DIY Guitar Makeover

VOL. 4
Killer upgrades for entry-level Squier,
Epiphone, and Gretsch instruments—plus
tips on jacks, wire, and more.

Digital Press
 DIY

TEXT AND PHOTOS

BY MICHAEL ADAMS

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A s a working musician, there’s never been a
better time to be alive and wanting. There’s
a near-boundless array of instruments,
pickups, pedals, and amps for just about
every budget, not to mention the increasingly
convincing digital paths to previously out-of-reach
tones now made available by modeling, profiling,
and impulse-response software. In fact, as time
goes on it often feels as if the lower end of the
price range is where the real values are.
Some might mutter under their breath at that
notion, and I get it. When I was coming up as a
guitarist in the ’80s and ’90s, the more affordable
models were almost universally shunned. Most
players felt they simply weren’t up to snuff and
were replete with tuning problems, inconsistent
quality, and uninspiring tonal and visual aesthetics.
However, things have certainly changed in the
modern era. Computer-aided manufacturing and
other industry developments (such as boutique
pickup builders developing improved designs for
budget instruments) have streamlined production,
broadened the types of instruments available, and
greatly reduced variances in quality control. As a
result, there are killer deals to be had in the sub-
$500 range no matter what your taste. Whether
you’re looking for your first instrument or one you
can take to the pub in place of your irreplaceable
1960s custom color No. 1, there’s a guitar or bass
out there that will scratch your particular itch with
a price tag that’ll make your jaw drop.
But besides the killer deal that many of these
models present in and of themselves, if you’re
into modding—or having someone do mods for
you—these more affordable designs can represent
the perfect low-commitment value: For a few
hundred bucks, you can often end up with a
customized axe that, in many ways, is essentially
on par with much pricier instruments, or you
can explore unconventional new sounds on a
familiar platform without having to worry about
whether, say, adapting new hardware or expanding
pickup cavities will devalue your high-end version.
Whichever persuasion you hail from, breathe
easy—you’re among friends!
For this year’s annual DIY issue, PG asked me
to take a look at four of these common, low-cost
models—three 6-strings and one bass purchased
from an online retailer—and walk you through
how I’d recommend turning them into more
reliable stage and studio mainstays. (Before I get
started, I want to give a big shout of thanks to
Dan Michael of Rawton Customs for letting me
make a mess of his workspace.)

If you’re new to modding, visit

premierguitar.com/soldering101
for our comprehensive guide on
soldering techniques and tips.

PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 1

 GRETSCH
G5426 Jet Club TonePros tuners

$299 street
gretschguitars.com

Initial Inspection
The Jet Club comes in a flashy silver finish
with enough chrome accoutrements to force
a second glance. It’s an attractive instrument
that begs to be played—and luckily it plays
great right out of the box. Admittedly, it’s
more or less a Gretsch-ified Les Paul, but it
somehow fits the company’s classic aesthetic.
The G5426 has a gorgeous rosewood
fretboard, and it’s fun to play thanks to
the maple neck’s medium-C shape and
nicely rounded shoulders. In defiance of
conventional sentiment regarding bolt-on
construction, it also delivers thick sustain.
There’s even some midrange airiness, thanks
to its chambered basswood body. BEFORE
Like a lot of affordable instruments these
days, the original hardware isn’t anything to
write home about, but it’s also acceptably
Curtis Novak Guytone
functional. The tuners turn smoothly, gold-foil humbuckers
although to me they don’t feel super solid.
Tuning stability could likely be improved
by swapping them for upmarket units. In
addition, I’ll look at dressing the synthetic
bone nut’s slots—not because they’re
particularly rough or disappointing, but just
to fine-tune performance. To be honest,
Emerson 500k pots and
most guitars these days, regardless of price, a .022 µF capacitor
could use similar attention.
Plugged in, the stock Jet Club sounded Bigsby B5 vibrato and
Vibramate V5 Standard
a bit dark, but that’s fairly common with mounting kit
entry-level imports, as lower-grade electrical
components comprise a significant cost-
saving measure. Even so, the Club’s stock
tone is loud and surprisingly bombastic, AFTER

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 1 THE MODS
Parts
• TonePros TPK 3x3 tuners
($50 street)
• Bigsby B5 vibrato ($120 street)
• Vibramate V5 Standard
mounting kit ($56 street)
• Two Emerson 500k pots and a
.022 µF capacitor ($25 street)
• Curtis Novak Guytone gold-foil
humbuckers ($310 street)

Total: $561

Tools You’ll Need

• Screwdrivers (Phillips and
flathead)
2 • Electric drill
• 1/4" and 3/32" drill bits
• Soldering iron and rosin-core
(not acid-core) solder
• Wire cutters
• Needle-nose pliers
• Nut files
• ChapStick or similar lip balm for
lubrication (seriously!)

