Jimbob

Late to the party here, but I recently purchased a 2022 CC H150, and I've tried doing a similar mod as well. I also started with Kuz's idea of using the Faber Tone-Lock bridge while using the existing Pinnacle thumbwheels and lock nuts, and I also beveled out a bit of the metal from the underside of the bridge so that the Faber bridge would sit as it should on the Pinnacle thumbwheels (photo below). Everything seemed to fit perfectly well but, for whatever reason, the change seemed to deaden the tone of the guitar a bit while also losing sustain. Whether it was just a dead-sounding bridge or if the connection went awry in some way or another, I don't really know. With that being said, I decided to try another approach after determining that these CC bridge posts are actually an 8-32 thread pitch as opposed to the standard 6-32 thread that Gibson and older Heritages have typically used. I then proceeded to have a machinist friend enlarge the holes on some thumbwheels I had on hand to the 8-32 thread pitch so that I could put a Faber ABRN bridge on it. Since the post diameter of the 8-32 posts measures out to about 4.2mm, I became a little concerned as to whether or not the ABRN bridge would actually fit, but it fit perfectly! Granted, it was just a tiny bit tight, but I certainly didn't feel any need to force it on. If anything, it helped to make this system a little more solid. But, in my honest opinion, this system is pretty clean and is now working flawlessly, and once I tested the guitar again, all of the tone and sustain I had previously lost with the Tone-Lock system came back and then some! Needless to say, I'm quite happy with it! I also just happened to have a set of Faber's locking tailpiece studs on hand, so that became a part of this mod as well. I might also add that while it's entirely possible to simply turn the Pinnacle thumbwheels upside down if one is looking to place an ABRN on the thumbwheel's flat side, I also became a bit concerned about the center protrusion on those thumbwheels hitting the body of the guitar if the bridge height needed to be set too low. Of course, using a pair of standard thumbwheels with the holes enlarged solves that problem.

Well, to be honest, I use a small hand truck to get my amp from the car to the stage and back - same within my house to the car - so the only lifting I really need to do is to heave it in and out of my car and perhaps occasionally on an amp stand or on to the stage itself. Thankfully, the lifting is so minimal that it doesn't bother me much. If I know that I'll need to haul an amp up and down a full flight of stairs, though, I'll definitely choose a lighter amp. My primary amp is a Two-Rock TS1 combo, and even though it's a 100-watt beast of sorts, between the loop and the master volume control, I can dial it in for the kind of tone I like at any stage volume without having any issues. I'd be the first to say that I'd go for a modeling amp or a much lighter tube amp if I could produce the same kind of vibe that the TS1 puts out, but since I have yet to find anything that'll do that, I just tolerate the weight. Funny, but since the TS1 1x12 combo is still relatively small in size, the other guys in the band think I'm just using a small amp. Little do they know that I could run that same amp at the Madison Square Garden and get away with it.......LOL.

I have a bad back as well, but I'm still lugging around a 60-pound combo. It's heavy, but I still manage to get it in and out of gigs. I just love the sound of big iron and tubes.

I just turned 71, and I'm going out with my tube amps! For whatever reason I have absolutely no interest in buying a modeling amp.