Kuz Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 My 150 Artisian Aged Custom Core has been a labor of love in modifying it to how I wanted it to look and sound. Like the theory behind the 150 CC, I used a '59 LP Burst as my inspiration. -Some of the mods were merely just personal choice; 1) I greatly prefer A2 magnets over A3 magnets so I installed a used set of Throbak SLE 101s pickups with aged covers. 2) I like the look of the Rhythm/Treble "poker chip" pickup selector 3) I replaced the orange drop caps with the same values in repro Bumble Bee paper & oil caps 4) For consistency in pot values and taper I installed RS Guitarworks 500K volume and tone pots -Some of the mods were just necessary functionally; 1) the bridge studs and the stoptail studs were drilled at an angle instead of straight into the top from the factory so the TOM bridge & stoptail wouldn't lower completely. So a Faber locking ABR bridge and Faber locking StopTail studs were used to fix the original off angle bridge & stoptail studs. 2) three of the aged tuners stripped and became useless. I replaced them with CHROME (I couldn't find Nickel ones which I would have preferred) Gotoh tuners that were a direct drop in, lighter, and had improved tuning ratio. .... BUT WAIT, A MAJOR UPDATE ON NEW AGED NICKEL FINISHED GOTOH TUNERS.... SO... the last 150 CC mod/improvement was buying on Ebay some new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners. To me, the Chrome on the Gotohs tuners was a complete eyesore with the aged finish of the rest of the 150 CC. These new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners were not cheap ($110 + shipping) but to me they were the final piece in the puzzle to getting my Aged 150 CC to look close to Vintage LP Burst. (I also added some Kluson-like tuner buttons to finish the transformation) BEFORE with the CHROME GOTOH tuners AFTER with the new ANTIQUE NICKEL GOTOH 510 tuners 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golferwave Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Great looking axe with fantastic upgrades! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Throbak sle101s just sound so natural tonally.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 12 minutes ago, golferwave said: Great looking axe with fantastic upgrades! Enjoy! Thanks!! She is a keeper warts and all!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 2 minutes ago, hopkinwfg said: Throbak sle101s just sound so natural tonally.... TO ME, the best repro PAF ever made and by far the most consistent from set to set. All my humbucker guitars have them and they are perfect for me. I have tried Lollars, Wolftones, Seth Lovers, Gibson Custombuckers, Peter Florence Voodoo Specials, and MANY more... none (TO ME) were close to Throbaks. Luckily, I bought most of my Throbaks years ago when they were more affordable! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 2 hours ago, Kuz said: TO ME, the best repro PAF ever made and by far the most consistent from set to set. All my humbucker guitars have them and they are perfect for me. I have tried Lollars, Wolftones, Seth Lovers, Gibson Custombuckers, Peter Florence Voodoo Specials, and MANY more... none (TO ME) were close to Throbaks. Luckily, I bought most of my Throbaks years ago when they were more affordable! Am late to the game lol.... any idea do they build any thing alike or in the path of the duncan Jazz/JB ? I just bought a used Gibson 490R/495T after hearing the clips on youtube on these gibson 495T set vs duncan JB.... and the tone on these are great!! Be getting the Faber bridge post soon too hope the Faber bridge for nashville be a contributing factor on the tone being more mids accentuated & louder acoustically when played non plugged in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 (edited) 3 hours ago, hopkinwfg said: Am late to the game lol.... any idea do they build any thing alike or in the path of the duncan Jazz/JB ? I just bought a used Gibson 490R/495T after hearing the clips on youtube on these gibson 495T set vs duncan JB.... and the tone on these are great!! Be getting the Faber bridge post soon too hope the Faber bridge for nashville be a contributing factor on the tone being more mids accentuated & louder acoustically when played non plugged in.... Are you saying you're going to put a Nashville Faber on your guitar??? I have never heard a guitar go from an ABR bridge to a Nashville and sound better. And as I've said in many earlier posts, I've worked on 100's of guitars. I love Faber bridges, and as Kuz will tell you, I hipped him to them. I especially like the brass saddle tone lock bridges. I have them on both of my H150s, my H525 P90 (that Kuz sold me), and my Firebird. Every single time they cleaned up the low end and gave me a more balanced tone. On every one of these guitars they replaced a Nashville! Another benefit of the ABR is that could always get the tailpiece into it's sweet spot (low to the body) without having the string hit the back of the bridge. And besides the guitars that I still own. I replaced the Nashvilles on two other Les Paul Specials, an SG Classic, and a Firebird. And all of those sounded better with the Faber ABR. I only ever had one bad experience with Faber with an ABR that sounded dead. But a few weeks after I installed it I got a letter from Larry Corsa and he told me mine came from a bad batch and that he would send me a new one. I never told him about my bad bridge!!! And the new one was great. Now that's customer service! If you want a great set of pickups with the jazz/jb vibe, pair a Wolftone Legend in the neck with a Wolfetone Fenris in the bridge. Same vibe better tone. If your guitar is dark try a 0.15uf cap in the neck, and a .022uf in the bridge. If it's bright, try .022uf caps for both the neck and bridge! 