My 1959 H150

[Guido]

Hello Everyone!

 

I already started a thread a few month ago about modifying my H150: Modifications to my H-150.

Well it took a while to finish the project. But I'm glad to say the journey for 'my' perfect tone is over. I found it!

I will never own a '59 Les Paul, but I consider my H150 to be my '59. Because it just can't get any better.

A while ago I also did a thread about my pickups. They're from the german luthier Boris Dommenget. You can read the thread here: Pickup comparison with soundfiles.

So I won't bother you with the same infos again. I will let the pictures tell the story!

 

The guitar is from 1993 and had no modifications at all when I got it. I bought it used from a german guitar store.

 

It was loaded with SD '59s. Very nice sounding but not what I wanted.

 

Unfortunately the guitar had a sticker on the back of the headstock since '93. But with Virtuoso cleaner and polish I was able to remove it safely.

 

Here you can see the old and the knew parts. The top has been polished with Virtuoso polish and the fretboard has been cleaned with Fret Doctor.

 

I did the aging of the hardware all by myself. I did everything for the first time. But I am really pleased with the results.

 

I left the original pots and the ground wiring untouched. I also didn't use braided wire for the rewiring. I wanted the"Heritage" wiring look.

But I used special wire and did also a 50's wiring.

 

Here's the rewiring. First I used Vitamin T caps from MOJO. But after experimenting with caps again I have now some Gudeman Vitamin Q caps installed. Perfect!

If you are interested in caps I can recommend axegrinderz.com!

 

After a bad experience with a german Heritage dealer and a knew nut I decided to do it on my own. After three attempts I had a great knew bone nut.

I also experimented with strings and found a perfect set for me: DADDARIO EPN110. Of course I did the nut after I found my set of strings.

 

The guitar has a great setup and a very low action. The bridge is right on the top and I have no string buzz at all.

It took a while until I found the right truss rod adjustment, but it worked out great.

 

I did everything for the first time and never worked on a guitar before. So I can only encourage everybody to try it.

It's a lot of fun and gives you a much better understanding of your guitar.

 

I'm very pleased and proud with the result!

 

So here's my 1959 H150:

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed my thread!

 

Guido

[FredZepp]

That's a great photo essay of your work.

 

It's a great looker and looks to play very fine also.

 

It sounds like here you made a great guitar even better.

 

A '59 indeed !!!!

[Patrick]

Hello Everyone!

 

I already started a thread a few month ago about modifying my H150: Modifications to my H-150.

Well it took a while to finish the project. But I'm glad to say the journey for 'my' perfect tone is over. I found it!

I will never own a '59 Les Paul, but I consider my H150 to be my '59. Because it just can't get any better.

A while ago I also did a thread about my pickups. They're from the german luthier Boris Dommenget. You can read the thread here: Pickup comparison with soundfiles.

So I won't bother you with the same infos again. I will let the pictures tell the story!

 

The guitar is from 1993 and had no modifications at all when I got it. I bought it used from a german guitar store.

 

It was loaded with SD '59s. Very nice sounding but not what I wanted.

 

Unfortunately the guitar had a sticker on the back of the headstock since '93. But with Virtuoso cleaner and polish I was able to remove it safely.

 

Here you can see the old and the knew parts. The top has been polished with Virtuoso polish and the fretboard has been cleaned with Fret Doctor.

 

I did the aging of the hardware all by myself. I did everything for the first time. But I am really pleased with the results.

 

I left the original pots and the ground wiring untouched. I also didn't use braided wire for the rewiring. I wanted the"Heritage" wiring look.

But I used special wire and did also a 50's wiring.

 

Here's the rewiring. First I used Vitamin T caps from MOJO. But after experimenting with caps again I have now some Gudeman Vitamin Q caps installed. Perfect!

If you are interested in caps I can recommend axegrinderz.com!

 

After a bad experience with a german Heritage dealer and a knew nut I decided to do it on my own. After three attempts I had a great knew bone nut.

I also experimented with strings and found a perfect set for me: DADDARIO EPN110. Of course I did the nut after I found my set of strings.

 

The guitar has a great setup and a very low action. The bridge is right on the top and I have no string buzz at all.

It took a while until I found the right truss rod adjustment, but it worked out great.

 

I did everything for the first time and never worked on a guitar before. So I can only encourage everybody to try it.

It's a lot of fun and gives you a much better understanding of your guitar.

 

I'm very pleased and proud with the result!

 

So here's my 1959 H150:

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed my thread!

 

Guido

 

Beautiful work Guido. A great looking guitar. I would love to see it with a Gibson style pick guard and a poker chip under the pick up selector switch. Tons of vibe!!!

[DetroitBlues]

What are the new pickups? They look used.

[Guido]

Beautiful work Guido. A great looking guitar. I would love to see it with a Gibson style pick guard and a poker chip under the pick up selector switch. Tons of vibe!!!

 

Thanks Patrick. But I'm a little bit confused that the suggestion about the Gibson style pick guard and poker chip is coming from you.

I will keep the classic Heritage look. I also want everybody to see right away that this is a very special guitar.

[Guido]

What are the new pickups? They look used.

 

The pickups are from Boris Dommenget. I posted a link in the thread.

I wanted all the hardware parts to look used and old.

I've never seen a '59 with new parts!

[Patrick]

Thanks Patrick. But I'm a little bit confused that the suggestion about the Gibson style pick guard and poker chip is coming from you.

I will keep the classic Heritage look. I also want everybody to see right away that this is a very special guitar.

