well up on this stuff as some, so before starting I thought I'd ask in order to get it right.  The motivation is twofold - it looks a bit shit gold plating wearing off and it could sound better too.

I'm going to change the pickups to either Classic 57s or Burstbuckers, in nickel or steel finish, not gold.   If the guitar is trying to be a cut price 355, what bridge, tail piece and tuners should I use so that it is, kind of, period correct AND sounds as good as it could?

I'm also tempted by a set of Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays - any other thoughts?

olafgarten

You shouldn't make it a 335, make it more like a Sheraton, start with the Frequensator tailpiece and a good Tune O Matic, any decent Tuners will do. Finally get some Humbuckers from Oil City Pickups. 

earwighoney

rlw said:

I'm not as well up on this stuff as some, so before starting I thought I'd ask in order to get it right.  The motivation is twofold - it looks a bit shit gold plating wearing off and it could sound better too.

I'm going to change the pickups to either Classic 57s or Burstbuckers, in nickel or steel finish, not gold.   If the guitar is trying to be a cut price 355, what bridge, tail piece and tuners should I use so that it is, kind of, period correct AND sounds as good as it could?

I'm also tempted by a set of Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays - any other thoughts?

My recommendation would be to get PAF's, a wiring harness from Marc @Mojopickups ;

In terms of bridge/tail piece, I believe the Aluminium Gotoh ones are pretty nice. 

As for tuners, I quite like the Grover Rotomatics. 

Andyjr1515

As it happens, I pulled my 335 look-alike off the wall hanger this afternoon and had a look at probably taking the pups out...least ways, the neck pickup.

The pups?  Bare knuckle Stormy Mondays 

I'll probably stick with the bridge because it does have a nice growl to it, but I was hoping the neck could emulate a decent jazzy sound with the right tone settings.....but it doesn't

Voxman

Did you mean 335 rather than 355?  P/up change is key.  I had Seymour Duncan SH '59's put in mine...sounds as near to a 335 as you can get without dropping £2,500! 

Alnico

The gold polishes off by hand and reveals nickel but be careful, it's only a thin coat.

If you're really slow, methodical and gentle and you use PEEK polish creme (Silver and Blue tube) which is non abrasive and uses ammonia, you can take the gold off all the hardware and leave a beautiful nickel finish that will last a couple of years before it goes through to the copper, which also in it's own way then looks very cool and would look frankly stunning on a sunburst Sheraton. I found it easier to remove the slug screws from the pickups and refit them later, polished using the drill individually - drill-in-a-workmate.

All i'm saying is if you're planning on ripping the pickups out anyway, why not spend £5 in Halfords and maybe another £5 on some really good microfibre cloths and have a go at the gold finish yourself, without really removing anything. Ok yes, you do have to remove the things to get the edges but you don't have to re-solder stuff and once you've got the gold of it just screws back on.

I did this to an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and it looked great, just like expensive aged nickel and it took me an afternoon to do the whole guitar, strap buttons and all (in the drill arbor !)

Andyjr1515

Voxman said:

Did you mean 335 rather than 355?  P/up change is key.  I had Seymour Duncan SH '59's put in mine...sounds as near to a 335 as you can get without dropping £2,500! 

Yup - you are quite right.  Mine is neither but closer to a 335 than 355.  Whatever, the BK neck was a surprise and disappointment.  Can't think it has anything to do with the construction or materials.  The BK bridge, on the other hand, sounds great.  I've got one or two options that I can try out but if those don't do the trick, I'll take a punt on a '59

mixolyd

Alnico said:

The gold polishes off by hand and reveals nickel but be careful, it's only a thin coat.

If you're really slow, methodical and gentle and you use PEEK polish creme (Silver and Blue tube) which is non abrasive and uses ammonia, you can take the gold off all the hardware and leave a beautiful nickel finish that will last a couple of years before it goes through to the copper, which also in it's own way then looks very cool and would look frankly stunning on a sunburst Sheraton. I found it easier to remove the slug screws from the pickups and refit them later, polished using the drill individually - drill-in-a-workmate.

All i'm saying is if you're planning on ripping the pickups out anyway, why not spend £5 in Halfords and maybe another £5 on some really good microfibre cloths and have a go at the gold finish yourself, without really removing anything. Ok yes, you do have to remove the things to get the edges but you don't have to re-solder stuff and once you've got the gold of it just screws back on.

I did this to an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and it looked great, just like expensive aged nickel and it took me an afternoon to do the whole guitar, strap buttons and all (in the drill arbor !)

Wow this is great stuff!  I've been putting off upgrading my Sheraton for a year or two as the gold hardware makes it such a fuzzle to match things.  Got some Peek in my Amazon basket now.

After playing my upgraded Epi Les Paul for 20 years (yes I bought one cheap electric guitar and played only it for over 20 years, acoustics aside) I'd have sworn to you that I'd never go back to stock epi pickups but this Sheraton plays and resonates so well that it somehow makes up for their clanginess and overly high output.

if I can de-gold the funster then it opens the way get a nice les trem to match the rest of the hardware.  It's not vintage correct or any thing but I think that these semi's are just crying out for a vibrato tailpiece of some kind.  Then maaaybe some pups...

Alnico

mixolyd said:

Alnico said:

The gold polishes off by hand and reveals nickel but be careful, it's only a thin coat.

If you're really slow, methodical and gentle and you use PEEK polish creme (Silver and Blue tube) which is non abrasive and uses ammonia, you can take the gold off all the hardware and leave a beautiful nickel finish that will last a couple of years before it goes through to the copper, which also in it's own way then looks very cool and would look frankly stunning on a sunburst Sheraton. I found it easier to remove the slug screws from the pickups and refit them later, polished using the drill individually - drill-in-a-workmate.

