Buddha's mod projects

[Buddha Pickups]

I tend to use 500k most of the time, even with struts and teles cause it's nice to have that extra top end if I need it. 500k will let a little more high end through.
And I've got the tele pickup version as well.

I get 500k for tone but what's the advantage of 250k for volume? Just curious...

Just felt the mix sounded the best.
Just experimentation.
No rules on what pots might sound best with your guitar. I'd experiment with 300k more if I had a ton of 300k audio pots, but I only have linear 300k. If anyone wants to trade!

[Buddha Pickups]

Jay Turser Rosewood Tele

The control cavity was a pita so I did have to sand a little to accommodate full size pots and the US style 3 way was making contact at the bottom so I had to drill that out a little too.

Mods include
Shielded cavities
US 3 way
Switchcraft jack
Bourns 250k volume
Bourns 500k tone push pull
Tone push pull for series/out of phase
.047 pio cap
A5 neck 7500 turns 42.5awg
A5 bridge 9000 turns 42.5awg
Waxed
Treble bleed mod

[andrewsrea]

Jay Turser Rosewood Tele

The control cavity was a pita so I did have to sand a little to accommodate full size pots and the US style 3 way was making contact at the bottom so I had to drill that out a little too. So I had a push pull on the bridge but decided just to leave this wired like a normal tele.

Mods include
Shielded cavities
US 3 way
Switchcraft jack
Bourns 250k pots
.047 pio cap
A5 neck 7500 turns 42.5awg
A5 bridge 9000 turns 42.5awg
Waxed

20231111_005728.jpg20231111_005738.jpg

Very nice! Is that as heavy as the Fenders from the 60's?

[Buddha Pickups]

Jay Turser Rosewood Tele

The control cavity was a pita so I did have to sand a little to accommodate full size pots and the US style 3 way was making contact at the bottom so I had to drill that out a little too. So I had a push pull on the bridge but decided just to leave this wired like a normal tele.

Mods include
Shielded cavities
US 3 way
Switchcraft jack
Bourns 250k pots
.047 pio cap
A5 neck 7500 turns 42.5awg
A5 bridge 9000 turns 42.5awg
Waxed

20231111_005728.jpg20231111_005738.jpg

Very nice! Is that as heavy as the Fenders from the 60's?

No. I'm pretty sure it's basswood with rosewood veneers

[Buddha Pickups]

Squier 51

Cause it's white with a black guard I went with a mix of black and chrome replacement parts. Talk about being tight, that control panel is very tight inside with the added switch.

Mods include
Drilled control plate for 3 (stock is only 2)
250k bourns pots
.05 Russian petp cap
Tone is a push pull to do in series/out of phase
US style 3 way (import but not a box switch).
Shielded cavities
A5 neck mustang style 7500 turns 42.5 (plastic chrome)
A5 jazzmaster style hum single 8500 turns 44awg
Wax potted
Switchcraft jack

[Buddha Pickups]

Custom Electravox Jazzmaster

Body and neck painted and finished by my sister. I believe the body is a basswood body I bought on ebay but I could be mistaken. The neck was from her, fretboard looks like rosewood.

Mods include
Roller bridge
500k bourns pots
.015 cap
Rhythm circuit removed, replaced with series/oop switch
A5 jazzmaster pickups
Heavy formvar wire
Wax potted
Cavities shielded
Switchcraft jack
Switchcraft 3 way

[tobijohn]

Custom Electravox Jazzmaster

Body and neck painted and finished by my sister. I believe the body is a basswood body I bought on ebay but I could be mistaken. The neck was from her, fretboard looks like rosewood.

That finish and pickguard really work well together...

[Buddha Pickups]

SX LTD2 Ash strat

This was a limited edition back in 2008 based on the serial number. It came with a nice case that I still have somewhere.

Mods include
Roller saddles
250k bourns volume
500k bourns tones
Gilmour mod
A8 bridge 8700 turns 42.5awg
A8 middle 8200 turns 42.5awg
A5 neck 8000 turns 42.5awg
Waxed
Cavities shielded
US 5 way
.047 pio cap
Mint Pearland guard and mint covers and tip
Switchcraft jack
Locking tuners

[Buddha Pickups]

Indio sunburst strat from monoprice

Honest pretty impressed with this. It was about $75 shipped and came with an HSS pickguard setup. I swapped it to a SSS so I can eventually add a custom and SRV sticker. Roller saddles are certainly not like a real #1 strat but it's my preference, I hate the stock saddles in most cheap trem guitars.