Photos 1 and 2: A Vibramate V5 Standard kit enabled us to add a Gretsch must—a

Bigsby B5 vibrato—to the Jet Club without any drilling.
Photo 3: To ensure your new Bigsby has comfy, squishy action right out of the
gate, place the spring on the floor and put all your weight on it 30–45 times.

so I’m thinking that giving some attention to
the pickups and circuit will bump up the clarity
factor. This one’s got some soul, and I intend to
bring that out.
The only complaint I had with the Jet Club was
that some of its fret ends stuck out a bit too far,
resulting in prickly playing in some positions. This
is something I can fix on my own without much
effort—and, in defense of Gretsch’s overall attention
to detail, the leveling and crowning work on the
frets was flawless. I couldn’t find any notes that
choked or buzzed during my initial playing tests.
All in all, this is a great guitar for the price. I’m
looking forward to digging into this one—and I’m
thinking we’ll go a slightly different direction with
our mods, rather than try to turn this into the
stereotypical “ultimate Gretsch.”
For the most part, the mods we chose for
the Gretsch Jet Club couldn’t have gone more
smoothly. Each bit of hardware, including the
tuners, fit without any extra drilling or routing
required. (The circuitry upgrades required a little
extra work. More on that shortly.) The Vibramate
V5 Standard kit made installing the Bigsby B5

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vibrato (Photos 1 and 2) an 4
especially painless exercise—no
more difficult than turning
a few screws into place! (If
you’re not familiar with it,
the Vibramate is a U-shaped
metal platform that lets you
add a Bigsby to an instrument
already outfitted with a Tune-
o-matic-style bridge and stop-
tail without having to drill
extra holes. If you can change
your strings, you can install a
Vibramate.)
One thing I like to do with
new Bigsby vibratos is eliminate
the break-in period for the
spring—which can otherwise
yield rather stiff arm action for
quite some time. In the spirit of
generosity, I pass this trick onto
you: Place the spring on the
ground and step on it 30–45 times (Photo 3). I’m
telling you, it works! Oh, and one more tip—toss
the nylon washer that’s supposed to go under the
spring in the trash, and use a penny instead. It’ll
last longer and yield to pressure less.
The only Gretsch alterations that required
some slightly more significant alterations were the
potentiometer holes. I had to gently enlarge the
existing holes to accommodate the new Emerson
parts. This is a common distinction between most
U.S.-made instruments and those made overseas—
in fact, we encountered it with every instrument
modded for this article. With the Gretsch,
making the pots fit required a 1/4" drill bit and
a technique called reverse drilling that’s as self-
explanatory as it sounds––you’re literally drilling
in reverse: When the drill turns counterclockwise,
it eliminates the chance that the bit will grab the
wood and tear it out, which comes in handy when
you need to get rid of a little wood in an area that
may be partially visible. After only a moment, the
new pots fit right in place (Photos 4 and 5).
5
Photos 4 and 5: As
with most import
electrics, the G5426’s
potentiometer holes
are a bit narrow to fit
higher-end Emerson
pots. I used a 1/4"
drill bit—operating
in reverse—to very
carefully widen the
holes and minimize
the likelihood of
unsightly wood tears.
For the wiring tweaks in all four of these
instrument-modding projects, I prewired harnesses
to make quick work of pickup installation—in this
case, Curtis Novak’s brand-new Guytone gold-foil
humbuckers. I’m really excited to try out these
pickups, which are based on the old Guyatone
pickups but in dual-coil format. The one
problem I ran into with the pickups should have
been obvious from the start, had I been paying
closer attention: The Jet Club’s original chrome
mounting rings have three holes for pickup-height
screws, not the standard two. Remedying the
problem wasn’t too tough, though: I simply used
a 3/32" drill bit to drill a new hole in the center
of the side of the pickup ring that had two holes,
then rotated the rings so that the side with the
two unused original holes was hidden under the
pickguard (Photos 6 and 7). Problem solved!
Once everything was in place, I restrung
the guitar and put in some extra maintenance
that often gets overlooked on trem-equipped
instruments. Often the reason vibrato units get
a bad rap isn’t because of any shortcoming with
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 5
 6

Photos 6 and 7: The Jet Club’s original pickup rings had holes for three (rather
than the standard two) height screws. To accommodate the new pickups’ two-
screw setup, I drilled a new hole in the center of the two-hole side of each
ring, then rotated the rings around so the unused holes would be obscured by
the pickguard.

the whammy itself: It’s due to a poorly cut nut, bad
stringing techniques, and bridge saddles that weren’t
intended to have strings grinding away at their
rough edges. A little filing of the nut and saddle
slots, some lubrication in key areas, and the Gretsch
G5426 Jet Club was good to go.
Post-Mod Thoughts
The guitar we started with was pretty good, but
the one we ended up with had far greater depth
and dimensionality to its tones and playing
flexibility. Dressing the nut and fret ends
made worlds of difference for playability, and
the Curtis Novak pickups are fantastically
dynamic—every bit as vocal as any good gold-
foil I’ve heard, but far quieter. The guitar now
has a bright midrange character that just sings.
It’s equally at home with clean tones and gritty
fuzz. Honestly, this Gretsch may be the biggest
surprise of the group!

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PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 7
 SQUIER
Vintage Modified
Jaguar
$399 street
squierguitars.com

Initial Inspection
As has been my experience with the whole
of Squier’s Vintage Modified line, the Jaguar
offers serious bang for the buck. I really can’t
say enough about the consistency of this
series. I’ve owned and worked on several,
and overall I’ve been really impressed with
the fundamental aspects—the neck shapes,
the average weight, and the fit and finish—
of each.
The one thing I’ll concede often isn’t great
on floor (or online-purchased) models of
Leo Fender’s unique Jaguar design (as well
as the similarly equipped Jazzmaster) is the
setup. This holds true for the Squier VM BEFORE
we’ve got here. Straight out of the box, all the
familiar complaints you hear about “offset”
guitars (a nickname for instruments with
asymmetrical inner body curves like those on Fender Pure Vintage
’65 Jaguar pickups
the Jag and Jazzmaster) were realized, from
56k carbon-comp resistor
loose, rattling bridge saddles to poor tuning for “strangle” switch
stability. This is because Jazzmaster/Jaguar
hardware and construction peculiarities
are often misunderstood by the average Staytrem bridge
player and shop setup person. Optimizing
Jaguar and Jazzmaster performance requires
Fender American
specialized knowledge that can seem foreign Vintage Jaguar/Jazzmaster
to players used to Stratocaster-, Telecaster-, vibrato and arm

or Les Paul-style instruments. Thankfully, the Emerson Pro 1M ohm pots,

retailer’s setup oversights and shortcomings Mallory .01 µF capacitor,

solid-core cloth wire
can be corrected by following the Jazzmaster/
Jaguar setup techniques I outlined in PG’s
May 2017 issue.
AFTER

