Classic Vibe Upgrades?

[viking]

Just got home from practice , didnt even bother to try the other tele today.
The CV sounded excellent through my Classic 30 , the other guys thought so too.....Nothing needs attention on this guitar in stock condition , Im still impressed !

[GhostRider]

I'll be installing a 4 way switch, and changing the Pickguard. The stock one is a little too think, I just don't like the look of it.

Probably pup's down the road just because.

Doesn't need anything else. I've heard complaints about the jack, mine seems fine. If it needs to be replaced, it will be.

[bug music]

The nut was cut too low on mine and it was buzzing a bit on the open strings. I had a Tusq nut in the drawer, so I changed it out. The other thing I did was get rid of the foam under the neck pickup, and replaced it with springs, so I could lower the pickups a hair. Other than that a set of .10's and a bit of truss rod tweaking was all I've done to mine.

I don't have a radius gauge, but are you guy sure that it's really a 9.5 in. neck ? I know that's what the website says, but it sure feels flatter than that to me.

- Jay

[his dudeness]

feels like all my other 9.5 guitars but i don't have a gauge either. when compared to my 12" radius guitar it definitely is a lot more comfortable (i don't like em' too flat)

[Carzee]

Lawrence WildeUSA pickups arrived today from US. Now I'm waiting on some wiring and pots etc from NZ. All the parts were ordered on the same day. Mr Lawrence was very fast to the other side of the planet, infact I opened the parcel expecting to see the NZ parts. Did a double take when I saw it was the Wilde pickups. NZ is more or less interstate for me. Holiday screw up I suppose.


But I'm thinking, do I make it a Esquire and put the Lawrence neck pup into a MIM Std we have here?

[mijstrat72]

I think it feels a little flat as well.

[bug music]

Originally Posted by his dudeness

feels like all my other 9.5 guitars but i don't have a gauge either. when compared to my 12" radius guitar it definitely is a lot more comfortable (i don't like em' too flat)

Originally Posted by mijstrat72

I think it feels a little flat as well.

Agreed, it doesn't feel quite as flat as my Gretsch or any of my Gibson necks, but it feels a bit flatter (and maybe a hair wider) than my American Std. or my Indonesian Squier Tele. Not bad mind you just different, I could be wrong though.

- Jay

[Alamo]

but i don't have a gauge either,... i don't like em' too flat... I think it feels a little flat as well...Not bad mind you just different, I could be wrong though.

Here's a radius gauge to print out:

http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguar...s%20Gauges.pdf

[AngryEL34s]

Originally Posted by Alamo

Here's a radius gauge to print out:

http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguar...s%20Gauges.pdf

Awesome! That is sooo handy!

as for mods, I reversed my control plate (switch tone and vol knobs as well) and installed a 4-way switch. Other than that, just some fiddling with the saddle height and intonation, and a little truss rod tweak. It's sounding real good! Only problem is that the control cavity was a little shallow for the 4-way (it's a Fender one), so the control plate isn't screwed down tight right now. I might have to route a deeper hole.

[GhostRider]

Originally Posted by AngryEL34s

Awesome! That is sooo handy!

as for mods, I reversed my control plate (switch tone and vol knobs as well) and installed a 4-way switch. Other than that, just some fiddling with the saddle height and intonation, and a little truss rod tweak. It's sounding real good! Only problem is that the control cavity was a little shallow for the 4-way (it's a Fender one), so the control plate isn't screwed down tight right now. I might have to route a deeper hole.

Did you have any issues changing the ground on the neck pickup?

[sotob]

Originally Posted by GEISHA

I did exactly what you plan to do.
- changed the thick PG for a Fender 5 screw single ply black one.
Much better looking now.
- installed compensating saddles.
That made a valuable change
- slot screws, for the PG and control plate.
And I made a fix on the jack cup.
Can post pics this evening.

GEISHA - Did you have intonation issues and that's why you installed them? What brand did you use and do just screw the new ones in?

Thanks

[GEISHA]

Originally Posted by sotob

GEISHA - Did you have intonation issues and that's why you installed them? What brand did you use and do just screw the new ones in?

Thanks

Did you have intonation issues and that's why you installed them?
Exactly!! I had a few "little" intonation problems.

What brand did you use?
Sorry I forgot.

Just screw the new ones in?
No not like that. The thread of the compensated saddles screws were thicker than the orginal so I had to replace everything, springs included.

It was not such a big job, it took me an hour and a half to get it all right.
I must say I am satisfied with the result.

