Well, here goes, my first blog after months of arm twisting from sketch artist wife has me blogging.
Being old school there was a natural resistance!! I got into my guitar modifications 30 years ago, just being curious and afraid. The afraid part came from thinking guitars were magical, and only well trained professionals could play guitar or work on them.
My first real guitar was a 1967 or 1968 – red two single coil Gibson Melody Maker, scared to death, I could barely even play it, let alone know how to work on it. (That magical guitar thing coming into play) I traded it for a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. Which I still have today – Thank you very much.
My first real experience of breaking the magic guitar stigma came in 1983 or there abouts, when I was given an Epiphone Les Paul Kit. It was an ash body with a set mahogany neck. It was a Gibson Les Paul Body, sold as an Epiphone. I added Schaller Tuners, DiMarzio Dual Sound Pickups, finishing the body and neck in a natural finish, with Spar Varnish.
I mounted all the hardware, and ackkkhhh, the wiring thing — (That magic guitar thing kicked in again)
Sheer Terror..I bought books, I to friends, still afraid one of my friends, Jack Lukas – Eleven Eleven is his new band. He took me to a real guitar repair man. Mark from MDS in Chicago, Mark and I talked a lot about wiring options and shielding all of which I knew nothing about. Finally with Mark’s talent and my ideas, my epi-kit was born.
Picture to follow – from there my Mod God Career got started, working on friends guitars, and each being a learning experience. Having more balls than brains and a lot of luck, I helped many friends with their guitar problems.
Input jacks, guitar pickups, re-stringing guitars, setting intonation, guitar neck adjustments, etc..etc..
I have read and studied anything I can get my hands on, and to this day still have a thirst for knowledge.