A good day today, thanks to you!!! I am no longer out of phase in the middle position, flipped the magnet, I flattened my old bridge, sounding much better, I was going to put the covers back on, but pickup rings weren't liking the idea a bit deformed, didn't want to break anything, so i quit while I' was ahead, I've had it since 1980, so many, many thanks to you!!! big improvement, had no idea before watching your videos.
I like the Forensic approach you use to identify the " correct" specs for the hardware. The big G should give you a job re-designing their parts or start your own firm making them. Thankyou.
I made all the changes you suggested so far. The Faber bridge upgrade was dramatic, not only to tone but sustain as well. (it replaced a highly regarded $200 bridge, amazing) I did not like the Kluson, the stock Gibson custom shop tail sounds better to me (from 2006) Thank you so much.
The Faber is OK, but too bassy on the lower strings. I did a two year reverse-engineering project and destroyed a vintage ABR1 to learn the exact zinc and brass alloys, what they really were. The project cost four times more than estimated, but we successfully reproduced this essential piece of hardware that makes vintage LP tones. The downside is these have to be hand cast, hand made, so they are very slow to make and expensive with very few being made. Here's that demo video: ua-cam.com/video/TwEgudEEs_8/v-deo.html
Fascinating. Sounds like the original electric guitar designers were more intuitively in touch with the acoustic era that preceeded the electric one - and therefore the importance of resonance.
Woods were treated differently back then, they were water treated, not heat treated. Water treating leaves open cells and makes the woods very light and super resonant. Nobody does that anymore,
@@SDPickups Wow - what a great insight. So good to hear from you. Thank you for picking up this point from so long ago...thrilled you're still going despite all the craziness out there over the last nearly three years! So much that was hidden to us has now been revealed... Here in the UK am really hoping I will be able to afford one of your pickups while you are still in production. Have been hoping to put together an own design semi-solid body - already have some bog oak for the central part of the thru neck, for example, hence the interest in this area.
Just another comment............. I was chasing tone with a modern Stratocaster I have, all I wanted was a vintage sounding Stratocaster. Taking what I learned from this video I purchased vintage saddles and trem unit for my Strat and immediately moved closer to the tone I was looking for. With my Stratocaster I've found that changing everything the strings come in contact with (Nut, Saddles and Trem-block) to a vintage style component got me a lot closer to the vintage tone than any pickup change could have achieve.
YEP. Raw Vintage does pretty good with their springs and saddles, but ALL those steel parts from the 50's use steel that different than now. I'd love to do a video on this but $2000 for a bridge unit is really beyond the benefits of a video like that, because you can't buy anything equivalent to the old parts.
Very cool explanations and it all makes sonic sense! The replaced hardware sounds way more pleasant! I'm getting some brass posts and thumbwheels right away.
I wonder how many tone chasers have changed pickups several times, only to return to the old ones, when they should have worked on the hardware first? Thanks for sharing the information.
Same goes for the harness. I kept changing my pups and being disappointed until I changed the harnesses to Dave’s recommendations. Now I can really hear what’s going on.
I'm amazed at the difference, never looked into this part of the guitar, I own a 1967 ES355 mono, will be looking at my hardware, to see whats on it, did have to replace the bridge years ago, it collapsed in the middle some, great info, thanks, Clive.
Hello Dave, I have been meaning to send you an email for a while now but after watching this video on the ABR bridge I felt it was time to send you some of my findings. You are correct in your assessment of the recreation bridges. None of them are made correctly. I have made measurements on every point of importance on the original ABR and compared it to a few said "vintage correct" units for sale out there and the answer is "NO" not correct. I am quite convinced that the biggest error is in the screw dimensions. Never mind the saddle shape and size, which is very important as well, the screw dimensions are what keep the saddle in place and determine the amount of movement is in the saddle as it sits in the bridge. A tight firm fit means a better transfer of tone signal. I found that the bridge it self is, dimensions wise, quite close on both the vintage and reissue but the screw is not. So combine that with the lighter saddle block and you have a recipe for different, poorer, sound, sustain and tone. I am providing the measurements I have made so you can see for your self. Vintage screw: Length: 13mm Head to collar gap: 1.5mm Collar thickness: .9mm to 1mm Threaded shaft Length: 8.6mm CreamTone screw: Length: 13mm Head to collar gap: 2mm Collar thickness: .7mm to .8mm Threaded shaft length: 8.5mm I also compared a Gibson Historic and the measurements are the same Thanks for all your hard work. Vic F.
Actually the MOST important thing are the MATERIALS. The cheapest softest brass was cast and cut for the saddles, which are more massive. Everyone is using the HARD Zamak in our times, they used the SOFTEST Zamak. Yes, the screws are different and modern screws will not fit vintage ABR1's. Pretty much all the replicas are made by one company somewhere, but sold under different names.
Cool video,i was also told that,its Gibson using steel to make the thumb wheels,for the historics les pauls,instead of brass like they did back then,thats making the trebly sound,so that when you play the guitar acoustic in a music store,the guitar will ring more loud.Brass thumbwheels will tame that,but the guitar will come alive amplified
@@SDPickups is that with the use of the original Steel Thumbwheels Gibson uses? Or after i install the Vintage correct Brass set i had made? Or do you mean that the Brass thumbwheels will make the guitar sound more dead acoustically ,like i was told,but will sustain more when plugged into an amp?
amazing detail Dave. I’m gonna give it a go as I have quite a few R7 and R9/R0 guitars. I’ve re-wired them in accordance to all your harness advice. So now it’s time for the hardware….
You'll need a small magnet to tell you if your thumbwheels are steel. If they are, then your bridge posts are stainless steel and not magnetic. But you can check one by filing into it to see if its brass. These two parts using steel are real sustain and tone killers, harsh sound. Tailpiece should be very light weight aluminum. Tailpiece bolts should be steel, and the insert anchors for them steel also. Thats the basic recipe. Faber ABRH is the best current closest to originals in sound. There's a better one coming very soon.
@@SDPickups many thanks Dave! As I have 8 Les Pauls and 3 Flying Vs to do, I might hold on for the better bridge to appear! Thanks for the harness advice, it has totally transformed the guitars. Have replaced the Gibson pups in all of them, I really don’t like their pups.
I replaced the steel posts and ??? thumbwheels on my 2004 Tokai LS-150 with brass components. It made a huge, positive difference. Posts are 4mm vs. 6-32. I cut threads in 4mm brass rod to make the posts and used Faber 4mm brass thumbwheels. The tone is warmer, but more open and balanced with better note separation and sustain. According to specs, the bridge is an "HLS-VB (Brass Saddle)". The writing underneath is "SG.BRIDGE.F 6107 MADE IN JAPAN". Thought it was a Gotoh like the aluminum tailpiece. Not sure if I need to replace that. The posts and thumbwheels really improved things greatly.
I can vouch for the vintage parts making a huge difference. The ABR (with correct saddles, posts and wheels) was the biggest surprise. I kinda figure people in the know realize there are only so many vintage parts and once they’re gone they’re gone. So they go online and constantly repeat the baloney that there’s no difference. Ok, whatever.
Yeah, the Centralabs are impossible to find, unless you want to spend $2K on a set, and then they won't even tell you the readings on them. A mint set with 450K readings isn't going to help you, LOL.
It needed to be done. There is so much BS spread by sellers of guitar parts that will gladly take your money and tell you that theirs is the ONLY VINTAGE TONE, when none of it is.
your right about the bridge posts its also the same with old fender stuff, im surprised a good forger hasn't started re producing legit vintage correct parts for a premium price of course. people will scoff and disagree, but i understand that wen your tone hunting your really only hunting for or gaining a small fraction in return wen you think about it. but wen you play and hear at a high level that lil bit counts!
Yes, its all the same with Fender hardware, electronics too. Its not really worth it for me to get into the Fender stuff like I did with Gibson. Everything in the Fender Strat, the bridge steels, the tremolo block, saddles and spring, its all steel made with Bessemer open hearth furnaces back then, and its not the same as what they use now. So you strum a modern Strat unplugged, then the same with a vintage Strat, using identical strings, you're going to hear a difference. The vintage Strat will sound warmer. My machining gear isn't big enough to mill something like a tremolo block and it would get real expensive having vintage alloy screws made etc. and really, the Fender players are pretty much clueless about this stuff anyway; they wouldn't appreciate it one bit. There was one company that supposedly did some analysis work on the saddles and springs, and claim they copied the steel alloys in them, and they sell vintage saddles and springs in a more vintage steel specs, or so they say. I use them and they do seem to change the sound, but I've not gone into research mode with anything Fender except to know all that old stuff is radically different than the modern bridge units on any Fender guitar.
@@SDPickups yes the fender rabbit hole is extensive to say the least, leo fender switched stuff around evry time he had the chance to cut costs so one batch to the next will vary. but the tone was rather consistent in the early years and stayed that way up until the late 60s early 70s. wen the overall tone started going down hill.i believe the wood being used for the body's was not of a comparable quality to the early ones witch wer made from older larger and noticeably lighter stock.
Ok. I'm following you up. In summary the closer we can go is: Kludson aluminum 30gr tailpiece (you recommend the Klison Studs too?), Faber ABRH bridge. Which do you think are the more vintage correct brass bridge posts (lenght?) and thumbwheel in the market?
I have an 87 custom LP I have been fooling around with. It's funny that I came across your video at this time because I am just finishing it's hopefully final transformation. I was very relieved to see you like FaberUSA I have the ABRN - ABR59 4 mm post version which no doubt makes a difference in tone.The posts do not seem to attract magnets and the saddles are not brass. However I am impressed with the tone of the guitar when I changed a few parts including the Bridge. I want the guitar to sustain more then it was and I think the bass side of the frequency will vibrate the body more then the higher frequencies I would love to have both. So I am going to try a few things with brass. Thank you so much for the heads up on your set ups.c];-)
The FAbers are good, but too bassy. I became chief reverse engineering engineer on what became the Four Uncles Restorations ABR1 replicas; we successfully made a true replica of the vintage ones, so the Faber was good, but ours made them obsolete. On my channel I demonstrate the 4 Uncles ABR1 against NOS vintage bridges to prove we duplicated it. The downside is that we only produce less than 30 of these in a month, and take months off to rest up. These are all hand made made, hand cast, hand plated. LIKE THE ORIGNINALS WERE. Look on my channel for the official 4 Uncles ABR1 demo video. And unfortunately they cost alot because of the many hours making them. There are no other choices if you want the true sound of a vintage bridge. Our target market were older guys who know what the originals do, and for guys who own vintage instruments who need replacement saddles or full bridges. So, we criticized sometimes because we don't make thousands of them at cheap pricing. As it is, the money it took to duplicate the originals was four times what we estimated and it took two years to pull it off too.
