Newest Sub 1 Special project

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

Hi guys, how you'all doing? I have been building a Silhouette Special HSS pickguard that I picked up from a forumite quite a while back. It's a pearl white guard and backplate. I loaded it up with two Suhr V60 single coils that were owned by Michael Landau and paired them with a Suhr SSH humbucker in the bridge slot. In addition I used some American made pots and a EBMM super switch like in the Silo Specs.

Today I took down my Graphite Sub 1 with vibrato and took it all apart. What a sick man I am. Reduced my beloved Subbie to parts laying on the workbench. Thank God I didn't pay $3000 for it.

I picked up a single coil router template from Stewart Macdonald and a top loaded bearing 1/2" straight router bit from my local hardware store. today I took out my router and used the template to cut a nice looking single coil cavity into the graphite Sub 1 in the middle position. Worked out very well except for a minor chip on one side of the center channel.

Here's the result and a link to pics of the whole process. I know beej has been interested to see and hear how this one sounds. I installed a molex connector too so it is plug and play. I like it.. I haven't tested the electronics yet and the only strat switch tip I had was an aged one so.........curiously these Suhr V60 singles have the low G profile.

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

browndog · Mar 27, 2010

The knobs, p/g, pups looks superb on the Graphite. Very nice looking Sub.

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

thanks for the compliment browndog

well one glitch on the wiring dept. - all switch positions work cept for 1 - the humbucker only.

got to pull the guard and finger it out..

Jack FFR1846 · Mar 27, 2010

Nice looking pg there. I have the same color Silo Spec pg that I got from F'ing and when I figure out what's going in, I'll get it swapped out. I have to also route just like you did. Not overly looking forward to routing, but like you said....it's nice that it's not a $3000 guitar to start with.

Spudmurphy · Mar 27, 2010

Nice one JJ - hope all the electronic glitches get sorted without too much hassle?

marantz1300 · Mar 27, 2010

Great thread. I'd like a Sub to mod.

GoKart Mozart · Mar 27, 2010

The graphite looks sharp with the pearloid pickguard.

I'd like to have a Sub 1 to mod as well. Looks fun.

GoKart Mozart · Mar 27, 2010

Somewhat related...what was the MSRP on the Sub 1 guitar?

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

Well it didn't take long to figure out the problem with the humbucker. What I have determined is that when using the SC there is a yellow wire from the SC that gets connected to the nearest 1/4 section of the 5-way superswitch and is connected to four jumpered contacts on that one section of the switch. The SC yellow wire I'm assuming is connected internally to the blue wire electrically inside the SC somehow. The blue wire from the SC connects to a different 1/4 section of the 5-way superswitch, which also connects to the green wire of the humbucker. To make a long story short, when wiring up a Silo Spec guard without the SC then one must jumper the superswitch from where the yellow wire was tied from the SC to where the blue wire was tied from the SC on the switch. I added this little jumper and the hummer is working fine in position 1.

I know alot of you probably have no idea what I just said. And that's cool.

Suhr pickup wiring is color coded just like Seymour Duncan pickups. The DiMarzio pickups are different with different color coding. So one has to transpose the wiring colors of the humbuckers to work right in an EBMM circuit. EBMM Silo Spec has DiMarzios and I used Suhrs so you can see there had to be some changes made. For those that are intersted in wiring color codes of the different pckup manufacturers check this link out...

humbucker wiring color codes of different manufacturers

Now I have to string this puppy all the way up and give a report on the sound.

Cheers mates.

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

This one is going for so cheap the seller ought to be hung for Sub 1 treason.

blue one hummer subie on da bay

so someone go buy it and open another thread to talk about it... please
thanks

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

Well another problem surfaced and I'm hoping someone here can help out. I didn't check to see what guage strings were on it prior to this mod. I strung it up with regular slinkys (.10s) and now the bridge plate is way in the back. I could block it but I like the trem, it's useful for vibrato sounds, controlled modulation of the sound. Ya know. So, whats the cure? Two more trem springs? I've got the trem claw screwed in almost all the way, no more adjusting that. Do I need beefier trem springs? What's the deal with this.

Can you tell, I'm not a trem guy. LOL

Concerning the ebay auction - can you believe a person asked if it's a trem model. Do people actually look at the pictures. It's a HARDTAIL bridge for heavens sake.

jamminjim · Mar 27, 2010

I dug those old strings out of the trash - sure as **** they were .009s. So that's why the bridge plate is up like an one eyed pointer in a flock of geese.

What's the cure mates?

GWDavis28 · Mar 28, 2010

Jammin, nice job!!! Looks great!!

Glenn |B)

ef_in_fla · Mar 28, 2010

Stiffer springs oughta do it.

jamminjim · Mar 28, 2010

Here's what I did to solve trem problem

Whelp - I cannibalised two trem springs from my other graphite Sub 1 and installed them....and

Viola!!

Plays fantastic now. Just got done jammin a bit, some very hacked up Rush and some Radar Love... and my my my..... these pups are the cats meow!
Fantastic vintage strat sounds. I'm a very happy camper.

e.mate · Mar 28, 2010

So congrats then, brother

I'm planning myself to have some alternativ PGs for my SUB...will post, when it's done

jamminjim · Mar 28, 2010

here's acouple more pics of the project

I used 500K ohm pots and a vintage Russian PIO capacitor.

jamminjim · Mar 28, 2010

Thanks GW and E. mate - turns out I only had to use one extra trem spring on the trem for 10-46s

e.mate · Mar 28, 2010

jamminjim said:
Thanks GW and E. mate - turns out I only had to use one extra trem spring on the trem for 10-46s

That's what I was about to suggest....until I realized, I was too late for the party

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