# Modding a classic rock Les Paul SG Custom to a Metal machine!



## Manurack (Mar 28, 2013)

So my friend from Nunavut, Canada wants me to transform his cream colored, 3 pickup Epiphone Les Paul SG Custom to a balls out metal machine. I just received it on the Greyhound bus today and started working on it asap. 

He told me he wants the cream finish off and an "evil" finish done, EMG 81+85 in the neck and middle and a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge to replace the stock humbuckers, a new pickguard + nameplate under the fretboard and trussrod cover changed, skull speed knobs, pretty much an entire makeover of the guitar. 

I suggested that I do a vintage black finish and keep the gold hardware, he said that will look amazing, but I told him it'll be tricky to get the active and passive pickups to work on a single guitar, I'll just need 2 separate connections that don't touch at all by using a 2 way switch between the pickups and the output jack, I know it's possible. 

So electronics wise, this guitar will have the active EMG 85 in the neck, an 81 in the middle, the passive Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge, all pickups will have individual volumes. Not my style of pickup combinations but hey it's his guitar and not mine  The original 3 way switch will be wired to the EMGs while a mini 2 way switch will control the active and passive connections to the output jack. 
Vintage black paint with gold hardware, active and passive pickups and new pickguard + trussrod cover and skull speed knobs will look pretty cool imo so I'm stoked to get this done. 
I'll sand it down with 80 grit sandpaper to the bare wood, sand to a fine grain at 400 grit, get 2 coats of paint on, wet sand at 800 grit then wet sand at 1600 to a smooth finish, use Turtlewax polish on it and get the new electronics soldered up and it'll be done  My buddy asked me how much cash I want for this job, I told him not a single cent because I LOVE working on guitars! And he's my buddy 

Here is the guitar and what I've done so far:
Guitar stock






Guitar plus new electronics, pickguard, skull speed knobs etc.





Guitar completely stripped down to the body and sanding will begin





I got the top sanded down to the sealer using 80 grit sandpaper, damn that's some NICE wood!





That's all for now and I'll update progress pics until it's complete and I can't wait to see it finished! Thanks for viewing


----------



## The Spanish Inquisition (Mar 28, 2013)

> I got the top sanded down to the sealer using 80 grit sandpaper, damn that's some NICE wood!



Holy poop, just give it a clear satin finish, that mahogany is beautiful.


----------



## BillNephew (Mar 28, 2013)

I would just give it a light ebony stain and call it good. That is some great looking mahogany!


----------



## BlackMastodon (Mar 28, 2013)

Definitely a great piece of mahogany there. I wouldn't even do much to it aside from either clear over it or oil it.


----------



## CaptainLuckeyBeard (Mar 28, 2013)

You can't put a solid paint over that mahogany knowing how good that looks! Definitely go for that dark stain, it would look soooo wicked


----------



## AwDeOh (Mar 28, 2013)

I don't know who your friend is. I don't know why he wants to paint over that mahogany. If you are looking for painting advice, I can tell you I don't have any. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people who cover up great wood. If you swear not to paint over that beautiful mahogany, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you do, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will stain that guitar before using a very light finish of tung oil.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 28, 2013)

Trust me guys, I would LOVE to just clearcoat this beast because that mahogany really is _beautiful!_

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut it's not my guitar, the owner wants a vintage black finish with the gold hardware and I'm going to do what the owner wants done. But hey, this is a $400 Epiphone! There's plenty of them out there. And If this was a Gibson, I WOULD NOT change a thing on a cream colored Gibson SG!


----------



## JEngelking (Mar 28, 2013)

This looks like it'll turn out really cool! You got to the sealer using only some 80 grit? That's awesome, I've heard of nightmares with sanding, gives me some hope for the refinishings that I'm currently trying.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 28, 2013)

JEngelking, what methods of sanding did you try? I can try to offer some advice. All I did to get to the sealer with 80 grit, is I grabbed a small rectangular piece of 2x4 and placed the sandpaper on and sanded only the flat parts of the guitar like the front and back, the small block of 2x4 really makes a difference in sanding quicker! For the small, intricate angles, I just held a small piece of the sandpaper.

For the sealer, I'm going to use 400 grit then start the vintage black paint. I so can't wait to see how this turns out!


