redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 I scored this guitar a few days ago!! at the gear page. Still loving it and slowly upgrading it!! First upgrade is the wiring!! I love the 2010 Gibson historic pots that can be easily found for 12.50 a piece!! This are the only pots that have the correct 50's centralab specs, made by CTS but with a taper that makes them diferent than any other pot. For caps I like to use russian military 0.022uF @ 400 paper in oil silver caps. I also upgraded the bridge to the tonepros AVT-II for better intonation and sustain and this monday she will get a new bone nut. It has Lollar P-90s regular winding which I like a lot. I wish I could adjust the pickup height better but being dogears makes it a challenge. Neck is chunky but it doesn't have a wide feel, not a lotta shoulder which I like a lot!! Here are some pics!! which don't show the upgrades.....that is how I got her.
redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Author Posted August 17, 2013 Yes, she rocks!!! It's a beast but thanks to the historic pots she cleans very nicely!! The rosewood fretboard is light brown, I though it was dry but put some lemon oil and it didn't get dark. I think this is the right color. More pics:
FredZepp Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Hey , that's sharp. I've always liked these type of rockin' P-90 guitars. It's even better with your fine tuning the details. Congrats.
redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Author Posted August 17, 2013 Hey , that's sharp. I've always liked these type of rockin' P-90 guitars. It's even better with your fine tuning the details. Congrats. Yes, those little "upgrades" make a lotta diference!! but when I get a guitar and do all the upgrades then what it means is that is a keeper!!
DetroitBlues Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Congrats! If you want to raise the p90's, you can always raise each pole piece...
SouthpawGuy Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 As for height adjustment Lindy Fralin has dogear P90 spacers for sale http://www.fralinpickups.com/p90s.asp
redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Author Posted August 17, 2013 Actually the thing is that the neck pickup is too close to the strings!! So I removed the pickup cover and tried to get the pole pieces away from the strings and in the bridge pickup I raised the pole pieces. I like the bridge pickup to be slightly louder than the neck but I can't put the neck pickup lower than what it is to create that volume diference. It is what it is!!
SouthpawGuy Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Actually the thing is that the neck pickup is too close to the strings!! So I removed the pickup cover and tried to get the pole pieces away from the strings and in the bridge pickup I raised the pole pieces. I like the bridge pickup to be slightly louder than the neck but I can't put the neck pickup lower than what it is to create that volume diference. It is what it is!! A similar thing happened with mine when the pickups were changed to Fralin noise free P90s. The neck pickup was way too close, the fix was an Allparts P90 cover which wasn't as tall.
Kuz Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Actually the thing is that the neck pickup is too close to the strings!! So I removed the pickup cover and tried to get the pole pieces away from the strings and in the bridge pickup I raised the pole pieces. I like the bridge pickup to be slightly louder than the neck but I can't put the neck pickup lower than what it is to create that volume diference. It is what it is!! This actually quite common and all my Lollar P90 equipped guitars have/had the neck slightly louder than the bridge. This is because the output between the neck & bridge pup is essentially the same. This was how it was back in the 50s & 60s as well. But I am with you, I like the bridge slightly louder & hotter. This is one reason, along with maybe a little more traditional P90 tone, I am going to eventually switch to Throbak P90s in my GT150. Jon makes the bridge just a little hotter specifically because of the issue we are talking about.
Millennium Maestro Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Your aquisition of another 137 is funny to me.... I was thinking of offering you partial trade of my 137 for your 535, but I have really been enjoying it alot and never could quite reach out with the offer... ENJOY! PS. mine has slammin action and no issues with the cover/pickup height
redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Author Posted August 17, 2013 Good to know about Throbaks!! I love Dt- 102's that is my favorite humbucker ever but they are pricey!! that is why I use and love Fralin pure PAF!! I have compared them and although Throbak sounds better I wouldn't say that they sound 220 dollars better!! so that is why I use Fralins!! but still I love throbak pickups! I wonder about their P-90's!! I haven't heard them yet!!
redshark Posted August 17, 2013 Author Posted August 17, 2013 Your aquisition of another 137 is funny to me.... I was thinking of offering you partial trade of my 137 for your 535, but I have really been enjoying it alot and never could quite reach out with the offer... ENJOY! PS. mine has slammin action and no issues with the cover/pickup height Hey Guy!! I wonder which Heritage model you don't own!! I love H-137's!! i think we talked about it before!! Cool you have no issues with your P-90's, I guess I'm just extremely OCD about my sound!!
Spectrum13 Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 This actually quite common and all my Lollar P90 equipped guitars have/had the neck slightly louder than the bridge. This is because the output between the neck & bridge pup is essentially the same. This was how it was back in the 50s & 60s as well. But I am with you, I like the bridge slightly louder & hotter. This is one reason, along with maybe a little more traditional P90 tone, I am going to eventually switch to Throbak P90s in my GT150. Jon makes the bridge just a little hotter specifically because of the issue we are talking about. Good point Jon. P90 were built for archtops after WW2 and it was some time before Gibson used more than one in the switchmaster. They changed to a soap bar for the Lps in 52 although the proto-type had a dog ear. Juniors had one P90 but the Specials had soaps. Why did Heritage used dog ears for the 137s? Lollar made a lower profile neck cover or the design would never work. A good volume pot with 50's wiring can lower the neck volume without loosing too much treble (also cuts down the hum on mine) or I guess you can plane down the covers a little. Lollar offers sets with a hotter bridge and the three Throbaks sets all have variation in output from bridge to neck. Adjusting the poles will not raise the magnets. If you like higher action you can shim the bridge. But dog ears present design problems as I have learned using them in my prospect. Humbucker height adjusting screws spoiled us.
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Yes, those little "upgrades" make a lotta diference!! but when I get a guitar and do all the upgrades then what it means is that is a keeper!! I doubt my ears would hear the subtleies, but nonetheless, good snatch!
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 I have the same git with same knobs as yours. I was replacing a bent pot shaft so the knobs were removed.
redshark Posted August 18, 2013 Author Posted August 18, 2013 I doubt my ears would hear the subtleies, but nonetheless, good snatch! Ok, here it is.....the tonepros bridge allows perfect intonation and better sustain. Play a chord @ 12th fret or above and you will hear the diference!! Upgrading the pots and caps and yes, also do 50's wiring will partially solve the problem with the balance of the neck and bridge pickups, but also when you use the gibson historic pots you will "get it" meaning your P-90 will be "clean" from 0 to 6-7 and then between 6-10 will get all the gain!! "modern" pots don't do that and after 3 in the volume you will get crunchy, amost like a reversed taper thing!! So this upgrades will improve the guitar's behavior dramatically!!! Just my experience!! at "the amp garage" in the trainwreck section, the taper of 5 or 6 diferent pots was documented with graphics with the goal of getting more "cleans" with the trainwreck express style amp. The old centralab and the Gibson historic were the ones that came on "slower" instead of "faster".
schundog Posted August 18, 2013 Posted August 18, 2013 Congratulations, Luis! H-137s are awesome. Enjoy it!!
davesultra Posted August 18, 2013 Posted August 18, 2013 Congrats! I should have never sold mine! I truly miss that one.
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