I love Squier and Epiphone guitars!
Compared to the days when I was starting out playing guitar, entry level guitars are now so much better. My first 6-string electric was an Avon Les Paul copy, now regarded by some as collectors items if you believe the sellers, but not by me! This was the late 70s, the time when upgrading was invented. Brass hardware was all the rage and DiMarzio hit the scene with their "Super Distortion" humbuckers. Well I fitted a pair and a set of Schaller tuners and my Avon rocked!
Today's entry-level guitars come with far better hardware, but there comes a time when either the original equipment is getting tired or you just want to squeeze that extra mile out of your guitar. It's time to upgrade!
I can fit just about any new hardware to your guitar, from tuners to bridges and just about anything else.
Heavy duty neck kit
The owner of this Nash Stratocaster wanted the added benefits of my heavy duty neck kit. The main reason for this is that the owner likes a very precise action but due to changes in humidity found that he often had to adjust the truss rod which of course requires removing the neck. Using this neck fitting makes the job much easier with no risk of wear in the neck wood. Although the fat neck of this guitar contributes to a great sound, the neck kit improves this even more.
Fitting is a quick process and can be completed in under an hour. You can see in the main photo how well the machine screws fit the thick stainless steel plate.
Hohner headless bass
A customer came to me with a Hohner headless bass, the jack socket of which was constantly working loose. It had been replaced several times with no improvement. My solution was to fit a Stratocaster-style jack socket which now performs marvellously when gigging.
Here's a close-up of the new jack socket. You can see how neat it now is. As an added extra, the lead is now in a perfect position to loop up and over the strap button!
Hipshot Tremsetter
If you have a guitar with a floating tremolo like a Fender Stratocaster or a Floyd-Rose equipped guitar, and you find it constantly going out of tune when you use whammy then you need a Hipshot Tremsetter! I have fitted a number of these to customer's guitars and they have been amazed at the difference it has made to the tuning stability of their guitars!
A regular customer of mine was having trouble with his Floyd-Rose. He'd bought two different RG-series Ibanez guitars and neither was staying in tune whenever he did any serious whammy bar gymnastics. Once I had fitted this Hipshot Tremsetter to his guitar, the tremolo returned to correct pitch every time.
Epiphone Sheraton
This Epiphone Sheraton here underwent the ultimate upgrade! Every piece of hardware was replaced with the very best quality parts:
- Gold plated Gibson 57 Classic Humbuckers - simply the best in my opinion, as fitted to Gibson's top guitars including the ES-335 and historic Les Paul reissues
- Gold plated Grover Rotomatic tuners - solid, positive action and no extra holes required!
- Gold plated Gibson ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece for a crisp sound
- Gibson potentiometers
- gold anodised position markers
- Gold plated Switchcraft leaf switch with vintage amber knob
- Gold plated Switchcraft jack socket
- Bone nut
- Gold plated Strap Buttons
- Gibson "reflector" control knobs
As a result the guitar sounded wonderful, as you'd expect.
One thing I get asked a lot is how I fitted the bridge, as the post spacing is wider on the Sheraton.
The answer is that I made adapter posts, slightly offset to cope with the difference in spacing. The lower half was M8x1.25 metric threaded and the upper part was 6-32 UNC for the Gibson ABR-1 bridge. The easiest way to make these is to use 8mm threaded bar cut to length, then drill and tap to accept the ABR-1 threaded posts.
Stainless steel neck fixing kits now available!