BoogieBill on February 09, 2010 at 05:00:47:
	F-100 pickup options posted by beedubyuh on February 08, 2010 at 17:30:26:

: The job was poorly done, the body routes are sloppy, the screws are loose (meaning I can almost pull the pickups right out of the body, can't seem to be tightened), the pole pieces of the bridge pickup do not line-up right with the strings.

A standard humbucker in the neck should line up pretty well. Several G&Ls over the years have used the Duncan '59 neck pickup; the ASAT Bluesboy is designed with a Duncan Seth Lover.

In the bridge, you'll probably want a Trembucker (Duncan) or F-Spaced (DiMarzio) size pickup to fit the wider string spacing of most Fender style guitars. My ASAT Deluxe uses the Trembucker version of their popular JB pickup, the TB-4. G&L has a been making their own PAFs for a couple of years. I'm not sure if you could get the MFD buckers that are used on the new F-100. You still have a lot of options.

: It doesn't sound too bad. I only paid $400 for it. Otherwise the guitar is solid.

: I've been thinking of taking this to a shop (I live in Chicago) and having them clean-up the previous work.

: I've also been wondering what it would take to get hold of some F-100 pickups and restore it to factory specs or even putting some other G&L pickups, like the ASAT Special MFDs in there, of course that would make a lot of the controls useless, right?

: Any thoughts, experiences y'all have out there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

You might want to send an e-mail to forum guru GPD. Gabe has done some incredible mods and restorations of F-100s and other G&Ls. He's been really busy and hasn't posted much lately due to his work schedule. I've never met the man, but I trust him implicitly, and would send a guitar to him without reservation, as he knows his G&L stuff. One of his mods is a sensible conversion of the F-100s PTB tone controls to V-V-T-T ala the G-200, using stacked pots.

There's no reason at all though, that you can't wire up the PTB and the phase reverse switch with any pickup you choose. The factory wiring would probably work very well with the large MFD pickups.

Another forum member to contact would be Mac, aka Burnt999. He's been known to torch a few guitars in the name of art, with impressive results. He might have some outside-the-box ideas on what to do with your F-100.

I really hate to see these guitars hacked up. People ought to have to have a license to own a router or a Dremel tool! You can do some restoration work to bring it back to spec; just don't expect to get it appraised on "Antiques Roadshow" for a bajillion bucks anytime soon.

It's now a "player grade" guitar. If it still puts a smile on your face, by all means: take it out and play with it. If not, pass it along to someone who will love it more than you do and focus your GAS in another direction.

Best of luck,

Bill

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: : I have an 80-81 F-100 Series II with a mahogany body and maple neck. It is pretty beat up, lots of "mojo". The previous owner replaced the stock pickups with a DiMarzio Super 2 at the neck and a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge. Both pickups seem to be hooked up to all of the F-100's controls, though I'm not sure the phase switch works. : <b> : Do you have one with the active electronics or with just the passive controls? : </b> : : The job was poorly done, the body routes are sloppy, the screws are loose (meaning I can almost pull the pickups right out of the body, can't seem to be tightened), the pole pieces of the bridge pickup do not line-up right with the strings. : <b> : A standard humbucker in the neck should line up pretty well. Several G&Ls over the years have used the Duncan '59 neck pickup; the ASAT Bluesboy is designed with a Duncan Seth Lover. : In the bridge, you'll probably want a Trembucker (Duncan) or F-Spaced (DiMarzio) size pickup to fit the wider string spacing of most Fender style guitars. My ASAT Deluxe uses the Trembucker version of their popular JB pickup, the TB-4. G&L has a been making their own PAFs for a couple of years. I'm not sure if you could get the MFD buckers that are used on the new F-100. You still have a lot of options. : </b> : : : It doesn't sound too bad. I only paid $400 for it. Otherwise the guitar is solid. : : I've been thinking of taking this to a shop (I live in Chicago) and having them clean-up the previous work. : : I've also been wondering what it would take to get hold of some F-100 pickups and restore it to factory specs or even putting some other G&L pickups, like the ASAT Special MFDs in there, of course that would make a lot of the controls useless, right? : : Any thoughts, experiences y'all have out there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! : <b> : You might want to send an e-mail to forum guru GPD. Gabe has done some incredible mods and restorations of F-100s and other G&Ls. He's been really busy and hasn't posted much lately due to his work schedule. I've never met the man, but I trust him implicitly, and would send a guitar to him without reservation, as he knows his G&L stuff. One of his mods is a sensible conversion of the F-100s PTB tone controls to V-V-T-T ala the G-200, using stacked pots. : There's no reason at all though, that you can't wire up the PTB and the phase reverse switch with any pickup you choose. The factory wiring would probably work very well with the large MFD pickups. : Another forum member to contact would be Mac, aka Burnt999. He's been known to torch a few guitars in the name of art, with impressive results. He might have some outside-the-box ideas on what to do with your F-100. : I really hate to see these guitars hacked up. People ought to have to have a license to own a router or a Dremel tool! You can do some restoration work to bring it back to spec; just don't expect to get it appraised on "Antiques Roadshow" for a bajillion bucks anytime soon. : It's now a "player grade" guitar. If it still puts a smile on your face, by all means: take it out and play with it. If not, pass it along to someone who will love it more than you do and focus your GAS in another direction. : Best of luck, : Bill : </b>

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