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8 THE MODS
9 • Allen wrenches
I’ll be focusing on two major areas in our
Jag mods: electronics and hardware. We’ll be
upgrading the bridge, vibrato, pickups, and
lead-circuit electronics, but we’ll leave the less-
used rhythm circuit (the panel on the upper,
bass-side bout of the guitar) alone. There’s no
reason to change out the tuners, as they’re sturdy
and reliable as-is.If you’re enough of a Jaguar or
Jazzmaster nerd to have tried installing a U.S.-
made Jag/JM vibrato on Fender’s Japanese-made
versions of either model, you very likely had
to do some extra routing to make it fit. Luckily
that’s not the case with these Indonesian-made
Parts
• Staytrem bridge ($75 street)
• Fender American Vintage
Jaguar/Jazzmaster vibrato and
arm ($94 street)
• Fender Pure Vintage ’65 Jaguar
pickups ($85 street)
• Emerson Pro 1M ohm pots,
Mallory .01 µF capacitor, 56k
carbon-comp resistor, solid-core
cloth wire ($30 street)
Total: $284
Tools You’ll Need
• Screwdrivers (Phillips
and flathead)
• Electric drill and bits
• Soldering iron and
rosin-core solder
• Wire cutters
• Needle-nose pliers
• Nut files
• Vintage Fender-style black
fiber shims
• ChapStick or similar lip balm
(I’m still serious!)
Photo 8: Squier’s Vintage Modified Jaguar is
a modder’s dream—the factory routes and
screw holes allow easy, drop-in replacement
of the most common components that offset
fans like to upgrade.
Photo 9: The Jag’s lead-circuit control panel
after widening the pot holes and installing
U.S.-made 1M potentiometers and a Mallory
.01 µF capacitor on the tone pot.
Squiers. I suspect they’re using U.S. templates,
because the American Vintage reissue vibrato
fits perfectly without any extra finagling. Even
Fender American Vintage pickguards line up,
just in case you feel like adding a more minty
or parchment-y vibe to your Jag. I’m just in awe
of how right they got all this!
Another bit of good news: The Jag’s control-
cavity routes were more than ample to fit full-size
U.S.-made potentiometers. That said, the pot holes
in the lead-circuit body plate (the control section
nearest to the vibrato) did need to be drilled out
in order to go from mini pots to the larger shafts
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 9
 in full-size ones. As for the 10
switches, I often recommend
upgrading them, but these
ones felt solid enough.
Instead of completely
rewiring the guitar, I built a
harness for the lead circuit
(the two treble-side panels,
one of which houses three
sliders, and the other of which
has standard-sized volume
and tone knobs) using solid-
core, vintage-style cloth wire,
Emerson 1M pots, a Mallory
.01 µF capacitor, and a 56k
carbon-comp resistor for the
“strangle” function (a bass-
reduction function engaged by
the treble-side slider closest
to the bridge pickup). I paired Photo 10: With the new U.K.-made Staytrem bridge and Fender American Vintage vibrato
installed, the Squier is starting to look more and more like an offset obsessive’s dream.
the wired-up harness (Photo
9) with Fender’s fantastic Pure Once the new hardware was in place, I restrung
Vintage ’65 Jaguar pickups, which are nice and the Jag with .011–.048 strings, since many enthusiasts
deep on the low end, and bright but not tinny find heavier strings to be a better option for the
on the highs. guitar’s shorter 24" scale. I also took some time to
As I mentioned before, we’ve tossed the VM’s appropriately shim the neck to assure adequate
original vibrato in favor of a Fender American Vintage clearance and comfortable playing action with the
unit, which offers a serious upgrade in performance, new bridge (see the aforementioned Jazzmaster/
thanks to more consistent manufacturing. While I Jaguar setup piece for more detail on this).
have a personal preference for the playing response Because Jaguars come from the factory with .009-
of actual vintage Fender Jag/JM vibratos, as well gauge strings, it’s imperative that the nut slots be
as Mastery Bridge’s JM-style vibratos, I’ve happily dressed to match the thicker gauge. Nut slots that are
installed these American Vintage units for many too small or poorly cut will grip the string, causing
a budget-minded musician without reservation. tuning problems—especially on a vibrato-equipped
To remedy the Jaguar’s usual loose/buzzy/unstable instrument. You can easily widen nut slots yourself,
saddle situation, I’ve installed a Staytrem—a popular provided you have access to a decent set of files.
upgrade for offset obsessives (Photo 10). Made in I’ve been using the same StewMac files for years,
the U.K. out of solid stainless steel, the Staytrem is but any gauged file with a rounded bottom will do
a more robust Mustang-style bridge that aims to just fine (Photo 11). After opening up the nut, the
retain the feel and sound of Leo Fender’s original strings glide smoothly and stay in tune perfectly.
Jag/JM design while also featuring deep grooves Note: When filing nut slots, remember to keep
in its fixed-radius saddles to prevent strings from the file angled slightly down toward the headstock,
slipping out of place under aggressive attack—a so the highest point of the slot remains on the edge
common Jag/JM problem.

