Replacement pickups for a T100d

[agilebassist]

Hi everybody.

I have a junkyard dog of a T100d that someone did a hideous refin. So bad it’s good that I bought used for a song. Still plays ok and looks like a great blues axe.

It’s a 1964 and I’m not crazy about the twangy single coils and thinking about putting some mini-humbuckers to play jazz with it. It’s way too bright and I want to darken the tone for a good amount. Has anyone done this? Probably will need to redo all the wiring to 500k pots. I’m sure the guitar isn’t worth anything but looking for tips/advice. Still very resonant and plays ok.

Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[Smiert Spionam]

Hi everybody.

I have a junkyard dog of a T100d that someone did a hideous refin. So bad it’s good that I bought used for a song. Still plays ok and looks like a great blues axe.

It’s a 1964 and I’m not crazy about the twangy single coils and thinking about putting some mini-humbuckers to play jazz with it. It’s way too bright and I want to darken the tone for a good amount. Has anyone done this? Probably will need to redo all the wiring to 500k pots. I’m sure the guitar isn’t worth anything but looking for tips/advice. Still very resonant and plays ok.

Thoughts?
Thanks

You could get a set of the LB-1 reissues that Guild puts on their new Korean guitars -- they're pretty good, though the bridge is underwound and some people have it redone. They're around used, but you can also buy the pickups, rings, and harness from Guild if you like:

Parts Archives | Guild Guitars

Which pickups are in your T100D? Got a pic? If they're the plastic top "frequency tested" pickups, I'd be interested in them -- and others might be interested in them otherwise. I may have a set of the reissue LB-1s, as well.

 

[agilebassist]

You could get a set of the LB-1 reissues that Guild puts on their new Korean guitars -- they're pretty good, though the bridge is underwound and some people have it redone. They're around used, but you can also buy the pickups, rings, and harness from Guild if you like:

Parts Archives | Guild Guitars

Which pickups are in your T100D? Got a pic? If they're the plastic top "frequency tested" pickups, I'd be interested in them -- and others might be interested in them otherwise. I may have a set of the reissue LB-1s, as well.

Don’t mind the pickup selector hanging out. It’s bad and I’ll be replacing it shortly. See what I mean? It’s so bad it’s good. The neck is a bit narrow to me but still playable. I need to take some steel wool to it and smooth it out. I had the pick guard added a long time ago. I bought this from a lgs some 20 years so for $300.

I don’t think these are the Mickey Mouse pickups everybody refers to. Thanks for the suggestions on the LB1s. Thinking about ripping out all the pots since I want to go to humbuckers.

 

[agilebassist]

I’m not opposed to routing the top to enlarge the holes for pickups. I’ve got some ok woodworking skills and comfortable with using hand tools and chisels. I don’t think there’s any other way to enlarge the holes in this guitar.

I recently chiseled out the pocket for a lollar cc pickup on my telecaster and redid all the wiring. But if I’m going to chisel out the top I might just go for some Seth lovers. There’s not much value to the axe so idk.

Mini hbs will likely be less work. I’m not opposed to p90 types but the priority is getting something dark sounding.

 

[Smiert Spionam]

That’s an old warrior, for sure! Those do look like the Mickey Mouse pickups — they’re the brightest of that era’s single coils. LB1’s should be fairly easy to swap in — might have to enlarge the routes just a little.

 

[matsickma]

I tend to think that guitar is in decent shape and readily brought back to life. One thing I can't tell is if the binding was removed, fell out or just has the "refinish" on top of it?

Pickups are original and bridge base may be original.The pickguard and knobs aren't stock can do well as is. Are you having trouble with the pickup selector switch? If not I would get some hardware and reinstall it.

Assuming you like the guitar I would refinish it with a paint in lieu of a stain finish.
I personally like the tone of Mickey Mouse pickups in thin hollow body guitars. I often insert a block of wood under the bridge to cut back on feedback. I have found a friction fit is sufficient and doesn't have to run the entire length of the bridge. Just cut a piece of wood and slip it through the bridge pickup hole. I prefer to use pieces of leftover flooring hardwood but I have used pine when I didn't have scrap hardwood.

Guild SF1 guitars come in a number of colors so as an example see the sample pics. I would likely just lightly sand the neck and keep it natural.
If you are going with the small Guild humbuckers it will be easy to place them. The hollow body doesn't need routing just a little cutout.

