Members Verne Andru Posted September 22, 2015 Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 As the title states, I'm now the owner of my first guitar with Gibson on the headstock. A Les Paul PeeWee! You folks may think I'm crazy [that's beside the point], but this thing is super-sweet. I did a fret level/dress and the neck is killer, albeit at 19" scale. Tunes to standard with a set of 12's but I'm going to tune it in 5th's, like an extended range tenor. Stock pickup is muddy, so I'm going to put an EMG-85 in it. And the machines need replacing. Otherwise, she's super-small but packs a huge sound. The guy gave me the strat-style for free saying it's a "project." It's even shorter scale at 18 1/2". I'm going to take a spokeshave to it and trim the neck from 6 to 4 string, add a pickup, controls and tune it up as a standard electric tenor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 22, 2015 Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 Good Lord, those things look like electric ukuleles. Personally, I wouldn't mess with the neck on the Strat style but it's your call. Happy New (Tiny) Guitar(s) Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted September 22, 2015 Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 Now all you need is to find someone 7 feet tall, and take a photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted September 22, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 It looks like the strat has never been played. It has a 6-inline tuner strip, so it's an older vintage. There is no truss-rod and the fretboard looks like it would benefit from a leveling, which is likely the reason it's never been played. If I'm pulling frets to level the board, might as well go all the way. It's very hard/expensive to find a short-scale electric with a 4-string tenor neck, so I'll try making my own. It was free, so what the heck. Hah! Should get the guy that did Herman Munster to play one! This is as close as I've found so far: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted September 22, 2015 Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 Good luck with the pee wee. Never found one with proper intonation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted September 22, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 Good luck with the pee wee. Never found one with proper intonation. Ya, that kinda goes with the wrap-around-stop-tailpiece territory. There are adjustables if it becomes an issue. All the hardware needs replacing - that kinda goes without saying. Mine was in need of a setup - it was as it came from the factory. I had to shim the neck [fairly thick one], adjust the truss-rod, level, crown, polish the frets then do some serious nut work. It would have been too expensive to get a tech to do it, I think they sold new as a pack with amp/strap/case/cable for $125, or something like that, so a couple hundred on a tech would be out of the question for most folks. But at $80 for the pair and a rainy weekend to tinker, it's become a very very nice player. A slamming hi-gain active pickup should take it over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted September 23, 2015 Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 It looks like the strat has never been played. It has a 6-inline tuner strip, so it's an older vintage. There is no truss-rod and the fretboard looks like it would benefit from a leveling, which is likely the reason it's never been played. If I'm pulling frets to level the board, might as well go all the way. It's very hard/expensive to find a short-scale electric with a 4-string tenor neck, so I'll try making my own. It was free, so what the heck. Hah! Should get the guy that did Herman Munster to play one! This is as close as I've found so far: Sadly, Fred Gwynne died in 93 at the ripe old age of 66 (played the Judge in My Cousin Vinny the year before). Big congrats on the cool little collectable geetars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I wonder how that Les Paul PeeWee would work if it was set up for slide / lap steel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted September 23, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 Good luck with the pee wee. Never found one with proper intonation. Thanks for bringing that up. Prompted me to look and, much to my delight, I found an adjustable pretty cheap - $15 shipped to my door. It's literally on a slow boat from China, but I'm not in a rush. http://www.amazon.ca/Badass-Style-Around-Bridge-Tailpiece/dp/B0098WW9GY/ref=sr_1_sc_1 Phil: One of the reviewers says he uses this tailpiece on his custom lapsteels so, why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted September 23, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 Sadly, Fred Gwynne died in 93 at the ripe old age of 66 (played the Judge in My Cousin Vinny the year before). Big congrats on the cool little collectable geetars. Yes, most sad - I loved watching him as a kid. Is the PeeWee collectible? The seller mumbled something about that, but I never pursued it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted September 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 24, 2015 Turns out they did a Mickey Mouse version that was only available through Disney stores. Prices are around $1,500 - $1,750! https://www.justcollecting.com/musical-instruments/mickey-mouse-gibson-epiphone-les-paul-pee-wee-guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 2, 2015 I scored an EMG-85 pickup cheap off Craigslist which