10-year project/Blaspemy/Opinions?

dean

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This will probably be a long thread, so skip through it if you want. I need some opinions for an idea that I'll list at the end of the post. Ten years ago, I picked up a smashed-up 1959 T-100 for a pretty cheap price. The only thing it had going for ir was the pickup - otherwise, it was toast. Over the years, I resurrected it and got it back together. The neck was solid, but everything else was a mess. Here's what I did:

Reglued all the top laminates (about 80% delammed)
Replaced all the kerfing
Reset the top to the back and sides
Repaired the hole in the side of the body
Replaced the fretboard inlays
Leveled and refretted the neck
Installed new binding
Replaced the defunct cap on the wiring harness

In the end, I have a very nice playing Slim Jim. One of the nice things about the project was that the guitar had the original wiring harness and Franz pickup (more on that later). Here is the thread I started about 9-10 years ago. Turns out I'm slow, but pretty steady. http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?151453-More-than-I-can-chew-Paid-too-much-We-ll-see

Here are a few pics of the project when I got it.

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Here's the guitar now.

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As it stands, the guitar plays very nicely, feels great, and fits me well. While it is a vintage guitar, it is definitely not a very valuable guitar given the amount of damage and work that's been done on it as well as the addition of some non-original parts. Now, I am solely a bedroom player - I never take the guitar out, I play only for myself, and I keep this guitar because it feels great. That leads me to my next question.

Swapping out the Franz pickup?
Since this guitar is intact but sketchy in its originality, I'm thinking of selling the original Franz pickup and the original wiring harness (with a new cap) and installing a P-90 type pickup. Again, the originality of the guitar is kaput, and I figure there might be someone who needs these parts to bring their old Guild up to snuff (btw, I am not soliciting offers - I will put a FS post up when I'm ready to go). Plus, I have a couple projects that could use the funds. I've read that a basic P-90 is a little larger than the Franz and may require some body modification - is this true? I have also read that there are P-90 pickups that have been designed for a Guild pickup rout. Anyone know what these are? I know this sounds blasphemous, but I have already redone a 1956 CE-100 to vintage specs for my son, so I understand the concept of vintage restoration. The T-100 is well beyond that designation.

So, any pickup suggestions? Thanks!
 

CosmicArkie

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What ^^he^^ said. Always enjoy seeing or hearing about resurections. Most of my menagerie are "rescue dogs" having damage of one degree or another. Sorry I can't help with the pickup question.
 

walrus

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Can't answer the question, but very impressed with the resurrection! Nice work!

walrus
 

dklsplace

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Nice save! So in talking about replacing the Franz, I'm curious if there's something about it that you aren't quite happy with?
 

dean

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The Franz pickup is very nice and sounds like it should. But for me, there are a lot of possible pickups that would work - this T-100 is strictly a player. If the guitar were even 90% all-original, I’d definitely keep the Franz in it. I think having to put new binding on the guitar was the tipping point in terms of level of originality. I know there are Guild guitars out there from that era that need a Franz pickup to make it period correct. In some ways, I think the Franz deserves a nicer home. Does that make sense?
 

chazmo

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Dean,

I think what you said makes sense, but mostly if it's for you to experiment with new pickups in the re-built Slimline. If it's just to give the Franz a "better home," I think that's probably over-generous of you, as in I wouldn't do it for that reason.
 

zizala

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I have a '60 T-100 with a Franz that had magnets that were loose to the point of sliding around and causing sympathetic vibrations.
It drove me crazy for awhile as I was looking everywhere but the pickup as the source of the problem.

I've since fixed the pickup but while it was out I wondered if I could put a P-90 (neck) in that guitar.
As it happened, no routing necessary.......the frame fit right in he original route and by some dumb luck the holes in the two P-90 tabs line up perfectly with the holes in the top that secured the Franz cover. A little sanding of the P-90 cover helped get it to sit down on the contours of the top.

So its a reversible installation....a good thing as I'm one of those that prefers to keep old guitars original.

Funny thing....I have yet to put the repaired original back. I even made a new pickguard that was cut for the wider P-90.
The P-90 I used (a small shop custom wound I had in the drawer from years back) sounds great and has stayed....and I love Franz pickups!

BTW.....hello everyone, its been a long time since my last post.
 
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silverfox103

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Dean

Nice job on the restoration! As for the pickups, can't really help you with that decision. But, if you want to change the pickup, you've earned the right. That guitar was awful close to landing in the dumpster and you saved it. Change it if you want, but save the original pickup. That guitar has too much of a story.

My 2 cents

Tom
 
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dean

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Thanks for info, Zizala - I appreciate it. As far as the guitar goes, I can’t imagine selling it. Years ago, I had a blonde T-100 with a Mickey Mouse pickup - it was my favorite electric guitar. But I foolishly sold it in my quest for the perfect guitar. To me, the neck, body, weight, and feel are the most important element for a guitar, and after I sold the T-100, I realized that it was the right one for me. This project T-100 perfectly fills the bill. As far as the electric sound of the guitar, I feel there are so many variables that a wide range of pickups would work. I really love the feel of my two main guitars - can’t imagine getting rid of either. Again, thanks for the comments.
 
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kakerlak

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Why not one of the modern reproduction Franz pickups? Would be cheap and a direct swap.
 

dean

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Why not one of the modern reproduction Franz pickups? Would be cheap and a direct swap.

I was looking for that, but the only one I found was from years ago in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. Not looking for an expensive replacement. Who else makes them?
 

Minnesota Flats

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Nice job!

Have had a few Guild basses, but the only Guild electric guitar I've ever owned was nearly a ringer for yours (right down to the "open book" headstock) so it warms my heart to see you bring that one back to life. The pickup on mine had a black cover and the tailpiece was a harp, but other than that, it was pretty much identical (though mine had suffered only play wear). I bought it used with a hard case in about 1977 for $75. Sold it off a couple years later for not much more to raise money to buy something else, what, I don't even recall. Should've hung onto it (sound familiar)? Oh well...
 

kakerlak

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