Tryggvi

My Mustang is a Vintera model. The short scale and 7.25 neck radius are great for the fast and noisy punk rock music that I use this guitar for. Out of the box, the pickups were woefully underpowered considering my intended use. I couldn't even get them to overdrive my cranked Vox AC amp to a satisfactory level (anyone who knows their Voxes knows that overdrive should not be a challenge). The original PUs were replaced with a set of the Creamery's Sonic 60s Mids. A match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned. The Mustang's vibrato is often a point of contention on these guitars. I use the vibrato a lot and actually like the Mustang's vibrato. However, it is very limiting as regards the set up. You can get the vibrato to a point where it does what it needs to do (including subtle vibrato and dive bombs) and stays in tune. But, this requires setting it up so that it works which is not necessarily the optimal setting for the player. I replaced the original vibrato with a Goldo Les Trem II. This required some irreversible modifications to the body but the outcome is phenomenal. Having long ago realised that no off-the-shelf guitar is ever going to meet all my needs, I bought the Mustang with the intention of modifying it. As such, it is an excellent guitar. It's relatively cheap but very well made. I've made extensive modifications, only a couple of which I've mentioned here. This is now my primary guitar for my punk band and the only one that I gig with (have never needed a backup). I give this 4 stars because it was of very limited use for me out-of-the-box, but I expected that and it's proven a perfect modding platform for me.

My SG is an early 70s model that originally had the Gibson branded Bigsby and "fretless wonder" ultra low frets. It was already about 25 yrs old when I got it and probably hadn't had a lot of maintenance, if any. But, it was still very playable and all original. I've had it for more than 25 years now. I recently (last few years) made it my primary guitar with a band that plays punk tinged bluesy rock/rockabilly. Since then I've made a few modifications that have made this guitar invaluable for me. My first mod was to replace the original humbuckers with SD Phat Cat P90s. Love the growl of these PUs and it's perfect for my style and the type of music my band plays. Also, I do a bit of fuzz stuff and I always prefer fuzz through single coils rather than humbuckers. Second, I had the frets replaced. It doesn't take much wear for the "fretless wonder" frets to become problematic. Neverteless, I liked the ultra low frets. I tried to get my Luthier to do something like them but he refused. So, it has more modern frets now and they're great, even though there are some fancy tricks that I can't do anymore. The Bigsby was always a bit of a hassle. I use the vibrato, and use it quite a bit. The one that came on these guitars wasn't very good. It had plastic bushings that made it so that it would easily go out of tune. So, I recently replaced the Bigsby with a Goldo Diamond Short. This required some irreversible modifications to the body (new mounting holes), but that would have been the case with any vibrato other than the cheapo Bigsby B50 that came with it. The outcome is phenomenal. I can practically swing the guitar around on the whammy bar and it stays in tune every time. This is a great guitar. My main reasons for modifying it are not because of the guitar per se, but rather my changing needs. As such, it's proven a worthy tool for over 2 decades and I expect to use it for at least a few more.

I will hardly ever use anything other than a Vox AC. Recently switched from a 2x12 AC30 to the 1x12 AC15 because I'm getting too old to lug the beast that is the AC30 around. Very happy with the AC15.

This is pretty much always on on my pedalboard (noisy punk band). Switch between voices every now and then but mostly stay on the Cheese.

Very flexible fuzz with a lot of tweakability. I use it primarily for the gated fuzz. Could use a bit more volume, though.

My go to for upper octave fuzz and interesting noises. The mid boost setting that JHS added is a plus for me.

I put these in my Vintera Mustang. Got the "mids" variety. They are exactly what I had hoped they would be. Perfect sound whatever the setting. And they look awesome in the well-chromed Mustang.

Replaced the original vibrato on my Mustang Vintera with this. Required some irreversible (but cunningly made invisible) mods. Outcome is a vibrato that always works and that I can set up to meet my very specific needs.

Replaced the original Gibson branded Bigsby B50 on my early 70s SG with this. Required drilling of new mounting holes but the outcome is excellent. Finally a whammy that I can do whatever I want with that stays in tune every time. And it looks just as cool as the Bigsby, too. My only issue is the Duesenberg logo. I would have opted for the unbranded Goldo version, but it's a different shape and would have required more drilling. I may at some point try to remove the logo and replace it with a custom one.