One nice thing about your guitar is it's going to be a player. Refinished vintage guitars don't hold significant resale value but the can be incredible instruments. I like to modify guitars and players like yours is always a fun modification.

Have fun. That will be a great player!

 

[agilebassist]

I tend to think that guitar is in decent shape and readily brought back to life. One thing I can't tell is if the binding was removed, fell out or just has the "refinish" on top of it?

Pickups are original and bridge base may be original.The pickguard and knobs aren't stock can do well as is. Are you having trouble with the pickup selector switch? If not I would get some hardware and reinstall it.

Assuming you like the guitar I would refinish it with a paint in lieu of a stain finish.
I personally like the tone of Mickey Mouse pickups in thin hollow body guitars. I often insert a block of wood under the bridge to cut back on feedback. I have found a friction fit is sufficient and doesn't have to run the entire length of the bridge. Just cut a piece of wood and slip it through the bridge pickup hole. I prefer to use pieces of leftover flooring hardwood but I have used pine when I didn't have scrap hardwood.

Guild SF1 guitars come in a number of colors so as an example see the sample pics. I would likely just lightly sand the neck and keep it natural.
If you are going with the small Guild humbuckers it will be easy to place them. The hollow body doesn't need routing just a little cutout.

One nice thing about your guitar is it's going to be a player. Refinished vintage guitars don't hold significant resale value but the can be incredible instruments. I like to modify guitars and players like yours is always a fun modification.

Have fun. That will be a great player!

The binding is still there just painted over with black paint. They tried to make it look road worn but did a poor job. Overall, the guitar seems like it’s still in good health. I don’t see any neck breaks or anything like that. I could do a refin but it’s work that I don’t want to get into now.

I’m not crazy about the brightness I’d the Mickey Mouse pickups; that was my complaint and wanted to replace them. An LB1 might be ok even if I have to enlarge the holes so long as the current wooden brackets still cover up the new size of I got back to the originals. It’s great as is a a blues rock guitar but I want to use it to play jazz. Yes the pick guard isn’t original.

Or just set it aside and get a cheap jazz box and not bother with all the extra work. I guess I’ll just fix the pickup switch and slap some flats on it and give it another whirl.

Anybody else got ideas?

 

[matsickma]

Adding any kind of pickups should be easy. If you're just want it to play with the jazz tone that should be a pretty quick project.Add the Flats. Trimming back on the tone control will soften it out. Some Guilds have a capacitor added to the pickup wiring to bleed off some of the treble.

Here is an earlier version of your guitar and the guy just stuck a humbucker under the strings without much mod.

M

 

[agilebassist]

Adding any kind of pickups should be easy. If you're just want it to play with the jazz tone that should be a pretty quick project.Add the Flats. Trimming back on the tone control will soften it out. Some Guilds have a capacitor added to the pickup wiring to bleed off some of the treble.

Here is an earlier version of your guitar and the guy just stuck a humbucker under the strings without much mod.

M

Funny I just find something about doing a treble bleed and glad you mentioned it. I’m going to do that first!

I’ve had flats on it and did the typical time roll off before but it wasn’t enough for my tastes.

Anyways Thanks!

 

[Midnight Toker]

I guess it depends on the style of jazz as well. Do you want a bit of bite/swells? Or just clean. The instrument itself at any semi-substancial volume requires a bit of muting...by right hand on strings, or even right arm pressing guitar body against your body. Oliver Wood (Wood Bros) has gone as far as stuffing his underwear in the F hole to help tame the beast. I'm in love w/ my 66 T100-d. I own several really nice guitars, but it's the only guitar that plays me! At times it can be like flying a kite in a heavy winds....and it's up to you to tame the beast. You aren't playing guitar...you're playing a T100-d. I play differently on it (when plugged in) compared to any of my electrics. Forget turning up...it'll just fight back. (I've heard stories of people actually partially foaming the insides of these guitars just to keep them from feeding back. I don't think the pickups will matter as much as taming the really resonant body for this particular slim electric hollowbody. I refinished mine. (also a junkyard dog when I got it (plus a complete headstock break)..and it has upwards of 20 finish coats on it now, which really helps control it a lot. A really great guitar...as long as you can stay 5+ ft away from... and never face your amp if you are loud and trying to stay clean.
Otherwise...it can be a magical instrument that reacts to each environment differently and will produce one off unique results...all still having to be tamed by it's master each and every time.

