mairj40 Posted September 29, 2013 Report Share Posted September 29, 2013 I have an Epiphone X1000 that I picked up for next to nothing, I am working on repainting it and getting it back into shape. The biggest issue is that it had the dreaded Steinberger KB Trem on it originally. The trem was removed and was missing when I got the guitar. The original replacement trems are next to impossible to find. I was wondering if anyone would know if it would be possible to fill in the bridge routing with a piece of wood and then install a "hardtail", non tremolo bridge from another Strat. I am curious as to what it would do to the sound of the guitar, intonation, and overall playability of the guitar. Anyone have any experience with this? Here's what I got... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted September 29, 2013 Report Share Posted September 29, 2013 It is fairly straight forward thing to plug that cavity with wood (straightforward, but not without challenges), refinish the body and put a good quality bridge there. If done the intonation and playability should be just as good (if not better) than with the original bridge. Regarding what it will do with the sound, I'd say that the change in sound will be less than what happens when there are a different guitar players operating the instrument... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted September 30, 2013 Report Share Posted September 30, 2013 Looks like you have a starting point for a khaler trem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted September 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2013 The specs on the guitar say the body is Alder/maple. Should. Use hard maple or is soft maple ok to build a block to fit the routing? I want to maoe sure that the new bridge will have a good anchor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted September 30, 2013 Report Share Posted September 30, 2013 http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/page/articles.html/_/tutorials/instrument-building/trem-to-hardtail-conversion-r48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted October 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) Cool. Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. I do not have a router to expand the trem cutout (I'm only going about 1/2 an inch on each side). Is there a way to use a rotozip to do it? I tried tonight, but it wouldn't cut the wood. Maybe I have the wrong bit? Edited October 1, 2013 by mairj40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted October 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 Lol. I got the hole "routed" out. Amazing what happens when you use the correct bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Keep us informed with photos, etc! I did this exact same thing with an Ibanez body I found on eBay a few years back, routing out the rear and top cavities, infilling them with Mahogany. I should do this again sometime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Will do. I got the routing filled in with Maple, and I have a little more sanding to do on the guitar before it will be ready for primer. I'll post some pictures tomight when I get home from work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 I shoot a little primer over repairs like this to expose any witness lines or unevenness. Surprising what can be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Thanks for the tip. I'll do that to see if I need to work at the seams a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted October 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Here is where I'm at so far. I finished sanding it tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to go out and get a tack cloth and some primer. I'mm mask off the fretboard and try to get some primer on it and see what kind of mess I can make out of this thing. Lol. (excuse the kids toys in the picture) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted November 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 I have the guitar ready for the clearcoat. I have been looking at pickups. I would really like some Dimarzios or SD's. But, I'm thinking about just putting some Gibson or Epiphone pickups in it for now. The problem is that I cannot seem to find any Gibson or Epiphone single coil pickups. What other brand of single coils could I use to make it sound decent with a Gibson/Epi humbucker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Would it be too late to mention that I think I have one of those trems kicking around somewhere? That infill looks great. Let us know how it progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 This should be interesting. Its kind of a strange take on EBMM's "tone block" idea lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted November 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Would it be too late to mention that I think I have one of those trems kicking around somewhere? That infill looks great. Let us know how it progresses. Lol. Yeah, it would probably be too late. It's ok though, I am enjoying this experience. Thanks for the kind words. I'll try and get some pictures of it sometime this week. I will be getting the clearcoat on it during this week, so it might be a good time to get some pictures of it. I think I solved my pickup issue also. I am going to try some GFS pickups. I've heard good things about them, and they are pretty reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Looks good, but i would have put block sideways, so the grain is running up and down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted November 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Looks good, but i would have put block sideways, so the grain is running up and down. Yeah, I wanted to. But, the only way I could find a board wide enough was to buy one 12 feet long. I only needed about 6". Seemed kind of wasteful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Looks good, but i would have put block sideways, so the grain is running up and down. Jeepers. I never noticed that! I must be lacking concentration this week. Looks good, but i would have put block sideways, so the grain is running up and down. Yeah, I wanted to. But, the only way I could find a board wide enough was to buy one 12 feet long. I only needed about 6". Seemed kind of wasteful. Agreed. It might have been a good idea to laminate two pieces in order to align the grain correctly, however I am sure that this would be bit of a complication more than anything if you don't have the right tools to hand for this. I think in general this fix is virtually impossible to make invisible so you should be fine. Infills usually show up through paint the same way that the seams on laminated bodies do. I've never had a problem with that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 It's been awhile, but here is a picture of the progress. Lighting is not the best. The guitar isn't perfect, but it will work. After all, it is almost thirty years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workingman Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willliam_q Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Looks like a good repair. Have you had a chance to try out the gfs pickups? Is that a tuneomatic bridge you've used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Looks like a Schaller to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mairj40 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Here is the finished product. It's far from perfect, but it was a good project to learn on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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