----------



## JEngelking (Mar 28, 2013)

Manurack said:


> JEngelking, what methods of sanding did you try? I can try to offer some advice. All I did to get to the sealer with 80 grit, is I grabbed a small rectangular piece of 2x4 and placed the sandpaper on and sanded only the flat parts of the guitar like the front and back, the small block of 2x4 really makes a difference in sanding quicker! For the small, intricate angles, I just held a small piece of the sandpaper.
> 
> For the sealer, I'm going to use 400 grit then start the vintage black paint. I so can't wait to see how this turns out!



Oh I haven't tried too much yet. Don't wanna derail the thread, but I went over once with 80 grit and once with 120 grit, but I've been needing to go get more paper so I think once I do the 80 grit will do nicely.  As a side note, I'm using a palm sander rather than a 2x4.


----------



## Suitable (Mar 28, 2013)

Its a shame to paint that nice timber !!! You could have saved yourself alot of time (and aggresion from ss members ). Since your painting it, all you needed to do was give it a rub with 400 grit till is all scratched to 400 then spray straight over the top, you dont need to go back to bare timber when your re painting. All in all it will turn out nice once done, but as others have said (and since youve gone that hard at it to get back to bare timber!) DEFINATLY stain it with an ebony stain and clear coat it!!! Tell your mate it looks more "evil" that way, cause it will!


----------



## jahosy (Mar 28, 2013)

Will be interesting to see how passive and active PU works here  

And maybe show him this


----------



## BillNephew (Mar 28, 2013)

jahosy said:


>



10/10 would bang.


----------



## crg123 (Mar 28, 2013)

I agree. That ebony stain is a much more unique "metal" look. It shows off the grain, and isn't horribly generic (IMO).

good luck!


----------



## AwDeOh (Mar 29, 2013)

crg123 said:


> I agree. That ebony stain is a much more unique "metal" look. It shows off the grain, and isn't horribly generic (IMO).
> 
> good luck!



This.

Also, this.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 29, 2013)

I agree that an ebony stain would look pretty sick on this mahogany, but the dude who owns the guitar wants the vintage black with the gold hardware and his choice of pickups. I'm going to deliver what he wants.


----------



## Ironbird (Mar 29, 2013)

Friends don't let friends get skull knobs on their guitars.

Everything else is 100% solid, good luck and please share more pics!


----------



## Manurack (Mar 29, 2013)

I started this on wednesday and I didn't even get a chance to work on it yesterday since it was so busy, but I'm just going to head back to the shop right now and get more sanding done then start on the paint job  I'll post more progress pics in a few hours when the ENTIRE guitar (except the headstock duh) is sanded to the beautiful mahogany!


----------



## Suitable (Mar 29, 2013)

I call bluff... No one could be that stupid...

Stain and clear it! If he doesnt like it (like i said before!!!) its not that time consuming to paint over it with a solid black color...


----------



## Manurack (Mar 30, 2013)

Look at that wood on the front!





The back sanded down!





The neck, neck joint and back of the headstock was a pain in the ass to sand, but it's done, well sort of lol my girlfriend was bitching at me to watch a movie... Damn women! 





Just HAD to get another angle of the neck! Soooooo nice!





Of course I'm not sanding the headstock, but it will look nicer after I polish it 





And to all the guys that are trying to force me to get a stain done, go find this $400 guitar online and stain it yourself! My buddy wants this done as a vintage black finish and I'm gonna do what _the owner_ wants done, not the guys that want a stain done instead  

That's all for now, *but more are coming!* Wow I'm fucking proud of myself


----------



## AwDeOh (Mar 30, 2013)




----------



## DjentDjentlalala (Mar 30, 2013)

One of the few Epis I like,being turned into an ugly metal guitar.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 30, 2013)

Oh it won't be ugly with a vintage black finish, gold hardware, new pickups, especially the pickguards and trussrod cover, this will be different than most common metal guitars! 

Whoa... I just thought of the black stain as a flamed maple top look with vintage black on the sides and back, plus the gold hardware... _Now that will be truly *unique*_


----------



## Gregori (Mar 30, 2013)

Manurack said:


> My buddy wants this done as a vintage black finish


You said he wanted an evil finish and you suggested vintage black. Sounds to me like you want vintage black. 

