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[qtonezone]

Just gave my Carvin Bolt a face lift.  The Dimarzio AT-1 and Air Norton were just not doing it for me.  Bottom line: if low quality guitar wood is not exuding tone, then put in higher output pickups to make up for it.  So, I put in Dimarzio Breed's in the Bridge and Neck, and went black.  They are fat sounding, high output, and with the high end rolled off so I thought they would be a good match for the Carvin's alder body and maple top.  How do they sound? Bridge sounds great, especially in coil tap mode.  The neck pickup is ok but a tad mellow.  But the Breed neck was made for Steve Vai's 24 fret guitar, so putting it in a 22 fret guitar will naturally mellow it out.

Custom 5 way wiring:

Bridge humbucker / Bridge coil tap / Bridge + Neck / Neck coil tap / Neck humbucker 

1 Master Volume + 1 Master Tone

DPDT switch in the Volume #2 hole does nothing. 

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My latest pedal configuration for my "stage board":

Polytune->EP booster->Keeley looper (Tube Screamer)->AC+->BB->Roadrage looper->Carbon Copy

For the Roadrage looper:

Loop 1 = POG->Black Label Chorus->Phaser

Loop 2 = Compressor->Nova Delay->Zoom CDR->Alter Ego Delay

Loop 3 = DD20-> DD7  (both delays hooked up to Road Rage Tap Tempo Pedal)

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It's official.  I'm a "top wrapper"!

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My new PRS Stripped 58 in Sapphire Smokeburst. 

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Project Tremonti:

Modifications done.

PRS Tremonti Pickups, White pickup rings, PRS Lampshade knobs, PRS Graphite nut, Schaller locking tuners, Mojotone Treble bleed mod (resistor/capacitor).   

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Project Tremonti:

Ok, been on the fence on this getting this guitar.  But once GC started liquidating these things at 25% off, had to jump on it.  Mods will be: PRS Tremonti pickups, Mojotone treble bleed capacitor/resistor, PRS graphite nut, Schaller locking tuners, PRS lampshade knobs, Allparts pickup rings + knob. 

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Project Les Paul:

Now that's more like it.  The face lift gives it a more classic vibe.  It's like Bonamassa gets into a fist fight with Slash, and this is the result.  Tone wise, the Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary Pickups are right at home in this guitar, as the thinner vintage pickup tones complement the darker/fatter character of the Les Paul. 

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Project Les Paul:

Pickups and trim removed.  Time for the transformation. 

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Project Les Paul:

So, after many years of being a "strat" guy, I finally gave in to getting a Les Paul.  I've never had a thing for Les Paul's, but my latest pursuit for thick tone has left me curious.  Thick body and thick neck, seems like a recipe for resonant tone.  Picked up a Les Paul Studio Joe Bonamassa signature with his patented mismatch knobs.  But not feeling the stock Burstbucker 2 and 3, so I picked up some Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups.  Also, will put on some traditional creme trim pieces. 

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PROJECT CARVIN: Complete! 

New components installed: PRS Tremonti Neck and Bridge Pickups, Mojotone wiring kit (500k pots w/ hi pass filter installed), chrome hardware all around.  The only disappointment is that the Neck pickup has only single conductor wiring.  So no coil tapping is possible.  The bridge pickup has 4 conductor wiring, but I didn't bother.  The 3 DPDT switch are now just dummy switches. 

The verdict: my outdated 90's gold hardware Carvin is now a modern beast with hot pickups.  Classic Koa with an edgy twist of badass chrome.

Still testing out the pickups...overall they sound great.  Neck pickup is round and full, but a nice bold attack.  Great for clean tone especially finger picking.  The bridge pickup is LOUD!  Big volume mismatch to the neck, but switching from the clean neck to a gainful bridge might provide a natural boost which could be a plus.  And if necessary I can fade back the bridge volume to match it to the neck.  So, if you want these pickups, a 2 volume knob set up is a must!  I'll probably post a video demo for the pickups soon.   

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PROJECT CARVIN:

Disassembly is completed.  The guitar is stripped to its bones (mostly).  Not fond of the active electronics.  Also, the bridge's low E string saddle didn't have enough rearward travel for proper intonation.  Great chance to get rid of the gold hardware and put in new pickups with passive electronics. 

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The Ditto Looper pedal I just got records up to 5 minutes of your playing and seamlessly loops your recording so that you can add layers and solo on top.  This pedal reminds me of the Keeley True Bypass Looper (shown above) which is completely different.  The Keeley allows you to connect other pedals that are NOT "True Bypass" so that you can block them out of the signal chain when they are not in use.  What's the point of this? 

It reminds of a time back in 2008 when I was in Chicago and me and my wife (back then girlfriend) decided to step into a guitar shop after brunch at the Original Pancake House.  Brunch at the Pancake house was always a treat, as parking was always difficult but the overwhelming food portions made you feel like you were being rewarded for enduring the long lines (life is so tough sometimes!).  But food appetite filled, I didn't realize the malnourishment of my sonic appetite.  I looked in the glass case at this Keeley Looper and thought it was a funny looking small pedal.  I asked the salesman behind the counter what this thing did and he explained (as I did above).  I immediately stated that I have no problem with tone because all my pedals are Boss (I used to think that Boss pedals were the absolute best).  Well, he looked at me and said, well, those are the problem and that's why this Keeley True Bypass pedal exists. 

He continued to explain how Boss pedals have internal buffers to help keep the signal strong in case many of these pedals are hooked up in series.  But since not all pedals have high quality buffers, each pedal is degrading the signal and tone of your guitar.  But pedals that are "true bypass" don't have internal buffers and your guitar signal remains unchanged passing through the pedal.  He just warned that if you have too many true bypass pedals, that your signal could still weaken due to the extra length of cabling pedal to pedal.  So, he suggested getting a clean, high quality buffer to put at the end of the chain.  

This conversation changed EVERYTHING.  

Degrading tone?  What?  How could this be?  None of my pedals were true bypass.  So, after returning home I pulled each pedal off of my pedal board and one by one checked the clean tone signal of my guitar between each pedal removal.  And sure enough,  I noticed the difference.  In the end (no pedals and guitar direct to the amp), the signal was rounded and more dynamic.  It was subtle, but undeniable.  It went from "sterile" to "responsive".

This was the beginning of my quest for tone.

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I got 2 new pedals last week.  One officially became the "biggest" pedal I've ever owned.  The other officially became the "smallest".   Why are fuzz faces so big?  And how did they get the Ditto Looper so small?  See the Ditto chillin' with the bigger brothers.  The fuzz face...uhh...just doesn't fit on the pedal board. 

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Vintage Crunch tones from the Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary pickups. Playing on the clean channel of the Carvin VT50 with the Fulltone OCD for mild vintage crunch. The Xotic BB Preamp is hit on for the occasional boost to thicken the tone.

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PROJECT CARVIN: My beloved Carvin is about to have an extreme makeover. Got it in 2001 and played it a ton. But haven't been playing it much lately for various reasons. I'm going to rebuild the electronics and also getting rid of the gold hardware (so 90's). Parts have been ordered and on their way! I'm sure I will have to bring out the Dremel at some point of time. More to come...