I"m in love with a little red guitar that has multiple problems. I'm not sure how to proceed -- haven't been for about 30 years -- because anything I do might ruin the qualities I love about it.
It's a Kalamazoo KG-2. Nothing special. Not a collector's item. But everything I know about guitar repair I learned on this guitar, for better or for worse. There is sentimental value: I found the thing in a Kansas City thrift store, in pieces, and gradually brought it together as a playable instrument at least. But it's more than that, and less:
- The pros: Its neck is perfect -- maybe only because I know it so well, but that's enough -- dead straight and solid -- Gibson scale length, and Gibson quality, as it came from the Kalamazoo factory in the late '60s. Intonates perfectly with the string gauges I prefer (.012s). The neck pickup is the most beautiful guitar sound I know when run through a slightly pushed tube amp. My electronic modifications give me all the two-pickup series/parallel options, so it makes a lot of useful sounds.
- The cons: The body is made of MDF, which is nasty to work with and not much of a "tone wood." The pickups are noisy. The bridge pickup is too far from the strings to speak properly (due to chisel work necessary to get the neck set right). Aesthetically, it's kind of a dog. Tuners are crummy.
- The critical changes I'd like to make: Quiet the pickups; get both pups in proper, adjustable position (presently both are racked out to full height). The ideal changes I'd like to make: Replace tuners; replace the body with wood of similar density (and dazzling finish), while keeping the neck and pups; get more out of the bridge pup (possibly by replacing with a P-90 or adding onboard electronics). My fear: Any change in body material, any change in electronics (like potting or rewinding the pups), ANY CHANGE might break the spell that seems to live in that Melody Maker neck pup/MDF body combo.
If I could get this guitar in optimal condition, I could get rid of four or five electric solidbodies and be perfectly happy.
Maybe I should just let well enough alone. Maybe I'm overthinking this. There are off-the-rack guitars similar to the 'Zoo -- that Hamer solid with two P-90s keeps calling me -- so maybe I should just go shopping. I'm at an impasse....
Any opinions, advice, tips or snide comments are welcome.
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
Well it couldnt hurt to toss some tuners in it.... Maybe check the wires, and do some shelding. As for the bridge pickup... you sound kinda lukeworm about it... Pick up a P90 and replace it.... I doupt it will hut the feel of it...and you might like it better...
As for the body.... well thats up to you, but if you change it you WILL notice a diference in the sound/feel....
Frankly tuners upgrade a P90 from the same place [like $30] some foil tape for shelding, and a check of solder connections.... easy cheap stuff that can only help....and if you bail on the guitar, stash them in the parts box for the next project... Good starting point for you.
Paul B