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11

Photo 11: Because we’ve increased the Jag’s string gauge from the stock .009 set to an .011 set, filing the nut slots to match the new
set’s gauge is imperative for both comfortable action and tuning stability.

of the nut that’s closest to the fretboard. To avoid
“sitar buzz,” the slot must guide the string down
toward the string post.
Post-Mod Thoughts
When all was said and done, I was blown away
by how the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar came
alive. Besides having all the usual offset kinks
worked out, it’s got newfound brightness and
depth on tap, as well as a wiry, tough, taut feel
availed by heavier strings that are more reliably
channeled and anchored by the Staytrem bridge
and smoother-performing vibrato. I’d gladly take
it onstage with me—that I can say for sure.

PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 11

 SQUIER
Vintage Modified
Precision Bass PJ
$299
squierguitars.com

Initial Inspection
As the only bass we’ll be working with
in this DIY round, this Squier Vintage
Modified Precision PJ has a lot of pressure
on it to bring home the bacon. Thankfully,
the $299 instrument is actually quite good.
I’d have no problem recommending it to
anyone in need of an affordable backup or
a replaceable touring instrument. I love the
color and the weight, and I was even rather
impressed with the sound of the stock elec-
tronics. It plays pretty great, too. Honestly,
if there weren’t a whole to-do about mods
for this issue, I’d probably just leave it be.
But where’s the fun in that?
The mods for the PJ were all pretty
straightforward. The Babicz bridge is hugely BEFORE
popular with bass wizzes because its hefty
aluminum construction and double-locking
saddles tend to improve both sustain and
intonation. But it’s also a hit because it uses
the same five-screw pattern as the original
Fender Jazz and Precision bass bridges, mak-
ing it a no-brainer swap because it doesn’t
require any extra filling or drilling of holes.
Nordstrand NPJ4SV Vintage
The only area where I hit a snag was fitting Hum-Cancelling pickup set
the new full-size tone pot at the lower tip
of the pickguard. Standard Precision basses
have two knobs—a volume and a tone—with Emerson 250k pots
and a .047 µF capacitor
a pickguard-mounted output. But since our
Squier Precision PJ has two volumes and Babicz FCH-4
full-contact bridge
its tone knob is located where the P’s jack
would normally be, the PJ’s output jack is
mounted on the side. Unfortunately, the jack AFTER

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 13

12

Photo 12: Before using a pin

router to slightly expand the PJ’s
control cavity to accommodate
a larger, higher-quality tone pot,
I marked the pickguard outline
and the area that needed to
be trimmed with a marker and
masking tape.
Photo 13: Although expanding
the control allowed the tone pot
to fit, the output jack was too
close to accommodate the hefty
Emerson capacitor. I had to swap
it with a metal-film cap.

also isn’t far from the tone control, which means its inner portion THE MODS
comes quite close to the tone pot. On the bright side, using a pin
router (80-grit sandpaper and a little elbow grease will work, too), Parts
I was able to remove enough wood from the cavity (Photo 12) to • Babicz FCH-4 5-hole full-contact
bridge ($130 street)
fit the upgraded tone pot. Even so, there wasn’t enough room to
• Nordstrand NPJ4SV Vintage
fit the sweet—but also very large—.047 µF Emerson capacitor Hum-Cancelling pickup set
(Photo 13). I had to substitute a thin metal-film capacitor instead. ($244 street)
From there, things got easy again. The upscale Nordstrand pickups • Three Emerson 250k pots and
fit perfectly and wired up incident-free—though I was thankful for an Emerson .047 µF capacitor
($75 street)
the “Where Does the Small Gray Wire Go?” info sheet, as I was in
the process of asking that very question the moment I saw the wire. Total: $449
That’s some thoughtful customer service, right there!
Tools You’ll Need
Post-Mod Thoughts • Screwdrivers (Phillips
and flathead)
For its price range, the Squier Vintage Modified Precision PJ was • 80-grit sandpaper
already an impressive bass, but after these mods it became some- (or a pin router)
thing quite different. It’s louder, more authoritative, and sounds • Allen wrenches
positively enormous. Sure, it still has that vintage Fender bass • Electric drill and bits
midrange with the P pickup soloed, but the Nordstrand pickups • Soldering iron and
rosin-core solder
excel when used in tandem. The bass now straddles vintage and • Wire cutters
modern sounds with ease, and it’s also dead quiet no matter which • Needle-nose pliers
pickup you favor. It loves fuzz, too!

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 EPIPHONE
Les Paul SL
TonePros tuners
$99
epiphone.com
Bone nut
I remember when Epiphone announced this
model at NAMM last year. The moment I
heard the ridiculous price I wanted one—
even though I damn well didn’t need another
guitar for literally any reason. The pickguard
lines echo ’60s Gibson Melody Makers, and
the colors—which range from the black
we chose here to a couple of bursts and a
few candy-like pastels—just drew me in.
Somehow, though, I didn’t get a chance to
play one until our project guitar arrived on
my doorstep.