Mods include
SSS pickguard from mojo
Roller saddles
250k bourns volume 500k bourns tones
.05 petp cap
Treble bleed mod
Gilmour mod push pull bridge tone
Texas special style strat singles
A5 heavy formvar wire 8000, 7750, 7650.
Waxed
Cavities shielded
Switchcraft jack

[Buddha Pickups]

SX Mahogany strat

This originally came with 2 p90s but I realized I have a bunch of Mahogany p90 guitars so I decided to make this one SSH. Another cream tone knob is on order.

Mods include
SSH black pickguard
Roller saddles
Cream plastics
Switchcraft jack
US 5 way switch
Gilmour mod bridge push pull
Treble bleed mod
500k bourns pots
Tones are push pull. Neck/mid tone push pull splits the humbucker. Bridge tone push pull does the Gilmour mod.
.015 Neck middle tone cap
.022 bridge tone cap
Cavities shielded
A4 Neck 7600 heavy formvar
A4/A2 middle 7800 heavy formvar
A4 bridge humbucker 5000, 5200 4 conductor
Waxed pickups

[Partscaster]

That lemony jazzmaster is beautiful. So is the monoprice. Although, I would prefer a non SRV lettering, like OCD. Keeps it light hearted.

[Buddha Pickups]

Squier Bullet Tele
Got this about 10 years ago as I was drawn to the pickup options. This thing sounds massive with the humbucker that splits into a p90.
Now unfortunately I need to go back and put treble bleeds in most of the guitars I just finished and I like the partial split definitely better than a full split.

Mods include
Shielded cavities
Switchcraft jack
US style 3 way
A5 neck 7500 43awg with black cover
A5 & ceramic bridge 5250 42.5awg black hex poles
500k bourns push pull pots
Volume push pull splits the humbucker (partial split utilizing a 6.8k resistor instead of straight to ground).
Bridge push pull does inseries/out of phase
Treble bleed mod
.047 pio cap

[Buddha Pickups]

Squier VM mustang vintage white

Mods include
Shielded cavities
250k bourns pots
.047 pio cap
Switchcraft jack
A5 mustang neck 7500 42 hfv
A8 mustang bridge 8000 42.5awg
Waxed
Treble bleed

[Buddha Pickups]

Glarry Thinline Tele

Got this thing real cheap off ebay, $70ish shipped.
Fret ends were extremely sharp the the maple fretboard is raw. I wanted to swap out the bridge and saddles but I didn't have anything that fit.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
Switchcraft jack
US style 3 way
Bourns 250k volume
Bourns 500k tone push pull
.047 pio cap
Treble bleed mod
A5 neck 7000 44awg
A8 bridge 10000 42.5awg no baseplate
Waxed
Tone does push pull in series/out of phase

[Buddha Pickups]

SX Ash Tele

The necks on these old Ash teles are amazing. This is another from the 07/08 era, the SX heyday in my opinion. I tried to Keef Micawber this one a bit, with a bunch of added wiring mods. Best I could tell is the neck should be a mild paf and the bridge is early 50s so using 43awg wire instead of the normal 42 so it hits the 10k range.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
Roller saddles
Bourns 250k volume push pull
Bourns 500k tone push pull
Volume push pull splits the bucker with a 6.8k resistor
Tone push pull does in series/out of phase
Switchcraft jack
Treble bleed mod
.047 pio cap
US style 3 way
Neck a5 humbucker 4750 4850 42hfv wire
Bridge a3 10200 43awg wire with baseplate

[Buddha Pickups]

Cozart/King Jazzcaster

I must've taken this apart and put it back together 4 times. I really wanted to add a 3rd pickup so that was most of the struggle. I initially had a strat single in the middle but had it a little too close to the neck pickup so I changed it to a mini. It's actually a p90 in a mini humbucker cover.
I'm not the greatest at routing so I used a hum to mini adapter ring to cover up my poor routing.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
250k volume bourns
500k bourns tone push pull
Switchcraft jack
US style 5 way switch
Gilmour mod
Neck a5a2 7500 43awg
Middle a5 rod magnet p90 8000 43awg
Bridge a5/a2 11000 43awg with baseplate
All wax potted
Treble bleed mod

[Buddha Pickups]

Glarry semi hollow

Got another one of these around the same time for 70ish on ebay. This one is better than the other, definitely feels on par with SX quality.

