guitar tech advice sought[views:3753][posts:12]_____________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 5:47pm - nightserpent ""] Hey Guys! I've recently acquired a Hannah Montana 3/4 scale electric guitar. It seems like a crime against humanity and a general affront to metal in general, so I aim to re-appropriate the guitar. It's a Washburn and actually not that shoddily made, especially compared to typical entry level guitars. http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Washburn-Hannah-Montana-Electric/dp/B000WZL7RS I'm looking to give it a full custom metal treatment. It'll have a nasty mural-like paintjob, bells & whistles to disguise it's shameful past. The cosmetic stuff I feel confident about, but the more tech sided aspects I am somewhat unsure of. So, I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions. I am particularly curious about using full scale components, and whether it would cause any problems. Right now it has a couple of 'meh' single coil pickups, but I aim to give it a single hot humbucker, if I can find a reasonable deal I would love for it to be a dimebucker or EMG 81. My big question is whether there'd be any obvious pitfalls in attempting this, I wonder if the scale of the guitar would prevent it from working. I'd also like to replace the bridge (the current one reminds me a bit of ones seen on telecasters) to a simple stop bridge... like a tune-o-matic. I have similar wonderings whether scale is an issue. Am I setting myself up for a headache, or is this possible? |
| _______________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 6:05pm - AndrewBastard ""] I was with you until you wanted to 'hide its past'...keep it like it is because it's hilarious and ironic. Just replace the electronics, tuners, pickups etc. An EMG in that axe would be laughs. its not worth making into a 'legit' guitar...its on sale for under $50 so I'm pretty sure it IS in fact a pile of garbage. |
| _____________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 6:10pm - nightserpent ""] Thanks for the reply! I'm an artist, so half the fun for me would be to paint it inappropriately. My hope is that the tiny size of the guitar would still carry some of that irony, I'm 6'2" fwiw. |
| __________________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 6:17pm - FuckIsMySignature ""] play the guitar as is or youre a pussy. |
| _____________________________ [Apr 6,2010 6:34pm - blue ""] The amount of money you would be throwing into the guitar would be silly considering how much they go for new. |
| ______________________________ [Apr 6,2010 9:44pm - timma ""] FuckIsMySignature said:play the guitar as is or youre a pussy. |
| ____________________________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 9:50pm - Arrowhead NLI NLI for real ""] If you wanna refinsh a cheapie, go to Rondo and buy one. Those hannah montanas just aren't good enough to start with. |
| _____________________________________ [Apr 6,2010 10:02pm - Randy_Marsh ""] the process of putting EMGs in a Hannah Montana...hahhaha |
| ______________________________ [Apr 6,2010 10:49pm - blue ""] I'd personally go the Grant route and pink hello kitty strat the whole thing. |
| ________________________________________ [Apr 7,2010 9:04am - metal_church101 ""] FuckIsMySignature said:play the guitar as is or youre a pussy. |
| ________________________________ [Apr 7,2010 9:44am - t2daeek ""] you can find a crappy guitar with emgs in it already for 200 dollars if you look hard enough. it would cost you a lot more than that in actual dollars and time to do what you're talking about. refinishing a guitar is also a much more involved task than you may think it is... i tried doing this last year and i'm kicking myself still because i have a guitar with an awful finish and no electronics sitting in my room after 8 months because it ended up looking so bad that i had to strip the mural off (it got wet and the finish was ruined.. you can't use poly finish like furniture... it's porous and not hard enough) you'd have to replace all the other electronic components to put an emg in it too. not sure if anyone else said that. volume pots, output jack, etc. especially since you're talking about a 3/4 (i'm assuming it's a child size guitar) instrument, it would always be really spongy sounding, emg or otherwise. short strings are going to be floppy even when tuned up to standard pitch. science. i would be taken aback by a short scale guitar with hannah montana on it that was well made...i think it would be worth more to sell that to someone on craigslist and use the cash to get a real instrument. or play power violence on it. |
| _____________________________________ [Apr 7,2010 1:04pm - nightserpent ""] t2daeek- Thanks for your input. I'm fairly comfortable with some aspects of the project (I've painted motorcycles, helmets, etc., I've also done some electronic soldering on circuitboards, I've also done a bit of woodworking and carving), nor do I mind scrounging. I understand that not everyone is going to appreciate why I am doing it or what I'd get out of it- I'm fine with that. If the project is really a bust, I can always re-use the pickup and other gear and put it in a 'real' guitar. So, as long as I am having fun with the project, I see no damage done. However, the 'spongy' comment was a new one.... would that mean muffled or dampened? thanks, ~Paul |
| __________________________________________ [Apr 7,2010 1:17pm - FuckIsMySignature ""] i fail to see the motive behind this |
| ________________________________ [Apr 7,2010 7:42pm - t2daeek ""] oh cool. i'm certain that your finish work will be good then. i went at it pretty much like a shot in the dark and kinda learned along the way. spongy i guess would be more a description of feel... so... compare the sound/feel of playing a strat to a prs then to a les paul then to a fender mustang. better yet, hit a guitar center, and then play the same things on all those axes. scale length is crucial to the overall quality/clarity of sound in a guitar. if you string a strat and les paul with the same gauge strings you will notice that the strats strings are tighter because the strings on a strat are 25.5" long vs. a les paul which has a 24.75" scale length. now, a lot of people prefer the feel of a les paul, it's totally a subjective thing... however, when you go to compare a les paul to a fender mustang, the strings are much softer feeling on the mustang (because the strings are a whole inch shorter) which can be nice for some kinds of music, but not usually metal. i don't know what the scale on your guitar is, so i can't even really be sure of assumptions i made. if it's smaller than a mustang then you'd just have trouble with keeping the thing in tune when you hit it hard or if you grip the strings tightly. http://www.electricguitarsuk.com/3-4-size/...ah-montana-34-size-electric-guitar/ that it? 3/4 scale guitar should be a 21.5" scale length. would certainly make wide stretches easier. but floppy strings... you can use extra extra heavy strings to compensate, but heavy heavy strings can sound dull if the strings are short... don't get me wrong... i understand the need to mess with stuff... i never stop with my own stuff. throwing in an emg would be both hilarious and ironic... is there room in the control cavity for the battery pack? |