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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Modding an archtop

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citesquestioncitesquestion Frets: 25
in Making & Modding
A few years ago I picked up a Godin 5th Avenue CW Kingpin II (dual P90). If I'm honest, mostly for the looks.

https://godinguitars.com/product/5th-avenue-cw-kingpin-ii-cognac-burst

Despite my best (low) efforts, I never became a jazz player so now just channel my inner Jack White and play it overdriven. It doesn't sound that great unamplified so I'm thinking from going down from "jazz guy recommended" 12s to my regular 10s when it comes to strings.

I recently had an itch to think about modding it a bit. 

Full-contact bridge seems to come up often but I imagine it can be a pain to fit to the curve. Maybe an adjustable saddle bridge? 

Is it worth playing around with different tailpieces? Perhaps a longer one would change the stiffness? What is the archtop bigsby like? Presumably not great without a roller bridge?

Any ideas appreciated
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Comments

  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7202
    What do you want to achieve? 
    Try 10's it'll probably sound better when plugged in. 
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  • citesquestioncitesquestion Frets: 25
    Winny_Pooh said:
    What do you want to achieve? 
    Try 10's it'll probably sound better when plugged in. 
    A rebel without a cause. I suppose a TOM bridge would be easier to intonate. A more intricate tailpiece would look cooler 
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1652
    The full contact bridge is a bit of a diy job just attach a thin strip of sand paper and sand the curve into the bottom of the bridge. Also Godin do a version with a what looks like a roller bridge jazz style  so doable.

    depending if you like Godwin’s take on p90 you could look to upgrade the pickups. Lots of p90 sized gold foils if you want a trashier sound
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  • citesquestioncitesquestion Frets: 25
    Jez6345789 said:
    The full contact bridge is a bit of a diy job just attach a thin strip of sand paper and sand the curve into the bottom of the bridge. Also Godin do a version with a what looks like a roller bridge jazz style  so doable.

    depending if you like Godwin’s take on p90 you could look to upgrade the pickups. Lots of p90 sized gold foils if you want a trashier sound
    Yup, was actually considering a goldfoil or a p90 sized Charlie Christian but maybe that's stage 2. The Godin ones are ok

    Any bridges you'd recommend checking out?
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