Mother's Milk with base plates, or Irish Tour in 20 year old G&L

[Deafcat64]

I'm trying to decide between Mother's Milk with base plates, and Irish Tours for my 1992 limited edition G&L S-500. The original pickups are good, and are slightly better with age, but they aren't the sound I want to hear from this guitar. I've been a guitarist for a long time, and I'm not interested in  sounding like anyone else in particular. I was listening to the sound clips, and I have to say, that is tone of the Mother's Milk is by far the most outstanding, vintage strat tone I've heard in years! I really like that sound, but I'm wondering if Irish Tours may be a better option because of my G&L's swamp ash body.

My gear consists of, my S-500 strat. It has a swamp ash body,a maple neck, with a maple fingerboard. The guitar is, 20 years old , and has mellowed, and become pretty resonant. It also has a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish which helps with the resonance and doesn't dampen or muddy the sound like thicker poly finishes can. It's wired with a traditional 5 way strat switch, but it's set up with one volume, bass and treble controls. it also has a mini switch to turn the neck pickup on in any position. I plug straight into a hand wired Dumble ODS style amp. If you're not familiar with the ODS, it's a modified Fender AB763 circuit. It has an amazing, full, rich sound, like a cranked Fender Twin, even at low volume.

My question is should I go with Mother's Milk, with base plates, or Irish Tour and adjust them a little farther from the strings?

[38thBeatle]

I am going to make another suggestion here: what about Apaches. They are traditionally the set associated with Maple neck/fretboards( Mothers Milks are associated with rosewood 'boards). Not a hard and fast rule mind you.  I can't answer about bass plates though there is, I recall, a video on Youtube where BKP with and without bassplates are compared though I can't recall the model pickup.
I would say that Apaches will give you warm vintage Strat tone. Perhaps others can offer their opinions too.

[Telerocker]

The Mother's Milk could a on the bright side in a swampash strat with maple neck. IT's would perform better in it, I think. Just roll the volumeknob a bit down and you are in MM-terrority. However, IT's are hotter, smokier and grittier and perhaps better suited for styles like Texas blues. As 38-Beatle I also would like you to consider the Apaches. They handle (a bit of) gain very well too. They sound rounder and thicker, but with nice belllike tone.

[FuZZBoY]

I'm trying to decide between Mother's Milk with base plates, and Irish Tours for my 1992 limited edition G&L S-500. The original pickups are good, and are slightly better with age, but they aren't the sound I want to hear from this guitar. I've been a guitarist for a long time, and I'm not interested in  sounding like anyone else in particular. I was listening to the sound clips, and I have to say, that is tone of the Mother's Milk is by far the most outstanding, vintage strat tone I've heard in years! I really like that sound, but I'm wondering if Irish Tours may be a better option because of my G&L's swamp ash body.

My gear consists of, my S-500 strat. It has a swamp ash body,a maple neck, with a maple fingerboard. The guitar is, 20 years old , and has mellowed, and become pretty resonant. It also has a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish which helps with the resonance and doesn't dampen or muddy the sound like thicker poly finishes can. It's wired with a traditional 5 way strat switch, but it's set up with one volume, bass and treble controls. it also has a mini switch to turn the neck pickup on in any position. I plug straight into a hand wired Dumble ODS style amp. If you're not familiar with the ODS, it's a modified Fender AB763 circuit. It has an amazing, full, rich sound, like a cranked Fender Twin, even at low volume.

My question is should I go with Mother's Milk, with base plates, or Irish Tour and adjust them a little farther from the strings?

Hi Deafcat,

did you ask Tim about the kind of pickups you want?
I did and he advised me the Flat 50's, and as you know I love them!!!
(I asked for a hot blues/punk rock sound and I got it!!!  8) )

[Telerocker]

I'm trying to decide between Mother's Milk with base plates, and Irish Tours for my 1992 limited edition G&L S-500. The original pickups are good, and are slightly better with age, but they aren't the sound I want to hear from this guitar. I've been a guitarist for a long time, and I'm not interested in  sounding like anyone else in particular. I was listening to the sound clips, and I have to say, that is tone of the Mother's Milk is by far the most outstanding, vintage strat tone I've heard in years! I really like that sound, but I'm wondering if Irish Tours may be a better option because of my G&L's swamp ash body.