Initial Inspection
At the paltry sum of $99, the Epiphone Les
Paul SL is far and away the least expensive gui-
tar of our group, and it wears that price point
on its sleeve. It’s rudimentary and uncom- BEFORE
plicated, neither refined nor streamlined.
And, to be honest, playing an unmodified
specimen can conjure conflicting feelings: At Lollar MelodyMaker pickups

times it’s pleasant and enjoyable … at others Conductive

it’s uninspiring, even a little confusing. aluminum-foil tape
But who are we kidding here? No reasonable
Emerson 500k pots, a .022 µF
person would expect a flaw-free experience paper-in-foil capacitor, and
at this price point, so minor finish issues and treble-bleed network

thin-sounding pickups shouldn’t surprise MojoAxe Compensated

us. Given its dimensions and pedigree, it’s

’60s wraparound bridge

no surprise that the poplar-bodied instru-

Kill switch
ment is light, but to some it might even feel
unsettlingly so. The mere presence of tuners
seems to throw off its balance when worn on
a strap, and in some ways the SL makes one
wonder whether, long-term, it will handle
the rigors of guitar life. AFTER

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 14

Photo 14: To improve the Les Paul SL’s tuning stability, I used a drill press to carefully widen THE MODS
the existing tuner holes to accommodate a set of smoother-operating TonePros machines.
Parts
• TonePros tuners ($50 street)
Considering all that, the question became: Can the SL be elevated • MojoAxe Compensated ’60s
by a few thoughtful alterations? I firmly believe any guitar can be wraparound bridge ($60 street)
• Lollar MelodyMaker P-90s
made to play and sound better, so from this point on I’ll be treating ($230 street)
the Epi the same way Ed McMahon treated daytime TV viewers in • Two Emerson 500k pots, a
the 1980s: Little friend, you may already be a winner. .022 µF paper-in-foil capacitor, and
treble-bleed network ($25 street)
I’ll be swapping out the nut, electronics, pickups, pickguard, and • Kill switch ($5 street)
hardware. And, since the fret ends were jagged enough to do some • Bone nut (I charge $90 for this job)
minor skin damage while unboxing the guitar—not to worry, I didn’t • Conductive aluminum-foil tape ($6
street)
bleed on it—I put fretwork on the mod list as well.
As we’ve discussed, lower-quality electrical components are one Total: $466
way manufacturers often cut costs on more affordable instruments. Tools You’ll Need
On a guitar as inexpensive as the Epi SL, hardware is definitely • Screwdrivers (Phillips
going to come into that picture, too. It was soon apparent that its and flathead)
• Pin router or electric rotary tool
tuners just aren’t worth salvaging, so I installed a set of white- • Electric drill and bits
button TonePros for a visual and functional upgrade. Because these • Soldering iron and
tuners have a stabilizing lip surrounding the tuner shaft, I had rosin-core solder
• Wire cutters
to remove some material around the existing (unevenly drilled) • Needle-nose pliers
tuner holes to make room. We used a drill press for a clean look, • Nut files

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 16

15

Photo 16: To expand the pickup routes in

the SL’s pickguard to accommodate our new
Lollar MelodyMakers, I used a pin router and
a jig we made out of scrap wood and tape.

friend Dan whipped up from

scrap wood and tape (Photos
15 and 16).
For the new wiring harness,
I opted for a ’50s-style Gibson
approach: two 500k pots, a
Photo 15: The underside of the Les Paul SL’s pickguard, prior to removing the stock pickups
and electronics.
.022 µF capacitor, and one of
Emerson’s lovely treble-bleed
but you can get away with some careful reverse networks to preserve high end with volume roll-off.
drilling (Photo 14). As a bonus, I threw in a spare kill switch that
As previously hinted at, fretwork was the SL’s my tech friend Ed Dualetta gifted me years ago,
Achilles’ heel. Notes were choked off in some which I thought might be fun. It’s wired between
playing positions, especially at the second fret. the volume pot and output jack, and sends the
Using a StewMac Fret Rocker, I was able to signal to ground when the button is pressed.
pinpoint a number of frets that weren’t seated The MojoAxe bridge slid right on, although
properly. Pressing them back into their slots with the stock bridge posts left some extra wiggle
an arbor was the only option—not exactly a job room (Photo 17). One of my favorite, cheap fixes
for a first-time modder, but nevertheless it was for this is to use the leftover washers that come
essential for our guitar. During this process, I with pots as fillers under each side of the bridge
was rather surprised to note that the neck wood to keep it from rocking (Photos 18 and 19). Use a
(which is listed as being mahogany on the com- pair of wire clippers to turn them into a C shape,
pany’s website) was soft enough that slight to push them onto the post, and—voilà!—you’ve got
moderate pressure left a small depression in it. a tight fit (Photo 20).
Perhaps the most valuable upgrade––literally and I went the extra mile and cut a fresh bone nut
figuratively––was the pickups. The stock single- to replace the Epi’s original plastic one. I just
coils sounded thin and lacked punch, so I chose couldn’t help myself! My only regret here is that
pickups from the opposite end of the spectrum: I absentmindedly copied the slim string spacing
Lollar MelodyMaker P-90s. The SL’s pickguard of the original—I wish I’d spread it out a pinch.
had to be tailored to fit them—a job that can be Ah, hindsight. For those inclined to dip their
done easily with a rotary tool like a Dremel—but toes into the nut-making process, StewMac.com
I used a pin router and a makeshift jig that my has some great resources for starters.

PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 17


17
Photo 17: Although our replacement MojoAxe tailpiece fit on the SL’s
existing posts, there was a gap that could cause unwanted rocking with
the bridge.
20
Photo 20: The clipped washers make our new compensated bridge fit
snugly on the posts.
No tricked-out guitar would be complete without
some thoughtfully applied shielding—your first,
best defense against the sorts of unwanted noise
that are more common with single-coil pickups
like our new Lollars. As long as it’s done right,
it’s super effective. I used a roll of conductive
aluminum-foil tape that I picked up at the hard-
ware store for a scant $6. Rather than address the
copper vs. aluminum debate here, I’ll simply agree
that, yes, copper is the better insulator, but I’ve
18 PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4
19
18
Photos 18 and 19: A quick, easy way to rectify the rocking
situation is to nab a couple of leftover pot washers, clip out a small
section from each, then slide one into place on each bridge post.
21
Photo 21: To improve the Les Paul SL’s tuning stability,
performance, and tone, I fashioned a new nut out of bone.
never found it to be so much better as to justify
the added expense. No matter which material
you prefer, the most crucial part of shielding is
that it must be comprehensive—that no interior
surface is left unlined. Continuity is also vitally
important, so it’s best to use bigger pieces of tape
instead of many small, overlapping bits.
To start, I’ll estimate the length of tape I’ll need,
cut it, then gently trace the shape of the cavity
with my finger to create an outline that I can
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 22
23
Photos 22 and 23: Aluminum-foil tape in the
interior cavities helps decrease extraneous noise.
Before removing the tape’s backing, I unroll a length
of tape to estimate how much is needed, then press
my finger along the cavity edge to create a line I
can follow when cutting the tape. Applying tailored
pieces of foil is then much easier.
cut out with a razor blade on a separate surface.
Once the shape’s sorted, laying it down in the
channel is a snap. For the cavity walls, I use the
longest piece of tape possible and affix it verti-
cally around the perimeter with some overlap
where it meets the other pieces. Be sure to leave
a small overhang onto the body to make contact
with the pickguard, which I’ve already lined with
foil and trimmed to fit. Boom—Faraday cage!
Post-Mod Thoughts
So, was all of that work on the crazy-affordable
Epiphone Les Paul SL worth it? For sure! Thanks
to the new components and fine-tuning touches,
it’s a much more robust instrument but still retains
its delightfully scrappy character. Especially with
those Lollars, this could be the knock-around
stage brawler of a post-punk rocker’s dreams. It
can do subtle, don’t get me wrong, but it seems
happier when it’s cranked up and thrown around.
Why Not Just Buy Better Instruments?
For a lot of players—especially those who aren’t
particularly fond of projects—the most “obvious”
20 PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4
24
Photo 24: Notice that little strip of foil at the far right end of the body cavity? (It
looks like blue tape because of reflections from the blue wall.) That ensures that
the cavity shielding connects with the pickguard shielding to create a complete
barrier against unwanted noise.
question with all of this is, “Why not just save up a
little and buy a better guitar (or bass)?” And sure,
that’s valid for some people. For others, finances
are simply too tight to get the combination of
classic aesthetics, features, and tones they want
in a higher-end instrument. Not to mention, the
worth of a guitar can’t be strictly quantified in
dollars and cents. Sure, you can throw down a
few hundred more from the start and get a fine
player, but being a musician and a tinkerer seem
to go hand-in-hand. Never mind the fact that lots
of us spend thousands more than we did here
and still find ourselves wanting new pickups and
swapping components. And, in all honesty, I’ve
played instruments costing as much as four times
what we spent on any one of these guitars, and I
still felt like they needed many of the same mods
we did for these instruments.
Just as importantly, at least for a lot of us,
modifying these guitars was fun. To me, that’s
priceless. Buy a cheap guitar, open it up, make
some changes, and learn something along the way.
Maybe you’ll find that you’re more self-sufficient
on the other side.
 MOD GARAGE

Working with Shielded Coax

and Teflon-Insulated Wire
BY DIRK WACKER

O ver the course of the last few months, we’ve

taken time to explore different types of wire
typically used inside electric guitars and basses.
Knowing how to work with specific types of wire is a
fundamental skill for any modder, and there’s more
1

to it than meets the eye. In fact, the success or failure

of a project can hinge on such knowledge.
We began by discussing essential tools and how
to work with cloth-covered “push-back” wire that
started it all in the ����s. If you missed that, I’d
suggest reviewing “Working with Wire” on pre-
mierguitar.com. This lays the groundwork for our
series. In “The Pros and Cons of Plastic-Coated
Wire,” also on PG’s website, we examined the most
common type of wire used in modern production
builds. Now it’s time to dive into two more types:
Teflon-insulated wire and standard shielded coax wire.
Teflon-insulated wire. Though the “rolling wire”
stripping method I described in the plastic-coated-
wire column also applies to Teflon-insulated wire,
the stripping procedure is a little more complicated
and requires more practice than plastic-coated wire.
That’s because the Teflon insulation feels much more
rubbery (and even sometimes sticky) compared to
plastic insulation, and this texture makes it more
challenging to roll across your smooth surface while
cutting the insulation. (You’ll see a photo of this tech-
nique in my previous plastic-coated wire column.)
Also—depending on your blade’s material and
sharpness—you may find it difficult to cut through
the Teflon jacket, so expect to spend some time
experimenting to find what tool works best for you.
Yes, there are specialized tools for stripping
Photos courtesy of singlecoil.com
is to invest the time to master the “rolling wire”
stripping method.
Given that Teflon-insulated wire is trickier to strip,
why bother with it? To understand what it offers,
we first need a bit of background info. Teflon is
the brand name for a compound material DuPont
discovered by accident in ����. Its scientific name
is polytetrafluoroethylene, typically abbreviated as
PTFE. A synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroeth-
ylene, Teflon has the highest heat resistance of all
fluoroplastics, a trait that’s especially valuable for
soldering novices.
When you’re wiring up a guitar or bass, chances
are good you’ll touch the insulation with the tip
of your soldering iron. If you’re using standard
plastic-coated wire, you’ll melt the insulation away
in a second, exposing the individual strands inside.
This is a recipe for accidental shorts. Teflon insula-
tion is heat-resistant up to ��� degrees centigrade,
which is more than ��� degrees Fahrenheit, so it
won’t immediately melt if it contacts your soldering
iron. That’s a huge plus.

