new parts and pick-up for SX thinline tele?

[hellopain]

hey guys!

i'm planning to replace the tuners and neck pick-up on my sx thinline tele and i'm looking at guitarfetish.com for the supplies. i want a soapbar p-90 or a mini humbucker but not sure if they'll fit the routing. and i have no idea which tuners will fit, either. so any suggestions/knowledge will be appreciated!

thanks in advance! cheers and happy new year!

[Loudog99]

Are the thinlines routed for a P90 in the neck- my Ash STL is. If it isn't, you'll have to route it out yourself, it's pretty easy to do with a handrill and a nice sharp chisel. You'll get folks telling you that a router is a must, but it isn't.

As for the tuners, I just put Wilkinson Kluson copies and the conversion bushings from GFS on my Ash STL and they were a perfect fit. You'll need to plug the existing screw holes and then drill new ones to accomadate the new tuners. Also, the Wilkinson EZ locks regular, and mini's, as well as the Gotoh copies are all direct drop-ins. These are all available from GFS.

Lou

[hellopain]

quick question: will the (upgrade) highway one tuners (ping) fit the SX thinline?

[musicalmartin]

My SX Thinline has a slightly thicker headstock than a Fender or other SX's .My tuners work OK stock but the nut was sticky .I put a P90 in mine .The pickup fits but of course the pickguard needs modifying .I hacked mine out .its a good conversion .The P90 works well .I put a 500K tone pot as well but left the volume at 250 .I upgraded switches and pots to CTS.

[JDRNoPro]

I've had 5 SX's and agree with the suggestions made. The Kluson copies are very good but you may have to slightly enlage headstock holes for the conversion bushings. With a properly cut & lubed nut, I've found stock tuners hold fine. Wind them quite a bit with a string winder to "break them in" and they are a lot smoother.

I'd also recommend getting the GFS saddles for around $13 - an excellent upgrade!

[Loudog99]

Agree with the stainless steel saddles. They are awesome and a bargain at $12.00. Both my SX guitars have GFS parts; tuners, string trees, saddles, pickups, full size pots (my SST has CTS Pots), orange drop caps, pickguards. They also both sport Tusq pre-cut nuts and they are an easy install with only minor sanding of the edges needed since the string spacing is 1-5/8" as opposed to the nuts being 1-11/16".

Lou

[cowardm]

You can probably find a single-coil sized p90. I know I've seen a P90 sized Tele bridge (it was ceramic). You bought your Tele because you wanted a Tele. Are you sure you want to deviate?

On the bridge, you should find the differences between brass and steel and see which you prefer. I chose brass myself.

Assuming they use traditional tuner holes, plenty of brands make Tele replacement tuners. Just make sure they will fight the height and width of your holes.

[hellopain]

hey guys! if you don't mind, can you please send a link to the gfs saddles and tuners you've recommended? would really appreciate it! thanks!

[capt pearl]

couple more neck pickup thoughts from the GFS skunk worx.
1- Alnico Fatbody Oversized Polepiece Tele Neck Pickup (http://store.guitarfetish.com/alfaovpotene.html) - these look cool. am personally tempted to go with the bridge model in either regular or spicy. Should get you some p90 goodness while not changing the overall look much.
2- GFS "Retrotron" Series(http://store.guitarfetish.com/vintagestyle.html) - think Gretch Filtertron. Reverend offers a tele with Filtertron and I'm mighty intrigued.

I agree with the plan: good cheap guitar, better tuners (personally, I also just like the "vintage" look better), and a more personalized neck pickup - p90, mini-humbucker, or Filtertron

best,

-capt p

[hellopain]

Originally Posted by capt pearl

couple more neck pickup thoughts from the GFS skunk worx.
1- Alnico Fatbody Oversized Polepiece Tele Neck Pickup (http://store.guitarfetish.com/alfaovpotene.html) - these look cool. am personally tempted to go with the bridge model in either regular or spicy. Should get you some p90 goodness while not changing the overall look much.
2- GFS "Retrotron" Series(http://store.guitarfetish.com/vintagestyle.html) - think Gretch Filtertron. Reverend offers a tele with Filtertron and I'm mighty intrigued.

I agree with the plan: good cheap guitar, better tuners (personally, I also just like the "vintage" look better), and a more personalized neck pickup - p90, mini-humbucker, or Filtertron

best,

-capt p

thanks! for a while i was looking really hard at the gfs site for possible neck pickups but i've decided to put the pickups on my hwy1 on the sx guitar instead (bought a nocaster set for the hwy1). if it sounds nice, i might stick with the new plan.

here are the current tuners on the sx thinline:





i want kluson-type tuners, are they a direct fit? and will any holes be visible?

thanks again guys!

[TNO]

To put kluson-types on it you need the 10.5mm bushings from StewMac. The screw holes might be visible but won't look too bad. If you like you can fill the old screw holes by gluing in toothpicks with a tiny bit of super glue. Trim them flush with a razor blade and touch up with clear nail polish.

[musicmatty]

[QUOTE=musicalmartin;2274472]My SX Thinline has a slightly thicker headstock than a Fender or other SX's .My tuners work OK stock but the nut was sticky .I put a P90 in mine .The pickup fits but of course the pickguard needs modifying .I hacked mine out .its a good conversion .The P90 works well .I put a 500K tone pot as well but left the volume at 250 .I upgraded switches and pots to CTS.[/QUO

************************************************** *******

I believe that the SX thinlines already have 500K pots in them..mine did.

[hellopain]

my 200th post!

well, after over a year i'm almost done with it:





willl be replacing the bridge saddles and bridge pick-up soon then that's it..

[Jim Dep]

Wow!! That's a beauty !!!

The headstock is great!! ALL GOOD !!

[hellopain]

Originally Posted by Jim Dep

Wow!! That's a beauty !!!

The headstock is great!! ALL GOOD !!

thank you very much sir! i am quite satisfied with the outcome myself..

[Rolling Estonian]

Very nice! Congrats!

Now that's how to revive an old thread!

M

[bender66]

Originally Posted by hellopain

my 200th post!

well, after over a year i'm almost done with it:





willl be replacing the bridge saddles and bridge pick-up soon then that's it..

That looks fantastic. Nice job! Hope she plays as good as she looks.