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Axis 30th Anniversary

Any Valentine mods, Here`s mine.....

I need to post some pics of mine. I just put a set of Railhammer Humcutters in my JV60. Sounds great! I’m also contemplating changing the paint color to Pelham Blue.
 
TonyEVH5150 said:
I need to post some pics of mine. I just put a set of Railhammer Humcutters in my JV60. Sounds great! I’m also contemplating changing the paint color to Pelham Blue.
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How do the Railhammers compare? I have no interest in changing my pickups, but I’m interested to hear why you prefer them.
 
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mistercharlie said:
How do the Railhammers compare? I have no interested in changing my pickups, but I’m interested to hear why you prefer them.
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I didn’t get along with the stock “tele” pickup. I wanted to bridge the gap between tele spank and humbucker growl. I took a chance in the Railhammers, and I am well pleased.

These have great response. They are very dynamic. They are very adaptive pickups. I can clean them up and get tele style tones. They respond well to volume and tone adjustments. They take gain well. Honestly, they take the Valentine design, meant to adapt to multiple styles easily, and opens it up. The guitar tech that installed them told me he was insanely jealous of me for putting those pickups in that guitar. He wants a set now.

I’d recommend the humcutters to anyone, especially if you want tele, P90 and humbuckers in one bundle.

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I have always wanted to try Railhammers. I'm wondering how the stock bridge pickup would work in the neck position?
 
I never really loved the tortoise pick guard on my trans maroon Valentine, so I had a new one made and swapped out the switch tip. The new one is cream, with a cream switch tip, and it suits me much better this way, while having a classic look to my eye.

IMG_2132_sm.jpg
 
jones4tone said:
I never really loved the tortoise pick guard on my trans maroon Valentine, so I had a new one made and swapped out the switch tip. The new one is cream, with a cream switch tip, and it suits me much better this way, while having a classic look to my eye.

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Looks awesome! Good taste.
 
TonyEVH5150 said:
I didn’t get along with the stock “tele” pickup. I wanted to bridge the gap between tele spank and humbucker growl. I took a chance in the Railhammers, and I am well pleased.

These have great response. They are very dynamic. They are very adaptive pickups. I can clean them up and get tele style tones. They respond well to volume and tone adjustments. They take gain well. Honestly, they take the Valentine design, meant to adapt to multiple styles easily, and opens it up. The guitar tech that installed them told me he was insanely jealous of me for putting those pickups in that guitar. He wants a set now.

I’d recommend the humcutters to anyone, especially if you want tele, P90 and humbuckers in one bundle.
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Excellent response, Tony.
 
Who hurt you? I’m terribly sorry the OP used a term that didn’t suit you for a change he made to his guitar.

You’ll find this is a forum that is pretty relaxed, and full of kind people who don’t spend much time disparaging what others do with their instruments. If you wish to find friends here, I’d suggest you adopt the same manner. Cheers.
 
moby4444 said:
It seems strange to me that someone would call such tiny purely cosmetic changes "mods". How long did it take you to change those out... 5 minutes? Try changing or upgrading a pickup, split a coil, re-paint a finish, or even change out your tuning machines. We might have cut you some slack on the scratch plate if you had done the fabrication and finish on it yourself. Your "mods" are akin to changing your strings, mundane, routine maintenance. However, the fact that you have not done any "serious mods" to your Sterling could also be seen by many as a testament to how good the guitar is in its original "unmodified" state. As some might say, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it!" Now I would like to add back the coil-split switch option present in the neck humbucker of the U.S. made Ernie Ball Valentine model to the Indonesian-made Sterling Valentine model. So if anyone has the schematics of that mod and a recommendation for the best substitute pickup, send them along.

I include a few pics of the truss rod cover I fashioned out of an abalone blank to replace the stock black plastic one that came with my "Firefly FF338". While aesthetically it may improve the look of the guitar, I think calling it a "mod" might be a bit of a stretch. It's more of an "embellishment" or a little added "bling".

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Some of my Sterling Valentine changes that I feel do qualify as "mods". Fret Scalloping and a faux flame maple finish to an already "roasted maple" neck. It is a "work-in-progress" and since I haven't played a "scalloped fret" instrument before, a bit of a gamble. We'll see how the finished product turns out. I only paid a few hundred for the guitar so it seemed an ideal mod platform and if I f**k it up royally, I won't be out a fortune!

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Dave
Spokane, WA :)
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Look , first of all, its just cosmetic, but its still modified, i.e. not all original. If you have an issue with that, well I guess thats just your issue, as you seem to think modding a guitar is some sort of competition.
Oh , and by the way , its not a Sterling its an EBMM.
 
When you say "we might have cut you some slack ..." I'm not sure who the 'we' is ...

Most of the folks here are pretty friendly and polite to one another. That's the 'we' I'm used to.

Anyhow, nice work on the mods, and I hope you enjoy the scalloping ... definitely takes a different technique to get used to.
 
Glad to have you onboard - sometimes things just don’t come over so well in written form. Many of us have done it. Stick around and keep sharing stuff. It’s friendly and chill here with people always quick to help out.
 
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I broke out the toolbox almost immediately. Rigged up a workspace using a large beach towel from the Republic of Panama that has long since been overcome by events. Set the Valentine upon the cushion-y towel on top of the breakfast table. Consulted YouTube and other expert websites and then set about uninstalling the standard strap knobs and replaced them with Music Man straplocks. It was intense but it looks like success.
 
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