Is there any guitar job that you won’t undertake? You’ve made an excellent job of installing the boost circuit to the guitar, much better than the average guitar tech would do. The work you carried out extending the control cavity and making a new cover was extremely neat. Top quality work!
The ESP-LTD guitar shape is different from the ESP, because of Jackson's copyright on the Jackson Rhoads shape (Alexi began his career playing Jackson Rhoads. The discontinued, RR24 model I reckon). ESP doesn't sell Alexi's model in the USA or Canada. The lower wing is visibly shorter on the real ESP & the angle between the 2 wings are different, which is why the booster's hole seems to move around. It's not an hallucination. It is moving around on different pictures, because of the different geometry of models. Lolll ;P
I ripped all the 9v batterys out of my active guitars an rigged up a variable voltage power supply that goes through the guitar cable. Now all I have to do is plug and play like any other guitar. And set the voltage of course. I prefer 18v for most actives Fishman an EMG but I wouldnt go higher than 18v. My guitar cable is a TRS instead of TS and the ring wire is what carries the dc current. Works excellently, WAY MORE CONSISTENT than 9v batterys. They say you cant hear a difference until the 9v batterys drain below 7 volts. I've never found that to be true. I can tell a noticeable decrease in consistency/tone at around 8.25v. And most 9v batterys spend the majority of their lifecycles at around that voltage. For years I didnt understand why sometimes my actives sounded great and consistent and other times they sounded weak an required more power amp level to fill the tone back out. I havent had that problem even once since I ditched the 9v's. Everytime I use my active equipped guitars now I get a consistent good tone. My power supply is the size of a guitar pedal and works by plugging it in just like you would any guitar pedal first in your signal chain. Easy peasy. Plus the .5v - 30v dc supply is a great power supply for the bench when I'm troubleshooting the guitar pedals I'm modding/repairing or that im building. Anyways.....death to 9v's!!!!! And lastly the power supply doesn't interfere with passive guitars since they are just ts connectors. The ring is basically an open circuit but I added an on off switch in the power supply so turning it off or on takes less than a second. But if you were to forget to turn it off it wouldnt harm anything. In anyone e is interested in doing something similar DROK (look on amazon) sells all sorts of variable boost, buck and boost buck transformers. In others words all sorts of variable dc power supplys that work great for this application. And they are super cheap. Last time I bought one of their boost buck supplys I think it was only $12. Ok done for real this time.
Recently installed similar eq/preamp, import one. Eq is nice, has sweep between boost low and high freq to mid bosst, in between all variations. Nice for single coils.
That was outstanding! I'm not afraid of electronics cause of my dad who knew electronics repaired TVs, receiver to recording equipment, I had to learn it also! For a built-in small pre-amp, I just use a BB pre-amp foot pedal. I will be adding piezo circuits and split-coils. That easier then making to jigs special clamps to planning wood. Hard work but fun! Cheers
Is this preamp like the almbec stratoblaster i installed one years ago in a modded fender strat it was great i had forgotten abou that until now gonna check it out good job mate
Hey man, can you help me out? I tried installing the same module on a similar guitar but I think I failed miserably. I soldered the wires to the output jack as they're supposed to, the switch as well. The black wire with the ground-symbol to the Floyd Rose-claw and finally the pickup selector to the pickups hot lead and the pickups two ground wires (bare & sealed) to the volume pot. The guitar is humming like crazy, where did I go wrong?
JoKingNative sounds like you might have the hot and ground wires to the jack reversed. It's hard to diagnose this stuff over the internet. Check your soldering. If you can't find anything obvious I suggest taking it to a local repair shop.
I find it hard to believe that the jack cables are reversed but it might very well be poor soldering. I would be grateful if you could take the time to upload or send a wiring diagram of how you did it.
I bought a special router bit which is 3mm in height, and 45mm wide, and used to do this kind of "surgery", to avoid having to carve from top. Literally you are carving UNDER THE SURFACE on the back, and you just dig as deep as you need to match the original cavity. That way you can keep using the previous cavity cover and not risking damages on the surface.