@@SDPickups Thank you for the reply. I going to play around with Saddles to see what sounds best. I realize we have to sacrifice some tone somewhere but what I am really interested in is getting the sustain of the old Les Paul's. Maybe I will do a video on my progress. I am glad to see someone taking the guess work out of experimentation. Back in the day it was crazy. I did not have much to work with. Thanks again Buddy c];-)
agreed, liked and subbed. I love the intro and different interlude scenes where the guitar is just sitting there, like the start of some vintage rock movie about a magical les paul or something, very interesting. also I have to say the level of detail is in your videos is amazing
I remember black diamonds rusted and my fingertips were thicker than the heels on my feet. when I tried to play like Pete Townsend all my knuckles always blead. fun times.
Have posted it a couple times. Some links may be out of date, but the names are correct: Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources: www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
This list is perfect. Would be helpful to have that in the video description. Thank your very much. Ordered all the parts to Germany. Looking forward to the changes they will do.
So in Your opinion, is mid 70s abr1 better than current production. After your videos i did a test. I have a sg cs standard 2007, that never been right. Harsh on the high strings. IT has faber bridge. I have a 69` wraparound tailpiece with studs and bushing . I removed those saddles on top og these wraparound bridge, Replaced the bushing and studs. And put IT on my sg. Way better :) One factor to mention is by the design of those 60s wraparound, i did top wrap. That could sure affect tone AS well Anyway thanx for a great video, that made me do something to my guitar that made it great👍
I have a 69 National les paul the tailpiece is brass ,but the bridge saddles were tethlon ,I swapped out the bridge with a cheap aftermarket ,my thing is were they thinking that the sound would transfer to the tailpiece maybe? the tail piece screws are also brass
Hi Bro. I was looking for Part 3, but couldnt find it o. Bro make a video like this about the Fender Stratocaster vintage trembrigde and saddles. Thanks and keep uP your goodness. Tom.
Part three is there now. I don't want to tackle the Strat subject, buying vintage strat parts to test would probably be too expensive for me to do. Typical price for the bridge unit is $2000. Would love to do it, but then you won't be able to buy modern parts that are a match for the old steel. Raw Vintage sells good springs and saddles that help, though.
Nobody makes replica saddles, sadly. Or a true ABR1 replica. But stay tuned, this year may be different. You can find the intonation screws at StewMac and other places like AllParts.
Philadelphia Luthiery online. Here's the completelist: Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources: www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
SDPickups thank you so much for the answer. I have a 2018 R7, bought it new, completely stock. The tailpiece studs are longer than the usuals, later i’ll send you a pic, maybe Gibson came back to the original specs in the past two years? I’ve also tried to put a magnet over the thumbwheels and posts and they didn’t being attracted...maybe are they brass? What you think about? Thank you very much sir.
I found your page through a comment you made on Johan Segeborn's post about 50's bridges vs a 2008 custom shop...Anyway. I have a '71 -'73 Goldtop Deluxe and it has the old Gibson Pat No bridge with brass saddles. Likely not a 50's but obviously better than the newer ABR 1 by Gibson. Unfortunately the original bridge is a bit collapsed so I got an "old" (70's) Gibson ABR 1 off Reverb to replace it but I noticed right away the difference in the saddles and the tone. Since the original bridge isn't usable do you think it would help if I at least take the original brass saddles off and swap them out on the newer bridge?
I firmly believe a collapsed bridge and be fixed. All you would need to do is get two hardwood blocks and put them over the ABR1 casting (take all the screws and saddles OUT first). Put it all into a big vise and start cranking it down to flatten the casting. It should work fine, as basically its a piece of pot metal. It'll either work or it will crack in half. Worth a try.
In the interest of making new parts for my Gibson bridge is there any chance you can supply me with precise measurements of the sadles and screws? I have a small machine shop in which i usualy make watch parts so making these would be posible on my machines. Thank you
No one makes them. They obviously were cast brass, cut to size on a mill saw. Only thing you can do is keep searching for vintage ones that are underpriced. Second best would be look for a Patent ABR1 that has THOSE saddles. They are transitional and have the big fat saddles on them, I've seen quite a few like that but haven't bought one.
Just got the 4 uncles bridge . Swapped the faber out . I found the difference huge, this is more influential to your guitar than anything else. I don’t think the faber is close , tail piece is great though .
I think the Faber tailpiece might be alot darker sounding than the originals. I bought two of them that aren't plated but have yet to try it out. What are they like?
They are very light 27g. I am less experienced with tail piece comparisons, only had a Nashville to compare it to. I wouldn’t really know if it’s dark sounding. If there is anything better I’m happy to put it on to go with the 4 uncles. I’m just floored by the 4 uncles bridge. I don’t think the demos really shows the full story. The guitar becomes so much more resonant. People need to understand this.
When you do the little chord progression around 16:00 you can clearly hear that the replacement hardware produces more low midrange and fundamental frequencies. It sounds a little bit closer to an acoustic guitar whereas the stock hardware sounds like strings on a brick.
They are just so awful. The saddles are cheap pot metal. Nobody wants them. So just about every company copies THOSE instead of the great sounding ones. Its how they operate all the time pretty much.
Hi Dave, I've got a question. Which is better for tone and/or sustain; ABR or a wraparound? Seriously why Gibson don’t use more wraparounds - apart from intonation ‘issues’ (for a few folks)??
Thats not something of interest to me. My only interest was finding out why vintage Les Pauls sound the way they do, which means the pickups and the hardware for the PAF equipped Les Pauls. Wraparound tailpieces only were for the P90 era guitars. And again, a modern wraparound and a vintage one aren't going to sound the same. I did all the reverse-engineering on vintage ABR1 bridges for the Four Uncle ABR1 replicas. It was two years of hell. Sadly they aren't being produced anymore, they were the ONLY accurrate ones ever made.
@@SDPickupsThanks for the reply! Maybe you should consider selling the IP for the Uncle replicas to a bigger company, like Schaller or Gibson? You’d make ton of money I’d guess 😁
I don't want anything to do with Gibby corporate. They are, and always have been thieves of intellectual property, and their advertising people are incredibly dishonest hypesters. I don't own the molds, the 3 Uncles paid those bills, not me. I just did the reverse-engineering for FREE for 2 years, because I've always hated that none of these companies EVER made any attempt to reproduce them. The molds wont get anyone anywhere, its the materials technology that put them up there as the best ever made, except for vintage originals, of course. Its not about the "saddles," its not about the molds, its everything, much thats still kept secret.
Yes, they are now using the right braid wire, brass wheels and posts, I think the tailpiece studs are vintage long and anchors too, but not positive. Their ABR1 still sucks, fake bee caps, room for improvement, but better for sure.
Nowhere. You can't find modern saddles like the old ones, and modern adjuster screws won't fit old bridges either. SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE THESE DARN BRIDGES THE RIGHT WAY, I KEEP WAITING, BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.
Incredible, especially how the sound of the old-school parts has more of a pleasant "compression" going on, without that "quack" in the hi-mids that has afflicted my les paul for ages. It's like all the strings are a lot more even. What do you think of top-wrapping the tailpiece? Thanks for sharing this video series!
I worked with 3 guys in Belgium and did the reverse-engineering work in destroying one of my vintage ABR1's to find the REAL metals content that was used. Its called the Four Uncles ABR1 replica bridge and sounds like the originals. None of the others out there do that. You can buy them here, but they only make a few every month or other month: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071770557105 Also did a video demo on my channel, look it up.
Hi Dave, you're the best ever, really... After this series of wonderful videos, i am proceeding to modify my explorer. Can you confirm that to convert the bridge from Nashville to abr1 I have to remove the bushing, create a mahogany plug, insert it into the holes with a little glue (titebond???), create a correct inch thread for the Philadelphia luthier brass screws in the inserted caps? when to go deep with the thread? Do the screws have to rest at the bottom? Regards
Yes, basically thats what you have to do. The tailpiece insert anchors are something you should have a pro install, because your guitar's ground wire is connected to one of the inserts. Probably best idea is to leave Gibson's anchors in there, but buy a long bolt from Philadelphia Luthiery and see if it will fit in there. Just make sure the anchors are steel and not pot metal or brass, Gibson uses weird stuff depending on what year the guitar is.
9:26 shows the box end of what looks to be about a 5/16" box end, and then to test the brass post, the open end of the same wrench.. that in itself will have a different tone. Irrelevant test as the testing tapping tool was different. The brass end sure sounded different, but how much was due to the different wrench end being used?
@@SDPickups I believe you. Mainly showing you that we are paying attention to detail in your videos :) I recently put an aluminum tailpeice on a LP copy that I assembled from cheap parts. It has just a maple veneer, and a two peice mahogany body, so probably more like a Jr in tone, however, with a decent set of alnicoII pickups and a good setup it is actualy a very great sounding guitar! Thanks for all the info in your videos, it's great!
Wouldn't work, you'd end up with the strings being too low, you would lose height, and they would still be sitting on the wrong zinc alloy, and the brass alloy is still wrong on the Gibby bridge.
