It's a bit more than just a superficial upgrade. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan TB-5 Trembucker which just oozes with warmth while also being very dynamic based on your playing (FYI: Though the Seymour Duncan Trembuckers have a six hole baseplate, it is not a direct drop in fit with the Fender OEM HSS pickguard mounting hole configuration).

I also shielded the body cavity as well as the Fender Single-coil pups with copper tape from StewMac.com which helps a lot. When I bought this guitar I didn't like the matte finish at all. After a couple months it began to wear through so a refinished it with a very rich and thick nitro finish from spray cans, also from StewMac.com. I gave the neck an aged look using StewMac's Vintage Amber tinted Nitrocellulose Lacquer.

Directly shielding each of the single-coil pups changed the tone by eliminating some of the high frequency and giving it a warm bite. The single-coils are now very much more distortion friendly compared to their unaltered sound.

There's stuff done to the amps too but this isn't the forum for that.

Thanks for looking!

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

You'll need to install a left-handed vintage bridge upside down and stick an SRV decal on the pickguard. Also, you might add gold hardware in order to make your guitar resembling closely to SRV's Number One (First Wife), even in its HSS guise.

Swapping the original large headstock HWY1 rosewood neck for a Warmoth oval-shaped pau ferro replacement neck with a small headstock is not absolutely necessary.

I understand your point but my axe is an SRV "inspired" guitar. If I really wanted a clone then I would not have chosen an HSS configuration to work with. I know where to get a template to use for stripping the finish just like SRV's #1. They even have the "Custom" as well as the "SRV" sticker for the pickguard. But what's the point? Also, SRV's actual guitar did not have gold hardware. I also understand about the left handed vibrato bridge. After messing around with some lefty guitars I've concluded the it really doesn't change my style much so I'm also keeping it stock.

But more than all, I want to thank you for you for taking the time to comment.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Dude this guitar is really great and will sure sound great with a duncan TB-5

nice job on the painting too .

Keep it that way .. keep it "inspired by" and not "direct replika" so it keep his uniqueness . i dont like replika .. specially not when the kid made a Billie joe strat replika with all the detail including the B.J. initial sticker when the guy names is i.e Erik Smith .

Great job

isnt it Nitro cellulose hard to work and very dangerous when not use in a proper environmeent ???

Seriously, you think that's a nice paint job? That's one of the worst "bursts" I've ever seen.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Every time I see "SRV inspired guitar" I think I'm going to click on the link to find that someone actually has dragged their favorite guitar down a gravel road chained to the back of their pickups. Kudos for keeping it "inspired by" while doing your own thing with it.

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Website: http://www.rebeccalaird.com
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Let me tell you.......YOU were very slick putting a Zebra humbucker in there!!
From a distance it resembles a SSS formatted Strat.....without the slanted bridge pup.

Very Slick!

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

It is dangerous but the spray cans by StewMac made it very easy to work with. Since I was only painting one guitar, I laid out a plastic drop sheet in the dining room and with the necessary drying time needed between layers, it wasn't too bad.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

It was my first attempt at painting a burst. If you can do better by all means post some photos and some pointers on how you made a perfect burst.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Thanks for taking the time out comment.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Thanks. This TB-5 Tembucker really shreds! Looking forward to replacing the single coils with some Seymour's stacked pups. My neck pup is on it's way.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Love it. Glad you posted the pics............... Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Were did you get that spiral cord at?
I haven't seen one in like 30+ years.

Fender sells them on this site
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0990600004

looks really cool,
i had done something similar to mine mons back.
HWY1 is right it is slick using a zebra pickup.
here is mine.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008