found its way into the PeeWee. Have tuning machines, a 25K stacked concentric pot [for vol/tone] and new bridge on order. With PeeWee's being collectible in some circles, I've decided against making non-reversible mods such as cutting out the body for a battery. No doubt the pricing is more reflective of Mickey's attachment than the instrument itself, but you never know. Since I already have a couple guitar cables with stereo [TRS] at one end and two separate mono jacks [TS & RS] at the other, I've chosen to run the power through the guitar cable. I made an adapter allowing me to plug a normal Boss adapter or a 9V battery clip into the RS-mono-jack. Works great. Here's a shot comparing the PeeWee with a Fender 5-string emando through to Danelectro double with a 30" scale bass neck. For comparison, the big Strat is normal size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted October 3, 2015 Members Share Posted October 3, 2015 Glad it makes you happy.But there are key rings with Gibson written on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 4, 2015 Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 That sounds fair. hahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 4, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 Glad it makes you happy. But there are key rings with Gibson written on them! Sure, but try playing one LOL. The PeeWee looks very silly, but that's largely the point. With a set of 12's and that EMG, its got balls that'll make the most die-heart down-tuned metal-head blush. The 12's are moving a huge amount of metal and the pickup is positioned just right to blast it out. As I said at the top, the plan is to tune it in 5th's - something like Robert Fripp's "new standard tuning" but 5th's all the way across. You can't do that on a regular scale guitar, which is why Fripp's is CGDAEG. I'm looking to do FCGDAE or BbCGDA, which the shortness of the scale should accommodate. That's where the magic is. Why, you may ask? Why not, I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted October 4, 2015 Members Share Posted October 4, 2015 That's funny, anything connected to Mickey Mouse. Big money for the watches now. (Wonder what my Bulwinkle watch would fetch today.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 12, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2015 Most of the giblets came in for the PeeWee so I spent my weekend putting things together and got my first chance to play it yesterday. This thing absolutely rocks! Replaced the ceramic humbucker with an EMG-85, the bridge with the intoneable one and the tuning machines. Still waiting on the stacked 25K pots from EMG. Strung it up, from high to low, .008, .011, .017, .030, .046, .056 The experiment part of this was to see how close I could get it tuned in 5ths to E, A, D, G, C, F, hi to lo. After breaking multiple strings trying to get the high string to E [that's mandolin E], I settled on a step down to D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb and can capo at the 2nd fret if necessary to gain those 2 semi-tones back. With a capo at the second fret the high 4 strings are mandolin. So, believe it or not, this minuscule instrument has more range than a standard guitar! It goes a semi-tone lower [Eb] and over an octave higher, the high string putting me into mandolin "mosquito" territory. Thin string gauges like the .008, can sound very week on normal pickups, but the EMG does a great job balancing the levels of all the strings.The bridge is very high quality allowing me to dial in the intonation, although I still have to lower the nut a bit. I decided to replace the tuning machines as 2 of the stock Epi's were questionable. To help with tuning stability I went with a set of locking Vintage Style, 3 x 3, Plastic Keystone Buttons, Nickel, 15:1: I'm really impressed with these machines and highly recommend them to people wanting to upgrade a Les Paul. The bonus to all this is the combination of lighter tuning machines on the headstock and heavier pickup and bridge on the body has eliminated just about all the neck dive. The PeeWee now balances pretty good on a strap. Not perfect, but I'm no longer struggling to keep it level. I'll do pics when I get the EMG pot in there and it's all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted October 13, 2015 Members Share Posted October 13, 2015 Dang dude you're one heck of a salesman. I'm really tempted to hunt one down. Probably won't, but I'm happy to see how much fun you're having with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2015 LOL - not trying to sell anything, just off on one of my strange and unusual tangents. I got into mandolin a few years back, which got me into 5th's tunings. The neat thing about 5th's is all the chord, scale and arpeggio shapes are movable across the fretboard, so once you learn one instrument it's real easy to move to others. All you need is the ability to transpose and you can play mandolin, mandola, tenor banjo/guitar, violin, cello, etc. It's really difficult to get an instrument in 5th's beyond 5 strings because of gauges, etc. I picked up 5-string mandolin, which is really a tenor on the bottom 4 strings and mandolin on the top. My excitement about the PW has to do with it having a neck scale short enough to tune all 6 strings in 5th's, yet still be a guitar - if that makes sense. The PeeWee is now setup as a double-extended range tenor - one string higher and one lower - which lets me go from guitar to tenor to mandolin voicings without changing