All i'm saying is if you're planning on ripping the pickups out anyway, why not spend £5 in Halfords and maybe another £5 on some really good microfibre cloths and have a go at the gold finish yourself, without really removing anything. Ok yes, you do have to remove the things to get the edges but you don't have to re-solder stuff and once you've got the gold of it just screws back on.

I did this to an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and it looked great, just like expensive aged nickel and it took me an afternoon to do the whole guitar, strap buttons and all (in the drill arbor !)

Wow this is great stuff!  I've been putting off upgrading my Sheraton for a year or two as the gold hardware makes it such a fuzzle to match things.  Got some Peek in my Amazon basket now.

After playing my upgraded Epi Les Paul for 20 years (yes I bought one cheap electric guitar and played only it for over 20 years, acoustics aside) I'd have sworn to you that I'd never go back to stock epi pickups but this Sheraton plays and resonates so well that it somehow makes up for their clanginess and overly high output.

if I can de-gold the funster then it opens the way get a nice les trem to match the rest of the hardware.  It's not vintage correct or any thing but I think that these semi's are just crying out for a vibrato tailpiece of some kind.  Then maaaybe some pups...

Just be very slow and methodical with what you take off and you won#t break through the thin nickel to the VERY gold looking copper. Keep buffing it off in between polishing runs as the buffing removes residue of the gold too.

Polish, buff, inspect, go again if needed but only in small runs.
Gently and it will give you the old nickel look all over and get rid of all the gold.
Cotton buds help too.

Best of luck.

Voxman

Just checking...are you talking Sheraton II or the original Sheraton?  Btw..I bought the SD gold pup covers for the SH 59's to retain the look of the originals.  You could leave them open, but I personally prefer covered pups on a Sherry. 

Bridgehouse

Voxman said:

Just checking...are you talking Sheraton II or the original Sheraton?  

Or vintage Sheraton?

Basher

I took the gold plating off a pair of Duncan Seth Lovers very effectively using just the Brasso wadding polish - the pressure didn't seem too critical, just a decent rub - and the results were great.

Bridgehouse

Basher said:

I took the gold plating off a pair of Duncan Seth Lovers very effectively using just the Brasso wadding polish - the pressure didn't seem too critical, just a decent rub - and the results were great.

Even better (although it is quite pricey) is Cape Cod Metal Polishing Cloths..

rlw

I mean't 335, not 355.  And it's a plain old Sheraton, not a 11, 2005 model.

Some grear comments here - thanks.

Voxman

rlw said:

I mean't 335, not 355.  And it's a plain old Sheraton, not a 11, 2005 model.

Some grear comments here - thanks.

If its 2005, and assuming its not a special edition or a Japanese version limited edition, it will be a Sheraton II made in Korea (mine's an '89 and it's still a Sheraton II).  The 'II's' had a Gibson style stoptail - the original Sheraton's had a Frequensator tail piece that looked like this:

Grunfeld

rlw said:

I'm going to change the pickups to...nickel or steel finish, not gold.   If the guitar is trying to be a cut price 355, what bridge, tail piece and tuners should I use so that it is, kind of, period correct AND sounds as good as it could?

I'm also tempted by a set of Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays - any other thoughts?

For what it's worth I kind of agree with you about the gold.
My Sheraton II now has silver hardware and I love that look with the dark tobacco body.
Also replaced the stock pick ups for Stormy Mondays and they sound perfect (but it's not a 335 of any description).
I've got Stormy Mondays in a couple of guitars, they're great pick ups but they work brilliantly in the Sheraton. 
And the tuners are now silver Sperzel locking tuners.  You can change an entire set of strings off and on in 5 minutes.

rlw

Voxman said:

rlw said:

I mean't 335, not 355.  And it's a plain old Sheraton, not a 11, 2005 model.

Some grear comments here - thanks.

If its 2005, and assuming its not a special edition or a Japanese version limited edition, it will be a Sheraton II made in Korea (mine's an '89 and it's still a Sheraton II).  The 'II's' had a Gibson style stoptail - the original Sheraton's had a Frequensator tail piece that looked like this:

OK. I thought that only the latest ones with the coil taps etc were the 11s and didn't realise how far back the designation went.  The current ones must be 11.1 or something...

Voxman

The coil-tap versions with burst-buckers are the 'pro's' made in China. 

mixolyd

Grunfeld said:

Also replaced the stock pick ups for Stormy Mondays and they sound perfect (but it's not a 335 of any description).
I've got Stormy Mondays in a couple of guitars, they're great pick ups but they work brilliantly in the Sheraton. 

Interesting that it doesn't sound like a 335: I actually prefer the more lively, jangly sound of my Sheraton to most 335's and have wondered what it would sound like with proper PAF types.

Grunfeld

mixolyd said:

Interesting that it doesn't sound like a 335: I actually prefer the more lively, jangly sound of my Sheraton to most 335's and have wondered what it would sound like with proper PAF types.

Well, here's what prompted the changes for me.  Love this sound:

Silversun Pickups -- "Lazy Eye" live


Silversun Pickups -- "Panic Switch" live

Bridgehouse

Grunfeld said:

mixolyd said:

Interesting that it doesn't sound like a 335: I actually prefer the more lively, jangly sound of my Sheraton to most 335's and have wondered what it would sound like with proper PAF types.

Well, here's what prompted the changes for me.  Love this sound:

Silversun Pickups -- "Lazy Eye" live


Silversun Pickups -- "Panic Switch" live

Going to see them on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it sounds