My gear consists of, my S-500 strat. It has a swamp ash body,a maple neck, with a maple fingerboard. The guitar is, 20 years old , and has mellowed, and become pretty resonant. It also has a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish which helps with the resonance and doesn't dampen or muddy the sound like thicker poly finishes can. It's wired with a traditional 5 way strat switch, but it's set up with one volume, bass and treble controls. it also has a mini switch to turn the neck pickup on in any position. I plug straight into a hand wired Dumble ODS style amp. If you're not familiar with the ODS, it's a modified Fender AB763 circuit. It has an amazing, full, rich sound, like a cranked Fender Twin, even at low volume.

My question is should I go with Mother's Milk, with base plates, or Irish Tour and adjust them a little farther from the strings?

Hi Deafcat,

did you ask Tim about the kind of pickups you want?
I did and he advised me the Flat 50's, and as you know I love them!!!
(I asked for a hot blues/punk rock sound and I got it!!!  8) )

You can always ask the BKP-team for a recommendation. We're talking a swampash body/maple neck strat here. I would say Apaches all the way to keep things balanced.

[Deafcat64]

Thanks for the input gentlemen! I actually did email the BKP team! I got a reply from Tim this morning. His reply was "I think the Mother's Milk would work really well - personally I would only go with baseplates on the bridge and leave the middle and neck as standard."

Choosing pickups for this one, you have to keep in mind that it's over 20 years old, and has mellowed and become more resonant. It's actually a good bit deeper than you would imagine swamp ash and maple to be. Acoustically, this thing is louder and just as deep as my SG unplugged. My 2004 USA Strat when it's unplugged, isn't as loud, and is very thin and trebly. The G&L S-500 also has separate bass and treble controls. The tone is a bit more manageable.

[FuZZBoY]

Allright, let us know how it turns out!
(you give me strat/legacy GAS!!!)

[Deafcat64]

Yeah, G&L is the best value in the used market. It's Leo's designs, and about the ASAT, Legacy & S-500, he said "these are the best guitars I've ever made." the only difference in the Legacy and S-500 is the electronics. The S-500 has MFD pickups, volume, bass and treble controls and a mini switch, that turns the neck pickup on in any position on the 5 way. Mine is a limited edition (#6 of 25), so it's got a lot more hand done work than standard models. It also has a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish that I did couple years ago. The resale value of G&Ls isn't that great so I wasn't worried about the refinishing hurting the value. The resale value of G&Ls makes them fantastic, affordable alternatives to over priced Fender guitars. The fact that G&ls play just as well (better in most cases) and are simply better in design and functionality makes used ones one of the best buys on the market. I haven't found a Fender strat yet that comes close to my S-500.

[Deafcat64]

Here are some pics of the guitar. This was just after I refinished it. I used Behlen nitrocellulous lacquer, and Colortone pigments. there were a total of 12 coats over the entire guitar not including the coats for the burst. After all the wet sanding and polishing, the finish is quite thin.

[38thBeatle]

Looks  great to me.

[Telerocker]

sweet guitar!

[Deafcat64]

Thanks guys! It had been about 2 years since I had done a sunburst. It really turned out beautifully. I wanted it to look like a 20 year old finish that had gotten thinner with age. I'm afraid I can't make it check any more quickly though. It did make it a great deal more resonant, and it brought out the bass and mids. It really allows the guitar breathe, and it seems to have more clarity and detail. Much more depth overall.

[Deafcat64]

Thought I would let everyone know that I'm getting ready to post a review of the Abraxas bridge, and Mississippi Queen neck that i installed in my SG Standard. I thought i would add a little background of myself so it doesn't seem like I'm some shmuck who has no idea what he's talking about.

[HTH AMPS]

Thought I would let everyone know that I'm getting ready to post a review of the Abraxas bridge, and Mississippi Queen neck that i installed in my SG Standard. I thought i would add a little background of myself so it doesn't seem like I'm some shmuck who has no idea what he's talking about.

Nice choice on the Abraxas and MQ - two of my favourites.