[Carzee]

Thx for those posts. xlt.

I have this morning printed out some Callaham order sheets... do I send it in? A bridge, a control plate.... if I keep the CV origianl bits I can always transfer the Callaham parts to another fav Tele down the track as we say.


post from another thread:

Before I try my shaky soldering skills and begin my education (Old School Guitar Mods 101), I will try the parts out to see if the routing is deep enough. One problem, the CV control plate has holes in metric to suit the non-US pots. You may want to file them out a little to suit US pots. (I think that right).

Rethinking my mods, I will order a us plate already loaded and remove the CV electrics/control plate/pups as a unit and keep it all as a backup.

As for rout depth, I can check that right away:

The routing is deep, it looks as though it would be dangerous to go deeper, you may go thru and make a hole in the back of the body.

Neck end of the routing (usual switch position) is 35mm deep.

Bridge end of the routing is 33mm deep.

Trying out my CRL USA 3 way i see the following:

a. The neck end of the routing is plenty deep enough, room for wiring too. There is about 2-3mm air under the switch.

b. The bridge end of the routing is too tight, room for the CRL but only just -its tight, no clearance.


Incidentally, the 4-way Oak Grigsby switch is either shorter or taller than the CRL, I forget which. For the record, I think we should note if it fits.

[Carzee]

I have ordered a Callaham Esquire loaded Control plate, 3 way, reversed positioning.

This means I will have to be real careful fitting the 3 way into the bridge end of the routing. Oh well, the order will be a while coming...

[AngryEL34s]

Originally Posted by 1nflux

Did you have any issues changing the ground on the neck pickup?

Not at all, it went really smoothly. There's some foamy stuff on the base of the neck pickup which I tore off and kept aside, the jumper on the ground is really obvious, so there's nothing to worry about in terms of cutting the wrong thing, and adding the 2nd ground wire was pretty easy too. And I'm not soldering pro either.

Here's the weird thing. In all honesty, my guitar is quieter now than it was before. I don't know how, or why, and I don't really care either, but it sounds great and hums a little bit less I find.

[xjazzy]

Later I'll post about my Esquire-zed CV

[hugo]

xjazzy, I'm just waiting on that post! Seriously, it's what I wanna do but am afraid as it's my first mod ever. I'm very excited about your post...how long you gonna make me/us wait?????

[dokter B.]

I just did some modding on the CV.
First I changed the saddles for thicker brass , compensated saddles from Rockinger.
One of the tuner screws was so loose ,it couldn't be fastened, so i put a dowel and some glue in it , later I fastened al the screws , which were all quite loose. The neck, when I took it of, was straight , no fretwobble , nowhere!!!, Those chinese people know what they are doing. The neckpocket was clean wood , no paint or stickers, luckily.
Then I changed the pickups for CS nocasters. and finally I installed dome knobs.
Finally testing: acoustic a bit more resonant, electric: it was much clearer , much more definate ( if that is a word). No icepick ,and when you roll back the tone knob the tone gets warmer , not muddier. Awesome.
Total cost of this operation:
€ 320 guitar , €105 nocasters, €17 saddles , € 8 knobs. Result : top notch guitar, top sound , and the fun is : is it really just a squier?

[Carzee]

Originally Posted by dokter B.

I just did some modding on the CV.
First I changed the saddles for thicker brass , compensated saddles from Rockinger.
One of the tuner screws was so loose ,it couldn't be fastened, so i put a dowel and some glue in it , later I fastened al the screws , which were all quite loose. The neck, when I took it of, was straight , no fretwobble , nowhere!!!, Those chinese people know what they are doing. The neckpocket was clean wood , no paint or stickers, luckily.
Then I changed the pickups for CS nocasters. and finally I installed dome knobs.
Finally testing: acoustic a bit more resonant, electric: it was much clearer , much more definate ( if that is a word). No icepick ,and when you roll back the tone knob the tone gets warmer , not muddier. Awesome.
Total cost of this operation:
€ 320 guitar , €105 nocasters, €17 saddles , € 8 knobs. Result : top notch guitar, top sound , and the fun is : is it really just a squier?

Well done that man! 450 euros for a fit axe!

And if it gets scruffed up or ripped off on the road -no black arm bands, no prozac etc- just replace it.


Here is another thread regarding upgrading the CV saddles/bridges:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...y-cv-tele.html

[Steve G]

Great to hear about all these upgrades but I can honestly say in my opinion the CV is great as it is. Oh, except I changed my PG to white!