Hi Thanks for this important information also taking the time to share your knowledge with us. I would appreciate if you can tell us we’re we can buy these parts: 1) The AB1 bridge complete 2) if we have a VOS Gibson AB1 can we only replace the Saddles to brass? We’re do we get these? what kind do we need I looked at Faber Guitar but they have different kinds so I don’t buy the wrong ones? Also the brass studs? 3) the Tail piece and inserts? Also what if the Studs in my guitar is not screwed directly in the body on my LP but into steel inserts? Using the Brass studs will help? 4) Do you recommend changing also if I have a Custom Shop ES -335 the saddles , studs and inserts? Thanks again I’m a big fan of your work and I’m saving to purchase a few of your PU soon. 🙏👏
If you have anchors for your bridge you have to pull them out, plug with hardwood and tap and drill for the correct brass posts. Here's all the other parts I used: Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources: www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
Unfortunately good old Gibson are using the cheap Chibson-style bridges on all their Les Pauls under about $3000. I can't believe they are doing such a cheap atrocity like that. I don't know of any Epiphones that use ABR1 bridges except for the Elitists, of which I have 6 of those guitars. Then the problem with that is they are metric hardware guitars, and you cant find brass metric bridge posts from anywhere that I've seen. I had to make my own on my metals lathe and set the die to open wider to make a fatter brass post. A pain in the butt, but so worth it. The older Les Pauls, like one used in these four episodes DID have an ABR1 post set, easily replaced by Philadelphia Luthiery parts in these videos. As you will see in the videos, the Gibson posts were stainless steel posts and steel thumbwheels, which makes for a nice HARSH tone. With the anchored Chibby bridges you have to pull the anchors out, plug them with hardwood dowels you make yourself, then drill holes to thread brass posts into. I have an Amos Flying V I have to do that to, pain in the butt.....
Closest you can get are these: Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources: www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
@@SDPickups kluson sell IT the studs tail pieces in brass (is possible that no are the right side, but is the right material. Am I wrong?) www.kluson.com/stop-tailpieces.html
Really fascinating stuff. Just wondering do you need to file slots in the brass saddles on the faber bridge? I see that they come with notches but are these notches ok for position?
You don't HAVE to, but its a good idea. I do. Stew Mac has fret files that work real well for that. You have to remember to angle the slots back towards the rear of the guitar or they buzz, though. I also run the saddles all the way in both directions to help them seat really well also so they don't buzz
yes, there was a guy with a business called Snake Oil strings. He had a ton of information on the history of guitar strings and how they were made, and he sold his own brand. Sadly he got too many orders and couldn't keep up and the forum guys did their best to destroy him. I only tried them once and don't remember what they were like. Back in my 20's the first slinkys came out, everybody started using them, they were 8 gauge. Before that it was just Black Diamond strings 13 gauge. Michael Bloomfield used those exclusively. I hated them, they severely bowed my cheap Japanese guitar neck.
I would think so. The harshness largely comes from steel wheels and bridge posts, and junk bridges. I have an Elitist SG, better than most Gibsons, I put brass wheels and posts, aluminum tailpiece, and a Faber ABRM on it, and rewired it exactly the way they were with the tiny ceramic caps. You can look thru my videos and hear what that sounds like, I really like that guitar.
Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. Just buy a pair and see if they fit your guitar. Changing the anchors is not for a DYI guy, your guitar's grounding is in one of the anchors and you can really ruin your guitar if not done right. Long vintage bolts and short anchors are fine, not much difference. Thanks for the question.
@@SDPickups thanks bro this is fascinating stuff. Im totally into this quest I have two guitars atm one is bright clear tight and powerful and one is dull flabby and loose this is unplugged of course. If I flick the bridges my finger confirms this the good bridge goes ping and the dull bridge is a bit dead. But also if i flick the wood of the body it also has the same effect one is alive one is dead. Im gona try get the dead one to sound more alive but think the wood is playing a big part. My thinking is i would like something inbetween the two but closer to the good sounding guitar but its just a bit too hard and bright. Would like the Same clarity of the good sounding guitar but just slighly softer in texture. Oh yes and the dull guitar is also acoustically lower in volume. Your videos have got me thinking !!! Great Work Sir and tks again. The good guitar is a 2000 abr the dull is a 2003 Nashville I havnt but your mods in yet they in the post put gona mod it like you say to the dull one first and see how much closer it gets to the already better sounding guitar....
Fabers DO have brass saddles, they are nickel plated and so were the original ABR1 brass saddles. But the Faber saddles are not like vintage saddles. No one makes vintage saddles, NO ONE. But, wait a year and.....
I have question about the position of the position of the 6th and 1st strings on the saddles, I have seen on Stewmac that it should be just towards the outside of the bridge pickup poles but I see here that it’s not this way, Is there anywhere I can find the what’s the best position for the 6th and 1st string on the saddles ?
Traditionally the saddles were not pre-notched. With our Four Uncles bridges, they are not notched, so you just slide the two E strings to center on each of the saddles, then mark it and put your notches there. Same on the other strings as well.
The vintage saddles are worn down from years of hands rubbing on them. I've had newer saddles that have been played alot that looked like the vintage. The vintage were more pointed when new.
No, sorry, I have NOS saddles and they are very rounded on ALL sides and top. They were cast and tumble finished with steel media which rounds all edges. The bottoms of the saddles are protected from hands, but they look worn and rounded, but its just how they were cast.
I’m sure Gibson COULD make an actual 100% true to original Les Paul burst with all the same original building techniques, woods, parts, metals, materials, etc… but they’d probably want at least $20,000 to do so lmao
They would have to hire me and guys like Bartlett and Steve Hague. Problem with that is they would never hire a 74 year old man like and frankly I would never want to work there, where CEO's prefer to use low bidder parts to save money, and the guys who DO make very realistic sounding Les Pauls, wouldn't share any of their secrets either. A few years ago they were voted the worst place to work in AMERICA, by their OWN employees. Buy a Heritage Les Paul, those are THE guys who built all the originals, buy from Japanese companies, in Japan, QUALITY is the soul of Japan.
@@SDPickups I’ve known Gibson is overpriced… but kinda thought that was partially due to the “made in USA” markup. Didn’t realize how inexpensive some of the parts they use are and how they sell them for 200x what they actually should cost.
@@MrJohnnyDistortion I'm not familiar with those Vibrolas, they were so cheap and ugly looking and didn't work very well, so I passed on those guitars back then. You have to look at what materials were used in terms of the year those things were made, and the level of technology of materials manufacturing that year. Its the ONE secret of all vintage pickups and guitars, and cars and airplanes too. My expertise is only in vintage PAF's, harnesses, the hardware parts. I didn't look at the woods, or finishes, or colors because I have zero knowledge of that part of the puzzles. Suffice to say that if you like those Vibrolas, go buy a vintage one, because the modern ones won't be the same sounds.
Here's everything: SOME OF THESE LINKS MAY BE OUT OF DATE, BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL KNOW WHAT THEY ARE SO YOU CAN DO A LITTLE GOOGLING AND FIND THESE PARTS YOURSELF. Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/K40Y-9-015-uF-400v-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK/224177516602?hash=item343205703a:g:WogAAOSwySlaPV8b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
My god the acoustic test was stunning. So a question, for someone on a budget with an Epi LP, what would you start with if you could only replace on item at a time?
The most important would be the brass thumbwheels and brass bridge posts and the Faber ABRM bridge, because those are metric guitars. Metric bridge posts in brass aren't being sold that I know of but you can go to McMaster Carr and order threaded brass stock in 4M thread I think it is. And of course replace the entire harness as well. Search thru my videos, I have a two part harness tutorial of converting a Metric Epi LP, everything you need to know, but I do NOT use the Angela copper foil caps anymore, they just went bad. I use the Mojo Vitamin T 600 volt .022uf PIO now.
@@SDPickups so I need to change the posts that go down into the guitar that the thumbscrews go into because the Epi ones are at least 2x wider. I used a roller bridge with brass wheels to try to closer replicate the angle you proved the original saddles had.
Hi Sir , Do you have a site or a fb page . I am wanting to get my 2007 Gibson SG to sound as vintage as possible . I want to get proper hardware , vintage style pick ups (it has 490r &498t YUCK!). It all ready has a bone nut . Whenever I hear vintage Gibson's compared to the modern gibson's its always the same story . The vintage has more clarity IMO , not warmth but just clarity to the strings . Modern stuff is muddy . It's like they want to keep the people fooled so the vintage market don't tank . The try and say "the wood was SO much better and thats the reason" . I don't buy that . I always thought the hardware was the first element of the tone . Hardware/nut >Pick ups/wiring> woods . Your videos are very informative . Thanks
The woods do make a difference. But the original hardware materials complement the woods, so that still works in our times. I do think they had better woods back then, but doing these changes still wakes your guitar up and puts it closer to those old tones.
So what changed on the patent numberd bridges that started in 65 through the ealry 70s? Ive been seeing a few with the early profiled saddles. Would those ones also work?
The saddles changed to pot metal and tall and pointy, no more brass, they don't have the warmth the originals with brass saddles do. Yes a Patent with the old brass saddles are very good.
Have never actually heard of one collapsing myself, not back in the 60's or now. We had 13 gauge strings back then, no light strings at all, so I could see that happening then, just never heard of it happening to any of my friends though. Light gauge strings actually sound better, saw proof of that in a recording studio demo here on UA-cam couple weeks ago. Around '72 or so we suddenly got slinky strings from Ernie Ball, EIGHT GAUGE STRINGS. Everybody used them then, Hendrix, Page, you name it. Years ago I did some research on Jimmy Page's tones, and what I was hearing was 8 gauge strings, so bought a nickel set and revisited my past with them. Unbelievably they were on one of my LP's for almost a year and never broke a string. Really liked them too. Gibbons uses 7 gauge strings!
I don't know, they keep changing things every other year etc. It really only affects the open strings, but then sometimes it actually could affect the sound of the entire guitar, too. Everything is connected to everything else, so mysterious things happen. I found out last year that radically changing the value of the bridge pot also affected the neck pickup. Its not supposed to do that but it DOES ;-)
The Faber is warmer sounding than the originals and warmer sounding than the Klusons. So far no one has nailed the true sound of the vintage tailpieces. Most likely it boils down to there being low quality crude aluminum being used back then. 4 Uncles is thinking about making a true replica but for now its too expensive to do that. The worst ones are the Gotoh, they are really dark sounding. Then there's the ones from the 70's that were made of pot metal and weigh A TON.