I'm not jumping on the stain wagon(I honestly don't see why there are so many hard-ons for a pretty average looking piece of African mahogany), just calling it like I see it. I hope you at least showed him the pic of that black stained PRS so he at least knows what his options are.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 30, 2013)

Gregori, read the last paragraph on my post above yours. I want to combine both options.


----------



## pathogenicmetal666 (Mar 30, 2013)

That mahogany looks like 80's wood paneling.  I support you in painting the guitar black. I'm sure it will be a badass guitar.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 30, 2013)

Thanks dude!


----------



## BlackMastodon (Mar 30, 2013)

Brb, going to buy SG custom and sandpaper.


----------



## AwDeOh (Mar 30, 2013)

ALL ABOARD THE STAINED MAHOGANY WAGON! NEXT STOP, GREGORI'S HOUSE!


----------



## Manurack (Mar 30, 2013)




----------



## Manurack (Mar 31, 2013)

I did more work on this, I got the second full body sanding done with 400 grit and I got the... vintage black finish done  Hahaha I emailed the pic of the ebony stained PRS to my buddy who owns this guitar, and he wants the vintage black finish done. This is going to look so sweet!

Last sanding job and wiped the sanding dust off with water, to pop out the color of the grain (lol), I got a pic of the sun shining on it! The grey-ish spots are the water drying up.





This next pic will get the stain wagon guys mad  vintage black is on!





Check out the pic from the back! I love it!





More to come!


----------



## JEngelking (Mar 31, 2013)

Niiice.


----------



## jahosy (Mar 31, 2013)

Looking good


----------



## Manurack (Mar 31, 2013)

EMGs, Seymour Duncan Dimebucker, sweet ass fire style pickguards and trussrod cover, gold hardware... I'm not even halfway there and this vintage black finish is waaaaaaaay better than the cream finish lol I so can't wait until this is completed!! 

The guitar itself when I got it was a bit top heavy (neck and headstock went down a bit when I had it strapped on me) so I'm going to do about 5 coats or more of the paint on the body to add a tiny bit of weight and plus the new electronics and extra wiring will make the body heavier. And I'll do 3 coats on the neck and headstock to protect the wood.

Man I can't wait to see this thing SHINE after I apply the turtle wax polish over the finished paint job!!!


----------



## JEngelking (Mar 31, 2013)

You know, it's odd... Two things I'm not a fan of in guitars are three humbucker guitars and black guitars. And yet seeing this, I have the unrelenting urge to go out and get one of these guitars, refinish it black with gold hardware, toss in some metal pickups, grow a beard and go out and play downtuned sludge metal.


----------



## Manurack (Mar 31, 2013)

JEngelking said:


> You know, it's odd... Two things I'm not a fan of in guitars are three humbucker guitars and black guitars. And yet seeing this, I have the unrelenting urge to go out and get one of these guitars, refinish it black with gold hardware, toss in some metal pickups, grow a beard and go out and play downtuned sludge metal.



DUDE! My buddy wants a set of baritone strings set to drop-B when I'm done modding it  active and passive pickups will sound pretty cool on this guitar man!


----------



## jazz_munkyy (Mar 31, 2013)

i feel like you should make a cover for the passive pickup so it matches the EMG's it would look much less out of place and wouldn't effect the tone at all

great work on the guitar man


----------



## Manurack (Mar 31, 2013)

Nah, some things that are different is what makes them stand out from the rest of the crowd, and this guitar will definitely stand out!


----------



## AlexRuger (Mar 31, 2013)

The black is great, but man...a natural gloss over that mahogany with the EMG's would have been killer.

Regardless, can't wait to see the finished product!


----------



## Manurack (Mar 31, 2013)

Natural gloss would've been cool, but I had something in mind when my buddy Jorgen asked me what kind of finish would look "evil" with gold hardware and this is exactly what I thought of


----------



## Suitable (Mar 31, 2013)

Just like every other black les paul, sg etc... Ba baa baa


----------



## Danukenator (Apr 1, 2013)

I love black! There's a reason so many people buy them!


