Would it be a crime to install Fralin flat mount P-90s in my 1963 Silvertone 1420 (Harmony Stratotone)? I'm not happy with the current pickups though the guitar is all original and I kind of hate to mess with it.
This guitar is a small, thin hollow body. I don't know what the original pickups are. They're small, rectangular, chrome plated and are surface mounted.
The guitar is exactly like this one-
It would be criminal not to. Hell, it's a cheapish industrial product not a nun from Tibet you want to .. eh..
Just to put some perspective on it :)
It will detract from resale value - maybe - but not using will lose all of it's value :)
You can always put the originals back in when you like... I am assuming no wood alterations required. So why not... If it doesn't sound good with the Fralin pickups in my opinion it never will...
If it wouldn't require any routing or drilling...go for it! Why shouldn't you?
If it would require routing or drilling...well...it's your guitar. If you bought it to play and not as an investment or a display piece...go for it!
"I haven't slept for ten days...because that would be too long." -- Mitch Hedberg
JJ Cale would do it.......
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i kind of think it would be a crime. maybe see if pete biltoft from vintage vibe could make something for you?
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
I modify everything. If you gave me a cherry Model A Ford Roadster, I'd rip it apart and modify the hell out of it.
With guitars and sportscars I'm a lot more conservative. I modify them, sometimes a lot, but always keeping the original design intent in mind.
That would not be the case if I put P-90s in this guitar!
There's quite a few WC blues guys who have gone nuts over those pickups the last few years...I did my Silvertone/Harmony thing back in the 80's so I'm immune, but you may get a hefty chunk of change for that guitar in stock form.
I recently read that it's not the pickups, but the pots that make these guitars sound way to mellow! I think I read that they're 50k ohms!
time to pull out the meter and measure them. definitely some 250k's or 500k's would do the trick if the OG pots really are 50k.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
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