How narrow is that neck ? Either you have extra large hands or it's a camera optical illusion, but the neck on that guitar just doesn't look wide enough for adult hands.
Alexi is a VERY small guy. He's like 5 feet tall lol. So the neck isn't overly huge. Its about the nut width of the eap MH series. Not as large as the M series, not as small as the EC.
@@XMetalChefX according to google, around 5'6". Small, but not super small. Looks a lot smaller though - I think it's more about his frame, very girlish build, narrow shoulders, small delicate hands and wrists, no musculature to speak of.
@@XMetalChefX There are incorrect sources about him being 5’8” when he was actually 5’5” and 42mm is the standard nut width; Ibanez and Jackson are 43mm sometimes though Jackson being an American company probably makes them close to 43mm using inches, but I’m not sure if this applies to basses.
@@SteelSkin667 yes I have, they are overrated. I briefly owned at LTD, I immediately sold and bought a real ESP Eclipse and the difference was night and day, however the price wasn’t significantly more.
Alexi's setup is a combination of passive pickups (for the dynamics) and an active EQ boost that goes to an amp with relatively less gain. The reason for that kind of setup is having more clarity while getting a nice accented tone with harmonics that really pop out without suffering from flappy/rumbling bass (which is what you get when you gain up regular passive pickups).
@@penkunator Wow, you really lost that one; obviously I’m joking since plenty of players that have signature active pickups try to work with the companies that make them to have a passive sound with more power and the more consistent tone with a cable.
Just a knock off of a Jackson Rhoads. Never like it when another guitar company, especially for an endorsee, just blatantly copies another's original product. Super lame.
Rest In Peace Alexi. Nice to see one of your signature axes in the caring hands of a master luthier.
what rest in peace? He was an Atheist or may be a Satan worshiper in all scenarios there is no such thing as rest in peace for him.
@@wonderwalls3565 A person resting in peace has absolutely nothing to do with their spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof
@@user-of9ut1hd9q Do you even know what RIP means?
@@wonderwalls3565 I literally typed it out in my previous comment *face palm*
@@user-of9ut1hd9q writting doe snot mean you know waht it means. and how old are you?6?
It's like having a tube screamer builtin to the guitar!
It sounds way better than a Tube Screamer and rare especially when sold by itself.
@@ThePoohat ..
You can tell a good luthier by the attention to details is second to none.
The symbol is a standard British "Earth" (what we all now call "Ground" in standardised English)
Ah! Thank you.
I call it land xD
FYI that is a proper ground symbol. It's usually used for chassis or frame grounds. But it is an actual proper ground symbol.
Is there any guitar job that you won’t undertake? You’ve made an excellent job of installing the boost circuit to the guitar, much better than the average guitar tech would do. The work you carried out extending the control cavity and making a new cover was extremely neat. Top quality work!
