Eclipse Mods?
- Thread starter BubbaVO
- Start date
I put a Pigtail tail piece and studs on mine. I also had Don Mare rewind the pickups to vintage Firebird specs. He split them for me so I get single coil tones as well. It is a great guitar. I might be selling it though, because I just got a les paul junior guitar.
I think the Eclipse is the most underated guitar on the planet.
I think the Eclipse is the most underated guitar on the planet.
crunchee
Well-known member
+1. I thought about doing a shorttail Bigsby as well but didn't. I was going to use a lefty Bigsby, so that I'd still have room for the stock controls and switch. Dunno if that'd work, though!
Mine came with a Pigtail and DiMarzio minis. It's uber cool. I bought it as a travel guitar and it just worked its way up to being number one.
Might be fun to pop a pair of P-rails in one...maybe if I see one that's already been butchered for full sized 'buckers.
-Jonathan
RecRm Rocker
New member
I had one Greggy Modded vol vol tone... All kinda options in the middle position......It went south somewhere?
Bjørn M
New member
I actually put mine up for sale (again - I've sold and rebought it once before), as it does not get too much use. When a potential buyer was here I realized, again, how well it plays and cool it sounds.
I've put a PRS stoptail on it (intonates OK, and it's got string grooves - with the old Wilkinson I'd literally push the strings around) and a pair of Lollar Minis. It's very clear and articulate now.
Guess I'll just keep it - my oldest kid'll be old enough to borrow it in a couple of years /emoticons/default_laugh.png
I've put a PRS stoptail on it (intonates OK, and it's got string grooves - with the old Wilkinson I'd literally push the strings around) and a pair of Lollar Minis. It's very clear and articulate now.
Guess I'll just keep it - my oldest kid'll be old enough to borrow it in a couple of years /emoticons/default_laugh.png
Very smart mods! I like the idea of replacing Firebird-style mini's with New York style (with adjustable polepieces). Those weren't available when I had my wraptail Eclipse or I'd probably still have it.I've put a PRS stoptail on it (intonates OK, and it's got string grooves - with the old Wilkinson I'd literally push the strings around) and a pair of Lollar Minis. It's very clear and articulate now.
+1
I've never been much of a DiMarzio fan, but one of my 6-string Eclipses came to me with DiMarzio MiniBuckers and they sound great...I ended up finding a set for my 12-string too! /emoticons/default_laugh.png
Love mine. I'm considering modding it to a two volume control setup (I rarely use any tone control on any guitar anyway). No extra holes, more control, reversible.
I guess I'm the odd man out on the pickups. I like 'em. I'm not after sparkly/chimey, though. To me, the rude, fat gnarly thing is what it does best. It seems to want to bust into some southern-fried rock whenever I fire it up.
I guess I'm the odd man out on the pickups. I like 'em. I'm not after sparkly/chimey, though. To me, the rude, fat gnarly thing is what it does best. It seems to want to bust into some southern-fried rock whenever I fire it up.
crunchee
Well-known member
Not to hijack the thread, but come to think of it, you could say the same thing about used USA Specials and Studios. I've seen a few (and picked up a couple) on eBay that went for low bucks recently.
atquinn
New member
... and mahogany Monacao Elites and Vanguards, and Diablos, and Centauras, and....
-Austin
Murkat gave me a very simple rewire that made the gnarly characteristic in the Eclipse more manageable. It made the tone control behave more linear.
I don't do soldering. I have mastered the art of grabbing the wrong end of the soldering pen. However this was so simple even I could do it. i don't remember Murkat's solution. I'm sure Murkat knows.
I couldn't justify spending $300 +/- on pups. There are plenty of knobs on the amp to trim the tone into your "happy place".
I have no issue with the orig Wilky single slider bridge. Its still there.
Certified Eclipse Lover
Cheers!
caddie
I just picked up a '94 that had a Jazz in the neck and JB in the bridge. Not really my thing, so I installed a set of Tom Shot Undercover Mini's. These are A4 vintage hots. It sounds real good now. I'll know more after Saturday's gig. I also have a set of Fralin Pure PAF's I can try.
Last edited by a moderator:
I mailed Murkat a while ago regarding the mod. This was what the guitarguru replied:
"
just swap the location of the tone cap and output wire.
stock~
tone cap outside lug
output wire middle lug
mod~
tone cap middle lug
output wire outside lug
"
This is what it looks like original. Like mine. I haven't bothered to mess with it, as it sounds great as it.
But you should move the cap to the middle lug, and the red wires to the lug that had the cap originally, the outside one.
I put a set of Antiquity Duncan Firebird pickups in mine. They are not that expensive. I actually sold the original pups for not much less than I bought new for. This guys sells Antiquites at a great prize. He shipped fast too: http://darrenriley.com/product-category/seymour-duncan-pickups/
You gotta love 'em. The Wilkinson bridge is great on my guitar. Sounds good. Easy to set up. Stays in tune:
Eclipses are killer guitars. I spent a weekend recording with mine, through my old Super champ, recently and it sounds totally awesome. And for solos I was amazed how good it sounded on tape. The strings on mine are so easy to bend it's a breeze to play lead on it. 10's feels like 09's.
And mine has the mid 90's neck carve, same as on my '95 Standard. The best neck carve ever!
