Made my own Bonamassa Y2D

[LawDaddy]

Got tired of taking my Les Paul to gigs. So I took the set of covered/aged Dimarzio 36th PAFs out of it and direct-mounted them in the Y2D, and left off the pickguard. The single coil is a Lace Emerald.

I used 500k Bourns pots and a 0.01uF Russian PIO cap. Wired it '50s style, with the cap going to the volume wiper so there's virtually no treble loss when roling down the volume.

I left the neck pickup reversed in a tribute to Peter Green/Gary Moore. It doesn't do anything for the tone, but since they came out of my Gary Moore sig LP, I thought I'd keep it that way. Probably get some very small black screws to fill the holes.

Watchya think?

(Eat your heart out, Joe)

 

[Gio_Force_One]

Looks interesting but wouldn't the fact that the Y2D is not mahogany so no matter what the pickups still wouldnt come close to sounding like a les Paul. I mean I could be wrong but that's just was my first thought on it and les Paul's pickups aren't mounted to the body. I would like to hear some samples on it , hey it could possibly be an incredible setup.

 

[straycat113]

I like the way it looks without the clear pick guard and I bet it sounds killer. I must admit that is a bold mod, as those are two expensive guitars to make a hybrid out of. So honestly how does it sound LD?

 

[Roubster]

I don't know, but to me It looks really strange. I'm so used to the standard Y2D look that anything else looks weird. Even the clear pickguard to me is an integral part of the look. Of course its yours and. If you dig it than that's cool of course. I did see a tobacco burst Y2D one time that had a black pickguard...that actually look really cool.

 

[LawDaddy]

The neck pickup sounds fantastic, and the position with both 'buckers on sounds great with a interesting bit of chime. Those are the positions I mainly use throughout the night. Plus I love the look of the covered pups. I have a gig this weekend, so we'll see then.

With the tune-o-matic bridge and lighter weight, I would say it's closer to an SG than a LP, but a definite vintagey vibe that works better for the Stax soul band I'm running now.

I have some booteeky pickups to put in the LP. Gary won't suffer.

 

[fsmith]

Did you have to do much in the way of shims to get the pickup heights where you wanted them? I like it better without the pickguard myself. When I had mine it always looked like the pickguard was sticking to the face of the guitar. Nice mod...

fred

 

[FantasyMetal]

Wow, that's really cool! I like it!

 

[beej]

Like it! Be very cool if you can fill the holes or use small screws to make them less obvious. The covered p'ups look great in there. Not so sure about the look of the single, though.

 

[luv]

or get some chrome covers and then put the pickguard screws back into the holes to give it an industrial flavor. personally, i'm with roubster. i luv the look of the clear pickguards on the y2d.

 

[guitarp77]

I must say it looks particularly amazing w/o the pickguard...

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I like the no pickguard mod!

 

[LawDaddy]

Thanks for all your comments and observations. I had no idea the pickguard would be missed - I hate plastic on all guitars in any form.

Incidentally, I did put the pickguard screws back in (even some black ones) but my hand keeps catching them. I'll find some small finish screws this weekend. I think the holes let the funk out.

Also, I have some time blocked out this weekend to try several different sets of pickups laying around that I've gathered over the years. Because of the deeper routes, tall humbuckers will fit if you clip the ears. LawDaddy's Custom Shop has acquired many flavors of pickups over the past 20 years; I'm sure I'm not alone here. Since none of the switch positions split the coils, single conductor 'buckers work in the Y2D. Oh my. This will keep me busy.

So far one of my favorite combinations is the stock neck with a Super Distortion in the bridge. The 500k pots really opened up the stock neck pup for me. The SuperD plays real well with the neck pup. I might even like this combo better than the 36ths.

 

[FantasyMetal]

I swapped out the 250k pots for 500k EVH low friction pots and it's absolutely perfect now. However, I'm going to start messing around with my standard Morse. I only use the bridge pickup so I'm thinking of gutting it and putting in something crazy. Maybe a Frankenbucker. That would be interesting...

Also does anyone know if the stock pickups are regular or F-spaced?

 

[threeminutesboy]

Looks a bit weird to me too. But most important is the sound you get out of it

 

[joe web]

to me the Y2D without the pg looks naked - not my cup of tea.
but it´s your guitar and if you like it this way - it´s o.k.

 

[Gio_Force_One]

I have a set of gibson classic 57 and classic 57plus pickups that i wish i could try but they are gold covered and I dont think it will look good at all like that. i wish the joe bonamassa set wasnt so expensive i would definitly try that set in my Y2D

 

[Superunknown]

Interesting!

 

[fogman]

very cool!
i'd love to hear how it sounds.

 

[Phil M]

I could see doing that. I've already thought about swapping my Y2D's humbuckers out for some Wolfetone Marshallheads.

Let us know how you like it after you play it out.

 

[Colin]

Man I love that! I'd love to hear it too, any chance of that?