Ezra

[Maestro and the Muse]

I should probably post to one of the major mod threads going right now, but I've done enough work, and waited long enough, that I figure I'll just post a thread all to myself.

'Ezra', is a '95 MIK Epiphone Les Paul Custom, 60's neck. She (and I have received flak about the gender,) has been with me for 8 years of her life, and she turns 15 this august. She has been my mainstay for every show with the now defunct 'Sargasso Sea', as well as my stint with 'Monuments and Statues'. Despite owning a number of considerably more expensive guitars, Ezra has always been my #1, and always will be. Enough of the sentiments, and on to the mods:

Stock:
- Grover-rotomatic-style gold keystone machineheads. They seem to work fine, so I never changed them, and they complete the look.
-TRC. May replace this some day

Mods (I think I've done enough):
- Bone Nut
- 'Ebony-dyed' rosewood fretboard
- GFS Alnico IIs (tried fralins, '57 Classics, and others, and settled on these.)
- Historic-sized taller pickup rings
- Switchcraft Jack
- Switchcraft style (Gotoh) switch
- Amber switch tip
- Gibson poker chip
- Faber BSWKIT (ABR studs)
- Faber ABR-59 bridge
- Faber Tone-Lock Studs
- Faber Wraparound tailpiece (in photos is the stock tailpiece signed by 'Paul Langlois' of the Tragically Hip)
- CTS volume pots
- Allparts push-pull tone pot for coil-tapping
- 50's cloth wiring
- Vintage braided wire for switch
- '56 0.013 bumblebee cap (from a hammond organ!)
- Amber Bell knobs
- Big D Varitone with Gold dial plate

A good list, no? The best part is a number of upgrades were paid for from my poaching of good parts from guitars that I was flipping, so they ended up being free, in a sense (they wouldn't have garnered much if I sold them in the guitar).

Photos (crappy camera, I apologize):





Now I'm going to go play.

[EXiiT]

Call this a dumb question, but what exactly does the excess knob do?

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by EXiiT

Call this a dumb question, but what exactly does the excess knob do?

Looks like a vari-tone circuit, essentially a 5 way switch with various levels of basscut, kinda like the opposit of a tone knob, but with preset values. One of the coolest electronics options Gibson ever came up with.

[sFLsniper]

nice "couple" of mods you've done there!

[Maestro and the Muse]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

Looks like a vari-tone circuit, essentially a 5 way switch with various levels of basscut, kinda like the opposit of a tone knob, but with preset values. One of the coolest electronics options Gibson ever came up with.

Actually, the vari-tone circuit does exactly what a tone knob does but only when it's set to 1. The varitone shunts treble to ground at different cap levels. Big D Guitars will give you the specs on my varitone. So, it's not a basscut, but a passive treblecut.

The big D is a great addition to this guitar. It essentially does LP/ES-355/Tele all in one, with the varitone and the coil-tapping. Not to mention that the Classic II pickups were basically made for this guitar. I've never heard pickups respond this well to a particular guitar: warm, full and sustaining, all the while being clear as a bell.

We'll have to see how she competes with my DGN '59 Replica when it gets here next week, but she surely beats out my 2 deluxe strats and my Tele for the whole package of 'versatility, tone, and feel'.

[splinteh]

Wow. Nice Axe!