@@SDPickups The Gibson Les Paul Classics from 1991-2007 have aluminum stop bars and have the ABR-1 like yours steel screws and wheels but at least they weren't the big bushing style. I have owned three of these guitars and they are my favorite les Pauls under $3000. The newer classics changed to a bushing screw for the bridge but still call it an ABR-1. I was considering ordering solid brass saddles for my 1991 classic ABR-1.
No risk of damage, get the posts from Philadelphia Luthiery. Search thru UA-cam on how to do it. Basically you put two thumbwheels on the post, tighten them against each other and unscrew the post slowly. I use a 6-32 nut under the two wheels so they all lock together best, and use a small wrench on the nut under the two wheels and then unscrew the post. Before I do that, I put a piece of paper up against the post and mark how tall the post is before removing it. Reverse the method with nut on top of the two wheels and then screw the new post in until the post goes in to the same height. Usually you will feel the post stop and bottom out, but some holes may be deeper than the post. Hard to explain, just search the internet and youtube to see how to do it.
Get work. Just saw that philadeplhia luthier tools doesn´t have a metric thumbwheel post, just imperial. The holes in te guitar are a bit larger in the metric.
You can buy brass threaded rod in metric 4M size from McMaster-Carr and other places, just have to cut it to size yourself. I have 6 Elitists with metric posts so they are slightly larger than 4M (please check that size, am quoting from memory here). So, I have a metal lathe and bought a die to thread brass rod myself, was fairly easy to do, just had to open up the die spacing a bit and it worked.
Love these videos, thanks for taking me down the rabbit hole. Question, I have a 2010 Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro with Nashville TOM bridge. Would you still go with the Faber conversion (TOM to ABR), or would you go for a full blown conversion by removing the existing bushings, inserting custom made dowels, and drilling new holes? Thank you.
Concerning vintage spec builds/marketing I really think the problem with Gibson these days are two-fold; #1 Profit over accuracy. They may not even have the expertise to tell the difference between vintage verses modern materials. #2 While I'm sure there are many talented and experienced Luthiers/Engineers at Gibson I have to wonder if they are of the mind-set that every Les Paul buyer wants to sound like Slash running through a high gain amplifier. Just saying, it even seems to me that every company demo of their instruments is usually just jamming away through your typical high gain amplifier. I really miss the days Les Paul himself was involved with guitar development. While he was far from perfect he had a lot more insight than the current people involved with instrument design.
Also, i have seen some real 1959 ABR-1 bridges that actually have some of its saddles with the pointy top peak,like both of my Historic les pauls, a 2018 R0 and 2019 60th Anniversary R9, as well as the Historic bridge you showed,but the last 2 saddles are fat like you showed, strange.I wonder if its maby the strings maby rubbing the tops of the saddles maby during string changes,or maby even palm muting? Or the palm of your hand rubbing the tops of the saddles that cause the fatter ones? This is an awsome video
Yes, you often see the saddles on the bass side with the saddles worn down from hand contact. The modern ones though, are just TOO pointy and tops too skinny.
I haven't tried the Klusons, and quite frankly, I bought a bunch of ABR1's, claiming to be vintage correct, but on close examination, they were ALL made by the same company and were all identical. And they all pretty much sucked. I've look at Tonepro's but it definitely is NOT a true to life replica, and there just are NO true replicas being made.
Hi Steve ,was hoping you’d show us a supplier for correct hardware ,I have a 2016 CS 58 ,and as you I feel this would be a good add.Any help with sourcing vintage correct??
I've posted it several times in comments, but here. you go. Some links may be outdated but you can just google to find the parts. Enjoy.... Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic. StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that. www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains. For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources: www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V This for neck: www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b Mojo has the bus wire: www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you: www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost. Thats all you need and you're done. This video shows how the wiring is to be done: ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge. HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM: Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier. www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/ Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/ Brass posts: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/ Vintage length long stud bolts in steel: www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/ Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel: Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time. Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
Enjoying these videos . . looking forward to future instalments!
Great addition to the knowledge base on vintage Gibson Les Paul's. Good looking out Dave!
Thanks for showing the differences unplugged. It displays the differences much more dramatically.
Outstanding improvements!! Great channel
A good day today, thanks to you!!! I am no longer out of phase in the middle position, flipped the magnet, I flattened my old bridge, sounding much better, I was going to put the covers back on, but pickup rings weren't liking the idea a bit deformed, didn't want to break anything, so i quit while I' was ahead, I've had it since 1980, so many, many thanks to you!!! big improvement, had no idea before watching your videos.
Glad you got some useful information, thanks for the comment.
Thank you for these two videos. I learned a lot.
im glad i found this channel! THANK YOU SIR!
Welcome! There's over 100 videos here of various pickup sets, and deep information on vintage PAF's and Les Pauls. Any questions just ask.
@@SDPickups Wow thank you for taking time to reply. You sir are a godsend!
I like the Forensic approach you use to identify the " correct" specs for the hardware. The big G should give you a job re-designing their parts or start your own firm making them. Thankyou.
There's no one at the "Big G" that has an actual brain. This is very clear to me.
Dave ! you’re freaking awesome ❤️👍
Its you guys that do that ;-)
Priceless Research!
I made all the changes you suggested so far. The Faber bridge upgrade was dramatic, not only to tone but sustain as well. (it replaced a highly regarded $200 bridge, amazing) I did not like the Kluson, the stock Gibson custom shop tail sounds better to me (from 2006) Thank you so much.
The Faber is OK, but too bassy on the lower strings. I did a two year reverse-engineering project and destroyed a vintage ABR1 to learn the exact zinc and brass alloys, what they really were. The project cost four times more than estimated, but we successfully reproduced this essential piece of hardware that makes vintage LP tones. The downside is these have to be hand cast, hand made, so they are very slow to make and expensive with very few being made. Here's that demo video:
ua-cam.com/video/TwEgudEEs_8/v-deo.html
Loving this. Great work!!!
We are waiting for part 3! Great information! Thanks!
Its there NOW, hope you found it.
Fascinating. Sounds like the original electric guitar designers were more intuitively in touch with the acoustic era that preceeded the electric one - and therefore the importance of resonance.
Woods were treated differently back then, they were water treated, not heat treated. Water treating leaves open cells and makes the woods very light and super resonant. Nobody does that anymore,
@@SDPickups Wow - what a great insight. So good to hear from you. Thank you for picking up this point from so long ago...thrilled you're still going despite all the craziness out there over the last nearly three years!
So much that was hidden to us has now been revealed...
Here in the UK am really hoping I will be able to afford one of your pickups while you are still in production.
Have been hoping to put together an own design semi-solid body - already have some bog oak for the central part of the thru neck, for example, hence the interest in this area.
Just another comment.............
I was chasing tone with a modern Stratocaster I have, all I wanted was a vintage sounding Stratocaster.
Taking what I learned from this video I purchased vintage saddles and trem unit for my Strat and immediately moved closer to the tone I was looking for. With my Stratocaster I've found that changing everything the strings come in contact with (Nut, Saddles and Trem-block) to a vintage style component got me a lot closer to the vintage tone than any pickup change could have achieve.
YEP. Raw Vintage does pretty good with their springs and saddles, but ALL those steel parts from the 50's use steel that different than now. I'd love to do a video on this but $2000 for a bridge unit is really beyond the benefits of a video like that, because you can't buy anything equivalent to the old parts.
Very cool explanations and it all makes sonic sense! The replaced hardware sounds way more pleasant! I'm getting some brass posts and thumbwheels right away.
I wonder how many tone chasers have changed pickups several times, only to return to the old ones, when they should have worked on the hardware first?
Thanks for sharing the information.
Same goes for the harness. I kept changing my pups and being disappointed until I changed the harnesses to Dave’s recommendations. Now I can really hear what’s going on.
I'm amazed at the difference, never looked into this part of the guitar, I own a 1967 ES355 mono, will be looking at my hardware, to see whats on it, did have to replace the bridge years ago, it collapsed in the middle some, great info, thanks, Clive.
Too bad you tossed it out. they can usually be flattened back out carefully.
@@SDPickups I still have it.
@@cliveburgess4128 rhett can be flattened, but they collapse much faster after being fixed.
Hello Dave,
I have been meaning to send you an email for a while now but after watching this video on the ABR bridge I felt it was time to send you some of my findings. You are correct in your assessment of the recreation bridges. None of them are made correctly. I have made measurements on every point of importance on the original ABR and compared it to a few said "vintage correct" units for sale out there and the answer is "NO" not correct.
I am quite convinced that the biggest error is in the screw dimensions. Never mind the saddle shape and size, which is very important as well, the screw dimensions are what keep the saddle in place and determine the amount of movement is in the saddle as it sits in the bridge. A tight firm fit means a better transfer of tone signal. I found that the bridge it self is, dimensions wise, quite close on both the vintage and reissue but the screw is not. So combine that with the lighter saddle block and you have a recipe for different, poorer, sound, sustain and tone.
I am providing the measurements I have made so you can see for your self.
Vintage screw:
Length: 13mm
Head to collar gap: 1.5mm
Collar thickness: .9mm to 1mm
Threaded shaft Length: 8.6mm
CreamTone screw:
Length: 13mm
Head to collar gap: 2mm
Collar thickness: .7mm to .8mm
Threaded shaft length: 8.5mm
I also compared a Gibson Historic and the measurements are the same
Thanks for all your hard work.
Vic F.
Actually the MOST important thing are the MATERIALS. The cheapest softest brass was cast and cut for the saddles, which are more massive. Everyone is using the HARD Zamak in our times, they used the SOFTEST Zamak. Yes, the screws are different and modern screws will not fit vintage ABR1's. Pretty much all the replicas are made by one company somewhere, but sold under different names.
Thanks for the video. Much appreciated. When can we expect part 3?
Its up now. Part Four is going to be some time yet, more to come.
Great videos! I like the way you slowly go over things in detail.