Teflon-insulated wire (Photo �), but they’re designed

exclusively for this kind of insulation and can be
really expensive. Tools for plastic-coated wire usu-
2
ally fail with Teflon insulation, so your best bet

PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 21

 High-quality, audiophile wire typically sports Teflon insulation, so if 3
you want to use the kind of wire many boutique builders use, you’ll need
to learn how to wrangle Teflon-insulated wire. It comes with the territory.
Shielded coax wire. Here’s another type of wire found inside guitars and
basses. Often used to connect an instrument’s electronics to the output jack,
shielded coax wire is also used throughout many acoustic-electric guitars.
“Coax” is short for coaxial, and this type of cable is constructed in
tubular layers. It has an inner conductor surrounded by an insulating
layer that’s in turn surrounded by a conductive shield, which is then
enclosed in a plastic jacket (Photo �). In guitar lingo, this is simply 4
called “shielded wire” and it’s basically the same type of cable our
guitar cords are made from.
When buying shielded coax, you’ll find a wide range of options in
terms of diameter, flexibility, and quality. This isn’t the place to cut
corners: I’ve seen lots of cheap coax break when you strip it. And I’ve
seen high-grade stuff that’s as flexible as an anvil or thick as a Havana
cigar, which obviously makes it impossible to use inside a guitar’s control
cavity. But if you search, you’ll find flexible, high-quality coax that’s thin
enough for our needs and offers excellent shielding.
And speaking of our particular needs—effective shielding—coax
only works when the shield and the inner conductor are connected on
5
both ends. Usually the inner conductor is the signal feeding path and
the shield goes to ground. I’ve seen a lot of guitars wired using coax with
only the inner conductor connected—this yields no shielding at all.
You can buy special tools to strip the outer insulation from coax cable
without damaging the shield underneath. But that’s not essential. You
can also do fine with our standard stripping kit used for plastic-coated
wire. But you will have to add a new tool: something thin and sharp at
one end, like a small stitching awl, a thick needle, a nail, or my favorite 6
tool for this—a multimeter probe. Photo � shows specialized coax strip-
ping tools, as well as the less expensive options.
Okay, here’s how to strip coax with a minimum of tools. This is the
procedure I recommend, although there are other ways to do it.
Step �. Cut the wire to length. Place it on your smooth underlay, holding
it in place with your index finger.
Step �. Usually coax cables sport a plastic (PVC) outer insulation, but
there are also versions with a Teflon jacket. With your utility knife or scal- 7
pel, carefully cut into this outer insulation. You only want to cut through
Photos courtesy of singlecoil.com

this protective sheath—not into the braided shield. This requires skill
and a lot of practice.
After your initial cut, use your index finger to roll the wire �� degrees
towards you to expose fresh insulation, and cut again. Repeat this rolling-
and-cutting action until you’ve scribed a ���-degree cut around the outer
insulation and you can pull the “sleeve” off.

