so, im intrested in modding my starter guitar...

[Tdanger]

would have just used a sticky, but couldnt find one :D

ok, so my first guitar is a Yamaha pacifica, black with white pickguard, but now that i use a gibson les paul studio, i dont need the pacifica much anymore. it still has that sentimental value, and the whole thing where one day i wanna have a kid who plays guitar too, so ill pass it down. but in the meantime, i am VERY intrested in modding the pacifica. chances are that it wont become a hot vintage item, so i dont need to worry about keeping the origional parts.

SO! as far as making modifications goes, im entirely brand spanking new. i started to mess around with it the other day, but i didnt want to remove the strings until i was ready to make some changes. started to take off the pickguard, but those nusances we call strings got in the way. oddly enough, it also seemed like the pickups were coming off with it. i suppose that is because they are wired in, and if i took the pick guard further off, they would have come out and stayed wired to the guitar.

the pacifica is a yamaha version of a fat strat, so im going to want a new humbucker pickup for the bridge position, and single coils for the neck and middle.

i downloaded and kept sombody's guide they posted somwhere or another on this forum about changing pickups, so ill use that. but as far as things like giving the guitar a new coat of paint, tuners, volume and tone knobs goes, what should i do? or how is it done, rather.

i realize that mods can get expensive, and i may just be better off buying a new guitar rather than modding this one, but i really want to learn more about making changes to my guitar and make it just the way i like it.

[Tdanger]

while im at it, whats the difference between an active and passive pickup?

[ModestCargo]

As long as you're okay with a soldering iron and aren't too impatient (ie slow down and take your time) you'll be fine. There isn't anything original on my Epiphone except the bridge, tailpiece and tuners (it's a custom so it came with grovers).

After changing the pickups it has become my performance guitar - I don't like to take my Custom Agent everywhere as it's pretty much irreplacable.

[Tdanger]

hmm i suppose ill have to practice with a soldering iron or have my dad do it the first time ;)

[determined2play]

As far as the painting goes. You can just scuff sand the existing paint, then use a good quality automotive laquer Primer Paint and Clear coat. However it takes a lot of care and time. Sanding down to between 800 and 2000 grit. I put 18 coats of paint and 10 coats of clear on the Squier 51 I modded this summer. This is the finished product. New paint, pickups and bone nut.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/determined2play/025.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/determined2play/003.jpg

This was my first mod job. It was originally black.

[Tdanger]

dang, that looks great man. how does it sound and play?

and what do you mean by Sanding down to between 800 and 2000 grit?

[Keith]

When a wood is first sanded down, it's usualy done with 80, 100, 120, 180, 240, 280 Grit sandpaper. It gets all the grooves the coarser sandpaper leaves behind, and give a nice clean area to paint with.

Same goes for painting. when you apply the first coat of primer, you will see all the imperfections left behind, and this is you first chance to correct them and re-prime. Priming the wood surface makes the first coat of paint stick the the body.
But even then, the first coat is going to have ripples or what's called orange peel, or dimples, so you are going to need to sand down the imperfections to get ready for the second coat. This is when you need 800 grit paper. The next coat will fill in some of the imperfections, but will still leave behind some more, smaller ones. This is when you move up to a finer grade of sandpaper (880), take out those imperfections and continue the process until you reach 2000 grit. Wet sanding along the way keeps scratches down to a minimum.
The 2000 grit would most likely be used on the clear coat with mineral solution, and then buffed with a high power buffer to give the final shine.

It is a lot of work, and it takes time between the drying process. If you rush before the paint layer cures, you risk going 2 steps back, instead of one step forward.

18 coats is a bit extreme for my tastes, but 10 coats of clear coat will ensure that the paint won't get scarred.

Knowing how to paint is crutial. At first, it's trial and error, so learn up on it and practice on a blank stock of wood to hone your skills.

[Tdanger]

or ill have a lot of help from my dad :D

he has a lot of experience with painting and welding/using soldering irons. so im gonna make it a daddy-o/son project :)

[ForestKindred]

here is a pic of a modified pickgaurd for my '65 harmony

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee96/forestkindred/SSPX0042.jpg

all the electrical is attached to the gaurd so swapping out gaurds for different sounds is a snap... heres the other one. the original gaurd(which sits in a box for vintage value) has the original goldentone pickups. and yes they sound old too...

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee96/forestkindred/SSPX0039.jpg

dont worry about the guitar, check out the paint on the gaurds. easy graphics to lay out with spray paint..... clear coated with enamel, its harder so it will take abuse.....