Its because I'm OLD and SLOW. But yeah DETAILS, DETAILS. All the replica stuff with high prices are made by people who LOOK, but don't SEE.
13:37 Gibson Factory Hardware
14:29 vintage correct materials
Cool video,i was also told that,its Gibson using steel to make the thumb wheels,for the historics les pauls,instead of brass like they did back then,thats making the trebly sound,so that when you play the guitar acoustic in a music store,the guitar will ring more loud.Brass thumbwheels will tame that,but the guitar will come alive amplified
You BETCHA!!! Your guitar will also sustain much better too. And notes will often feedback for a long time.
@@SDPickups is that with the use of the original Steel Thumbwheels Gibson uses? Or after i install the Vintage correct Brass set i had made? Or do you mean that the Brass thumbwheels will make the guitar sound more dead acoustically ,like i was told,but will sustain more when plugged into an amp?
amazing detail Dave. I’m gonna give it a go as I have quite a few R7 and R9/R0 guitars. I’ve re-wired them in accordance to all your harness advice. So now it’s time for the hardware….
You'll need a small magnet to tell you if your thumbwheels are steel. If they are, then your bridge posts are stainless steel and not magnetic. But you can check one by filing into it to see if its brass. These two parts using steel are real sustain and tone killers, harsh sound. Tailpiece should be very light weight aluminum. Tailpiece bolts should be steel, and the insert anchors for them steel also. Thats the basic recipe. Faber ABRH is the best current closest to originals in sound. There's a better one coming very soon.
@@SDPickups many thanks Dave! As I have 8 Les Pauls and 3 Flying Vs to do, I might hold on for the better bridge to appear! Thanks for the harness advice, it has totally transformed the guitars. Have replaced the Gibson pups in all of them, I really don’t like their pups.
I replaced the steel posts and ??? thumbwheels on my 2004 Tokai LS-150 with brass components. It made a huge, positive difference. Posts are 4mm vs. 6-32. I cut threads in 4mm brass rod to make the posts and used Faber 4mm brass thumbwheels. The tone is warmer, but more open and balanced with better note separation and sustain. According to specs, the bridge is an "HLS-VB (Brass Saddle)". The writing underneath is "SG.BRIDGE.F 6107 MADE IN JAPAN". Thought it was a Gotoh like the aluminum tailpiece. Not sure if I need to replace that. The posts and thumbwheels really improved things greatly.
I can vouch for the vintage parts making a huge difference. The ABR (with correct saddles, posts and wheels) was the biggest surprise.
I kinda figure people in the know realize there are only so many vintage parts and once they’re gone they’re gone.
So they go online and constantly repeat the baloney that there’s no difference. Ok, whatever.
Yeah, the Centralabs are impossible to find, unless you want to spend $2K on a set, and then they won't even tell you the readings on them. A mint set with 450K readings isn't going to help you, LOL.
amazing scientific approach and thanks a lot
It needed to be done. There is so much BS spread by sellers of guitar parts that will gladly take your money and tell you that theirs is the ONLY VINTAGE TONE, when none of it is.
thx for sharing your knowledge. very appreciated. cheers from germany.
nice research video , thank you
So greatful ,...thank you
Thanks for the lesson
your right about the bridge posts its also the same with old fender stuff, im surprised a good forger hasn't started re producing legit vintage correct parts for a premium price of course. people will scoff and disagree, but i understand that wen your tone hunting your really only hunting for or gaining a small fraction in return wen you think about it. but wen you play and hear at a high level that lil bit counts!
Yes, its all the same with Fender hardware, electronics too. Its not really worth it for me to get into the Fender stuff like I did with Gibson. Everything in the Fender Strat, the bridge steels, the tremolo block, saddles and spring, its all steel made with Bessemer open hearth furnaces back then, and its not the same as what they use now. So you strum a modern Strat unplugged, then the same with a vintage Strat, using identical strings, you're going to hear a difference. The vintage Strat will sound warmer. My machining gear isn't big enough to mill something like a tremolo block and it would get real expensive having vintage alloy screws made etc. and really, the Fender players are pretty much clueless about this stuff anyway; they wouldn't appreciate it one bit. There was one company that supposedly did some analysis work on the saddles and springs, and claim they copied the steel alloys in them, and they sell vintage saddles and springs in a more vintage steel specs, or so they say. I use them and they do seem to change the sound, but I've not gone into research mode with anything Fender except to know all that old stuff is radically different than the modern bridge units on any Fender guitar.
@@SDPickups yes the fender rabbit hole is extensive to say the least, leo fender switched stuff around evry time he had the chance to cut costs so one batch to the next will vary. but the tone was rather consistent in the early years and stayed that way up until the late 60s early 70s. wen the overall tone started going down hill.i believe the wood being used for the body's was not of a comparable quality to the early ones witch wer made from older larger and noticeably lighter stock.
Ok. I'm following you up. In summary the closer we can go is: Kludson aluminum 30gr tailpiece (you recommend the Klison Studs too?), Faber ABRH bridge. Which do you think are the more vintage correct brass bridge posts (lenght?) and thumbwheel in the market?
Yes, correct. Bridge brass post vintage length is like 1.1 Inch I think.
I have an 87 custom LP I have been fooling around with. It's funny that I came across your video at this time because I am just finishing it's hopefully final transformation. I was very relieved to see you like FaberUSA I have the ABRN - ABR59 4 mm post version which no doubt makes a difference in tone.The posts do not seem to attract magnets and the saddles are not brass. However I am impressed with the tone of the guitar when I changed a few parts including the Bridge. I want the guitar to sustain more then it was and I think the bass side of the frequency will vibrate the body more then the higher frequencies I would love to have both. So I am going to try a few things with brass. Thank you so much for the heads up on your set ups.c];-)
The FAbers are good, but too bassy. I became chief reverse engineering engineer on what became the Four Uncles Restorations ABR1 replicas; we successfully made a true replica of the vintage ones, so the Faber was good, but ours made them obsolete. On my channel I demonstrate the 4 Uncles ABR1 against NOS vintage bridges to prove we duplicated it. The downside is that we only produce less than 30 of these in a month, and take months off to rest up. These are all hand made made, hand cast, hand plated. LIKE THE ORIGNINALS WERE. Look on my channel for the official 4 Uncles ABR1 demo video. And unfortunately they cost alot because of the many hours making them. There are no other choices if you want the true sound of a vintage bridge. Our target market were older guys who know what the originals do, and for guys who own vintage instruments who need replacement saddles or full bridges. So, we criticized sometimes because we don't make thousands of them at cheap pricing. As it is, the money it took to duplicate the originals was four times what we estimated and it took two years to pull it off too.
@@SDPickups Thank you for the reply. I going to play around with Saddles to see what sounds best. I realize we have to sacrifice some tone somewhere but what I am really interested in is getting the sustain of the old Les Paul's. Maybe I will do a video on my progress. I am glad to see someone taking the guess work out of experimentation. Back in the day it was crazy. I did not have much to work with. Thanks again Buddy c];-)
Love these videos, would love to try your pickups.
Its. year waiting list with full payment up front. I don't mass produce.
your 2 videos about this, are very interesting man. Very cool. I think all parts counts. I ll try to find those brass parts :)
Philadelphia Lutherie has them.
agreed, liked and subbed. I love the intro and different interlude scenes where the guitar is just sitting there, like the start of some vintage rock movie about a magical les paul or something, very interesting. also I have to say the level of detail is in your videos is amazing
@@SDPickups what luthier I’m here in Philly ? thanks
I remember black diamonds rusted and my fingertips were thicker than the heels on my feet. when I tried to play like Pete Townsend all my knuckles always blead. fun times.
Black Diamonds on my cheap Japanese guitar bowed the neck really bad. Bending a note was like weight lifting 1000 pounds.
What's happened to part 3? I can't wait any longer.
Its there now.
Stainless bridge post goes "klack", brass goes "ting". Brass seems to have a better ring.
It would be wonderful to get an approved parts list with links on where to find parts. Juts my 2 cents
Have posted it a couple times. Some links may be out of date, but the names are correct:
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources:
www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
This list is perfect. Would be helpful to have that in the video description. Thank your very much. Ordered all the parts to Germany. Looking forward to the changes they will do.
I'm wating for part three! =)
There now
Exactly right, the electric guitar is an acoustic instrument first. If it don't sound good unplugged how good can it ever sound plugged in?
Spot on! 👍😎
So in Your opinion, is mid 70s abr1 better than current production.
After your videos i did a test.
I have a sg cs standard 2007, that never been right. Harsh on the high strings. IT has faber bridge.
I have a 69` wraparound tailpiece with studs and bushing . I removed those saddles on top og these wraparound bridge, Replaced the bushing and studs. And put IT on my sg. Way better :)
One factor to mention is by the design of those 60s wraparound, i did top wrap. That could sure affect tone AS well
Anyway thanx for a great video, that made me do something to my guitar that made it great👍
Replace the thumbwheels with brass, and replace the bridge posts with brass as well, it makes a really noticeable difference.
Good job.
I love this shit! I'm such a nerd.
Is it possible you could sand down the newer vintage style saddles to get closer to the profile of the vintage profile?
Well, no. You could and it might help some, but then you would be making them weigh even less than the vintage saddles, so you're losing MORE.
I have a 69 National les paul the tailpiece is brass ,but the bridge saddles were tethlon ,I swapped out the bridge with a cheap aftermarket ,my thing is were they thinking that the sound would transfer to the tailpiece maybe? the tail piece screws are also brass
No idea here.
Hi Bro. I was looking for Part 3, but couldnt find it o. Bro make a video like this about the Fender Stratocaster vintage trembrigde and saddles. Thanks and keep uP your goodness. Tom.
Part three is there now. I don't want to tackle the Strat subject, buying vintage strat parts to test would probably be too expensive for me to do. Typical price for the bridge unit is $2000. Would love to do it, but then you won't be able to buy modern parts that are a match for the old steel. Raw Vintage sells good springs and saddles that help, though.
