lonnie_perry

I bought this guitar in 2002 from CCity Music in San Diego CA. It is a 2001 model, serial # 0 10XX. I made the mistake of putting in a Lindy Fralin 10% overwound pickup almost immediately after I got the guitar. Since I rarely used both PU's at the same time, I was unaware that they were "out of phase". I have had this guitar through thick and thin and almost lost it to a pawn shop once.Over the years I have replaced almost everything except the original P90 PU's. To my surprise, when I removed the original "white button" tuners, there was a sticker on the inside which said "made in japan"! I was under the impression this guitar was to be an exact replica of a 1960 Special. I now believe that Gibson takes shortcuts whenever they can get away with it. I don't remember the first set of upgraded tuners I had but the current set is really great. I buy most my parts from WD Music in Florida. The current tuners are Kluson Deluxe Locking in a black finish with those greenish tulip keys. I removed the cheap stock wrap around bridge and put on a Tonepros adjustable saddle stop tailpiece also in black. I just recently bought a Deluxe wiring harness from The Toneman.The original pots and caps were pretty much junk. The new harness has Bournes pots and real "paper in oil" capacitors. All the switching and jacks are Switchcraft. I removed the Fralin PU and installed the original Gibson P90. I tried on for size a tortoise shell pickguard but opted to stick with the black one. This guitar has a sound all it's own. One thing I will say is that this guitar sounds, plays, and feels NOTHING like the original 1958 Special I once owned. If you have the money and can afford to do so, find a good deal on Reverb.com for an original 1958 Special. I paid $1900 plus $100 overnite shipping. I've seen "real ones" for around $8K. In the long run, the average layman listening to both guitars would NEVER be able to pick out the original. This is just my opinion and it also depends on your style and the music you play. I, myself prefer a nice loud overdriven amp with a lot of sustain. You be the judge.