----------



## Suitable (Apr 1, 2013)

I know! I have 2 that are black  soon to be 3 but that one is transparent black (ebony stain with clear coat ) wanted something different from the rest of the maggots


----------



## Yimmj (Apr 1, 2013)

Mmmmm im really enjoying this build, seeing as you cant lose from going the vintage black route (i own an LTD EC1000 in vintage black) or using a stain, either way looks kickass! and passive and active humbuckers co existing? you are an evil scientist indeed


----------



## Mprinsje (Apr 2, 2013)

On the one hand i think this is a bloody shame, on the other i'm very interested how this will turn out, especially that pickup config.


----------



## AlexRuger (Apr 2, 2013)

Danukenator said:


> I love black! There's a reason so many people buy them!



Once you go black...


----------



## Suitable (Apr 2, 2013)

AlexSmith said:


> Once you go black...



You get the clap...


----------



## JoeGuitar717 (Apr 2, 2013)

Cool project man! Flat black is always a good choice.


----------



## tommychains (Apr 3, 2013)

AlexSmith said:


> Once you go black...



You go single mother


----------



## Manurack (Apr 9, 2013)

Here`s a preview of how the guitar will look after the mods


----------



## theo (Apr 9, 2013)

Nice finish, Not sure how I feel about the pick guard though.


----------



## Manurack (Apr 9, 2013)

theo said:


> Nice finish, Not sure how I feel about the pick guard though.



That`s what the owner said, he said he may have made the wrong choice when he ordered the pickguards, so I told him I`ll grab the old white covers and paint em black. So imagine the same thing with gloss black pickguards


----------



## Dawn of the Shred (Apr 9, 2013)

Leave guitars alone for the love of god!


----------



## Manurack (Apr 9, 2013)

God doesn`t exist here.


----------



## Dawn of the Shred (Apr 10, 2013)

Nevermind not worth it


----------



## User Name (Apr 10, 2013)

arkansasmatt said:


> Leave guitars alone for the love of god!


why dude? this guitar is looking pretty freaking sweet! you should never be against people modding guitars to how they want them to be.


----------



## theo (Apr 10, 2013)

Edit: removed


----------



## Dawn of the Shred (Apr 10, 2013)

I should not have wrote that. this one is better the the stagemaster. im sorry if i sounded rude


----------



## Suitable (Apr 10, 2013)

Yeah loose the pickguard all together and fill the screw holes I rekon. Is that a black stained section on the top horn? Ie transparent black, seeing timber through it like a burst almost...?


----------



## The Spanish Inquisition (Apr 11, 2013)

Manurack said:


>



So... I assume he's a blues player?


----------



## JEngelking (Apr 12, 2013)

Finish is looking cool, glad he decided on black pickguard instead.


----------



## remorse is for the dead (Apr 14, 2013)

updates?


----------



## Manurack (Apr 24, 2013)

Hey guys! I finally did some more work on this. It's been a crazy few weeks as me and my little family just moved into our first apartment! No more annoying mother in law!  I moved to BC last month and after couple week, I couldn't take it anymore with the in laws and crazy bipolar grandma so we got our own place and we're finally got settled in, and I'm healing well after a badly retarded sprained ankle. 

I had a bit of an accident with the finish on the guitar: after the vintage black paint was done, I used turtle wax polish on it and the vintage black color turned into gloss black after I polished it  I took a picture with my phone, sent the pic to the owner of how the finish turned into gloss black... And he loved it!  
So gloss black it will be with black pickguards! Yeah yeah boohoo another all black guitar to join the thousands upon thousands of gloss black guitars  But hey, the owner likes it! I should be done the guitar by the end of the week so I'll post some final update pics!


----------



## Manurack (Apr 24, 2013)

Check this out! I used Rustoleum gloss black spraypaint on the guitar, then I used varathane clearcoat in a can to get a protective finish over the paint so if the body chips, the paint won't come off. The reason it's not vintage black anymore, it was an accident lol I finished the vintage black paint, then decided to polish it and it ended up becoming gloss black! I was disappointed at first, but I decided to take a pic with my phone and sent it to the owner Jorgen Sim and he loved it lmao

The very subtle milky shade is the clearcoat still drying, it will disappear and become clear as crystal soon. 
I decided to spraypaint the guards gloss black too. Once the clearcoat is completely dry (about 3 days) I'll wetsand with 2000 grit sandpaper to get rid of any tiny bumps, then polish it with turtle wax car polish, then Dunlop 65 polish and cleaner.