I have a jackson js32 I installed the emg model by myself never worked on a guitar before in my life it was not fun though lol
The ESP-LTD guitar shape is different from the ESP, because of Jackson's copyright on the Jackson Rhoads shape (Alexi began his career playing Jackson Rhoads. The discontinued, RR24 model I reckon). ESP doesn't sell Alexi's model in the USA or Canada. The lower wing is visibly shorter on the real ESP & the angle between the 2 wings are different, which is why the booster's hole seems to move around. It's not an hallucination. It is moving around on different pictures, because of the different geometry of models. Lolll ;P
Love this channel, didn't expect to see one of these here. Rest in peace Alexi Laiho
I ripped all the 9v batterys out of my active guitars an rigged up a variable voltage power supply that goes through the guitar cable. Now all I have to do is plug and play like any other guitar. And set the voltage of course. I prefer 18v for most actives Fishman an EMG but I wouldnt go higher than 18v. My guitar cable is a TRS instead of TS and the ring wire is what carries the dc current. Works excellently, WAY MORE CONSISTENT than 9v batterys. They say you cant hear a difference until the 9v batterys drain below 7 volts. I've never found that to be true. I can tell a noticeable decrease in consistency/tone at around 8.25v. And most 9v batterys spend the majority of their lifecycles at around that voltage. For years I didnt understand why sometimes my actives sounded great and consistent and other times they sounded weak an required more power amp level to fill the tone back out. I havent had that problem even once since I ditched the 9v's. Everytime I use my active equipped guitars now I get a consistent good tone. My power supply is the size of a guitar pedal and works by plugging it in just like you would any guitar pedal first in your signal chain. Easy peasy. Plus the .5v - 30v dc supply is a great power supply for the bench when I'm troubleshooting the guitar pedals I'm modding/repairing or that im building. Anyways.....death to 9v's!!!!! And lastly the power supply doesn't interfere with passive guitars since they are just ts connectors. The ring is basically an open circuit but I added an on off switch in the power supply so turning it off or on takes less than a second. But if you were to forget to turn it off it wouldnt harm anything. In anyone e is interested in doing something similar DROK (look on amazon) sells all sorts of variable boost, buck and boost buck transformers. In others words all sorts of variable dc power supplys that work great for this application. And they are super cheap. Last time I bought one of their boost buck supplys I think it was only $12. Ok done for real this time.
Recently installed similar eq/preamp, import one. Eq is nice, has sweep between boost low and high freq to mid bosst, in between all variations. Nice for single coils.
That was outstanding! I'm not afraid of electronics cause of my dad who knew electronics repaired TVs, receiver to recording equipment, I had to learn it also! For a built-in small pre-amp, I just use a BB pre-amp foot pedal. I will be adding piezo circuits and split-coils. That easier then making to jigs special clamps to planning wood. Hard work but fun! Cheers
That ground symbol reminds me of the RF adapter on Atari with the pitchfork
That one has some great sustain!
Nice work! I really wanted to watch you screw the new cover plate on.
You're a genius , thanks for sharing your expertise
I wished you lived close to me i have a project or 2. Again amazing work.
good job. your videos are nice to watch.
I put one of these onboard boosters on a guitar a few years ago, if you use a stereo input jack it saves on batteries quite a bit
Love what you did,and how you did it
I've always wanted one of these..some day...rip lexi..life is tuff somtimes
amazing work, I Lol a lot with the first minute XD
Wow ESP are truly members of the merchants guild
THIS IS JUST THE WAY IT IS MY EARS WON'T EXCEPT ELECTRIC TWANGING GUITARS SIZZZ SCREACH
Great job! How many of this same job have you done since releasing the video?
Rock on Tommy !!!👏👏👏👍🇬🇧😃
this is the best video ive ever seen!
I'd totally join Ted's Evil ESP Corp.
Love this!!!!
" and now for something you'll REALLY enjoy!"
Is this preamp like the almbec stratoblaster i installed one years ago in a modded fender strat it was great i had forgotten abou that until now gonna check it out good job mate
Yes, that symbol is always ground on schematics...even though that's more of a diagram than schematic.
Technically I think it means chassis ground.
Hey man, can you help me out? I tried installing the same module on a similar guitar but I think I failed miserably.
I soldered the wires to the output jack as they're supposed to, the switch as well. The black wire with the ground-symbol to the Floyd Rose-claw and finally the pickup selector to the pickups hot lead and the pickups two ground wires (bare & sealed) to the volume pot. The guitar is humming like crazy, where did I go wrong?
JoKingNative sounds like you might have the hot and ground wires to the jack reversed. It's hard to diagnose this stuff over the internet. Check your soldering. If you can't find anything obvious I suggest taking it to a local repair shop.
I find it hard to believe that the jack cables are reversed but it might very well be poor soldering. I would be grateful if you could take the time to upload or send a wiring diagram of how you did it.
Awesome!
How much do you charge to get this switch installed? thank you brother ✌🏽✌🏽❤️
Nice lick, real Toni Iommi vibe.