@@SDPickups thanks o Seen your point. But who knows? The family is big and great, everything is possible. Well wishings and all the best. Tom
I found the brass saddles, but not the intonation screws, who sells those, or do I have to buy the whole set up Bridge? Thanks
Nobody makes replica saddles, sadly. Or a true ABR1 replica. But stay tuned, this year may be different. You can find the intonation screws at StewMac and other places like AllParts.
Hi!! You forgot to mention the label of the replicas brass posts and thumbweels. Are they made by Faber? I can’t find any info
Philadelphia Luthiery online. Here's the completelist:
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources:
www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
SDPickups thank you so much for the answer. I have a 2018 R7, bought it new, completely stock. The tailpiece studs are longer than the usuals, later i’ll send you a pic, maybe Gibson came back to the original specs in the past two years? I’ve also tried to put a magnet over the thumbwheels and posts and they didn’t being attracted...maybe are they brass? What you think about? Thank you very much sir.
Sounds cleaner with the vintage
I found your page through a comment you made on Johan Segeborn's post about 50's bridges vs a 2008 custom shop...Anyway. I have a '71 -'73 Goldtop Deluxe and it has the old Gibson Pat No bridge with brass saddles. Likely not a 50's but obviously better than the newer ABR 1 by Gibson. Unfortunately the original bridge is a bit collapsed so I got an "old" (70's) Gibson ABR 1 off Reverb to replace it but I noticed right away the difference in the saddles and the tone. Since the original bridge isn't usable do you think it would help if I at least take the original brass saddles off and swap them out on the newer bridge?
I firmly believe a collapsed bridge and be fixed. All you would need to do is get two hardwood blocks and put them over the ABR1 casting (take all the screws and saddles OUT first). Put it all into a big vise and start cranking it down to flatten the casting. It should work fine, as basically its a piece of pot metal. It'll either work or it will crack in half. Worth a try.
In the interest of making new parts for my Gibson bridge is there any chance you can supply me with precise measurements of the sadles and screws? I have a small machine shop in which i usualy make watch parts so making these would be posible on my machines. Thank you
Email me from my website www.sdpickups.com
I can really hear a huge diference thanks! , fantastic videos, love them.
One question ¿What about the bridge bushings, What material should they be?
Vintage LP's didn't have bushings, if you mean anchors. They go straight into the wood, with threaded brass posts.
Do you have any links to the closest saddles that match the true vintage specs.
No one makes them. They obviously were cast brass, cut to size on a mill saw. Only thing you can do is keep searching for vintage ones that are underpriced. Second best would be look for a Patent ABR1 that has THOSE saddles. They are transitional and have the big fat saddles on them, I've seen quite a few like that but haven't bought one.
You can also just fit the oversized ones with a file. Like a gunsmith would. Fairly simple process.
Would these improvements back to original specs also work in a Gibson ES 335 Memphis Dot?
ABSOLUTELY! They used the same ABR1's, same tailpieces, thumbwheels and posts.
Just got the 4 uncles bridge . Swapped the faber out . I found the difference huge, this is more influential to your guitar than anything else. I don’t think the faber is close , tail piece is great though .
I think the Faber tailpiece might be alot darker sounding than the originals. I bought two of them that aren't plated but have yet to try it out. What are they like?
They are very light 27g. I am less experienced with tail piece comparisons, only had a Nashville to compare it to. I wouldn’t really know if it’s dark sounding. If there is anything better I’m happy to put it on to go with the 4 uncles. I’m just floored by the 4 uncles bridge. I don’t think the demos really shows the full story. The guitar becomes so much more resonant. People need to understand this.
When you do the little chord progression around 16:00 you can clearly hear that the replacement hardware produces more low midrange and fundamental frequencies. It sounds a little bit closer to an acoustic guitar whereas the stock hardware sounds like strings on a brick.
Good phrase, "strings on a brick" LOL.
They made them more peaked and sharper to get them to intonate better. The g string wouldn’t always go back far enough with the flatter/wider saddles
They are just so awful. The saddles are cheap pot metal. Nobody wants them. So just about every company copies THOSE instead of the great sounding ones. Its how they operate all the time pretty much.
Hi Dave, I've got a question. Which is better for tone and/or sustain; ABR or a wraparound? Seriously why Gibson don’t use more wraparounds - apart from intonation ‘issues’ (for a few folks)??
Thats not something of interest to me. My only interest was finding out why vintage Les Pauls sound the way they do, which means the pickups and the hardware for the PAF equipped Les Pauls. Wraparound tailpieces only were for the P90 era guitars. And again, a modern wraparound and a vintage one aren't going to sound the same. I did all the reverse-engineering on vintage ABR1 bridges for the Four Uncle ABR1 replicas. It was two years of hell. Sadly they aren't being produced anymore, they were the ONLY accurrate ones ever made.
@@SDPickupsThanks for the reply! Maybe you should consider selling the IP for the Uncle replicas to a bigger company, like Schaller or Gibson? You’d make ton of money I’d guess 😁
I don't want anything to do with Gibby corporate. They are, and always have been thieves of intellectual property, and their advertising people are incredibly dishonest hypesters. I don't own the molds, the 3 Uncles paid those bills, not me. I just did the reverse-engineering for FREE for 2 years, because I've always hated that none of these companies EVER made any attempt to reproduce them. The molds wont get anyone anywhere, its the materials technology that put them up there as the best ever made, except for vintage originals, of course. Its not about the "saddles," its not about the molds, its everything, much thats still kept secret.
Great video. I was curious if you know what type of hardware is on the 2015 True Historics? Are they different from your 2014 historic?
Yes, they are now using the right braid wire, brass wheels and posts, I think the tailpiece studs are vintage long and anchors too, but not positive. Their ABR1 still sucks, fake bee caps, room for improvement, but better for sure.
So where do we get authentic repro bridge parts ? Please thank you Makes sence to me
Nowhere. You can't find modern saddles like the old ones, and modern adjuster screws won't fit old bridges either. SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE THESE DARN BRIDGES THE RIGHT WAY, I KEEP WAITING, BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.
Incredible, especially how the sound of the old-school parts has more of a pleasant "compression" going on, without that "quack" in the hi-mids that has afflicted my les paul for ages. It's like all the strings are a lot more even. What do you think of top-wrapping the tailpiece? Thanks for sharing this video series!
I worked with 3 guys in Belgium and did the reverse-engineering work in destroying one of my vintage ABR1's to find the REAL metals content that was used. Its called the Four Uncles ABR1 replica bridge and sounds like the originals. None of the others out there do that. You can buy them here, but they only make a few every month or other month:
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071770557105
Also did a video demo on my channel, look it up.
Hi Dave, you're the best ever, really...
After this series of wonderful videos, i am proceeding to modify my explorer. Can you confirm that to convert the bridge from Nashville to abr1 I have to remove the bushing, create a mahogany plug, insert it into the holes with a little glue (titebond???), create a correct inch thread for the Philadelphia luthier brass screws in the inserted caps? when to go deep with the thread? Do the screws have to rest at the bottom? Regards
Yes, basically thats what you have to do. The tailpiece insert anchors are something you should have a pro install, because your guitar's ground wire is connected to one of the inserts. Probably best idea is to leave Gibson's anchors in there, but buy a long bolt from Philadelphia Luthiery and see if it will fit in there. Just make sure the anchors are steel and not pot metal or brass, Gibson uses weird stuff depending on what year the guitar is.
9:26 shows the box end of what looks to be about a 5/16" box end, and then to test the brass post, the open end of the same wrench.. that in itself will have a different tone. Irrelevant test as the testing tapping tool was different. The brass end sure sounded different, but how much was due to the different wrench end being used?
The difference is obvious in playing the guitar. I was surprised the brass ones sounded brighter that way, but never harsh like the stainless ones.
@@SDPickups I believe you. Mainly showing you that we are paying attention to detail in your videos :) I recently put an aluminum tailpeice on a LP copy that I assembled from cheap parts. It has just a maple veneer, and a two peice mahogany body, so probably more like a Jr in tone, however, with a decent set of alnicoII pickups and a good setup it is actualy a very great sounding guitar! Thanks for all the info in your videos, it's great!
What happens if you file down each saddle top of the modern saddles, make the string/ contact surface wider, more like the vintage
Wouldn't work, you'd end up with the strings being too low, you would lose height, and they would still be sitting on the wrong zinc alloy, and the brass alloy is still wrong on the Gibby bridge.
Hi Thanks for this important information also taking the time to share your knowledge with us.
I would appreciate if you can tell us we’re we can buy these parts:
1) The AB1 bridge complete
2) if we have a VOS Gibson AB1 can we only replace the Saddles to brass? We’re do we get these? what kind do we need I looked at Faber Guitar but they have different kinds so I don’t buy the wrong ones? Also the brass studs?
3) the Tail piece and inserts?
Also what if the Studs in my guitar is not screwed directly in the body on my LP but into steel inserts? Using the Brass studs will help?
4) Do you recommend changing also if I have a Custom Shop ES -335 the saddles , studs and inserts?
Thanks again I’m a big fan of your work and I’m saving to purchase a few of your PU soon. 🙏👏
If you have anchors for your bridge you have to pull them out, plug with hardwood and tap and drill for the correct brass posts. Here's all the other parts I used:
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources:
www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
SDPickups wow! Thanks for taking the time to reply with all this wonderful knowledge. 🙏🙏🙏🎸🎸
By the way I use RS Guitarworks Pots they are incredible
Which Les Pauls or Epiphone used screw in bridge posts? All I’m finding are pressed in bridge posts.
Thank you for your videos.
Unfortunately good old Gibson are using the cheap Chibson-style bridges on all their Les Pauls under about $3000. I can't believe they are doing such a cheap atrocity like that. I don't know of any Epiphones that use ABR1 bridges except for the Elitists, of which I have 6 of those guitars. Then the problem with that is they are metric hardware guitars, and you cant find brass metric bridge posts from anywhere that I've seen. I had to make my own on my metals lathe and set the die to open wider to make a fatter brass post. A pain in the butt, but so worth it. The older Les Pauls, like one used in these four episodes DID have an ABR1 post set, easily replaced by Philadelphia Luthiery parts in these videos. As you will see in the videos, the Gibson posts were stainless steel posts and steel thumbwheels, which makes for a nice HARSH tone. With the anchored Chibby bridges you have to pull the anchors out, plug them with hardwood dowels you make yourself, then drill holes to thread brass posts into. I have an Amos Flying V I have to do that to, pain in the butt.....