This will be so sweet when it's done! This is the most fun I've ever had working on a guitar! 
So stoked to see how it looks when I get the pickups, electronics, hardware and strings on!


----------



## maniac mikej (Apr 24, 2013)

To each their own, man, but I think it looks like a blue nightmare.


----------



## Manurack (Apr 24, 2013)

the blue nightmare will turn black, it's the clearcoat still drying. In a few days it will be clear as crystal and revealing the gloss black finish.


----------



## tommychains (May 29, 2013)

Updates, good sir?


----------



## Manurack (Jun 3, 2013)

Soon...


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 3, 2013)

I'll try not to show my friend this thread. He loves SG Customs waaay too much. 

Also, good move on not using the tortoise pickguard. Didn't fit the guitar at all.


----------



## JEngelking (Jun 4, 2013)

Saw they had one of these at a local shop and played it while I was there. I liked how it played, which means the plan I had before for one of these still stands.


----------



## Tesla (Jun 4, 2013)

How many times has 'vintage black' been said in this thread?


----------



## Manurack (Jun 12, 2013)

Hey guys, feels like it's been years since I've posted on SSO! I had to bring the project to a halt since my girlfriend decided to turn my guitar room into my 1 year old's playroom in our 2 bedroom apartment! So that meant I couldn't do any paint work on the guitar at all! 

But the previous owners of this apartment finally took all they're shit out of the storage room and now I have a space to do some paint and clearcoat on this SG! 

I did a couple coats of straight black paint on the guitar... The owner saw a pic of the guitar after I clearcoated the vintage black paint (Tesla ) and the guitar turned out gloss black! So I sent a pic to the dude and he loved how it turned out lol! Then I wet sanded the guitar down to smooth it out before I polished it and I ended up taking the clearcoat off and scratching the nicely done gloss black paint job  Then that was when my girlfriend decided to invade my guitar room!

Anyways enough with the story, I did 2 coats of black spraypaint on the front and back of the guitar, they dried well. To avoid chips on the paint, I got a can of clearcoat and sprayed the first coat on. 2 coats of clearcoat will go on the front, back and neck of the guitar, I'll polish it all up and put the whole thing back together, so about another week until it's all done! Thanks for viewing everyone


----------



## Curt (Jun 12, 2013)

I honestly dig it. I now somewhat feel the desire to snag a satin/matte black SG or ESP Viper and play some Corrosion of Conformity and Crowbar.


----------



## SpaceDock (Jun 12, 2013)

How the .... are you wiring two actives and one passive? That doesn't make any sense unless theyre on separate circuits.


----------



## Manurack (Jun 12, 2013)

SpaceDock, here's a quote from my first post.



Manurack said:


> So electronics wise, this guitar will have the active EMG 85 in the neck, an 81 in the middle, the passive Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge, all pickups will have individual volumes. Not my style of pickup combinations but hey it's his guitar and not mine  The original 3 way switch will be wired to the EMGs while a mini 2 way switch will control the active and passive connections to the output jack.



Separate circuits it will be my friend. I have a 2 way car switch that will control the active and passive lines to the output jack. Simple.


----------



## SpaceDock (Jun 12, 2013)

That is crazy, lol very creative, but crazy


----------



## Manurack (Jun 12, 2013)

Thats what you can do if you want the hot sound of the active EMG 81 in the bridge and a really warm, passive Gibson PAF pickup in the neck. Just replace the 3 way switch in your guitar to a 2-way switch to control the EMG 81 and the PAF to the output jack.


----------



## Manurack (Jun 19, 2013)

Back of the SG before it's polished...


----------



## JEngelking (Jul 8, 2013)

Any updates?


----------



## Manurack (Jul 8, 2013)

I'm still doing some work on this, I'm finishing up the paint job. Next I'm going to use car polish and buff it out, then install the hardware and pickups.

Pic before the last coat of paint.


----------



## Berserker (Jul 9, 2013)

Don't know if it's a trick of the light, but it looks like it's covered in scratches.


