Dropped my guitar off to have some mods done last week and I'm going through some serious withdrawals

It's a good thing I have a Tele that I LOVE to play, but I've quickly gotten attached to my new Pawn Shop Mustang Special.

I'm just dying to get this baby back. Here a few of the mods I'm having done:

-I've had a custom rosewood pickguard made to match the next (It looks incredible)

-I'm having the pickup selector move from the top of the bottom horn to where the input jack is. So it will be volume, tone and then pu selector. And I've got it going in at an angle so that it's a perfect sweep for my hand to switch pu's.

-The input jack will now be more of a Strat style jack since I'm losing the input jacks placement for the pu selector.

-Having all of the wiring, puts and capacitors upgraded.

-And having some new graphite saddles installed and set up for .10's (I think it came with .09's and I use .11's on my Tele, so 10's on this short scale with give me a nice and different feel from my other primary guitar).

There might be a few other mods I've forgetten, but that would be most of them.

So yeah, I'm JONESING to get my baby back!!!

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David Breckheimer

Just got the call that my baby is done

So here's a quick list of what I had done and quick pic of her on her ride back home


-New custom built and cut solid rosewood pickguard (already seen pics of how this turned out and it is beautiful - the wood grain is incredible).

-I have had the pickup selector on the bottom horn moved to where the input jack is. So it will be volume, tone and then the pickup selector. And I have had this installed at an angle so that it is an easy and clean swipe as I drop my hand down towards it.

-Since the pickup selector is now where the input jack was I am having a Strat style input jack put in.

-All of the pots and capacitors have been upgraded.

-And last but not least they are installing some nice graphite saddles and setup for 10's.

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David Breckheimer

Cold Turkey !!!! I know what you mean!!

Sounds like you did a first class mod my friend. I bet she sounds better.

That is so cool...I love the choices you made with the modifications. I am impressed!

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2008 MIA Telecaster Crimson Red
2009 Highway 1 Telecaster Sunburst Maple
2010 Martin D-1
Vox Pathfinder 15R
Vox Night Train 15W
WhiteBox Cab w/12in Eminence Man O' War

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...

Thanks guys. REALLY happy with how everything turned out. The only thing that I'm contemplating is the gauge strings. I play 11's on my Tele, and so thought I would set one of my guitars up with 10's. But with the shorter scale the 10's feel and bend like 9's. It's kind of nice, and maybe I could get used to it, but I'm REALLY used to having a bit more resistance.

But other than that I'm REALLY happy with everything! Thanks again!

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David Breckheimer

I remember taking a guitar in for fretwork, and even though I still had a couple at home--I missed the one I didn't have--well it was my main guitar--but I couldn't wait to get it back...

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Just got back from another business trip and next week I head north for the holiday. Haven't played in a week and probably won't play much next week. Withdrawal is the correct description. Or how about Guitar Deprivation Syndrome? Yes, I have GDS !!

GDS
Nice!

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David Breckheimer

Thanks! And I agree that the original "green" looks great. Really classic to my eyes. I just get soooo much static build up in my area on those plastic pickguards that I really wanted to try something else. And when I came up with the rosewood pickguard it made think of a few other mods that I would just love to have done!

Really happy with how it turned out. In fact I'm on my way back to my tech for one last tweek. I had asked for 10's, but after playing it for awhile, and the fact that it's shorter scale, I've decided to stick with the 11's (which I use on my Tele). Just fattens it up to where I really like it

So they'll get that little change done for me this morning and I'll be playin' her ALL weekend

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David Breckheimer

+1 and enjoy

cheers

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It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - paulo coelho

Lovin' your new title submission

As far as the pickguard goes... I found a guy from New Jersey that does a GREAT job with wood pickguards, and so I emailed him and asked if he'd be willing to do a custom cut. He obviously didn't have any kind of template for the new Pawn Shop guitars, and I was going to be ditching he pickup selector hole.

His name is George Varkoly from Woodguarden Wood Pickguards.
Web site: www.woodguarden.com
Email: info@ the web site dot com (don't want to spell it out and give him a ton of span)
Phone: 1-908-329-5586

And the best part was that he only charged $65 + $3 for shipping. AND he had it done and in the mail within 1-2 days after getting it. I couldn't believe how quickly he got everything done.

As far as the mods go... I had all of those done by John Brown. The same John Brown that writes the repair and restoration articles for Premier Guitar Magazine. His shop, Browns Guitar Factory, is located about a half hour from me in the Twin Cities (MN).

And I'd feel a little out of place quoting all of his prices since every tech is soooo different. I think this could be all over the board since some could do some of these on there own (say buying and installing everything on their own), but I will say that there were two routes performed on this mod job.

The first route was due to needing to add a new input jack (Strat style).
And the second was due to the fact that I really wanted the pickup selector at a VERY specific angle so that it would switch at exactly the angle that my arm/hand swings down to swipe through the switch. It was close without a route, but I did need a little work to make that happen.

Hope that helps and THANKS for all the kind words. I'm REALLY happy with how it turned out!!

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David Breckheimer