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pickup install

Mini to full size humbucker conversion :: 2012 Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute [9.0 lbs]

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Mini to full size humbucker conversion :: 2012 Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute [9.0 lbs]

A local player wasn't digging these mini humbuckers and wanted to install full size humbuckers in his Gibson 1970's Tribute Les Paul Studio.  This involves enlarging both pickup cavities with a router.  I used a straightedge to guide my cuts.

Next is installing corner blocks in order to mount the pickup rings.

The player supplied a Gibson PAF for the neck and a WCR Icebreaker for the bridge.  New cream pickup rings were fit to the top before the pickups could be mounted.  Making the solder connections at the pots finished off the mini to full size humbucker conversion.

I used this video from the Youtube channel of Paoson WoodWorking for inspiration on this project.

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LR Baggs Anthem conversion :: 2015 Taylor 814CE [4.9 lbs]

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LR Baggs Anthem conversion :: 2015 Taylor 814CE [4.9 lbs]

A local player was not digging the stock Expression System 2 pickup in his Taylor (pictured above) so he wanted to swap it out for a LR Baggs Anthem.

A common complaint of active acoustic pickups is having to change the battery, usually done through the soundhole.  Players know that everytime the sound guy is troubleshooting an issue with you, he's going to make you check your battery (or outright replace it).  It only makes sense in this situation to take advantage of the easily-accessed tail mounted battery box.  This also means modifying the Taylor jack to work with the new LR Baggs jack.

Above is the modified Taylor battery box / end jack with the new LR Baggs connections installed.  The right angle plug is the LR Baggs jack connection and the small white clip connection is spliced into the battery box.  Zip ties are used to keep the wiring clean.

Initially I thought of plugging the Taylor's bridge pickup holes but opted to just reinstall the original pickup, though disconnected.  I wanted to give the player the option to return to the stock pickup if he ever wanted to.  The LR Baggs Anthem has an undersaddle pickup and an internal microphone.  Normally the microphone is installed on the bridge plate underneath the saddle.  The original Taylor pickup however prevents this so I installed the Baggs mic between the bridge plate and the x brace.  Placement is not critical with this mic.

Note that I really dislike the idea of three 1/4" holes running clean through the bridge, top and bridge plate.

You can see the Baggs controls mounted in the soundhole.  The Taylor upper bout controls were left installed but disconnected (again to be able to easily return to stock).

Both the player and I found the Baggs Anthem to be a great improvement to the amplified tone.  Much warmer and dynamic than the stock pickup to our ears.

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Full assembly & setup :: Warmoth Stratocaster HH [7.1 lbs]

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Full assembly & setup :: Warmoth Stratocaster HH [7.1 lbs]

The second of two Warmoth Strat's in for assembly.  This one also has a roasted maple neck (though with an ebony fingerboard) but was routed for no pickguard and humbuckers (Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II).  The guitar needed the electronics to be installed and wired up.  A request of the player was to thin down the bridge's plastic humbucker mounting ring to lower it's profile.  The Sperzel locking tuners required the blind pins to be drilled before installation.  Similar to the player's other Warmoth Strat, the saddle set screws were swapped out to account for a higher neck angle.

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K&K Devinity pickup & new frets :: 1939 Gibson L-7 [5.5 lbs]

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K&K Devinity pickup & new frets :: 1939 Gibson L-7 [5.5 lbs]

A big and beautiful 1939 L-7 archtop on the bench for a bunch of repairs.  You can see some of the work done here.  These repairs include new frets, new relic Waverly tuners, back binding repairs, side cracks and a K&K Devinity system pickup installation.  I must say that I'm not normally impressed with acoustic pickups but this newer K&K pickup sounds very warm and transparent.  I installed one of the older K&K archtop pickups in a 1940's Epiphone Emperor years ago and found it sounded very hollow and out of phase (even with correcting the phase with a preamp).  Archtops can be difficult to amplify acoustically.  After hearing this pickup I recommend that you give the K&K Devinity a try.

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