Mods Include
New pickguard for mini
Cavities shielded
Switchcraft jack
US style 3 way
.022 petp cap
Bourns 250k volume push pull splits the mini
Partial split utilizing a 6.8k resistor
Bourns 500k tone push pull does in series/out of phase
Bridge a5 with baseplate 10000 42hfv
Neck firebird mini a5 4000, 4100 43awg. 4 conductor
Waxed
Treble bleed mod

[tonebender]

Treble bleed is a must have modification.

[Buddha Pickups]

Treble bleed is a must have modification.

Absolutely
And they're so cheap to make and easy to install
I've gone back and added them to alot of my already finished guitars in this thread.

[Buddha Pickups]

Custom Electravox Rosser Jag-Stang

I bought this body from Rosser 5ish years ago and my sister did the painting for me. Custom large headstock fender style neck from her as well.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
Switchcraft jack
.022 petp cap
500k bourns volume and tone
Tone push pull to split humbucker with 6.8k resistor
Switches wired as: one switch does dark(.015 cap), out of phase, in phase and the other switch does 3 way neck middle bridge
A5 mustang neck 42h green 7650
A5 uno bridge 4750 4850 42h green wire
Waxed
Treble bleed mod

[mickey]

Treble bleed is a must have modification.

Absolutely
And they're so cheap to make and easy to install
I've gone back and added them to alot of my already finished guitars in this thread.

I begin to think you have MORE guitars than @tobijohn does!
Except all of yours seem to be some variation on the strat and/or tele!

[Buddha Pickups]

Treble bleed is a must have modification.

Absolutely
And they're so cheap to make and easy to install
I've gone back and added them to alot of my already finished guitars in this thread.

I begin to think you have MORE guitars than @tobijohn does!
Except all of yours seem to be some variation on the strat and/or tele!

I have a bunch of les Paul's and semis as well, im just trying to knock out guitars with less than 2 humbuckers first I'm making the pickups for these as I go along ..so avoiding the harder stuff as long as I can!
I'm pretty sure John has me beat though.

[Buddha Pickups]

SX Ash Rosewood

I wish I had grabbed a couple more of these. Perfect necks. I think they were blown out for 79$ too. I put a reverse bridge guard on this ala Hendrix.

Mods Include
Cavities shielded
Treble bleed mod
250k boyrns volume
500k bourns tones
.022 petp cap
Gilmour 7 way mod
Bridge tone push pull to get the 7 way
Neck a5/a2 7600 42hfv
Middle a5/a2 7800 42 hfv
Bridge a5 10200 43awg with baseplate
Waxed
Switchcraft jack

[Buddha Pickups]

Monoprice Indio Offset SSH White

Scored this for $70 shipped on ebay a month or 2 ago.
Fret ends are a bit sharp but otherwise a pretty good guitar.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
Treble bleed mod
Roller saddles
US style 5 way
Switchcraft jack
Bourns 250k master volume
Bourns 500k master tone
.015 pio cap
Volume push/pull to split humbucker w/a 6.8k resistor
Tone push pull to do 7 way Gilmour mod
Neck a5 6800 43awg
Middle a5 6900 43awg
Bridge 5000 5100 43awg a2 and c8 flanker 4 cond

[Buddha Pickups]

Glarry Tele

This was even cheaper than the semi hollow Glarrys, $60 shipped. This one came with a blank headstock. Cutting cost I guess! I wanted to convert one of my Teles to a Nashville and this cheapie was a good candidate. It was routed for a neck humbucker but not enough to get the middle single so I had to route the body and cut the pickguard. The mustang middle has a chrome plastic cover and the bridge is all grey flatwork.
This is the last of my Glarrys.

Mods include
Cavities shielded
Treble bleed mod
US style 5 way
Bourns 250k pots
Tone push pull for 7 way Gilmour mod
.047 pio cap
Switchcraft jack
Neck a3 7500 43awg
Middle a5 7500 43awg mustang style
Bridge a2 10000 42.5awg no baseplate
Waxed