So THIS followed me home... NGD!

[rumfoord]

Really beautiful

Congrats!!

[Despot]

Nice score! I nearly bought one of these last year and for some foolish reason I didn't (it was dirt cheap ... but I think I was going through a downsizing phase). I wish I had...

Happy NGD!

[zakmaster]

So cool!

Great looking guitar in need of saving. Way to go StevenO!

[Con-Tiki!]

And for sure, I wish these pickups were still inexpensive. Personally, I don't feel comfortable buying these old dearmonds for the going rate that they go for on eBay and such. I'd rather buy a remake from Mojo or Novak, and save these guitars as they're really quite good on their own.

Even though the prices are obnoxious, the thing to do would be to save up a couple bucks and buy another original pickup. Having a bridge pickup will make that guitar SO much better. I've owned a bunch of neck-pickup-only Harmonys, and eventually lost interest in that sound.
great, certainly, but not for everything.

you'll need a guard anyway, might as well get one with two notches.

[Luthier-Atlanta]

Way better then a stray animal, nice score.

[StevenO]

And for sure, I wish these pickups were still inexpensive. Personally, I don't feel comfortable buying these old dearmonds for the going rate that they go for on eBay and such. I'd rather buy a remake from Mojo or Novak, and save these guitars as they're really quite good on their own.

Even though the prices are obnoxious, the thing to do would be to save up a couple bucks and buy another original pickup. Having a bridge pickup will make that guitar SO much better. I've owned a bunch of neck-pickup-only Harmonys, and eventually lost interest in that sound.
great, certainly, but not for everything.

you'll need a guard anyway, might as well get one with two notches.

For sure, I could see that happening. Luckily I have like twelve other guitars...

I'd probably keep this one as original as possible. If anything, I'd just sell this one and buy a two pickup model.

I'm actually considering buying a replacement rosewood bridge to put on my Silvertone Silhouette as I don't really dig the way the crappy Tune-o-matic I put on it is sounding on that guitar. I'm convinced that the wood bridge gives a good character and feel to the guitar. Know if there's any truth to that?

[Ursa Minor]

I preferred the wood bridge on my Jupiter.

[Con-Tiki!]

And for sure, I wish these pickups were still inexpensive. Personally, I don't feel comfortable buying these old dearmonds for the going rate that they go for on eBay and such. I'd rather buy a remake from Mojo or Novak, and save these guitars as they're really quite good on their own.

Even though the prices are obnoxious, the thing to do would be to save up a couple bucks and buy another original pickup. Having a bridge pickup will make that guitar SO much better. I've owned a bunch of neck-pickup-only Harmonys, and eventually lost interest in that sound.
great, certainly, but not for everything.

you'll need a guard anyway, might as well get one with two notches.

For sure, I could see that happening. Luckily I have like twelve other guitars...

I'd probably keep this one as original as possible. If anything, I'd just sell this one and buy a two pickup model.

I'm actually considering buying a replacement rosewood bridge to put on my Silvertone Silhouette as I don't really dig the way the crappy Tune-o-matic I put on it is sounding on that guitar. I'm convinced that the wood bridge gives a good character and feel to the guitar. Know if there's any truth to that?

i'm sure it will help some.
The bigger factor will be the solid-body construction of the bobkat. Those pickups sound very different in a full-hollow guitar.

[Oig]

Score! That thing is

[StevenO]

I think for me, I like the punchy and crisp attack of the rosewood bridge. The crappy zinc, or whatever it is, tom bridge kind of sounds and feels weird, if that makes any sense. Just sounds cheap.

[empyrean]

On the subject of the bridge, keep your eyes out for one of the Harmony bridges with the little bit of bone/plastic embedded in it. I found mine on ebay for like $20, it's from a Harmony model named after someone and I cant for the life of me remember the name.

Anyway, I popped it on my Rocket I got from Con-Tiki which is very similar to yours, and it kept that rosewoody tone, but I found it gave it a little more clairity and stability. The rosewood bridges have a tendency to deteriorate around the strings after awhile.

[PixMix]

HNGD! Very nice. Def on my list, but when they appear in my local CL, they're priced north of $500. Great score.

[StevenO]

On the subject of the bridge, keep your eyes out for one of the Harmony bridges with the little bit of bone/plastic embedded in it. I found mine on ebay for like $20, it's from a Harmony model named after someone and I cant for the life of me remember the name.

Anyway, I popped it on my Rocket I got from Con-Tiki which is very similar to yours, and it kept that rosewoody tone, but I found it gave it a little more clairity and stability. The rosewood bridges have a tendency to deteriorate around the strings after awhile.

Great suggestion! I'll keep that in mind if and when I decide to look for one. I have to say, I did a little bit of experimenting. I put a spare Jazzmaster bridge on my Silhouette to see if the tone or attack changes. Didn't work. The spacing was too wide for the neck and just couldn't do it. So I put the TOM back on, and reset the guitar up, fiddling with shims and bridge height. No change in sound, but it plays well regardless.

I also took a spare Silverfoil pickup I have, hooked it up to a cable and jack and used it to compare to the pickup in my Rocket. They sound like two totally different pickups, despite the construction being pretty much the same, from what I understand. The Rocket gold foil is lower output, huge bass, sweet highs, and an almost-scooped midrange sound. The Silverfoil is LOUD, has strong but tight bass, clanky yet almost cloudy highs, and a honky midrange. I know there wasn't much consistency with these, but damn... I think these read close to 10k. The Rocket, thoug I haven't measured it, probably reads around 8k, judging by the difference. In any case, sounds great!

I might look for a compensated bridge for the Rocket. I can get it mostly intonated, but some strings are a little off, randomly, on certain notes on certain strings. Could also need some neck adjustment, but I can't stand working the truss rod. Not quite there in my amateur guitar teching journey.

[Con-Tiki!]

eh...
the sooner you give up on being in tune, the better.


I've got a whole wall of crap that will never intonate properly.
The tonz (there, I said it.) more than make up for it.

[sookwinder]

talking truss rod.... just ventured into that area last week .. read a shit load and watch an equal shit load on the interwebz and finally got the gutz to play with the TR on two of my new acoustics ... different countries, different weather (humidity etc) different string setups .... all meant a slight tweak was required . Now that I have done two gtrs and actually understand (know) what needs to be done, it wasn't that hard after all.

Steven... PM me if you want some links to a few good pages on truss rod adjustment.

ok .. now back to the regular programme ...