Thx for the info. Plugging and installing the posts will make for a great video, can’t wait to see it.
Is there a recipe somewhere of all the parts you recommend?
Closest you can get are these:
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources:
www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
@@SDPickups kluson sell IT the studs tail pieces in brass (is possible that no are the right side, but is the right material. Am I wrong?) www.kluson.com/stop-tailpieces.html
Really fascinating stuff. Just wondering do you need to file slots in the brass saddles on the faber bridge? I see that they come with notches but are these notches ok for position?
You don't HAVE to, but its a good idea. I do. Stew Mac has fret files that work real well for that. You have to remember to angle the slots back towards the rear of the guitar or they buzz, though. I also run the saddles all the way in both directions to help them seat really well also so they don't buzz
@@SDPickups That's a good idea. Thank you for your reply.
Interesting point about the strings ,I've only ever bought slinky Does anyone make vintage-style strings ?
yes, there was a guy with a business called Snake Oil strings. He had a ton of information on the history of guitar strings and how they were made, and he sold his own brand. Sadly he got too many orders and couldn't keep up and the forum guys did their best to destroy him. I only tried them once and don't remember what they were like. Back in my 20's the first slinkys came out, everybody started using them, they were 8 gauge. Before that it was just Black Diamond strings 13 gauge. Michael Bloomfield used those exclusively. I hated them, they severely bowed my cheap Japanese guitar neck.
Will I get a similar result with a brass roller bridge? I'm going to try it and see? My Gibson SG sounds or feels shrill and edgy.
I would think so. The harshness largely comes from steel wheels and bridge posts, and junk bridges. I have an Elitist SG, better than most Gibsons, I put brass wheels and posts, aluminum tailpiece, and a Faber ABRM on it, and rewired it exactly the way they were with the tiny ceramic caps. You can look thru my videos and hear what that sounds like, I really like that guitar.
@@SDPickups I will take a look. Thx for the good oil!!
Will the vintage long steel stud bolts fit direct into the stock studs ?
Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. Just buy a pair and see if they fit your guitar. Changing the anchors is not for a DYI guy, your guitar's grounding is in one of the anchors and you can really ruin your guitar if not done right. Long vintage bolts and short anchors are fine, not much difference. Thanks for the question.
@@SDPickups thanks bro this is fascinating stuff. Im totally into this quest I have two guitars atm one is bright clear tight and powerful and one is dull flabby and loose this is unplugged of course. If I flick the bridges my finger confirms this the good bridge goes ping and the dull bridge is a bit dead. But also if i flick the wood of the body it also has the same effect one is alive one is dead. Im gona try get the dead one to sound more alive but think the wood is playing a big part. My thinking is i would like something inbetween the two but closer to the good sounding guitar but its just a bit too hard and bright. Would like the Same clarity of the good sounding guitar but just slighly softer in texture. Oh yes and the dull guitar is also acoustically lower in volume. Your videos have got me thinking !!! Great Work Sir and tks again. The good guitar is a 2000 abr the dull is a 2003 Nashville I havnt but your mods in yet they in the post put gona mod it like you say to the dull one first and see how much closer it gets to the already better sounding guitar....
So for the Faber replacement bridge you didn't upgrade the saddles to the vintage style brass? Does anyone make the vintage brass saddles?
Fabers DO have brass saddles, they are nickel plated and so were the original ABR1 brass saddles. But the Faber saddles are not like vintage saddles. No one makes vintage saddles, NO ONE. But, wait a year and.....
I have question about the position of the position of the 6th and 1st strings on the saddles, I have seen on Stewmac that it should be just towards the outside of the bridge pickup poles but I see here that it’s not this way, Is there anywhere I can find the what’s the best position for the 6th and 1st string on the saddles ?
Traditionally the saddles were not pre-notched. With our Four Uncles bridges, they are not notched, so you just slide the two E strings to center on each of the saddles, then mark it and put your notches there. Same on the other strings as well.
@@SDPickups thanks for answering so quickly, what’s the price of your bridges, I have a Les Paul here with a Bigsby, same bridge?
The vintage saddles are worn down from years of hands rubbing on them. I've had newer saddles that have been played alot that looked like the vintage. The vintage were more pointed when new.
No, sorry, I have NOS saddles and they are very rounded on ALL sides and top. They were cast and tumble finished with steel media which rounds all edges. The bottoms of the saddles are protected from hands, but they look worn and rounded, but its just how they were cast.
I’m sure Gibson COULD make an actual 100% true to original Les Paul burst with all the same original building techniques, woods, parts, metals, materials, etc… but they’d probably want at least $20,000 to do so lmao
They would have to hire me and guys like Bartlett and Steve Hague. Problem with that is they would never hire a 74 year old man like and frankly I would never want to work there, where CEO's prefer to use low bidder parts to save money, and the guys who DO make very realistic sounding Les Pauls, wouldn't share any of their secrets either. A few years ago they were voted the worst place to work in AMERICA, by their OWN employees. Buy a Heritage Les Paul, those are THE guys who built all the originals, buy from Japanese companies, in Japan, QUALITY is the soul of Japan.
@@SDPickups I’ve known Gibson is overpriced… but kinda thought that was partially due to the “made in USA” markup. Didn’t realize how inexpensive some of the parts they use are and how they sell them for 200x what they actually should cost.
Part 3 coming soon? Can you please link the parts? Thank you Much!
Up NOW.
@@SDPickups Awesome Thank you!
Are the saddle posts the same with a Maestro Vibrola?
No idea, sorry.
@@SDPickups
Which materials could they possibly be made of?
@@MrJohnnyDistortion I'm not familiar with those Vibrolas, they were so cheap and ugly looking and didn't work very well, so I passed on those guitars back then. You have to look at what materials were used in terms of the year those things were made, and the level of technology of materials manufacturing that year. Its the ONE secret of all vintage pickups and guitars, and cars and airplanes too. My expertise is only in vintage PAF's, harnesses, the hardware parts. I didn't look at the woods, or finishes, or colors because I have zero knowledge of that part of the puzzles. Suffice to say that if you like those Vibrolas, go buy a vintage one, because the modern ones won't be the same sounds.
Is the faber the way to go ?
At this point in time, yes. The Faber ABRH. There is no interest in recreating the originals. I talked to one company but they blew me off.
Do you have any recommendations for tailpiece studs/posts - brass, lightweight aluminum or steel?
Here's everything:
SOME OF THESE LINKS MAY BE OUT OF DATE, BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL KNOW WHAT THEY ARE SO YOU CAN DO A LITTLE GOOGLING AND FIND THESE PARTS YOURSELF.
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/K40Y-9-015-uF-400v-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK/224177516602?hash=item343205703a:g:WogAAOSwySlaPV8b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
Great info! Also what is the intro song? I’m in love with that riff.
I don't know what the song is. Its from the UA-cam music library of free songs that have no copyright problems.
My god the acoustic test was stunning. So a question, for someone on a budget with an Epi LP, what would you start with if you could only replace on item at a time?
The most important would be the brass thumbwheels and brass bridge posts and the Faber ABRM bridge, because those are metric guitars. Metric bridge posts in brass aren't being sold that I know of but you can go to McMaster Carr and order threaded brass stock in 4M thread I think it is. And of course replace the entire harness as well. Search thru my videos, I have a two part harness tutorial of converting a Metric Epi LP, everything you need to know, but I do NOT use the Angela copper foil caps anymore, they just went bad. I use the Mojo Vitamin T 600 volt .022uf PIO now.
@@SDPickups so I need to change the posts that go down into the guitar that the thumbscrews go into because the Epi ones are at least 2x wider. I used a roller bridge with brass wheels to try to closer replicate the angle you proved the original saddles had.
Hi Sir , Do you have a site or a fb page . I am wanting to get my 2007 Gibson SG to sound as vintage as possible . I want to get proper hardware , vintage style pick ups (it has 490r &498t YUCK!). It all ready has a bone nut . Whenever I hear vintage Gibson's compared to the modern gibson's its always the same story . The vintage has more clarity IMO , not warmth but just clarity to the strings . Modern stuff is muddy . It's like they want to keep the people fooled so the vintage market don't tank . The try and say "the wood was SO much better and thats the reason" . I don't buy that . I always thought the hardware was the first element of the tone . Hardware/nut >Pick ups/wiring> woods . Your videos are very informative . Thanks
The woods do make a difference. But the original hardware materials complement the woods, so that still works in our times. I do think they had better woods back then, but doing these changes still wakes your guitar up and puts it closer to those old tones.
So what changed on the patent numberd bridges that started in 65 through the ealry 70s? Ive been seeing a few with the early profiled saddles. Would those ones also work?
The saddles changed to pot metal and tall and pointy, no more brass, they don't have the warmth the originals with brass saddles do. Yes a Patent with the old brass saddles are very good.
@@SDPickups One of, if not the main reason for these and other changes was the buyout of Gibson by the Norlin corporation.
Modern bridges still collapse just the same. Its not rare at all. I have a 06 Nashville that collapsed.
Have never actually heard of one collapsing myself, not back in the 60's or now. We had 13 gauge strings back then, no light strings at all, so I could see that happening then, just never heard of it happening to any of my friends though. Light gauge strings actually sound better, saw proof of that in a recording studio demo here on UA-cam couple weeks ago. Around '72 or so we suddenly got slinky strings from Ernie Ball, EIGHT GAUGE STRINGS. Everybody used them then, Hendrix, Page, you name it. Years ago I did some research on Jimmy Page's tones, and what I was hearing was 8 gauge strings, so bought a nickel set and revisited my past with them. Unbelievably they were on one of my LP's for almost a year and never broke a string. Really liked them too. Gibbons uses 7 gauge strings!