 

[agilebassist]

I guess it depends on the style of jazz as well. Do you want a bit of bite/swells? Or just clean. The instrument itself at any semi-substancial volume requires a bit of muting...by right hand on strings, or even right arm pressing guitar body against your body. Oliver Wood (Wood Bros) has gone as far as stuffing his underwear in the F hole to help tame the beast. I'm in love w/ my 66 T100-d. I own several really nice guitars, but it's the only guitar that plays me! At times it can be like flying a kite in a heavy winds....and it's up to you to tame the beast. You aren't playing guitar...you're playing a T100-d. I play differently on it (when plugged in) compared to any of my electrics. Forget turning up...it'll just fight back. (I've heard stories of people actually partially foaming the insides of these guitars just to keep them from feeding back. I don't think the pickups will matter as much as taming the really resonant body for this particular slim electric hollowbody. I refinished mine. (also a junkyard dog when I got it (plus a complete headstock break)..and it has upwards of 20 finish coats on it now, which really helps control it a lot. A really great guitar...as long as you can stay 5+ ft away from... and never face your amp if you are loud and trying to stay clean.
Otherwise...it can be a magical instrument that reacts to each environment differently and will produce one off unique results...all still having to be tamed by it's master each and every time.

lol. I love hearing this for some reason.

I was looking for something dark sounding when I got it. Always been a fan of the Gibson ES175 sound. This is not that!

The look of it has grown on me and not really interested in another refin except maybe to clean it up a bit. Some of the inlay has been painted over and the binding covered up.

It’s so very bright and jangly. At least would like to tone it down. Yea I’m only looking to play clean with this and haven’t experienced bad feedback (but I don’t gig on guitar-at least not yet). All my crunchy stuff will be on the telecaster but I don’t play loud volumes anyway. Duly noted about stuffing it tho.

 

[matsickma]

I've seen some T100's and CE100's stuffed with cotton balls! In my experience the addition of a sound post under the bridge is the best solution to suppress "howling" feedback. The Guild X170 demonstrated that suppression technique. Installing a block of wood, friction tight, will suppress that feedback howl but it will also tighten up the low end tone. So a number of "tricks" can alter the tonal characteristics. A CE100 that I once owned had wooden dowels installed under the bridge and glued to the front and back of the guitar.
M

 

[agilebassist]

I've seen some T100's and CE100's stuffed with cotton balls! In my experience the addition of a sound post under the bridge is the best solution to suppress "howling" feedback. The Guild X170 demonstrated that suppression technique. Installing a block of wood, friction tight, will suppress that feedback howl but it will also tighten up the low end tone. So a number of "tricks" can alter the tonal characteristics. A CE100 that I once owned had wooden dowels installed under the bridge and glued to the front and back of the guitar.
M

I’ll keep that in mind. I’m an upright bass player so I’m familiar with soundposts. Great idea. I’ve had to do friction fits before. Another way to put my woodworking skills to use.

 

[Shakeylee]

these might cover the MM mounts

KP - GFS NYIII Alnico Surface Mount Humbucker Neck Position

 

[johnreardon]

I guess it depends on the style of jazz as well. Do you want a bit of bite/swells? Or just clean. The instrument itself at any semi-substancial volume requires a bit of muting...by right hand on strings, or even right arm pressing guitar body against your body. Oliver Wood (Wood Bros) has gone as far as stuffing his underwear in the F hole to help tame the beast. I'm in love w/ my 66 T100-d. I own several really nice guitars, but it's the only guitar that plays me! At times it can be like flying a kite in a heavy winds....and it's up to you to tame the beast. You aren't playing guitar...you're playing a T100-d. I play differently on it (when plugged in) compared to any of my electrics. Forget turning up...it'll just fight back. (I've heard stories of people actually partially foaming the insides of these guitars just to keep them from feeding back. I don't think the pickups will matter as much as taming the really resonant body for this particular slim electric hollowbody. I refinished mine. (also a junkyard dog when I got it (plus a complete headstock break)..and it has upwards of 20 finish coats on it now, which really helps control it a lot. A really great guitar...as long as you can stay 5+ ft away from... and never face your amp if you are loud and trying to stay clean.
Otherwise...it can be a magical instrument that reacts to each environment differently and will produce one off unique results...all still having to be tamed by it's master each and every time.

