I added a Vega Trem to my Fusion III as it was a drop in that required no routing. It still gives extensive up bending and bombing without the faff one faces installing a Floyd. That said, I do occasionally swap the stock Wilkinson unit back in if I have a period of only wanting the trem to work downwards. I've used that Wilkinson model in about a dozen mod projects and they're solid, stable units. The Vega Trem is, of course on another level. I left the stock locking tuners in place as they are actually really good. Smooth, good ratio and nothing slips. I removed one string tree altogether as the staggered tuner posts make it unnecessary and replaced the other with a Graph Tech one. I've put a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge slot, a hot rails in the neck and kept the stock, Tesla middle pickup. I replaced all the electrics and rewired for master volume and no tone knob. Killer guitar.
Perfect mods! I agree with you about the tuners. They don't need replacing. Also, I agree completely about keeping the middle pickup. The wind is great and the oversized polepieces help too. Been thinking about putting either a Vega or a Sophia trem in another one of these, so your experience is great to hear about. Thanks!!!
@@TomboLP Be aware that neither of the sizes of adapter insert that come with the Vega Trem actually fit the Fusion pivot stud bushings. They're a tad too small. I put some slim slivers of hardwood into mine and then screwed the machine screws in so they cut their own thread into the wood "padding". Obviously the wood is too soft to damage the threads so they're fine whenever I want to pop the Wilkinson pivot studs back in. The Vega Trem machine screws hold rock solid with this solution. Jonathan from the 'Jon is just TOO LouD!!' channel doesn't even use the wood padding on his Fusion but he still gets the Vega Trem to hold securely. I've searched high and low for the correct adapter inserts but I can't find any, and don't have the patience to try to make my own - yet.
I just bought one of these as new for $400 shipped. It arrived in perfect condition, if a lil dusty. Hard to tell it had been handled. Impressed with your game plan...esp. the routing😮😃and I'm going for almost the exact same end result.... a sub $600+- facsimile of a Suhr Modern or similar high end boutique strat. type geetar. I did pretty much the exact same thing out of the box, new knobs, basic setup check, adjustment. It played remarkably well. In my 30+ guitars, none have: Direct Mount p'ups, Stainless frets, Roasted Maple neck, Maple fretboard, 2 Pt. Trem, Staggered/locking tuners, sculpted heel, exposed edge "binding"... All but 1 maybe 2 are extensively upgraded...Soo.. After a week, I pulled the pups, properly shield painted the cavities, (My only gripe on the build of this guitar...the shielding paint was applied as if purely an after-thought..) installed zebra Planet Tone humbuckers: Full Throttle (Br) & Blues Heritage (Nk)... kept the OE Roswell single as well,😉+: the switch, pots, caps, trees, nut, trem, and tuners + the coil split wiring, I oiled the fret board a cpl times, then put a PureTone output jack into it and that's it for now. So far... I freekin' ❤️ this thing! I have
Wow! Almost exactly the same process, and it sounds like the results are pretty much the same too. I agree with you completely about the shielding paint. Those Planet Tones look like a great choice as well. The extra routing and addition of a Tremol-no do make a nice difference too. If you were in Japan, I'd happily do the first for you free of charge, as I have all the templates ready to go. If you install a new bridge, you will probably have to modify the cavity a little. I did on both of mine. The tuners aren't worth changing, IMHO, as the ones on there are already great.
I had a PRS HSH in the 90s. Ended up using the single coil like 90% of the time because of the music we were doing. And that's when I switched to a Peavey Floyd Rose Super Strat.
I like this middle pickup a lot - especially with the baseplate - but am most likely to use the neck, as I play a lot of jazz and clean. It's good to have options!
I’ve been thinking of buying one of these and modding it in exact same way you have in this video. I was concerned about the stud spacing for the bridge conversion from Wilkinson to the Gotoh so this video was very helpful, thank you.
Me too! I tend to alternate between paint and tape, depending on whether it is a visible or closed cavity (and also what I have to hand at the time). My preference is paint in pickup cavities and tape in the control cavity. However, this guitar already had a well-shielded control cavity, so nothing more was needed.
Great vid Barnaby! I got a Squier Supersonic that has two humbuckers with a switch and two volume knobs, no tone knob. The bridge Volume knob is closest to the player's hand, and the neck is lower closest to the output jack. It feels a bit like you've picked up someone else's guitar! What do you put on your dremel when you're polishing frets? I feel I'm cheating not taping up the board and doing Ted Woodford's "polishing, polishing", but the Dremel and protector is so much quicker! ;-)
Hello and thanks for that video... I recently bought the same guitar with Hss config.... it came with a terrible setup with the neck back bowed. I did corrected it but it seems I can't get a low action... would you recommend to check if there is a sim on the neck and remove it? The nut on the neck is also way to high action from the first fret. Have you messed with it?
Hey! Yes, I think I lowered the action at the nut a little. In your case, it might be a shim or something causing issues, but probably only if you bought a B stock. I'd be tempted to return it for an exchange if it's hard to set up correctly. I assume you've tried adjusting the bridge height too? Also that you've checked that your neck is not dead flat under string tension, but has a small amount of relief? Good luck!
Hey! Yes they do. The 510 threaded inserts for the bushings don't fit the ones in the Harley Benton, but the holes themselves are fine and spaced correctly. Simply follow the technique I show to get the old bushings out. You may need to deepen the holes a little. Check before hammering the new 510 ones in, as they have solid bases, and the trick I show for removing bushings that are open at the base won't work. You'll also probably need to widen the rout for the bridge by a couple of mm. You can do this with files if you're careful. Finally, be aware of the length of the block, as a longer one might not fit with the rear cover on. I went for 37mm.
Interesting question! As far as I can tell, the Wilkinson has the same range of motion as any basic 2-point trem (including Fender), in that the way in which it is installed in the guitar affects how much it can move. What I do here is rout out around the trem to allow it the ability to "float." I do this with the Gotoh, but, had I done it with the Wilkinson, it would have had the same effect. Really, although it was fun to do, upgrading the already excellent bridge was a fairly unnecessary mod.
If I get a Fusion-III HSS or lucky enough to snag a used mint 25th Anniversary HSS, I would probably be leary to modify the body especially the 25th model. I don’t know why they don’t just have a Strat trem route for more compatibility. But even with my Fender Strat that I fully modded, I really don’t use the whammy bar much except for vibrato effects nothing crazy. So I’m torn between getting a Fusion-III HSS or the fixed bridge reverse headstock Fusion-III EMG HT Roasted SBK which is also a beauty.
@@SteveMavronis Well, modding for a 2-point Strat bridge (assuming the same post spacing, as there are different ones) is simply a case of widening the slot slightly. This could be done carefully with a file if you're confident in your skills. Otherwise, it's a quick job for any luthier. That being said, the Wilkinson bridge is excellent. The SBK is also a stunner, yes. I've seen a few of the Fusion III models and never come across one that wasn't a really good instrument right from stock. Many could use a setup, oiling the board, and a fret polish, but that's about it. They're great guitars. In fact, I think they're the probably best value budget instruments out there right now. You couldn't go wrong with either choice - I wish you tremendous happiness with your new guitar!!!
