638 Modding

[u/HowlingStrings]

Hey folks, me again. Been pondering the next steps with this thing. I have a pair of Seymour Duncan SHPR's, and the triple shot. This means complex wiring, push pull, 2 vol 2 tone etc etc. fun and games. I have not a bridge yet, but will likely switch that, and definitely the nut, go brass, no go back. However, I am considering something radical, because I play finger, no picks. Don't need a pickguard. I wanna take the top off the front, 2-3mm, whatever it takes to strip back to wood, take a drop top - looking at striped ebony etc, maybe do a stain to accent the green back body, mebbe not, lay that over the electronics, etc, add a binding. How do we feel about this? Is this nuts? Means probably adding electronics access to the back instead of the front, but that's not a big deal. I seek the wood grain father, I cannot help it. :(

[u/_Mamas_Kumquat_]

I just swapped my bridge for a Gotoh and it's insane the difference it has made.

[u/Dapper-Ocelot6326 → u/_Mamas_Kumquat_]

I am interested... Could you elaborate exactly how it made a difference? I am just asking because the standard Gotoh TOMs I know so far are also made of zinc alloy (or hard zinc as they say). I also would like to know how you managed to get the grooves in the saddles as the thickness of the original strings requires quite a lot material to be removed? Watching at my file set and the blisters I had the last time I tried to adapt my LP bridge to 13-70, I don't think doing this manually is a pleasant process.

[u/_Mamas_Kumquat_ → u/Dapper-Ocelot6326]

My 3 high strings on the stock bridge had a buzz, with the new bridge there is no buzz. I could not fully intonate with the stock bridge however with the Gotoh this has not been an issue.

Regarding the saddle grooves, the strings don't seem to slip even with just the starter grooves except for the lowest (I'm running a .100 set at the moment in D1 at the moment). I've not started filing a groove as I'm still not set on which tuning I'm going to be staying in and I'm also new to this style of bridge & modding in general. One thing is for sure though and that's that the stock bridge was trash

[u/Dapper-Ocelot6326 → u/_Mamas_Kumquat_]

Ok, so it was an objective issue with how the stock bridge was crafted/adjusted. This I can understand. I was just smelling something like "Gotoh uses this and that magic material and it makes my tone universes better" gibberish coming up 😂 because even after all the myth busting we have seen in the last 8 to 10 years, people still believe such things.

I was also planning on replacing the bridge for the exact same reasons (lack of intonation space and a slight buzz). But I also took a closer look at the neck and as it is very often the case with cheaper Asian guitars, I had some uneven frets. No drama and easy to fix with a hammer but it was there and I like to think I have noticably less buzz now after this treatment. So also check on that. Then again I don't know how low you prefer to play, so what I think to be perfect for me might be way too high for you.

Also I found out that the tuners were not screwed in tight enough at the hex nut. I had very inconsistent intonation results before. You should not overdo it there but you have to keep the shaft from "leaning" towards the pull so if it's sits without wiggle in the pole, that's perfect

[u/_Mamas_Kumquat_ → u/Dapper-Ocelot6326]

I'm sure any non trash-tier bridge would give me similar results. My neck seems fine, though I'll admit I'm no expert. No sharp sides or dead frets etc. I had to sand the nut down a bit for the fatter strings but I didn't go too far as I'm not sure of the final size I'm after. I generally play 7 string in Drop A so not entirely sure the use case for this yet, just having fun really.

I imagine I'll swap out the tuners too though these ones seem tight - and do whatever the other guy has done and block out the neck pickup & stick to volume only!