I managed to do it going through a Marshall 100w head + 8x10 cab and a Carlsboro 100w Head + a couple of 4x12 PA columns. The PA columns were either side of the stage, but as you see I was fairly close to the Marshall amp. No pedals, just plugged straight in.

At one time, I used some pieces of foam and newspaper to pack the inside out, but when I sanded the cherry finish off, I removed them. To be honest, I don't think it made much difference. I just used the guitar volumes

 

[Shakeylee]

these might cover the MM mounts

KP - GFS NYIII Alnico Surface Mount Humbucker Neck Position

or< on the other hand.

a T100 with MM pickups is sought after enough,that it might make more sense to sell this guitar whole, and replace it with something more to your taste

 

[Default]

The binding is still there just painted over with black paint. They tried to make it look road worn but did a poor job. Overall, the guitar seems like it’s still in good health. I don’t see any neck breaks or anything like that. I could do a refin but it’s work that I don’t want to get into now.

I’m not crazy about the brightness I’d the Mickey Mouse pickups; that was my complaint and wanted to replace them. An LB1 might be ok even if I have to enlarge the holes so long as the current wooden brackets still cover up the new size of I got back to the originals. It’s great as is a a blues rock guitar but I want to use it to play jazz. Yes the pick guard isn’t original.

Or just set it aside and get a cheap jazz box and not bother with all the extra work. I guess I’ll just fix the pickup switch and slap some flats on it and give it another whirl.

Anybody else got ideas?

A lot of mm pups have a capacitor from the hot lug to the ground lug. They used to do that at the factory for the MM and Franzes as well.

 

[agilebassist]

Happy New Year guys.

Well as usual, I find what i love/hate about gear. It's all futzing with gear until you realize that the tone really is indeed in your hands.

I bought a Yammie THR30ii to get back into practicing more with guitar and dialed in a great sound quickly (quite impressive unit) and got on with getting a decent sound. It dawned on me this weekend that I can play using a bass-oriented technique (with some inspiration from Matteo Mancuso) to drop the ping and use just the flesh of my fingertips. Still working on picking with 3 fingers.
First I tried it with my tele and woah, I got a really great deep tone. Then took the T100D and did the same thing. Goddamit. Same thing. I had to dial the tone dial a bit and cut the highs on the amp itself while boosting the mids and bass.

I can't pick as fast and still developing the 3 finger technique but it doesn't matter as much since I can't think of music at high tempos anyway so it's not going to matter that much.

And in the process figured out that the switch wasn't bad, it's the volume pot and it needs replacing.

@Shakeylee I think you're right. I was eyeballing some ES175 copies made by Eastman and given that i'd sell this with it's hardshell case, it would be easier just to offload it and get the sound i want if I do really want to switch axes. Fortunely, with the fingerstyle experiment, the telecaster is still going to be my main guitar so I'll likely keep this as is with the MMs. If anything, maybe change the capacitor.... which brings me to another question...

You guys mention something about a treble bleed (forgive my ignorance, i'm not that great a circuitry but know how to solder).... these dont' already come from the factory with some sort of treble bleed do they? One in which it allows the highs to pass through and brighten the sound. If anything, I'm thinking about resoldering with higher value capacitor. Wouldn't be the same as turning the tone dial down? I kinda liked it fairly low (like at 3-4 on the guitar).

Thanks so much so far everybody.

 

[Default]

Treble bleed diagram.

 

[atti3]

Hi everybody.

I have a junkyard dog of a T100d that someone did a hideous refin. So bad it’s good that I bought used for a song. Still plays ok and looks like a great blues axe.

It’s a 1964 and I’m not crazy about the twangy single coils and thinking about putting some mini-humbuckers to play jazz with it. It’s way too bright and I want to darken the tone for a good amount. Has anyone done this? Probably will need to redo all the wiring to 500k pots. I’m sure the guitar isn’t worth anything but looking for tips/advice. Still very resonant and plays ok.

Thoughts?
Thanks

Try these ones: