Into each Jackson, a new sound must fall

I'm really fond of Jacksons - particularly unusual ones with shark-teeth inlays.


Moreover, I'm very fond of the feel, balance, and shape of the bodies. Although I'm a huge fan of LOTS of brands, Jacksons are just plain fun to mod.


I was lucky enough to snag a low-production-number (made for Guitar Centers) DXMGTSP - with original EMG HZ H3 pickups, and the 3x3 headstock (the string-through is a great sustainer!).





But, I wasn't looking for EMG sound on this one. The journey has begun. With the first experiment done, and the second on the way over the holiday season.



I started with a pair of epoxy-set, DEAD QUIET, German (pretty sure?) made of pickups with ESP labels (from my new ESP V200). I added push-pull coil tapping, top-line electrical components, Sprague Vitamin Q capacitor tone, a great switch and jack, and lots of grounding. As it is, my DXMGTSP is absolutely a dream to play and to hear.















However, if I can find a nice basic Jackson V-shape or Dinky shape (low-end, but in great shape - anybody got any dusty project Jacksons?), I'm going to move the current wiring and pickups to a new and shreddable home.


Phase two (and probably the final state) of my DXMGTSP is going to be with a pair of Seymour Duncan's excellent P-Rails pickups.



P-Rails give you REAL P90s, plus a blade - splittable to get just great grindy nasty dirty P90 sound or a great variation on the humbucker sound. Also, with a little mini-toggle, I'll be able to tap out the pickups to do P90 or just the blade or the humbucker sound (in neck, neck+bridge, bridge). Sonically awesome, yes:?

There will be some awesome music and recordings coming from my DXMGTSP. Gotta love a great-feeling guitar like my Jackson, with lots of excellent sounds all wrapped up in a well-grounded, high-quality-part package.

Stay tuned. I'll finish this particular phase II and share a peek at it with you all...

Let's Talk About GFS Pickups - An Intro

There are lots of great guitar pickups out there. Some are vintage (even from some pretty unusual cheap old guitars), some are modern.

I could list about a page of great pickup makers/sellers/rewinders, but instead, I just want to focus on one at a time.

If you want consistently-made, excellent sounding moderately low priced pickups, one great choice is GFS. The folks at http://guitarfetish.com (please tell them Jim Pearson sent you there...) (opens a new window) make a wide variety of pickups. These include humbucker-sized pickups, 'tron style pickups, P90s, "P180s", Minis, singles, teles, lipsticks and more.

Here's one of my Telecaster setups with a GFS Mini (ceramic) in the neck position:

This mini turned out to be the perfect combination for some Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups to make some downright dirty-scoundrel bluesy rock sounds. When I sold this custom, it was gone in one day. The GFS was the deal-maker.

Each and every GFS pickup I've ever used has been comparable to or better than many of the much more expensive brand name pickups I've used. I'd place GFS as a boutique pickup with some interesting variants from mild to very hot.

I've used GFSs in dozens of guitars, and have always been very satisfied. They definitely hold their own against the big boys, and the GFS sound is always a welcome alternative to the same old-same old stuff you find in guitars these days. I have truly enjoyed making many recordings with their pickups. I'll (hopefully) get the time to write up a mod that uses one of my GFSs.

Welcome to Mod-Guitar Dot Com!

Welcome to Mod-Guitar.com!

This site will be a place where I can share experience, ideas, pictures, and results of guitar modifications (and bass modifications, too!). I hope you find something that helps you or makes your sound-life richer.

For great commonly-used electronic modification diagrams, I love sites like the Seymour Duncan Wiring Diagram site, the Guitar Electronics site, and even neat places like Stewart MacDonald. (I'll provide links in other posts another time).

Parts: there are SO many great sites out there. eBay supplies almost all my used stuff (host guitars, used pickups, great used necks, bridges and other important bits and pieces. But, there are many sites which I happily use to find new electronics pieces, and even guitar sites. I also have a great deal of respect for Mike Z. (an eBay seller - banjomikez) for new electronics and parts.

Locally, there's an awesome luthier named Darren Riley. Darren Riley's Internet site. Look him up if you're in town. He does magic with instruments and amplifiers. An instrument worked on by Darren is a happy instrument.



Please stop by or get the RSS feed to my site. I'll be here as often as I can as I walk through my guitar and bass sound-quest journey.

If I can, I will be glad to answer questions. I am not as experienced as people like Darren Riley (by a long shot), but I have had dozens of very successful and sonically rich projects work out to be awesome instruments. My local musical community is full of Jim Pearson customized guitars.

Drop me a note at my contact page if you need to send me a letter or two.

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Peas, everyone. Find time and people for happiness, joy, and light.