Epi SG project

[07hubbardj]

Hello good people.
I just acquired an epiphone SG for a good price. I believe it's the 1966 reissue they did for a while but I'm not sure. But it's a good quality guitar. It has Grover tuners and the tuneomatic and stop tail seem to be good quality. As far as electronics go, the pots are full size 500k unlike some epiphones that get the mini pots of questionable quality.

The thing is, it suffers from that SG neck dive quite badly. Hoping to get some opinions on some possible mods.

Mod 1. TREM To counteract the neck dive I was thinking of adding a trem. I love the look of the maestro vibrolas but I don't want to pay more than I did for the guitar for a trem haha. There are knock offs that are still a little pricey but are supposedly better than gibsons own reissues. I'm also toying with the idea of a bigsby b3 that way it'll add plenty of tail weight but if I mount it towner style I can avoid drilling and so return it to stock if I hate the bigsby (I've never owned a guitar with one)

Mod 2 ELECTRONICS so currently the guitar has stock wiring for an SG with covered humbuckers. However, I'm toying with the idea of dropping some p90s into it. As it has the full width pickguards I was thinking I can widen the routes for p90s and get a new pickguard. The humbuckers are mounted to the pickguard so I won't give myself mounting issues if I change my mind. Alternatively I like gadgets and doodads and switches (also own a jag haha) so have been toying with the idea of getting humbuckers with four leads so I could have coil splitting etc hooked up to push pull pots. Yet another idea is to build in a Dan armstrong greenringer circuit like Frank Zappa had in his "Baby snakes" SG. The octave fuzz is such a cool sound so that might be fun.

So basically I'm after opinions on any of these ideas. Also if anyone has any alternative ideas then I'm all ears

[ifallalot]

a forum member here put this trem on their SG and I want to do it as well



Maybe they can post pics of their SG with it

You can find them on Reverb for about $90

[Embenny]

A B3 with vibramate is a great way to add weight and looks good on an SG IMO.

As for the pickups, you don't need to get fancy with the routing. Virtually every single pickup maker offers a "humbucker-sized P90" option. So if it's P90 tone you're after, you can easily get a drop-in replacement at any price point from the GFS Mean 90 to the Fralin P92 (which is hum-free but sounds like a P-90).

[07hubbardj]

a forum member here put this trem on their SG and I want to do it as well



Maybe they can post pics of their SG with it

You can find them on Reverb for about $90

I like those style trems, however I'm not sure if it'll add the kind of weight I'll need. However, I do have a Les Paul project on the back burner that would look real sharp with one if those. Thanks for the suggestion. Would certainly be interested in seeing one on an SG

[07hubbardj]

A B3 with vibramate is a great way to add weight and looks good on an SG IMO.

As for the pickups, you don't need to get fancy with the routing. Virtually every single pickup maker offers a "humbucker-sized P90" option. So if it's P90 tone you're after, you can easily get a drop-in replacement at any price point from the GFS Mean 90 to the Fralin P92 (which is hum-free but sounds like a P-90).

I wasn't planning on using a vibramate if I went with the b3. My plan was to mount it via the strap button and replace the stop tail with some kind of tension bar. Although the vibramate would add more weight than the bigsby alone its extra cost but won't be necessary to mount the trem without drilling. However, I would use one if I went with a b5 or b7.

As far as humbucker sized p90s go, it's certainly something I've considered. Particularly gfs. However being in the UK means that guitar fetish's reasonable prices become very unreasonable when shipping costs are added. For the same sort of price over here Entwistle pickups are quite easy to get your hands on. Either that or artec pickups. Not sure on the quality of those though

[Embenny]

A B3 with vibramate is a great way to add weight and looks good on an SG IMO.

As for the pickups, you don't need to get fancy with the routing. Virtually every single pickup maker offers a "humbucker-sized P90" option. So if it's P90 tone you're after, you can easily get a drop-in replacement at any price point from the GFS Mean 90 to the Fralin P92 (which is hum-free but sounds like a P-90).

I wasn't planning on using a vibramate if I went with the b3. My plan was to mount it via the strap button and replace the stop tail with some kind of tension bar. Although the vibramate would add more weight than the bigsby alone its extra cost but won't be necessary to mount the trem without drilling. However, I would use one if I went with a b5 or b7.

As far as humbucker sized p90s go, it's certainly something I've considered. Particularly gfs. However being in the UK means that guitar fetish's reasonable prices become very unreasonable when shipping costs are added. For the same sort of price over here Entwistle pickups are quite easy to get your hands on. Either that or artec pickups. Not sure on the quality of those though

Yeah, my suggestion of the Vibramate was purely for extra weight. I installed one on a heavy Jag and it became, well, excessive, so if weight is the goal, it could certainly get you there!

