Guitar Upgrade...Part I

I like guitars. A lot. I own six electric guitars (not to mention a couple of acoustics and a couple of basses), so I certainly have enough to be getting on with.

But there was one guitar that I thought could do with a bit of TLC and a few upgrades here and there.

My PRS SE EG is one hell of a guitar for the price…but there’s the rub, it is a cheap guitar and whilst the build quality is way beyond what one has any right to expect from a £300 guitar, the weedy, thin sound and the tacky finish were letting the side down.

So, I decided it needed new pickups (the bits that convert the movement of the strings into sound, in a nutshell).

And a new paint job. Eek. I am not experienced in either of these areas, so this could get messy….She started out looking like this…

The first step was to remove all of the moving parts and electrics, and start stripping the finish.

I didn’t want to risk using dangerous chemicals with my total lack of knowledge in that area, nor did I want to use a heat torch and end up cremating the poor girl, so it was down to a lot of sandpaper and even more elbow grease.

Took a long time just to get the back of the neck and headstock back to bare wood. Then it was onto the back of the body..:

 

Eventually, she looked like this..

 

As you may notice, I had to fill a couple of holes by the bridge, where I'd made a misguided and botched attempt to install a different style of bridge...oops.

Still, sanded down it was time to mask off the cavities, the fretboard and the face of the headstock (I wanted this to remain black) ready for the first coat of primer... 

Look out for Part II to see how I get on with the spraying....Wish me luck!