What were some common (or not so common)mods and upgrades done to guitars? Specifically in the search for the delicious sounds first Wave groups here.

Same with drums

Last edited: Aug 09, 2023 06:57:12

I doubt that there were nearly as many mods back in tne early days of Surf, because there weren’t that many choices. You didn’t have numerous pickup makers, aftermarket bridges, etc. to choose from. I have heard that players seeking lighter gauged strings would discard the low E, use the A as the 6th string and put a banjo string on the high E, but Ernie Ball changed all of that.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

In the old days, people played off the shelf guitars through off the floor amps and did just fine. Personally, I've never had any use for boutique stuff.

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 16:30:39

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 16:30:33

Tqi wrote:

taijiguy wrote:

In the old days, people played off the shelf guitars through off the floor amps and did just fine.

In the old days, equipment was very different. Earliest price list I could find was 1968. Using a US inflation calculator, a '68 Jaguar costs $3500, while a '68 Dual Showman is $8300. Average household incomes were $67500 using the same calulator which is about the same as actual US median household income in 2022. So what was "standard" then is "boutique" now in terms of pricing - and also largely in terms of quality. Only by buying boutique are you going to get something fully handwired (turret, bug or eyelet) from discrete components and with iro and cabinets of the same quality as would have been used in the vintage amps. I don't think it's entirely fair to compare a 62 Jaguar bought new and a 60's Classic Vibe bought today - people paying $3500 for a guitar now probably aren't modding them much either!

Buying boutique is also the only way to get a "brownface" circuit amp, anyway - There's no 6G7, 6G8 or 6G14 reissue. ;)

To clarify, sure you can get a Squier Jaguar and a Rumble 25 and go nuts; I'm just noting it's a very different thing than what Woody might have bought new.

Life was different back then. The average person was not all that technical. There were Service Stations in neighborhoods, and minor auto repairs were usually done there, do-it-yourself repairs being more the exception, than the rule.

A gigging guitarist in the early ‘60s might have known the difference between single coil and humbucking pickups, but I wouldn’t bet on it. That guitarist would know that a Jaguar or a Tele was twangier than an ES-175, and might make purchase decisions accordingly. That changed as the decade wore on, and people could see that the Beatles were playing through Vox amps or that Hendrix was using a Marshall. But for most of us, we went to the music store and if we liked the sound, that was plenty.

I’m a tech person and I live in the tech world. I love to talk gear, because I find it to be a technically interesting subject. I’m also a guitarist, and I know how to get the sounds I want out of my gear. My ability to get a good sound comes from my technique. I love to talk technique, but few people want to cuss & discuss technique, especially when my viewpoint is based in classical technique, albeit modified for plectrum, fingerstyle with the thumbpick, etc.

That having been said, I think that many players think that gear is the answer to all of their frustrations, but I don’t see it that way. It’s fun to talk about gear; guitars, amps, pedals, even bloody patch cables, but that’s not the most important part of the equation. I could play a Surf gig, tomorrow, on my Squier Jaguar, one of my Teles, my Country Gentleman or my Guild T-400, and get a great sound, from any of these instruments. Likewise, any of my amps would do the job. About the only thing I’d be persnickety about would be my Source Audio True Spring pedal.

If you think about it, almost any two pickup guitar is a very versatile instrument. I’ll use two of my instruments as an example. I have a Gretsch G6122-1959, basically a single cutaway Country Gentleman, with two Gretsch Supertron pickups. It has “trestle bracing”, which is basically four soundposts which tie to the parallel bracing of the top. Trestle bracing adds feedback resistance and increases treble response. This is the guitar design which Chet Atkins for most of his classic recordings.

For overall use, the Gent is pretty versatile, with strong highs, which come close to Telecaster brightness on the bridge pickup. The neck pickup is warm, but the trestle bracing gives it a focused sound which differs from most archtops. Both pickups are mellow, yet brilliant; pure Chet Atkins. It also surfs like a son of a gun.

The polar opposite is my Jaguar, which obviously gets brighter than the Gent, but actually gets warmer and jazzier than the Gent, especially in the rhythm mode.

Either of these guitars would get me through pretty much any gig, from Jazz to Surf, to Country. Paired with a reasonably clean amp, there is a wide variety of available sounds.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.