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Recent content by Shovelhead

  1. Shovelhead

    Reality check on '54 pickups

    I have a '54 Goldtop. I love the guitar to death, and would like to play it at the occasional gig. The problem? The pickups are so microphonic at the volume/gain that we use for classic rock that it's impossible to use. I have an R4 and it sounds great, but I'd like to play the old-timer...
  2. Shovelhead

    Stealth 'bucker in a Junior

    I know... I know. I love P90s too, but I have 5 other guitars with P90s. I bought a BJA Junior. Part of the reason I wanted this guitar is because I thought the H90 would be quieter. I already have 2 other Juniors, and this was going to go to some of the gigs where there's lots of neon. The...
  3. Shovelhead

    Scored a nice '56 Junior

    I saw an ad on Craigslist, and immediately closed the page. It was for a '56 Junior for 5K. Too much money, and I didn't need the conversation with my wife. For some reason, I kept going back to that page for the next couple of hours. I thought, what't the harm in calling? When I talked to...
  4. Shovelhead

    Any tricks to tame microphonic P90?

    My old '54 has really microphonic pickups in it. I also have an '07 R4, and a '61 Junior, neither of which have pickups that are quite as squealy as my old favorite. Are there any tricks to tame it without permanent mods? I don't want to ever pot the pickups or do anything stupid. But I'd like...
  5. Shovelhead

    Is it possible to fix a cut pickguard?

    In '71, I sold the pickguard off of my '54 for 10 bucks. The guy who bought it cut it to fit a humbucker Les Paul. I replaced the pickguard on my guitar with a new one from Gibson in '72 or so. It doesn't look too bad, and has actually aged a bit too. Later, the guy who bought it from me felt...
  6. Shovelhead

    JTM45 clone rig completed!

    I bought this completed chassis from www.ceriatone.com. Those guys build a REALLY nice amp. It's all point to point handwired, and it really sounds great with the KT66 tubes and tube rectifier. Pure old school - no master volume, no separate gain control, just pure JTM Marshall tone. So, I...
  7. Shovelhead

    What's a '61 Les Paul Jr (SG) worth?

    I found a '61 Les Paul Junior, in the SG body style. There are a couple of issues with this guitar. First, it was routed for 2 humbuckers sometime in the past. The second humbucker was in the middle position, so the neck joint was not compromised. It was then filled with mahogany, re-routed for...
  8. Shovelhead

    Pic of my new R7 Refin

    When I got to Wildwood yesterday, I ended up going home with a different guitar than I thought I was going to. I'm absolutely thrilled with my new R7 Refin. Steve, Bruce, and Lance are the absolute best in the biz.
  9. Shovelhead

    My Les Paul found it's way home after 17 years.

    Back in 1987, I sold the first guitar I ever bought. It was a 1977 Les Paul Standard in tobacco 'burst. It was a Norlin era guitar, with a sandwich body and 3-piece maple neck - definitely not a vintage purist's guitar, but I loved it because I busted butt and bought it for 570 bucks brand new...
  10. Shovelhead

    Pictorial of a refinish on a '90 Standard

    This one came to me in 'TV Yellow'. It was unlike any TV yellow I'd seen before, because it was completely opaque. I'd never seen this color on a Standard, and it was in rough shape. When the current owner bought it, it had gone thru a failed attempt to remove the finish. The 'wear marks' are...
  11. Shovelhead

    R8 and Bogner Shiva clip

    The clip is over a backing track that I downloaded from another forum. The first part of this clip is my Anderson Classic into the Bogner Shiva. EQ is flat at the console, and just a touch of outboard reverb was used. The second part (starting at 1:22) is the R8. Pickups are stock 57 Classics...
  12. Shovelhead

    Another one for the Silverburst fans - a SB Studio

    This is a refin for a client. He wanted a Silverburst finish on his Studio Gothic, so that's what he got! The neck is natural mahogany with a little bit of sealer on it to protect it. The back is solid black, since there's no binding on it. The binding is a faux binding like PRS (and many...
  13. Shovelhead

    I re-shot the ex-goldtop last night (pic)

    This is the first pic. In real life, the edges are a bit less red, and more brownish. I was going for an ice-tea vintage finish, and got ice-tea this time. I ended up using par cans without gels for lighting instead of the flourescent garage lights that I was using before. It's amazing how...
  14. Shovelhead

    Final pics of my ex-goldtop before I do it again...

    I wanted more of an ice-tea 'burst, and this turned out to be more orange/red. I learned a valuable lesson: DON'T MIX COLORS UNDER FLOURESCENT LIGHTS! It looks perfect out in the garage. I took these pics to document how it looks, and I'll start to strip it again very soon. More pics to follow!
  15. Shovelhead

    I decided to refin my 2001 R7.

    I bought this guitar used from Wildwood guitars awhile back. I played 3 goldtops in the store, and this one sounded the best by FAR. But it had cosmetic issues. First of all, the top clearly had flames underneath the gold, so the top wasn't as flawless as the others. Also, the fingerboard is...
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