500K pots all the way round! That's the setup in this guitar and it rules, I love having the ballsy bridge pickup... Edited May 4 by rockabilly69 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 7 hours ago, Kuz said: NEW AGED NICKEL FINISHED GOTOH TUNERS.... SO... the last 150 CC mod/improvement was buying on Ebay some new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners. To me, the Chrome on the Gotohs tuners was a complete eyesore with the aged finish of the rest of the 150 CC. These new Antique Nickel Finish Gotoh tuners were not cheap ($110 + shipping) but to me they were the final piece in the puzzle to getting my Aged 150 CC to look close to Vintage LP Burst. (I also added some Kluson-like tuner buttons to finish the transformation) BEFORE with the CHROME GOTOH tuners AFTER with the new ANTIQUE NICKEL GOTOH 510 tuners Nice mod Kuz! You know I love Gotohs (especially the 510), and I think your guitar looks better with nickel. For me it's either Gotoh of Schaller (not Sperzel) I love them both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 5 hours ago, rockabilly69 said: Are you saying you're going to put a Nashville Faber on your guitar??? I have never heard a guitar go from an ABR bridge to a Nashville and sound better. And as I've said in many earlier posts, I've worked on 100's of guitars. I love Faber bridges, and as Kuz will tell you, I hipped him to them. I especially like the brass saddle tone lock bridges. I have them on both of my H150s, my H525 P90 (that Kuz sold me), and my Firebird. Every single time they cleaned up the low end and gave me a more balanced tone. On every one of these guitars they replaced a Nashville! Another benefit of the ABR is that could always get the tailpiece into it's sweet spot (low to the body) without having the string hit the back of the bridge. And besides the guitars that I still own. I replaced the Nashvilles on two other Les Paul Specials, an SG Classic, and a Firebird. And all of those sounded better with the Faber ABR. I only ever had one bad experience with Faber with an ABR that sounded dead. But a few weeks after I installed it I got a letter from Larry Corsa and he told me mine came from a bad batch and that he would send me a new one. I never told him about my bad bridge!!! And the new one was great. Now that's customer service! If you want a great set of pickups with the jazz/jb vibe, pair a Wolftone Legend in the neck with a Wolfetone Fenris in the bridge. Same vibe better tone. If your guitar is dark try a 0.15uf cap in the neck, and a .022uf in the bridge. If it's bright, try .022uf caps for both the neck and bridge! 500K pots all the way round! That's the setup in this guitar and it rules, I love having the ballsy bridge pickup... Thanks Rockabilly ! Nice Zemaitas ! Well i emailed Larry and he introduced his NSWkit for direct replacement for Nashville style bridge on my H150... Its a simplier installation where it didnt require any drilling opposite to his other kit ..... and your right it would be fitted with their FaberABRN bridge... i wonder if this kit would a big game changer... As for the pickup i would try the gibson 490r/498T.... probably also swap the capacitors to luxe bumble bee 0.022uf but it kinda pull me back as i am not a tone knob player.... and mostly i set it all rolled off as am a rock to metal guy.... do you think even with ya tone knob all rolled off... the cap still plays part in the tone for some reason ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Congrats on the gtr mods Kuz! looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 3 hours ago, hopkinwfg said: Thanks Rockabilly ! Nice Zemaitas ! Well i emailed Larry and he introduced his NSWkit for direct replacement for Nashville style bridge on my H150... Its a simplier installation where it didnt require any drilling opposite to his other kit ..... and your right it would be fitted with their FaberABRN bridge... i wonder if this kit would a big game changer... As for the pickup i would try the gibson 490r/498T.... probably also swap the capacitors to luxe bumble bee 0.022uf but it kinda pull me back as i am not a tone knob player.... and mostly i set it all rolled off as am a rock to metal guy.... do you think even with ya tone knob all rolled off... the cap still plays part in the tone for some reason ? Actually just the opposite, the cap plays a bigger part in the sweep but not when it's wide open. The 490R/498T setup is tried and true, but I would use an .015 cap on the 490R for the clarity but more importantly, it's perfect for the woman tone when the tone knob is rolled off! As for the NSWkit I have never used that alone, at first I used Faber inserts which were far better than the stock Gibson and Heritage inserts. Difference very clear here, stock inserts in the left. Faber German steel, Gibson/Heritage pot metal! And than I used the BSW kit in one of my H150s and I heard a difference. Kuz also had the BSW kit installed in my H535 P90 (once again, thank you Kuz!!!) Kuz has extensive experience with Faber you should address some of these questions to him. That way it's more than my opinion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 2 hours ago, rockabilly69 said: Actually just the opposite, the cap plays a bigger part in the sweep but not when it's