The Les Trem II is a great design but won't add nearly as much weight.

I don't know what budget you have for the mods, but a local (UK) option would be these. I've tried the GFS mean 90's and was underwhelmed. The Creamery ones would be top-notch.

[TeenageShutdown!]

If you’re looking to combat neckdive why not just get the typical suede 3” strap, or even a weighted strap?

[07hubbardj]

If you’re looking to combat neckdive why not just get the typical suede 3” strap, or even a weighted strap?

I'm gonna give that a go when I'm at work next (Im doing some temp work in a guitar shop where I bought the SG)
It might do the trick, the bigsby is something I want anyway but I do need a strap for this guitar and if it works then is a cheap fix until I have the funds for the bigbsy

[07hubbardj]

A B3 with vibramate is a great way to add weight and looks good on an SG IMO.

As for the pickups, you don't need to get fancy with the routing. Virtually every single pickup maker offers a "humbucker-sized P90" option. So if it's P90 tone you're after, you can easily get a drop-in replacement at any price point from the GFS Mean 90 to the Fralin P92 (which is hum-free but sounds like a P-90).

I wasn't planning on using a vibramate if I went with the b3. My plan was to mount it via the strap button and replace the stop tail with some kind of tension bar. Although the vibramate would add more weight than the bigsby alone its extra cost but won't be necessary to mount the trem without drilling. However, I would use one if I went with a b5 or b7.

As far as humbucker sized p90s go, it's certainly something I've considered. Particularly gfs. However being in the UK means that guitar fetish's reasonable prices become very unreasonable when shipping costs are added. For the same sort of price over here Entwistle pickups are quite easy to get your hands on. Either that or artec pickups. Not sure on the quality of those though

Yeah, my suggestion of the Vibramate was purely for extra weight. I installed one on a heavy Jag and it became, well, excessive, so if weight is the goal, it could certainly get you there!

The Les Trem II is a great design but won't add nearly as much weight.

I don't know what budget you have for the mods, but a local (UK) option would be these. I've tried the GFS mean 90's and was underwhelmed. The Creamery ones would be top-notch.

Pickups from the creamery would be something I'd like to try but they're £150 for a set brand new. I'm not sure what the price for a used set would be but I can't imagine it's super cheap. If I look at high end pickups as well as the bigsby it starts adding up to be a pricey project. Hoping to keep the costs down if I can.

If I go for a p90 conversion my plan was to route the body for regular p90s and then put in a set of soapbars. I'd swap the baseplates for dogear baseplates so I can mount them to the pickguard.

Also, I wouldn't write off HB sized p90s since it's less work but I like the idea of using regular p90s because Im GASing for a 1969 SG special (the one with p90s and the full batwing pickguard)

[07hubbardj]

With the bigsby, I think I'd try the b3 on its own and then if it's not fixing the neck dive issue then I'd get a vibramate. Ideally I'd do it without.

Whilst browsing eBay for bigsbys I found a couple of b3s that have the v shaped cutout on the tailpiece and a gretch logo. Kinda think it would have a kinda hot rodded look if I used one of those but idk. What do you guys think. I'll post a pic when I get the chance.

As for pickups, has anyone used Wilkinson pickups? I know their hardware is pretty good but don't know much about their pups

[sessylU]

As far as humbucker sized p90s go, it's certainly something I've considered. Particularly gfs. However being in the UK means that guitar fetish's reasonable prices become very unreasonable when shipping costs are added. For the same sort of price over here Entwistle pickups are quite easy to get your hands on. Either that or artec pickups. Not sure on the quality of those though

GFS and Artec are the same pickups.

[07hubbardj]

As far as humbucker sized p90s go, it's certainly something I've considered. Particularly gfs. However being in the UK means that guitar fetish's reasonable prices become very unreasonable when shipping costs are added. For the same sort of price over here Entwistle pickups are quite easy to get your hands on. Either that or artec pickups. Not sure on the quality of those though

GFS and Artec are the same pickups.

I had heard that. Most of the artecs I've come across have been filtertron style. Havent seen that much selection

[sessylU]

Pretty sure Iron Gear are the same thing too. They're uk based and have a humbucker sized P-90.

[07hubbardj]

Pretty sure Iron Gear are the same thing too. They're uk based and have a humbucker sized P-90.

I'll check them out too. Do they sell directly? When I was looking at artecs it was mostly on eBay

[leokula]

I have one of the ivory epi customs and the neck dive is real, but I got used to it. To me, it added to the exclusive feel of playing this guitar amongst the other I have. Plus, it's not even that bad.