I recently acquired the husk (okay, the remnants) of a project '76 Les Paul Deluxe that I will rejuvenate in the coming months. One of the unique qualities of the instrument (or atrocities it has endured) is that in some point in its life, the maple top was removed and cavities were added to the mahogany body to relieve weight. I have no idea if it was holes drilled or cavities routed, or where on the body for that matter, but plenty of chambering was employed because the gutted guitar's weight is now more akin to a Hamer Arist now than a Norlin-era LP. I know the bass side of the body was the most affected - I can hear and feel the "hollow" when I rap my knuckles on that side of the top. I'm also told the top was epoxied (!) when it was reinstalled, so I'm more inclined to leave the body as-is versus attempting (emphasis on "attempting") to remove the top to fill the chambers and keep the top intact doing so. It's already plagued with a big crack I have to fill before Stike does his magic.
The original Deluxe minibuckers are long gone so I'll need pickups.
* Since it's a Deluxe and because I have access to discounted Dimarzios through my workshop, I'm leaning towards these ... http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/mini.
* But because the instrument has endured so many injustices already, I'm open to routing both slots for full-sized 'buckers, In that case, I like the demo video I watched on Seymour's "Whole Lotta Humbuckers" but I have no personal experience, let alone in a chambered platform.
* Or maybe routing the bridge for a full-sized bucker and putting a mini- or a P-90 (standard or stacked hum-canceller) in the neck. As you can see, I'm prepped to take advantage of a blank canvas, so to speak.
Any ideas or tips?
Here's a photo of the canvas in question and what I know about it. The original maple neck was destroyed and is long gone, all that's left is the original truss rod cover. The neck blank, fingerboard and headstock veneer in the picture were acquired from a former Kalamazoo plant employee. And as you can see, I have my work cut out for me.
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Jeff R
I recently acquired the husk (okay, the remnants) of a project '76 Les Paul Deluxe that I will rejuvenate in the coming months. One of the unique qualities of the instrument (or atrocities it has endured) is that in some point in its life, the maple top was removed and cavities were added to the mahogany body to relieve weight. I have no idea if it was holes drilled or cavities routed, or where on the body for that matter, but plenty of chambering was employed because the gutted guitar's weight is now more akin to a Hamer Arist now than a Norlin-era LP. I know the bass side of the body was the most affected - I can hear and feel the "hollow" when I rap my knuckles on that side of the top. I'm also told the top was epoxied (!) when it was reinstalled, so I'm more inclined to leave the body as-is versus attempting (emphasis on "attempting") to remove the top to fill the chambers and keep the top intact doing so. It's already plagued with a big crack I have to fill before Stike does his magic.
The original Deluxe minibuckers are long gone so I'll need pickups.
* Since it's a Deluxe and because I have access to discounted Dimarzios through my workshop, I'm leaning towards these ... http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/mini.
* But because the instrument has endured so many injustices already, I'm open to routing both slots for full-sized 'buckers, In that case, I like the demo video I watched on Seymour's "Whole Lotta Humbuckers" but I have no personal experience, let alone in a chambered platform.
* Or maybe routing the bridge for a full-sized bucker and putting a mini- or a P-90 (standard or stacked hum-canceller) in the neck. As you can see, I'm prepped to take advantage of a blank canvas, so to speak.
Any ideas or tips?
Here's a photo of the canvas in question and what I know about it. The original maple neck was destroyed and is long gone, all that's left is the original truss rod cover. The neck blank, fingerboard and headstock veneer in the picture were acquired from a former Kalamazoo plant employee. And as you can see, I have my work cut out for me.
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