wide open. The 490R/498T setup is tried and true, but I would use an .015 cap on the 490R for the clarity but more importantly, it's perfect for the woman tone when the tone knob is rolled off! As for the NSWkit I have never used that alone, at first I used Faber inserts which were far better than the stock Gibson and Heritage inserts. Difference very clear here, stock inserts in the left. Faber German steel, Gibson/Heritage pot metal! And than I used the BSW kit in one of my H150s and I heard a difference. Kuz also had the BSW kit installed in my H535 P90 (once again, thank you Kuz!!!) Kuz has extensive experience with Faber you should address some of these questions to him. That way it's more than my opinion Kuz work is immaculate !! My first time taking off the tailpiece stud... it was a tough task.... i ended up slightly lifting up the paint finishes but luckily it didnt tear off.... surprise the H150 finishes is slightly thicker.... contrast to my R8 R9 its thin ....am not sure if its standard for new LP like these, sure they kept the know how on their finishing reciepe... my gassing is they probably gas out as time goes and finishes would thin out flatten and collapse being brittle..... I am not sure on the tone knob... never a tone knob player.... but i guess i probably go with luxe bumble bee as i heard thru the clips these bumble bee oil in paper is indeed the tone cap.... I probably order one soon next month... but if were to choose faber locking bridge vs faber non locking ABRN-1 which is a better win ahead in hearing any difference? I been thinking of bswkit but am a bad wood worker... it needs to drill in a larger hole and screw tap for the bswkit to fit in ? I think more likely the nswkit is more of my thing..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 10 hours ago, hopkinwfg said: Kuz work is immaculate !! My first time taking off the tailpiece stud... it was a tough task.... i ended up slightly lifting up the paint finishes but luckily it didnt tear off.... surprise the H150 finishes is slightly thicker.... contrast to my R8 R9 its thin ....am not sure if its standard for new LP like these, sure they kept the know how on their finishing reciepe... my gassing is they probably gas out as time goes and finishes would thin out flatten and collapse being brittle..... I am not sure on the tone knob... never a tone knob player.... but i guess i probably go with luxe bumble bee as i heard thru the clips these bumble bee oil in paper is indeed the tone cap.... I probably order one soon next month... but if were to choose faber locking bridge vs faber non locking ABRN-1 which is a better win ahead in hearing any difference? I been thinking of bswkit but am a bad wood worker... it needs to drill in a larger hole and screw tap for the bswkit to fit in ? I think more likely the nswkit is more of my thing..... The bswkit is kind of tricky installing, and in my case was even harder, because I had to remove the Faber inserts that I installed in the guitar to begin with. And they are much tighter into the body than stock Nashville bushings. If you are considering the bswkit, just have a repairman do it, if not, the standard inserts are fine, and much better than the stock inserts! I think Kuz had the ones in my H525 P90 installed by his tech. As for the Luxe PIO cap being THE TONE CAP, I wouldn't go that far. Remember they started out just putting phony covers over Russian PIO caps so they use just as much hyperbole in their marketing. And then a lot of people on gear forums spread that around. Many of these people have no idea what the cap is doing in the first place. There are a few companies making good PIO caps RS guitarworks that are reasonably priced https://rs-guitarworks.myshopify.com/collections/loose-electronic-parts/products/rs-vintage-guitarcap-paper-in-oil-capacitor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 8 hours ago, rockabilly69 said: The bswkit is kind of tricky installing, and in my case was even harder, because I had to remove the Faber inserts that I installed in the guitar to begin with. And they are much tighter into the body than stock Nashville bushings. If you are considering the bswkit, just have a repairman do it, if not, the standard inserts are fine, and much better than the stock inserts! I think Kuz had the ones in my H525 P90 installed by his tech. As for the Luxe PIO cap being THE TONE CAP, I wouldn't go that far. Remember they started out just putting phony covers over Russian PIO caps so they use just as much hyperbole in their marketing. And then a lot of people on gear forums spread that around. Many of these people have no idea what the cap is doing in the first place. There are a few companies making good PIO caps RS guitarworks that are reasonably priced https://rs-guitarworks.myshopify.com/collections/loose-electronic-parts/products/rs-vintage-guitarcap-paper-in-oil-capacitor Thank you !! I do some research... but do you think having a faber locking bridge be more superior than their faber non locking bridge ? Tone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 2 hours ago, hopkinwfg said: Thank you !! I do some research... but do you think having a faber locking bridge be more superior than their faber non locking bridge ? Tone ? no I just prefer the locker because it keeps the bridge on when your changing strings, same with their tailpiece 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 1) Just personal preference, but I would not put a Nashville bridge (locking or not) on a guitar when I could put an ABR bridge (my preference is a locking Faber ABR bridge). I prefer the ABR for ascetics and the functionally so I can lower the stoptail closer to the body. (Although, my favorite guitarist Larry Carlton I guess prefers a Nashville bridge..) 