----------



## The Spanish Inquisition (Jul 9, 2013)

Berserker said:


> Don't know if it's a trick of the light, but it looks like it's covered in scratches.



He's still going to buff it.


----------



## Manurack (Jul 15, 2013)

Berserker said:


> Don't know if it's a trick of the light, but it looks like it's covered in scratches.





YJGB said:


> He's still going to buff it.



It still needed to be wet sanded, polished and buffed, and here it is... 






























Ok, I just spent the last 4 hours working on this finish! 
Obviously, just the back's flat area is done, not the inside of the horns and neck still need to be wet sanded and polished and buffed out.

For an hour and a half, I wet sanded the back with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth it out, then I smoothed it out even more with 2000 grit sandpaper to a very flat look.

For the next hour, I used Turtlewax car polish and polished it a few times, and buffed it out to make this mirror like finish! 
To get a good idea of how sweet this polished finish is, I got the reflection of Guitar World magazine featuring Jeff Hanneman on the cover!


----------



## Konfyouzd (Jul 15, 2013)




----------



## The Spanish Inquisition (Jul 15, 2013)

Manurack said:


>



Haha, stupid Guitar World, they printed it mirrored.


----------



## Ironbird (Jul 16, 2013)

Despite the naysayers stopping you at every point, you went ahead and did it. And it turned out GREAT! You have skills, bro.


----------



## Manurack (Jul 16, 2013)

Thanks Ironbird!


----------



## Manurack (Jul 25, 2013)

Alright guys and gals, more progress on this SG 
Wetsanded with 600 grit, then 2000 grit, then 3000 grit, polished with Turtle Wax car polishing compound 3 times, then Turtle Wax car wax applied 3 times, then Dunlop 65 cleaner and polish applied, and finally Dunlop 65 cream of carnuba applied... Damn that's one hell of a finish! 

Now I just need to do that whole process again to the sides of the guitar and then I can start adding the pickups, hardware, electronics, machine heads and strings!


----------



## Manurack (Jul 25, 2013)

I couldn't wait to see how the guitar looked with everything on! Well except the strings but it looks great! 

EMG 85 in the neck, EMG 81 in the middle and a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge!
Each pickup has it's own individual volume, there is the 3 way black toggle switch for the EMGs and the 2 way chrome toggle switch to control the active and passive connections to the output jack. 

I love this guitar!!!


----------



## bob123 (Jul 25, 2013)

Ah man nice work


----------



## Manurack (Jul 25, 2013)

Thanks Bob!


----------



## Manurack (Jul 28, 2013)

Alright guys, I just spent all night from 11:00 pm until 4:30 am working on this (so much fun ) and this is what I've done... All the hard parts are done, now the easy parts... To solder and connect the pickups to the electronics and adjust the neck, intonation and action then send it off to the rightful owner Jorgensen Sim in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. THIS WAS SO MUCH FREAKIN' FUN!!!  

I used my girlfriend's nice quality Nikon camera, but I'm camera retarded and I had it set to yellow sepia or something lol but the pics turned out way better quality than my shit ass blackberry. PICS BELOW 



From this 








To this 
Front view... Strung up with Ernie Ball Cobalt 10-56 strings (two different packs of strings) and it turned out absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!! 









Everything is all back together, now I just need to wire up the pickups to the electronics and see how she sounds! THIS LOOKS AWESOME YEAH BABY!!! 








I'll probably cry when I send it off since watched it grow from a cream looking classic rock guitar to becoming some I wanted for myself...   

Anyways thanks for watching this thread as it progressed guys! Until next time bros!


----------



## DevinShidaker (Jul 28, 2013)

You did an excellent job and nailed what the customer wanted. It's just a shame that he essentially wanted you to turn his guitar into another guitar that Epi makes already (with an extra pickup). He had the chance to go for something truly unique and he didn't take it. Great work though!


----------



## Manurack (Jul 28, 2013)

envenomedcky said:


> You did an excellent job and nailed what the customer wanted. It's just a shame that he essentially wanted you to turn his guitar into another guitar that Epi makes already (with an extra pickup). He had the chance to go for something truly unique and he didn't take it. Great work though!



