Can hardware turn this into a real player?

[Darkswirl]

Long story short- I got a Maestro (by Gibson ...)
LP Jr. as a gift. Horrible hardware, wont stay in tune,
I've owned and played dozens of higher end guitars
thru the years, but this was a gift. It is special to me.
Will a bridge and locking tuners help?
Thinking a Schaller 456 bridge and Schaller locking tuners.
I'll have more upgrades to come, just wondering if
the tuners and bridge that I have in mind will be a
good place to start. I want the best for this lil guy,
but not if they wont help. Any advice would be great.
Thank you.

 

[Cagey]

I did a similar thing last year. Bought a Gibson Melody Maker, which came with garbage hardware. Replaced the bridge with a Schaller 456 and installed Schaller mini-lockers. It stays in tune now. But then, it did before. I wasn't trying to fix anything; I'm just allergic to junk hardware <grin>

Lockers improve any guitar, though. Gets the winds off the posts, so tuning stabilizes.

 

[anorakDan]

I say, go for it. If the guitar is special to you, as you say, then spend a little money to upgrade the hardware. I had a SG Jr. years ago. I swapped out the stock bridge with a Leo Quan tunable one, and a nice chrome set of Schaller tuners and it made a world of difference. The only other upgrades I made were a DiMarzio P-90 size humbucker and a set of Jim Dunlop Straploks and that became a kick ass guitar.

Whaddya got to lose?

 

[Darkswirl]

Thank you for the replies. The body is just a slab of solid(?)
unknown wood. Wondering if the 456 bridge would just
"drop in" without mods. I just really like the design of
that bridge. The pickup will be yanked n replaced with
a Carvin M22SD. Also, being a bolt on, I'm wondering
if I could replace the neck??? I'd love a maple fingerboard
Tele neck on this "Les Paul Jr." Getting into scale length,
neck pocket dimensions, angles, compatibility...is just
a bit over my head right now. That's why I'm here tho.

 

[Cagey]

Wondering if the 456 bridge would just "drop in" without mods. I just really like the design of that bridge.

If your guitar has a typical TOM or cast STP-style bridge installed now, chances are very good the 456 will drop in. But, to be sure, measure. You can see the mounting post centerline spacing, as well as the post mounting bushing diameters here. Measure where yours are at, and you'll know if it'll fit without modification.

If the bushing holes aren't proper on center, or the bushing threads don't match up with the Schaller mounting posts, you can always drill them out, fill them with some hardwood dowel, then re-drill them to suit.

Also, being a bolt on, I'm wondering if I could replace the neck??? I'd love a maple fingerboard Tele neck on this "Les Paul Jr." Getting into scale length, neck pocket dimensions, angles, compatibility...is just a bit over my head right now. That's why I'm here tho.

You'd have to measure the neck pocket to know if you can replace it with a Fender-style of any type. I wouldn't get too excited about the idea, but it's worth checking into. What Fender-style necks expect for a pocket can be seen here.

 

[drewfx]

You also need to take note of the bridge position relative to the neck pocket to see if it matches any of the replacement necks' requirements.

 

[Darkswirl]

Thanks for the links and advice.
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself by throwing
a neck replacement in the mix right now.
I was thinking about installing new machine
heads, and trying to avoid having to install,
remove, then install them again on the new
neck..just trying to save myself a step.
I've never owned a Tele, but I love the look
of the Vintage Tint (Butterscotch-y?) Tele
necks. Especially when they look "out of place"
(Like reversed, or on a different body, or both!)
I'll concentrate on upgrading hardware on
the lil Jr, and save my Tele neck lust for
a different build.

 

[Cederick]

Never underestimate the importance of the nut!

I had a cheap Explorer that I had put on Epiphone bridge and J&D Brothers tuners... Laughable pieces of hardware, but with a properly cut Graphtech nut it actually held it's tuning just as well as many other better guitars I've owned.

For me the nut (at least for regular vintage trem, hardtail and stoptail guitars) is the most important aspect, not the tuners or bridge.

But they add some more addinational quality to the guitar as well, of course.

 

[Darkswirl]

I had a roller nut under consideration,
even with no trem system. Not sure if it would
work - the strings exit the current, stock (garbage)
nut at an angle.  (Especially D+G, same angles, the D+G
just have a bit further to go before reaching the tuning
peg.)  I wonder if they (the strings) would stay in the
rollers? It would be great to have the strings touching
only metal. I said that I would spare no expense to
turn this lil LP Jr into a real player, I don't want
upgrades that don't work tho. Maybe I'll check Youtube
or a Gibby forum...???

 

[Cagey]

LSR nuts are wasted on radical headstocks like the Gibson "open book" design or any of the pointy offset hockey stick units like you see on the kid's guitars. You need a straight string pull for them to do any good. If the string exits the nut on an angle, fuhgeddaboudit.

 

[Darkswirl]

Cagey, Thank you.

 

[Tony Raven]

Oh, heavens -- first thing, fix the nut. Nothing fancy, even just a cheap pinkish-plastic pre-slotted nut for $3.

Years ago, I had a guy who was all set to throw a couple hundred bucks at me to upgrade his mid-1960s Fender Musicmaster. Except for the liquifying paint (spraybomb over the original nitro), it was in great shape, so I was baffled. Well, "it won't tune right!!" Uh-huh. The nut had been replaced, but had really narrow slots, & the owner put on like a .011 set to make up for the shorter scale.

RESULT: strings jammed in slots. They'd hang, & sometimes snap between nut & peg. One or two hung high, & were therefore off-pitch & a bit dubby.

I widened the slots & jammed in a little graphite (beeswax was kinda hard to find back then). Major difference. Then a fast tweak to intonation & it rocked like a champ.

And I didn't have to gut a nice little axe.

So, Darkswirl, I really do admire your initiative. Hold onto that, because (IMNSHO) fixing guitars is almost as fun as playing 'em, & there are far fewer fixers than players.

But first make it playable. Get the nut right, THEN think about tuners -- btw, have you stuffed some grease into the gears? Get the curve & intonation good, THEN shop for a bridge -- a warped or twisted neck would render the whole exercise pointless. Once it plays good, THEN swap in a new pickup to make it sound great.

Bon chance, dude.