 

I know what you are referencing. But, don't confuse a Gibson style pick guard and a poker chip with reshaping the head stock into a Gibson open book head stock. Anyway, I thought you were going for that '59 LP look. The H150s are available right out of the factory with the other style pick guard . . . only they call it a Johnny Smith pick guard . . . and it is slightly different than a Gibby. As for the poker chip, some have'em some don't. Those are subtle changes. It would still have the Heritage snake head and as such be unmistakable as a Heritage. Either way . . . VIBE to spare!!

[Kuz]

I think you did an INCREDIBLE job.

 

For what it's worth, if you look at Wolfe Guitar Inventory over half of their 150s are sold with the poker chip under the toggle switch.

 

The only other recommendation I would make would be to swap out the Schaler pickup rings (too many adjustment screw holes).

 

GREAT job, you should be very proud.

[H]

Nice job, Guido You just need ExNihilo to put a Gibson-style headstock on there for you Just kidding!

 

Did you buy the Virtuoso polish in Europe? If so, where? I'd like to try some myself but haven't found a European stockist.

[Guido]

I know what you are referencing. But, don't confuse a Gibson style pick guard and a poker chip with reshaping the head stock into a Gibson open book head stock. Anyway, I thought you were going for that '59 LP look. The H150s are available right out of the factory with the other style pick guard . . . only they call it a Johnny Smith pick guard . . . and it is slightly different than a Gibby. As for the poker chip, some have'em some don't. Those are subtle changes. It would still have the Heritage snake head and as such be unmistakable as a Heritage. Either way . . . VIBE to spare!!

 

I understood what you meant. I just couldn't resist to reply that way. Sorry!

Actually I'm not looking for that '59 look. It's more like a '59 Heritage (if that would have been possible).

I call it that way because I can't imagine a better LP.

[yoslate]

Hello Everyone!So here's my 1959 H150:

BINGO!

[Guido]

Did you buy the Virtuoso polish in Europe? If so, where? I'd like to try some myself but haven't found a European stockist.

 

No I ordered it directly from their website virtuosopolish.

I can only highly recommend Virtuoso cleaner and polish. Th best stuff I've used so far.

[Gitfiddler]

Nicely done!!

 

Very vintage looking result.

 

You should be very proud of your first effort at guitar mods/upgrades.

 

 

[Guido]

I think you did an INCREDIBLE job.

 

The only other recommendation I would make would be to swap out the Schaler pickup rings (too many adjustment screw holes).

 

GREAT job, you should be very proud.

 

Thanks Kuz!

I wanted those pickups rings. I ordered one pickup ring from Schaller because the original one was broken.

I think they look very unique and I like that.

Like I replied earlier my intention was not to have a real '59 LP look.

It's just the best guitar I can imagine and that's why it's my '59.

[bolero]

that looks great, I like the outline of the pickguard

 

 

congrats!!

[conorb]

That looks really nice. Good job.

 

How did you do the aging? Anything you could share or all trade secrets?

 

conorb

[mtpatty]

Guido:

That is gorgeous! I think you did an outstanding job! I think the VSB is very sexy! My next H150 ( I have 2) will be VSB...man, that is beautiful!

 

Mark

[Guido]

Thank you all for your nice comments!!!!

 

Unfortunately I am not able to record any audio.

I tried to record some playing with my video camera, but the sound was too bad (it's an old camera).

I'm a huge Jimmy Page fan. I wanted to find my own sound, but also be able to play my favorite Zepp songs.

It really worked out great! I don't use any pedals and get all kind of different sounds by only using the tone control.

It was a long journey, mainly experimenting with different caps.

I wrote in another thread, that I tried some bumblebees against different caps and couldn't hear much of a difference.

Well that was true for those caps (bumblebee replicas). This time I made sure to use only high quality parts.

Most of the different PIO caps I tried from axegrinderz made a difference in sound (sometimes more, sometimes less).

The Gudeman Vitamin Q's I use now, really "opened up" my sound, without getting too bright.

I'm also very impressed with the usage of the tone control. I get different sounds all the way from 10 to 0 without the sound getting muddy and useless.

These caps are really worse a try. They deliver that "sparkling" sound I was looking for.

Of course this worked out for my guitar, my pickups and my "sound". It maybe different for you.

But I really can encourage everybody to experiment with different caps! It's the cheapest way to experiment with sound.

[Guido]

That looks really nice. Good job.

 

How did you do the aging? Anything you could share or all trade secrets?

 

conorb

Of course I can tell you how I did it.

The pickups have been aged by Doris Dommenget which built them.

I aged the bridge and the tailpiece and wanted them to match the tuners.

So I needed some lighter aging than the look of the pups.

I used hydrochloric acid. Here's a link to a video:

.

But honestly I wouldn't do it again this way. It's very nasty stuff and you really need to be careful while handling it.

How it's done is explained in the video. It worked out good and created some tarnish on the parts.

But something was missing. So I put the parts for 12 hours in some really strong espresso. I read it in another forum.

It really worked out good. But you need to do the hydrochloric acid aging before.

Honestly next time I would buy the Faber bridge and tailpiece (the parts I use) already aged. They look great and you don't need to handle the acid.

 

Here's a close pic of the bridge, so you can judge yourself:

[koula901]

Nice job! Thanks for the tip about th caps.

[brentrocks]

Looks great dude!!!

[FredZepp]

BTW... Dommenget's site has some cool stuff in the repair section ... http://www.guitarmaker.de/repairs.htm

[Assumer]

Beautiful Guitar

[mark555]

A really beautiful guitar, I would love that myself.

[smurph1]

Nice Work Guido!! Now CRANK HER UP!!