Modifications to a 1990 Steve Morse

[James Cornford]

Hey guys just after some advice. Recently bought a 1990 Morse and I'm considering rubbing the finish off the neck to make it in line with a later one, is this considered a good idea? It's conversion varnish so I'm not sure if it's the same process for removal....

Also I'm not that in to the single coil sounds has anyone wired theirs up to get out of phase kind of sounds with the bridge humbucker split?

Thanks for any help!

 

[kestrou]

James,

It's YOUR guitar now - make it YOURS!

I'd try sanding to get the old finish off - To avoid some chemical stripper getting on the fretboard or corroding a fret wire, because no matter how well you unmask... See how that works out first.

On the wiring, you want split the coils on the bridge humbuckers and set them little of phase? I'm at NAMM and not looking, but I'll swear there's no coil tap on that's pickup... so you have to start by installing a humbucker that had one...

Kevin

 

[James Cornford]

Cheers Kevin! With the taking the finish off the neck, does it affect stability at all? This guitar is probably going through a few climates in the next year so maybe leaving the finish would be more sensible!

Any kind of out of phase to be honest, im sure a 5 way switch would open up a few possibilities! Perhaps changing the single coils to something a bit strattier would help! The bridge pickup is not original and I think splittable!

Thanks again for the reply!

 

[beej]

Hey James-

I've had a couple of old ones and my main one is a '91 where I've done just that.

Tommy (Steve's tech and forum member here) reshaped the neck on my with a furniture scraper. Took the finish off and re-profiled it slightly. Then oil + wax. It hasn't affected the stability that much, it's still very stable. But feels like a million bucks.

In terms of rewiring, there are endless possibilities with this guitar. The coil split on the bridge is definitely very handy (the original pickup is 4-conductor so you shouldn't have a problem). If you use a 5-way switch in place of the 3-way (Y2D wiring + the neck single toggle), you can use the 'add bridge' toggle for a coil split. That pickup splits very well- you get a twangy tele-ish kind of sound which adds to the versatility. (Bonus points if you can find a used Silent Circuit - you can wire it up to remove the hum.)

Another option for the split, if you don't use the tone control, is to wire it up as a 'spin a split', where you gradually short one coil of the bridge pickup until you're left with the single coil. Works well, I've done that on my Y2D.

You can certainly experiment with different single coils, however it's never going to sound quite like a strat. Beyond the construction, the position of the pickups imparts a certain sound ... I've gone through a dozen sets and never quite got there. You can make progress with the neck single, but I think the bridge single suits the guitar very well.

Do a search here for other pickup ideas. There have been tons of threads over the years.

Good luck!

 

[banjoplayer]

Tommy (Steve's tech and forum member here) reshaped the neck on my with a furniture scraper. Took the finish off and re-profiled it slightl

James Cornford, sorry for hijacking your thread. I cannot contribute in a good way (except that I´d leave a 1990 Morse as it is).

Beej, can you give us more info about the reshaping? how far does the new shape differs? pics?
I´m sure you understand a nerd-question You´ve mentioned the re-shape here and there but I never got it - why?

 

[beej]

Not too exciting of a story I'm afraid. Years ago at the SLO open house, Tommy brought his #1 Morse with him and I played it a bit. He'd taken off the finish and re-shaped the neck to be thinner than the old Morse profile. (The new neck profile introduced with the Y2D is, of course, thinner than the original profile, since Steve had worn down the neck by that point.)

Anyhow, Tommy's a great dude (as anyone who knows him will attest to), and he offered to do the same for my '91 Morse. (Which he actually owned at some point, though I'd bought it a few owners down the line from him). So I sent him the neck and it turned out great.

I never had a problem with the original neck, but the re-shaped neck is more towards the way the current profile is, and it's great. I'd take some pics, but it really doesn't look any different.

One neat thing he did was to put Birchwood-Casey conditioner on, after the oil & wax. Added some extra slickness to it.

 

[banjoplayer]

Thanks beej for explaining! - think I got it now: taking off the finish and going slightly towards a Y2D-shape (which I think is noticeable thinner... I´m happy to have 2005 Morse with the old shape - I like thicker necks like on my AL and the SUB)

regarding pics- it´s clear, that the difference is not visible, I just thought you might eventually have been there and documented it.

The open house events where such a cool thing I missed.... damn.... but you are right - Tommy is a great dude - though I met him just a few times at purple shows he was so nice to me, did really good things and a few favors to me that I didn´t expect. He once mentioned yours as we were asking about which forum members we are knowing each others

thanks for the hint about Birchwood Casey conditioner. Didn´t know this. I´m fine with their oil & wax but will read about the conditioner too