Dig it! Zappa SG project on the cheap

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce
Soooo I've gone through a lot of SGs, they never wind up sticking around but then I go on a Zappa kick and I want one again. Gibson released a signature version of the "Roxy SG" about ten years ago but it was limited to 500 pieces. Here's the only one that's currently for sale (that I can find, anyways):

https://reverb.com/item/64283193-gibson-frank-zappa-roxy-sg-2013-cherry

So that's pretty much out of the question. And given the shall we say transitory nature of the SGs I've had in the past, I've stopped myself from pulling the trigger on a few Gibson '61 reissues with the Vibrola.

But the other night I was scrolling through Reverb (as one does) and found this older MIK Epiphone with factory Vibrola:

hjufhsqkiml7149j45am.jpg


$400 and it's on its way. I have a set of Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Specials with black uncovered bobbins and four-conductor wire. I'm not really set up to route anything to add the two mini-toggles like the Zappa SG has, so I'm going to use push-pull pots instead. Like Zappa's mini-switches, one will split both pickups from humbuckers to single coils and the other one will put the pickups out of phase.

It's not perfect - the real ones had dot inlays and binding (and of course weren't Epiphones). But this will at least get the vibe. I haven't been able to find an exact wiring diagram anywhere but I think I can figure it out by combining a few other diagrams.

Wish me luck...!!
 
The one time I tried to put push-pulls into a guitar, the cavity was too shallow. Hopefully you don't wind up needing to route after all.
 
Chicken Man said:
The one time I tried to put push-pulls into a guitar, the cavity was too shallow. Hopefully you don't wind up needing to route after all.
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought about that. Hopefully they fit, but if not I will just put normal ones in there and then try to squeeze in a couple mini switches.

Or find someone I know that has a router
 
I almost pulled the trigger on a few of those Epis with a vibrola.

my SG arrived today though and I think my SG gas is completely satisfied.
 
So here is a still from a video where Trogly takes one of these apart:

upload_2023-2-2_18-25-35.png


Under the pickguard on mine, we have:

upload_2023-2-2_18-26-38.png


So in addition to routing the cavity we'll need to drill holes to get to the pickup and control cavities.

I traced the pickguard to make sure no cavities would exceed its boundaries, then came up with this:

upload_2023-2-2_18-27-50.png


I'm not doing the routing, a friend of a friend will handle it, but hopefully he can work with this. I made the cavity a little bigger (I think) than on the real thing so I have more room to work, but it will still all fit under the guard.

I also drilled the holes in the guard for the mini switches, and got them (reasonably) aligned:

upload_2023-2-2_18-29-16.png


The next step is the routing so that's all on this one for now...
 
One last step actually - my friend told me that the face of the guitar needs to be as flush as possible. Not much I can do about the fingerboard since it's a set neck, but I took the tailpiece and the bridge studs out.

upload_2023-2-2_19-30-28.png
 
Cool project. If you don’t want to go under the pickguard, couldn’t you add the toggles in the control cavity area? I realize that won’t match Zappa’s SG aesthetically, but it would remove a much smaller amount of wood from the body.
 
Well this guitar may be a casualty of the fire. It wasn’t with the others and I didn’t see it which means it could be in that standing water or otherwise ruined. When I can get back in I guess I will see if it’s salvagable.
 
smurfco said:
Well this guitar may be a casualty of the fire. It wasn’t with the others and I didn’t see it which means it could be in that standing water or otherwise ruined. When I can get back in I guess I will see if it’s salvagable.
Click to expand...
Shit.
I hope it works out.
 
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