I've always wonder if those nylon nuts on the originals made any difference. What´s gisson using nowadays for nuts?
Nylon. A slightly different blend tho.
I don't know, they keep changing things every other year etc. It really only affects the open strings, but then sometimes it actually could affect the sound of the entire guitar, too. Everything is connected to everything else, so mysterious things happen. I found out last year that radically changing the value of the bridge pot also affected the neck pickup. Its not supposed to do that but it DOES ;-)
Hi Dave, I hope that you're fine. What do you think of the Faber stop tailpiece ? The Kluson is better ?
Thanks !
The Faber is warmer sounding than the originals and warmer sounding than the Klusons. So far no one has nailed the true sound of the vintage tailpieces. Most likely it boils down to there being low quality crude aluminum being used back then. 4 Uncles is thinking about making a true replica but for now its too expensive to do that. The worst ones are the Gotoh, they are really dark sounding. Then there's the ones from the 70's that were made of pot metal and weigh A TON.
@@SDPickups The Gibson Les Paul Classics from 1991-2007 have aluminum stop bars and have the ABR-1 like yours steel screws and wheels but at least they weren't the big bushing style. I have owned three of these guitars and they are my favorite les Pauls under $3000. The newer classics changed to a bushing screw for the bridge but still call it an ABR-1. I was considering ordering solid brass saddles for my 1991 classic ABR-1.
Hello Dave. Love your videos. Might sound stupid, but how do you change the wheel post. Is there no risk of damage the hole?
No risk of damage, get the posts from Philadelphia Luthiery. Search thru UA-cam on how to do it. Basically you put two thumbwheels on the post, tighten them against each other and unscrew the post slowly. I use a 6-32 nut under the two wheels so they all lock together best, and use a small wrench on the nut under the two wheels and then unscrew the post. Before I do that, I put a piece of paper up against the post and mark how tall the post is before removing it. Reverse the method with nut on top of the two wheels and then screw the new post in until the post goes in to the same height. Usually you will feel the post stop and bottom out, but some holes may be deeper than the post. Hard to explain, just search the internet and youtube to see how to do it.
Get work. Just saw that philadeplhia luthier tools doesn´t have a metric thumbwheel post, just imperial. The holes in te guitar are a bit larger in the metric.
You can buy brass threaded rod in metric 4M size from McMaster-Carr and other places, just have to cut it to size yourself. I have 6 Elitists with metric posts so they are slightly larger than 4M (please check that size, am quoting from memory here). So, I have a metal lathe and bought a die to thread brass rod myself, was fairly easy to do, just had to open up the die spacing a bit and it worked.
@@SDPickups Godd advice. Just found them in some stores locally. Thank you.
Hi great vids. where is part 3?
Its there now.
Love these videos, thanks for taking me down the rabbit hole. Question, I have a 2010 Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro with Nashville TOM bridge. Would you still go with the Faber conversion (TOM to ABR), or would you go for a full blown conversion by removing the existing bushings, inserting custom made dowels, and drilling new holes? Thank you.
Plug and drill. I have an Amos Flying V I need to do that myself, MUST DO.
So are the 60s abr1 made from hard or the soft zamak and is there a difference in tone from nickel to gold plating ?
I have to keep that to myself for now....stay tuned though. No difference between gold and nickel plating, tonewise.
In this video he say's it's the soft Zamak which tends to bend. But that's a secret ;)
I can’t find part three of the videos. Maybe I just missed it.
ua-cam.com/video/Vl8c3NCnTNw/v-deo.html
Concerning vintage spec builds/marketing I really think the problem with Gibson these days are two-fold;
#1 Profit over accuracy. They may not even have the expertise to tell the difference between vintage verses modern materials.
#2 While I'm sure there are many talented and experienced Luthiers/Engineers at Gibson I have to wonder if they are of the mind-set that every Les Paul buyer wants to sound like Slash running through a high gain amplifier.
Just saying, it even seems to me that every company demo of their instruments is usually just jamming away through your typical high gain amplifier.
I really miss the days Les Paul himself was involved with guitar development. While he was far from perfect he had a lot more insight than the current people involved with instrument design.
Also, i have seen some real 1959 ABR-1 bridges that actually have some of its saddles with the pointy top peak,like both of my Historic les pauls, a 2018 R0 and 2019 60th Anniversary R9, as well as the Historic bridge you showed,but the last 2 saddles are fat like you showed, strange.I wonder if its maby the strings maby rubbing the tops of the saddles maby during string changes,or maby even palm muting? Or the palm of your hand rubbing the tops of the saddles that cause the fatter ones? This is an awsome video
Yes, you often see the saddles on the bass side with the saddles worn down from hand contact. The modern ones though, are just TOO pointy and tops too skinny.
Did you use the Faber bridge in the demo or the vintage Gibson abr-1?
Faber ABRH
Do you rate Kluson bridges? (With brass saddles)
I haven't tried the Klusons, and quite frankly, I bought a bunch of ABR1's, claiming to be vintage correct, but on close examination, they were ALL made by the same company and were all identical. And they all pretty much sucked. I've look at Tonepro's but it definitely is NOT a true to life replica, and there just are NO true replicas being made.
What about MojoAxe ? Do you have any opinions on these ? Thanks
Hi Steve ,was hoping you’d show us a supplier for correct hardware ,I have a 2016 CS 58 ,and as you I feel this would be a good add.Any help with sourcing vintage correct??
I've posted it several times in comments, but here. you go. Some links may be outdated but you can just google to find the parts. Enjoy....
Vintage pots were always AUDIO taper, stick with that. Gibson uses linear, in their guitars which is WRONG. I don't know which Gibsons use long or short shaft pots, thats up to owners to find out, so I am just giving links to what I know, most of these are short shaft but some of these companies may have long shaft as well, so take a look. Short shaft is what original Les Pauls used, later on Gibson made the control cavities larger, weight relieved the bodies and used long shaft pots, not very authentic.
StewMac CTS pots: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/CTS_Control_Pots.html
Emerson smooth taper: www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Potentiometers/Emerson_Pro_CTS_Pots.html
If you like really loose turning pots Mojo has CTS vintage taper, I have these in my SG and like them alot, but they are VERY loose turning, some may not like that.
www.mojotone.com/guitar-parts/CTS/Mojotone-Vintage-Taper-CTS-500K-Short-Split-Shaft-Guitar-Potentiometer#.VgNcmGRVhBc
Basically you want to try to get 550K for the neck position, REMEMBER YOU WANT AUDIO TAPER NOT LINEAR TAPER, ALL SHOULD BE AUDIO TAPER. Then 500K for bridge. Look for vintage taper and stick with CTS pots, Alpha pots and Bourns are cheap junk. I do my own CTS pots for neck by shaving the tracks, its a pain in the butt to do but worth the gains.
For tone caps you want this for bridge: Del Ritmo Vitamin Q .022uf You have to search around for these, I don’t know where they are made, not in the USA, I used to recommend the Jensen coppoer foil but lately their tolerances have slipped too much. Ebay has them but check locally in your own country for other sources:
www.ebay.com/itm/DEL-RITMO-Vitamin-Q-Black-Candy-Chiclet-Shaped-022uf-Tone-Cap-for-Guitar-/351785366586?hash=item51e80ab43a:g:sm0AAOSwARZXip4j
MOJO VITAMIN T .022UF ARE GREAT TONE CAPS FOR BRIDGE: I like these alot for bridge
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Capacitors_1/Mojotone-Vitamin-T-Oil-Filled-022uF-600V
This for neck:
www.ebay.com/itm/015-uf-Vintage-Russian-Paper-in-Oil-Capacitor-K40Y-9-LP-335-SG-NEW-OLD-STOCK-/221635091787?hash=item339a7b1d4b
Mojo has the bus wire:
www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amplifier-wire/18-Ga-Solid-Tinned-Copper-Bus-Wire
Recently Gavitt has been making really nice vintage replica braided wire for the wiring, there are many resellers of this wire and its what I am using on my pickups now. Ebay has several sellers, again check around to see who carries nearest you:
www.ebay.com/itm/Gavitt-Guitar-Wire-22AWG-w-Vintage-2-strand-Exterior-Braided-Shield-6-Feet-/222281031641?hash=item33c0fb5fd9:m:mTA1qzBhZ-Jot8uVQ25JN0A
Gibson has been using the wrong braided wire for years, vintage braid wire had the outer braid wire, then inner black cloth, and THEN A WHITE CELANESE layer, then the core wire. Gibson has been using only the black cloth and no Celanese, so the capacitance is too high and clarity is lost.
Thats all you need and you're done.
This video shows how the wiring is to be done:
ua-cam.com/video/f71ewsDLv08/v-deo.html
You want to measure the pots when they come in, put the two highest reading ones in the neck and lowest reading ones in the bridge.
HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET CLOSE TO WHAT VINTAGE LES PAULS HAD ON THEM:
Faber ABRH bridge, these are the closest I could find to vintage, but the sad truth is that NO ONE makes an actual accurate replica, so if you want vintage ABR1 bridge tone you have to buy an original with brass saddles dated '63 or earlier.
www.faberusa.com/product-category/faber-bridges/faber-abr-59-bridges/faber-abrh-bridges/
Brass thumbwheels 6-32 in correct brass alloy:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheels-with-fine-knurling-fits-usa-gibson-nickel/
Brass posts:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/brass-abr-1-bridge-thumbwheel-posts-for-usa-gibson-nickel/
Vintage length long stud bolts in steel:
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/replacement-nickel-tailpiece-mounting-studs-vintage-length-1-1-2-overall/
Vintage length stud bolt anchors in steel:
Unfortunately no one is making these correctly at this time.
Kluson aluminum lightweight stop bar-don't use their bolts they are short modern, use the long vintage bolts above and use the long anchors, those are correct vintage lengths and will give you more sustain:
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USA-Made-Kluson-Vintage-Lightweight-Aluminum-Stop-Bar-Tailpiece-Nickel-/271541372447?hash=item3f3920861f:g:o48AAOxyx0JTiXbr
Thanks Steve