22 PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4

 Step �. Now you need your new tool—again, I
prefer a multimeter probe—to unravel the shield
(Photo �). Start from where you cut through the outer
jacket and work your way to the end of the wire. To
avoid damaging the shield, don’t pull too fast or too
vigorously. Instead, just ease your tool through the
weave, picking it apart a little at a time. After you
unravel the entire section of exposed shield, twist it
and tin it with solder, as in Photo �.
Note: Some people like to use a scalpel or small pair
of scissors to simply snip along the whole length of
exposed shield and then pull the shield apart. While
this technique works, it generates a lot of very fine,
short metal strands. If you take this approach, you
must carefully vacuum away all these small wires so
they don’t get into your guitar’s electronics. And you
don’t want these little rascals in your fingertip! And
if you use a scalpel for this, you must be extremely
careful not to cut into the conductor’s inner insulation.
Step �. On some coax cables, there’s an additional
The Guitar NutBuster® is an attachable and completely non-invasive Locking Tune Stabilizing System
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conductive shield (typically made of carbon and
therefore black) between the braided shield and
the conductor’s inner insulation. If that’s the case,
cut the whole length carefully with a scalpel (Photo
6) and pull it away so it can’t touch any signal-
carrying portion of your wire, and thus create an
accidental short.
Step �. Repeat Step � with the conductor’s inner
insulation, being careful not to cut into the conduc-
tor itself. You only need to remove enough of this
inner insulation to expose a tip of wire for solder-
ing. Twist the conductor and tin it with solder—it
should look like Photo �.
After repeating these steps at the other end of the
cable, you’re ready to solder it into your guitar.
That’s it! In a future column, we’ll conclude our
“how to work with wire” series by examining vintage
braided wire. But next time, we’ll dive into another
guitar mod while taking a close look at Yamaha’s “Dry
Switch.” Until then ... keep on modding!
learn more!
GuitarNutBuster.com
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 23
GUITAR SHOP 101
Upgrade Your Tele with an Electrosocket
Jack Mount
BY JOHN LEVAN
I f you’ve ever owned a Telecaster, you may
know how frustrating it is if the 1/4" output
jack starts to get loose. On a Tele, the jack
is held in a recessed cup secured to the body
with a metal retainer clip embedded in the jack
cavity. Over time, the simple action of plugging
and unplugging your cable can bend or loosen
the clip, making the signal short out while
you’re playing.
Fortunately, there’s an excellent alternative
to using a Tele’s stock jack mounting
hardware. Made by Electrosocket and
available from such luthier suppliers as
Allparts and Stewart-MacDonald, as well
as vendors on Reverb.com and eBay, the
machined aluminum jack mount attaches to
the Tele body with two screws (Photo 1). The
Electrosocket is inexpensive, easy to install,
and—get this—it lets you adjust the output
jack to accommodate a right-angle plug. Here’s
the best part: The Electrosocket stays put and
can even prolong the life of your output jack.
Let’s investigate, shall we?
Project overview. Our project guitar is
a ’90s Fender Telecaster. When its owner
brought it into the shop, the stock jack cup was
very loose. We agreed it was time to replace it
with an Electrosocket.
1 2
24 PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4
With one exception—which I’ll explain in a
moment—the tools required are all standard
items you’re likely to have in your toolbox: a
medium Phillips head screwdriver, a 1/2" nut
driver, and a drill with a 3/32" bit.
Okay, what about the specialized tool? Some
background: The stock Tele jack clip is a piece
of metal wedged into the circular cavity that
houses the 1/4" jack and mounting cup. From the
control cavity, the jack passes through a hole in
the clip and then through a similar hole in the
mounting cup. Threaded onto the jack, a 1/2" nut
holds everything together from the exterior of
the mounting cup. If the thin clip gets bent out
of shape, the jack cup starts to wobble.
The trickiest part of this project isn’t
installing the Electrosocket, but rather
removing the clip without damaging the cavity
or surrounding finish. You can do this with
a hammer and nut driver, but there’s a much
better way. Stew-Mac offers a nifty item called
a Tele Jack Installation Tool (Photo 2). It costs
less than $20 and lets you safely extract the
stock clip by bending it in a controlled way—
just enough to remove it from the jack cavity.
I’ll cover both techniques, but again, if you
love your Tele, consider adding the TJIT to
your toolbox.
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 25
 3 4

Removing the stock jack cup. First unscrew
the control plate from the top of the guitar and
lift it off just enough to expose the control cavity.
Next, use a 1/2" nut driver to remove the nut
holding the output jack to the mounting cup.
With your finger, push the jack back through the
cup and clip, and into the control cavity. Remove
the jack cup—it should pull right out of the
cavity (Photo 3). If not, you may have to tap on it
with your nut driver to break it loose.
Removing the jack clip. This is where it
gets a bit more complicated. If you have a TJIT,
remove the small ring from the end and slip
the bolt into the cavity (Photo 4) and through
the clip. Orient the small ring so its narrow
end faces the clip, and then spin it back onto
the bolt. Using the 5/16" hex key included
with the tool, tighten the bolt until the clip
is compressed into the TJIT. When the clip
is fully compressed, pull the TJIT out of the
cavity, removing the clip. Done!
If you don’t have a TJIT, from the outside
poke a 1/2" nut driver (a large flathead
screwdriver also works) into the jack cavity
and hold it against the clip. Gently tap the nut
driver with a hammer until the clip bends just
enough that you can remove it through the
electronics cavity.
Installing the Electrosocket jack. Now it’s
time to place the Electrosocket over the jack
cavity and drill the holes for the two mounting
screws into the body (Photo 5). Use a 3/32" drill
bit for these holes, which should be about
3/8" deep. Pay close attention to the angle of
the Electrosocket’s mounting holes. To ensure
the Electrosocket sits flush against the cavity
opening, you need to duplicate this angle
when you drill. Another consideration: If you
drill the holes too shallow, this prevents the
Electrosocket from sitting flush.
Tip: Measure the target depth on your drill bit
and then mark the “stop” point on the bit with a
red Sharpie.
After the mounting holes are drilled,
remove the Electrosocket and pull the jack out
through the cavity. The Electrosocket has a
threaded collar that matches Switchcraft-style
output jacks (Photo 6), so simply screw them
together, being careful not to twist or stress
the jack’s wires.

The Electrosocket is inexpensive, easy to install, and—get this—it

lets you adjust the output jack to accommodate a right-angle plug.

26 PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4

5
6 7
If you look closely at this photo, you’ll see
a lock washer sitting between the output
jack and the Electrosocket. If you plan to
use a guitar cable with a right-angle plug
(something you can’t do with a standard Tele
jack cup), simply remove the lock washer
before screwing the two parts together. This
prevents a right-angle plug from slipping out.
Now place the assembly back into the
cavity, aligning the Electrosocket’s screw
holes with the ones you just drilled. Install
the mounting screws using a medium Philips
screwdriver, making sure the Electrosocket
fits snug against the body (Photo 7). Now
reattach the control plate, and shazam—
you’re done!
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4 27
 Digital Press
PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS LESSONS I
I PREMIER GUITAR - DIGITAL PRESS DIY GUITAR MAKEOVER VOL. 4