2) I do think the "locking" feature of both the Faber locking bridge and Faber locking stoptail does slightly increase sustain (due to the fact everything is locked down tight and no vibration from the body is lost on loose parts). Also, once the bridge and stoptail are locked down, you can remove the strings without having to worry about the bridge or stoptail moving or falling off the guitar. (Even my Gibson and Collings guitars that came from the factory with ABR-1 bridges, I have switched them out for the locking Faber ABR bridge and locking stoptail studs) 3) The Custom Core comes from the factory with an aluminum stoptail. If you have a heavy zinc or steel stoptail, I would highly recommend upgrading to an aluminum stoptail. The aluminum gives a clearer and more open sound. 3) Yes, Daniel (Rockabilly69) was responsibly for turning me on to exclusively using Faber locking ABR bridges and locking stoptail studs on all my tuneamatic/stoptail equiped guitars. 4) Daniel, I did all the work on your 535 P90. No drilling was needed from the the Nashville conversion to Faber. The Faber bridge post system comes with an easy way to remove the pot metal bridge plugs and you tap in the Faber steel bridge posts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 On 5/5/2024 at 5:10 AM, hopkinwfg said: Kuz work is immaculate !! My first time taking off the tailpiece stud... it was a tough task.... i ended up slightly lifting up the paint finishes but luckily it didnt tear off.... surprise the H150 finishes is slightly thicker.... contrast to my R8 R9 its thin ....am not sure if its standard for new LP like these, sure they kept the know how on their finishing reciepe... my gassing is they probably gas out as time goes and finishes would thin out flatten and collapse being brittle..... I am not sure on the tone knob... never a tone knob player.... but i guess i probably go with luxe bumble bee as i heard thru the clips these bumble bee oil in paper is indeed the tone cap.... I probably order one soon next month... but if were to choose faber locking bridge vs faber non locking ABRN-1 which is a better win ahead in hearing any difference? I been thinking of bswkit but am a bad wood worker... it needs to drill in a larger hole and screw tap for the bswkit to fit in ? I think more likely the nswkit is more of my thing..... If you keep your tone knobs 100% open all the time, then the capacitors are not engaged and the caps values don't matter. So I wouldn't change caps if you don't use your tone knobs. If your tone knobs are all the way open, then you are only reliant on the tone pot value (500K usually, but early Heritages used 250K). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 @Kuz thanks.... but i was wondering dosent your H150 custom core has that two pole screw piece that drills into the body ? Just like those Gibson Rs ? So you just swap the original bridge which came stock on ya H150CC leaving that two direct mounted pole screw piece intact and added the fitting faber locking ABR bridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, hopkinwfg said: @Kuz thanks.... but i was wondering dosent your H150 custom core has that two pole screw piece that drills into the body ? Just like those Gibson Rs ? So you just swap the original bridge which came stock on ya H150CC leaving that two direct mounted pole screw piece intact and added the fitting faber locking ABR bridge? Yes, that is exactly how it works on the Custom Core models. But there is no drilling for the standard 150s conversions to Faber bridge post either.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElNumero Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 So what’s your investment now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElNumero Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 On 5/4/2024 at 10:32 AM, Kuz said: TO ME, the best repro PAF ever made and by far the most consistent from set to set. All my humbucker guitars have them and they are perfect for me. I have tried Lollars, Wolftones, Seth Lovers, Gibson Custombuckers, Peter Florence Voodoo Specials, and MANY more... none (TO ME) were close to Throbaks. Luckily, I bought most of my Throbaks years ago when they were more affordable! I’m sure my ears wouldn’t hear the difference between SD 59s and your throbaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 (edited) 7 hours ago, ElNumero said: So what’s your investment now? Fidelity with the Harvest mutual funds option plan Edited May 8 by Kuz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkinwfg Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 7 hours ago, ElNumero said: I’m sure my ears wouldn’t hear the difference between SD 59s and your throbaks Very sure the SD is gonna sound very different from Throbak... else its gonna feel different too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davesultra Posted Thursday at 05:07 PM Share Posted Thursday at 05:07 PM Were the nickel 510 tuners you picked up considered the “Mini” variety? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted yesterday at 02:43 AM Author Share Posted yesterday at 02:43 AM 9 hours ago, davesultra said: Were the nickel 510 tuners you picked up considered the “Mini” variety? Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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