This poor axe had taken a dive and the bolt on neck had come away and stripped the screw holes. The holes were drilled out and threaded inserts were fitted to improve sustain and strength. A string was fitted in the high and low E positions to ensure alignment of the neck.
The original 'EMG 85/81' pickups and electronics had been previously removed and placed in another guitar. Graphite shielding paint has been used in the pick-up & control cavities to ensure noiseless output. Shielding foil has also been used on the control cavity covers.
A new 3 way toggle switch installed and wired to the control cavity using high quality single core screened cable, this was hard to pass through the body due to it being a lot thicker than the previous cable.
As the pickups are 'active' 250 ohm mini pots are fitted this also saves space inside the cavity but makes soldering more difficult. It is important to use good quality hook up wire for connecting the components. The capacitors turned out to be huge but really do give a great tonal variation as most stock guitars the tonal controls seem more all or nothing.
Active pickups use an inbuilt preamp and so require a 9 volt power supply and so a new battery snap must be installed. Due to the size of the guitar a standard battery snap will not reach the output jack so I have extended using hookup cable, be sure to twist the wires together and then apply a small coating of solder then tape using insulation tape to avoid shorts in the circuit.
Be sure to ground all components together from pickups, to switch, to controls, to output jack. Active pickups are internally shielded and so do not require a string ground to a bridge post or similar this is also a safer option for the player.
OK that's the wiring done time for a clean up, install some new control knobs and reattach the bridge.
The speed knobs from 'Axetec' look great and are really fast and easy to use whilst playing due to their rubber grips
I opted for some Iron gear 'Volt' active pickups rather than the original 'EMG's' to try something different and due to the great reviews they had been getting. Axetec make some great gear and at really affordable prices.
Now to string up, this guitar will used mainly for hard rock so I am opting for gauge 11 strings but setting up for concert pitch so there is a little more 'give' to the strings. This will mean a truss rod adjustment, action set up and intonation adjustment.
I chose a bridge pick-up for both positions as I have never really been happy with the balance between treble and bass on most neck pickups installed on guitars as they tend to sound too muddy especially at high gain.
This turned out to be a stroke of genius as I have never before used the neck position so much . The sound is warmer than the bridge but still with plenty of bite and balance between high and low frequencies.
There she is all finished. I have to say this turned out better than expected the 'Iron Gear' pick-ups really surprised me they are probably the best pickups I have played to date (no joke). Its not just the sound which has more clarity and definition at (especially at high gain) compared than my previously beloved 'EMG's' but the way they react to my playing. Harmonics hit you in the face and pop out with ease. They just make me play better and I can't put it down.
The 'buzz feiten' tuning system is a bit of a pain when setting up and intonating and you have to tune to all 'E's (unless you have an equipped tuner), but once it is done you really notice that certain chords sound sweeter and corrects the inherent problem with certain intervals on guitar.
If you have any guitar work you need doing contact KINETIC GUITAR today for a quote!