Was there not a battery for the live emg allready in the unit , now you've got to unplate to replace a power source for the preamp switch ?
it was an emg passive
Hearing Ted play metal is just so bizarre.
06:58.... Oh yeah!. 🤟🏻
Nice!
You been doing this gig for a while
Awsome
Yep, here in merry England that symbol often denotes earth on schematics.
You got a decent sabbath tone out of it. Modern metal guys like myself use way less bass or we tighten it up in some fashion
The EQ sliders are very versatile; apparently the Jackson ones are better, but there are replicas you can get since the originals are discontinued.
Getting the push-pull knob to replace the volume is so much simpler honestly 😅 but great work on your part though
I don't understand, looks like plenty of space in the cavity for the preamp. Was the client adamant on the "proper" location of the switch?
It might have been in the way on the other side and definitely not where Alexi’s guitars usually had them.
That is very cool 😎. Should have busted out riffs from ,Are you dead yet? COB 👍🏼
“I’m just a folk player” he says and then shreds it to hell and back😀
🤣 yeah right
I bought a special router bit which is 3mm in height, and 45mm wide, and used to do this kind of "surgery", to avoid having to carve from top. Literally you are carving UNDER THE SURFACE on the back, and you just dig as deep as you need to match the original cavity. That way you can keep using the previous cavity cover and not risking damages on the surface.
And by the way, for a "folk/blues fingerpicker" you could easily hold up the rhythm in a Death Metal band
his depth of skill playing is way underated. wish we had more pure playing vids!
You really should've painted your nails black for the last segment
How narrow is that neck ? Either you have extra large hands or it's a camera optical illusion, but the neck on that guitar just doesn't look wide enough for adult hands.
Alexi is a VERY small guy. He's like 5 feet tall lol. So the neck isn't overly huge. Its about the nut width of the eap MH series. Not as large as the M series, not as small as the EC.
@@XMetalChefX
according to google, around 5'6". Small, but not super small. Looks a lot smaller though - I think it's more about his frame, very girlish build, narrow shoulders, small delicate hands and wrists, no musculature to speak of.
@@Exgrmbl well I am 6'3 270 Lbs with a linebacker build. So he was very tiny to me lol
@@XMetalChefX There are incorrect sources about him being 5’8” when he was actually 5’5” and 42mm is the standard nut width; Ibanez and Jackson are 43mm sometimes though Jackson being an American company probably makes them close to 43mm using inches, but I’m not sure if this applies to basses.
the email address on the wiring diagram tells me this maybe @metalsuki guitar!
I LIKE THAT RIFF....IM GONNA STEAL IT
Awwe wutchya meeaannn. Just gouge 'er out wif a flathead an' u can solder wif it too!!
Jeez, just install an EMG ALX. Dude could've done that himself. This looked like a ton of hassle.
Ugh that’s the LTD version. I wouldn’t waste a dime “upgrading” a LTD.
Have you ever played or owned Korean-made LTD? They are extremely well built and well worth upgrading.
Wanna explain why you feel like that?
Idk man most of the LTD's I've played surprised me for the price.
@@SteelSkin667 yes I have, they are overrated. I briefly owned at LTD, I immediately sold and bought a real ESP Eclipse and the difference was night and day, however the price wasn’t significantly more.
@@ahf5471 probably a standard not original esp which are usually 4k+ now
if the pickups were any good in the first place pre amp wouldnt be nessasary active pickups really suck. no such thing as a good one
Alexi's setup is a combination of passive pickups (for the dynamics) and an active EQ boost that goes to an amp with relatively less gain. The reason for that kind of setup is having more clarity while getting a nice accented tone with harmonics that really pop out without suffering from flappy/rumbling bass (which is what you get when you gain up regular passive pickups).
@@penkunator Wow, you really lost that one; obviously I’m joking since plenty of players that have signature active pickups try to work with the companies that make them to have a passive sound with more power and the more consistent tone with a cable.
Just a knock off of a Jackson Rhoads. Never like it when another guitar company, especially for an endorsee, just blatantly copies another's original product. Super lame.