Mini to full size humbucker conversion :: 2012 Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute [9.0 lbs]

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A local player wasn't digging these mini humbuckers and wanted to install full size humbuckers in his Gibson 1970's Tribute Les Paul Studio.  This involves enlarging both pickup cavities with a router.  I used a straightedge to guide my cuts.

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Next is installing corner blocks in order to mount the pickup rings.

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The player supplied a Gibson PAF for the neck and a WCR Icebreaker for the bridge.  New cream pickup rings were fit to the top before the pickups could be mounted.  Making the solder connections at the pots finished off the mini to full size humbucker conversion.

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I used this video from the Youtube channel of Paoson WoodWorking for inspiration on this project.

LR Baggs Anthem conversion :: 2015 Taylor 814CE [4.9 lbs]

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A local player was not digging the stock Expression System 2 pickup in his Taylor (pictured above) so he wanted to swap it out for a LR Baggs Anthem.

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A common complaint of active acoustic pickups is having to change the battery, usually done through the soundhole.  Players know that everytime the sound guy is troubleshooting an issue with you, he's going to make you check your battery (or outright replace it).  It only makes sense in this situation to take advantage of the easily-accessed tail mounted battery box.  This also means modifying the Taylor jack to work with the new LR Baggs jack.

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Above is the modified Taylor battery box / end jack with the new LR Baggs connections installed.  The right angle plug is the LR Baggs jack connection and the small white clip connection is spliced into the battery box.  Zip ties are used to keep the wiring clean.

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Initially I thought of plugging the Taylor's bridge pickup holes but opted to just reinstall the original pickup, though disconnected.  I wanted to give the player the option to return to the stock pickup if he ever wanted to.  The LR Baggs Anthem has an undersaddle pickup and an internal microphone.  Normally the microphone is installed on the bridge plate underneath the saddle.  The original Taylor pickup however prevents this so I installed the Baggs mic between the bridge plate and the x brace.  Placement is not critical with this mic.

Note that I really dislike the idea of three 1/4" holes running clean through the bridge, top and bridge plate.

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You can see the Baggs controls mounted in the soundhole.  The Taylor upper bout controls were left installed but disconnected (again to be able to easily return to stock).

Both the player and I found the Baggs Anthem to be a great improvement to the amplified tone.  Much warmer and dynamic than the stock pickup to our ears.

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Lowell George setup :: 2001 Fender Stratocaster [7.5 lbs]

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A 70's style Strat back in the shop to complete it's Lowell George-esque setup with a Tele bridge pickup and Alembic Blastor preamp.  Above the body is being routed out for a Seymour Duncan Tele bridge pickup.  I forgot to photo the method used to enlarge the bridge in the pickguard (yes, a Tele bridge pickup is bigger than a Strat pickup).  What I did was to take a Tele bridge, double-stick taped it to the pickguard and used a violin knife to pare away the excess.  It worked fairly well.

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The owner found a NOS original Blastor from the 1970's (not the newer Blaster / Strat-o-Blaster).  Pictured above is the back of the body is being routed out to accept a 9V battery box to power the Alembic preamp. A battery box is not required, but it's nice to have easy access.  You can install the battery under the pickguard but it can be a pain having to take off the pickguard for each battery change.  I would not install a battery box on a vintage instrument.  Also note that we ended up lowering the action at the nut considerably from last time it was in.

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Put a humbucker in the sound hole :: Yamaha APX500III [4.7 lbs]

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Put a humbucker in the sound hole :: Yamaha APX500III [4.7 lbs]

A player brought by his custom made humbucker sound hole mount and wanted me to re-install it for him.  It was previously mounted but missing the screws and not wired up.  The guitar does have an undersaddle pickup, but the wire was broken free from the pickup.  I disconnected the side-mounted preamp and ran the new humbucker pickup directly out to the jack.

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Carvin Cobalt 750S [5.1 lbs] :: side preamp convert Fishman to Baggs Stagepro Anthem

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Carvin Cobalt 750S [5.1 lbs] :: side preamp convert Fishman to Baggs Stagepro Anthem

This player wanted to swap out a Fishman Prefix Plus-T to an LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem.  The Fishman side-mounted preamp is considerably larger than the Baggs Stagepro preamp so a step-down conversion ring was fabricated.  The adapter was made from black / white / black pickguard stock for flexibility and durability and the edges were beveled for a nice clean look.  I used the original mounting holes in the side so the old Fishman preamp can be cleanly reinstalled if desired in the future (no extra holes).  The Baggs Anthem system combines an undersaddle pickup with an internal microphone (mounts to the bridge plate) and both sources can be mixed via the preamp.