instruments. Now if I could just find an .008 gauge string that that would go up another semi-tone without breaking it would be "perfect." But capoing at the 2nd isn't horrible and I'm liking the voicings I'm getting tuned a step down, so it's mission accomplished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tom Mc1 Posted October 13, 2015 Members Share Posted October 13, 2015 Cool project guitar. Did I read correctly that this is your first Gibson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 14, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 Cool project guitar. Did I read correctly that this is your first Gibson? Yup! I did pick up an Epi Wildkat, which is my first from the "Gibson Family," earlier in the year but it doesn't say Gibson on the headstock. I bought it to convert to a tenor. Instead of redoing the neck as a proper 4 string short-scale, I strung it up CGDA capo'd at the 2nd fret and have been using that for my electric tenor needs. It makes an awesome tenor [hint, hint, Gibson], but was retired to it's case this morning as the PeeWee is taking its place for now. The short-scale strat [pictured in the first post] is going to be a proper 4-string electric tenor when done. I just received the spoke-shave in the mail today, which I'll be using to slim the neck down and reshape it. I'm putting a couple hot rail humbuckers in it with a 5-way super-switch, so it should rock really nicely once done, and probably bully the PeeWee for play time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tom Mc1 Posted October 15, 2015 Members Share Posted October 15, 2015 I think it kind of interesting that some of the Epi's have Gibson on the truss rod cover. My Sheridan II has the Gibson cover. I bought it new around 15 years ago so I know that it is a stock cover. Any Idea why they did that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 15, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2015 EMG stacked pots came in yesterday, so the PeeWee is now offically "pimped." In addition to what's noted above, I put on a set of Dunlop strap locks in the hopes of eliminating the last of the neck dive. I also did a "speed neck" treatment to it, which entails lightly sanding the back of the neck with course sandpaper to create a matte-like finish that I prefer over the sticky poly finish. As threatened, here's the final pics [the headstock and neck had some chips and stuff in the finish when I got it]: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 26, 2015 They're multiplying... This Zakk Wylde PeeWee followed me home the other day. Another Craigslist find for not much more than the original. This one came with most of the bits that went into the pack when originally sold. Missing is the cable and the Zakk Wylde picks. If you'll notice, it comes with a Marshall stack!! My first Marshall LOL. It's actually a pretty rocking little amp when plugged into headphones or other amps. Love the kickback legs! It's really interesting comparing the 2 PeeWees. Without a doubt, the Zakk Wylde version is superior in every way. The mahogany neck is proper 19" scale, not 19.5" like the other. It is a bit wider so the strings go over the pickup pole-pieces properly and shaped so it provides a proper tilt angle so neck shims no longer required. The ZW body is thicker and made of a solid slab of mahogany, the other is a mahogany/alder laminate. Headstock is bigger on the ZW and the tuning machines are really nice 14:1, unlike the junk on the other. And to top everything off, the inside of the electronics cover is shielded with silver foil! Gotta love it! The ZW case is nicely padded and allows for 2-strap backpack carrying, the other has no padding and only a shoulder strap. The Zakk Wylde guitar strap is as nice as any mid-to top priced straps. The one with the Epi is really flimsy. And you just have to love that Marshall stack. All controls work as they should and it belts out a righteous tone when not hampered by it's internal speakers - which are fine for what they are, just don't let the tone of the amp shine through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted October 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 26, 2015 I know you folks are riveted by all this, so here's the latest. I scored an EMG-89 off Craigslist cheap, so that's going into the ZW. It's the same as the EMG-85 I put in the other, with the addition of a Single-Coil mode. I ordered a Seymour Duncan Triple-Shot pickup ring that has 2 x DPDT switches on it, which I'll use to switch between humbucker and single-coil mode. I'll probably wire the other one as an 11-switch - that is, switch the output of the pickup directly to the output jack bypassing the volume/tone [i'm doing the EMG stacked again]. That usually gives a nice volume and treble boost when just that little bit more is needed. Since the Zakk Wylde PeeWee is shorter scale, I'm going to do it as the double-extended range tenor [EbBbFCGD] and might even be able to coax it into FCFDAE that the first one couldn't. Then I'll relocate the nut on the Epi PeeWee [after many intonation tweeks, I discovered the nut is placed too far back from the first fret] and string it up in E standard with a set of 12's. That'll give me a great set perfect for traveling, etc. To keep them safe while traveling, I picked up a 40" rifle case that will hold both PeeWee's once the foam is cut and takes up less room than a normal guitar case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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