I'm finally finished with my Squier '51 mods (though I bypassed one or two intended items.) Of course, other than the Mojocaster headstock logo and cavity shielding, I never really wanted to do any major mods ... but then I found the '51 Modders forum and got addicted!
Here's what I've done:
Cosmetic mods:
- Mojocaster logo
- neck tinted "kiwi brown" LOL
- pickguard painted desert camo (and added Mr. Mojo skull - if you're gonna go over the top, you might as well go way over! :twisted: )
Functional mods:
- Shielded body cavities and back of pg
- replaced stock neck pup with GFS Lil Killer (with accessible height adjustment screws)
- replaced stock bridge pup with GFS Bigmouth
- replaced stock bridge with Schaller 475 roller bridge
- replaced pickup selector switch with dual concentric pots to give separate volume control to each pickup (used as pickup "blend" control, like a Fender Jazz Bass or a Godin Radiator)
- added treble bleed circuits to both vol pots
- rewired stock vol pot as a tone pot
What I didn't do:
- I had wanted to rewire the coil split switch as a series/parallel switch, but skipped this part after some last-minute wiring confusion; I might still do this one day.
- I had intended to swap the pot positions, but once I got to work, I found that the stock volume pot (now tone pot) has a narrow shaft, and the dual concentric pot wouldn't fit in the neck-side location without drilling.
- Originally I was going to use the tone pot only for the bridge. Instead, I wired it as a master tone control for both pups. I'm glad I did it this way.
Aside from the Mojocaster logo, my favorite mod is the tone pot - it really adds some versatility that was previously absent. My second favorite is the Schaller bridge - it's a big improvement to what is probably the '51's single weakest component. If I did nothing else to a stock '51, I'd squeeze a tone pot into the control cavity and upgrade the bridge.
Here are some pics of my little Mojo Machine Gun with the Desert Camouflage pickguard:
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
DUDE! THE MOST BADASS '51 YET!!! I gotta know though. How did you tint the neck and WIRING DIAGRAM NOW! This is really close to howI want to do mine. Minus the cosmetics. But the tinting and decal really make it a great modded guitar!
GN's resident learning sponge, show me a little and I will soak it up.
Very Nice Mitch :)
Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. - Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)
wow, very well done.
nice camerawork too :)
I don't want you to play me a riff that's going to impress Joe Satriani; give me a riff that makes a kid want to go out and buy a guitar and learn to play.
— Ozzy Osbourne
Nice work, Mitch!!!!
An artiste! :D
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
Friggen Awesome!, I WANT ONE!!!, well maybe after i get a tele...
#4491....
:D
Hey, thanks everyone! It was a labor of love.
How did you tint the neck and WIRING DIAGRAM NOW!
Neck tint: Brown Kiwi shoe polish. :shock: Apply a light coat, let it sit for a minute or two, then wipe it completely off. Repeat once more. Wipe it really well so it doesn't feel waxy. I've read that some people use auto polishing compound after that, to give it more of a gleam.
Wiring diagram: It's basically Jazz Bass wiring, with some minor tweaks. Check out the diagram below from Duncan (with GFS green is hot, black gets paired with ground.) My two volumes are stacked dual concentric, so that matches up easily with these two separate ones. The trick here is that the pickup hot lead goes to the pot's center lug, then you connect them in series and run them to the tone pot. I used a .022 cap, not .047. Make sure all your grounds are connected, and don't forget the ground wire that sits under the bridge. I also added treble bleeds to both volume pots - just run a .001mfd cap from the input lug to the output lug on each volume pot.
If you're going to use the push-pull pot to split the bridge pup, run the bridge wires to that first, then the hot lead out from there to the volume pot and continue with the diagram. It will be tight, but you'll get it all to fit.
In all honesty, I wouldn't do it this way again. I'd use the dual concentric as master volume/tone, and I'd replace the pickup selector switch with a blend pot. But that's just me. (I'll probably rewire my Artcore that way.)
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
P.S. , if you want to do it the other way I described, with the dual concentric pots controling volume and tone, then a blend pot to replace the pup selector, here is one way to wire it:
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
I'm inspired dude :!: I've been thinking about upgrading my 89 Japanese strat 8) You got me gassing :twisted: --the dog
very tasteful work. impressive. bet it sopunds awesome.
I know what you mean re: labor of love.
the rewards are totally worth it.
major props dude!!!
Really cool! Anyone can buy a stock guitar - modding it up is what makes it yours! Nice work.
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
Awesome job Mitch!! Now you got me gassin' for a '51! 8) :lol: :D
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
You should do some recordings like Dag did, Slej. that would be awesome.
GN's resident learning sponge, show me a little and I will soak it up.
If I'd seen that at the guitar shop this afternoon I would have bought it without even taking the pick out of my pocket!
GG
LOL, thanks again folks.
Flashback I'll try to post some clips soon. My playing time is limited right now, but I'll see if I can give it a shot in the next week or so.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
