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Post by lowwatt on Jul 14, 2007 6:51:04 GMT -7
I've always loved my Strat with my Maz Jr. Perfection, I wouldn't change a thing. My SG was always very good with it, but definitely a step down from the Strat. I always assumed it was because the Maz has a reputation as a Strat amp and left it at that.
I was wrong.
I just installed the RS upgrade kit in my '61 RI SG and wow. This is a world of difference. The closest comparison I can make is that its like a speaker upgrade. I still hear the same instrument but so much differently.
Gibson puts 300k pots and crappy caps in their present guitars (not the historics, but everything else). Putting in the proper 500k pots and good caps has opened this guitar up like I never expected.
There was always a harsh spike in the treble and i worried the higher value pots would make that more pronnounced. Nope, it was sort of the opposite. They brought out all the other frequencies around that spike and give me an even and detailed treble.
I've got a set of WCR pickups on the way to replace my '57 Classics (which I always blamed for that harsh spike). I'm not even sure how much better they can make this, I'm that impressed.
I used to think those kits were just an expensive upgrade for the cork sniffers that would only make a small almost insignificant improvement. I was wrong. I'm impressed.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jul 14, 2007 8:14:08 GMT -7
Who makes that kit? Never heard of it here.
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Post by Jan on Jul 14, 2007 9:06:26 GMT -7
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 14, 2007 9:27:29 GMT -7
I think that's why you hear complaints about Z amps. The guys finally hear what their guitar really sounds like and they blame it wrongly on the amp.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 14, 2007 9:32:53 GMT -7
Those RS guitars are pretty cool!
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Post by Strato on Jul 14, 2007 11:18:32 GMT -7
I think that's why you hear complaints about Z amps. The guys finally hear what their guitar really sounds like and they blame it wrongly on the amp. lol! You speak truth, my friend.
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Post by zdogma on Jul 16, 2007 5:17:40 GMT -7
Did you get the new one with the Jensen caps?
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Post by terlinguart on Jul 16, 2007 6:32:47 GMT -7
Thanks for the tip.
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Post by lowwatt on Jul 16, 2007 8:12:13 GMT -7
Did you get the new one with the Jensen caps? Yep. It's got the Jensen's. I'd never tried the older kit with the Hovlands so I can't compare the difference. I can just say that I'm very happy with the change and I am using my tone and volume controls much more. It used to be roll down the tone for a muddy and wooly distortion sound or don't use it at all. Now, even at its darkest it still has clarity and I actually can use the tone control to change the tone of the guitar in any setting. Shocking, I know. I've never been able to do rolled off dark jazz tones with this guitar, it would sound like mush. I've been doing that non-stop since the electronics change.
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Post by zdogma on Jul 16, 2007 13:01:34 GMT -7
How much did it cost you with all the duty, tax, etc.? I'm trying to decide on buying the kit, versus just picking up some 500K pots and new/better caps.
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Post by lowwatt on Jul 16, 2007 17:52:56 GMT -7
How much did it cost you with all the duty, tax, etc.? I'm trying to decide on buying the kit, versus just picking up some 500K pots and new/better caps. $82US for the kit and shipping. (I paid more for USPS than UPS would have been because UPS would have ended up charging way more at the border) $16 CDN for all fees at the border. After it all, it worked out to about $105-110 CDN and I was worried that i would feel like I was wasting my money, but nope. It was worth it. The thing is I don't know how much the RS-spec pots add to it. I imagine much of the difference i hear is from having the right value pots and a decent set of caps.
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Post by zdogma on Jul 16, 2007 18:03:03 GMT -7
How much did it cost you with all the duty, tax, etc.? I'm trying to decide on buying the kit, versus just picking up some 500K pots and new/better caps. $82US for the kit and shipping. (I paid more for USPS than UPS would have been because UPS would have ended up charging way more at the border) $16 CDN for all fees at the border. After it all, it worked out to about $105-110 CDN and I was worried that i would feel like I was wasting my money, but nope. It was worth it. The thing is I don't know how much the RS-spec pots add to it. I imagine much of the difference i hear is from having the right value pots and a decent set of caps. Not too bad, actually.
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Post by Curt on Jul 20, 2007 5:46:08 GMT -7
You can probably do the same with CTS pots and Orange Drop caps (my favorite for fiddle caps) and get them locally.
IMO it's not rocket science, The RS stuff is good, Acme, now Mojo, all these places are getting rich off lazy tone hungry guitarists IMO. It's "easier" to get it all in one bag "one stop shopping", if you call Angela Instruments and do a lil sesarching and put together an order I think you'll save a little coin.
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Post by lowwatt on Jul 20, 2007 7:58:55 GMT -7
You can probably do the same with CTS pots and Orange Drop caps (my favorite for fiddle caps) and get them locally. IMO it's not rocket science, The RS stuff is good, Acme, now Mojo, all these places are getting rich off lazy tone hungry guitarists IMO. It's "easier" to get it all in one bag "one stop shopping", if you call Angela Instruments and do a lil sesarching and put together an order I think you'll save a little coin. You are probably right. Given that this was my first time doing an electronics upgrade and it was for my most expensive guitar, I went for best reputation and top of the line electronics, so that if there was a difference to be heard, I would hear it. For the next one, I will likely try to source the parts myself and see if the difference is as large.
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Post by edoetsch on Jul 20, 2007 8:57:34 GMT -7
When would you say Gibson began putting crappy hardward in their standard guitars?
I've got 1989 and older ones that have been gone over by Mauradian Guitar in Cambridge so I am sure there's no problem.
I ask because I plan to get a Les Paul Standard and don't want to have to immediately upgrade the electronics.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 20, 2007 9:57:38 GMT -7
If you're in the guitar changing caps I find that reducing the value on the tone pot makes it more useful. It keeps more of the mids.
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