This was such a fun project man, I've owned an LTD Viper before and I sold it (basswood, crap pickups and I hate bolt on necks) but the shape and the feel of this mahogany bodied, set neck SG has _really_ grown on me! I love the feel of the neck on this guitar, it's a bit thick but it feels great! 

Now I want a Gibson SG with 2 humbuckers! I don't like the middle pickup for the same reason that I don't like 3 single coiled strats, whenever I'm doing some articulate picking, my pick hits the middle pickup.

Next guitar I want is definitely a Gibson SG!


----------



## Suitable (Jul 28, 2013)

You got to oil that fret board, it looks dry as!!! Should darken it a lot to suit the body more now. Nice paint job


----------



## Manurack (Jul 28, 2013)

Yeah I was going to pick up some lemon oil from Nelson soon for the fretboard. The fretboard was sooooo gritty and gross with grey grime, I used Dunlop 65 cleaner on it. I love doing refinishes!


----------



## Mysticlamp (Jul 29, 2013)

looks good after all, nice


----------



## Manurack (Oct 17, 2013)

So, the Dimebucker didn't work out. It is such a bad sounding pickup. Dimebag was a legend but that pup is too scooped with almost no bass, no mids and too much treble. It sounds like a hot rodded single coil and sounded super twangy. So I tried the EMG 81 in the bridge and it sounded _soooooo much better._ I emailed the owner and he said to go with the 81.

So I finally got around to doing a demo video of how it sounds.
The guitar is in C# standard tuning and I'm playing some original stuff that I made up on the spot. It sounds cool so far and I want to make it into a song as I made a sweet intro, verse riffs and a nice breakdown, so it's being copyrighted by me!

No pics but here's the vid of how it sounds. I played into my Peavey Bandit 112 combo with an MXR Wylde OD into a Boss NS2 noise gate in the front, and a Boss 7 band EQ pedal in the effects loop. I love how this sounds and I'm sad that I'm sending it off to the rightful owner in about 6 hours.



It was such a fun, awesome project!!! If I buy another lower end guitar I'll definitely refinish it to whatever I want!


----------



## pondman (Oct 17, 2013)

Great result , love it


----------



## shawnperolis (Oct 18, 2013)

It looks very shmexy, nicely done!


----------



## Manurack (Oct 19, 2013)

Thanks Shawn! I shipped the guitar out yesterday morning about 24 hours ago. It went on Air Canada from Castlegar, BC to Yellowknife, NWT in one day, then it should catch a couple more flights to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut very soon. 
1 day shipping across the country is pretty goddamn goood! 
It was such a fun project!


----------



## DredFul (Oct 19, 2013)

Killer job mate \m/ 
I hope you won't mind if I use your polishing method? It turned out so well! Although I'm going to use my 20 euro(about 27$) polish that I was stupid enough to buy.. My wallet still cries.


----------



## downburst82 (Oct 19, 2013)

so did you wind up going wit no middle pickup at all then?

Looks beautiful you did a great job dude!


----------



## Manurack (Oct 21, 2013)

DredFul said:


> Killer job mate \m/
> I hope you won't mind if I use your polishing method? It turned out so well! Although I'm going to use my 20 euro(about 27$) polish that I was stupid enough to buy.. My wallet still cries.



Go ahead bro! I got the idea from this dude in this wet sanding and polishing video, he's great!



Also this video is a pretty sweet transformation of a garbage guitar to something amazing!


----------



## Dawn of the Shred (Oct 21, 2013)

Turned out great man! Thought it was going to be flat black though. guess i miss read. Good job!


----------



## Manurack (Oct 21, 2013)

arkansasmatt said:


> Turned out great man! Thought it was going to be flat black though. guess i miss read. Good job!



Yes... It was going to be flat black, I think I stated that about 5000 times 

An accident happened during the polishing process... I had it all day flat black and when I did some polishing on it, it turned out gloss black! So I snapped a pic with my phone, sent it to the owner and he liked the new look LOL happy accidents happen hahaha! So I got a can of gloss black paint, did a couple coats and wet sanded a bunch of times, then polished it and put it all back together.

I sent it out to the owner on friday from lower BC on friday, the 18th and he received it sunday the 20th above the Arctic Circle! He works for the airline business so he had employee shipping. He said he will upload a video to youtube soon and he loves it!


----------

