The Electra Forums

I figured it was getting to be past time I posted her, so here she is.






and I think I might be safe from her "you did NOT just take a picture of me!" rage with this one (the girl, not the guitar )


The pickups are Seymour Duncan Antiquities, and the previous owner rewired it to standard les paul with new pots (to be discussed later). Other than that, the axe is original. I am happy with the pickups, but I don't know that I would consider them a necessary "upgrade". In the one stock x420 I have played, the pickups were kicking. Probably the quietest (as in erroneous noise), cleanest set of stock pickups I have heard on a "copy" axe, with just as much guts as any Gibson 335 has. However, I don't want to sell the Seymour Duncan's short. I have read mixed reviews on them (supposedly they are hit or miss) but they really can rock. The neck pickup is noticeably hotter than the bridge, and I often find myself playing in what I have come to think of as the "hot" position

As to the wiring, I am interested in some input. The stock x420 I have put alot of playing time into is a VS, and it had push/pull pots. Another 420 I had played (not a VS) that was not stock did not have push/pull pots. At first I simply took this to mean they had been removed but I never thought to ask. My question is, did x420's come stock with the humbucker splitting effect?

The previous owner of my guitar did not seem to be aware that it ever had push/pull pots, or even be familiar them. In fact, he seemed suprised if not befuddled when I inquired as to the location of the original wiring, hinting that it might be more valuable to me if included. This isn't really a huge issue to me, except for a story from the owner of the x420VS.

He bought his VS directly from an Electra sales rep who happened to arrive at a music shop he was in. To provide some background on him, Mike had been a professional musician (it's the only job he's ever had) since the age of 14, and has owned somewhere between 100-200 guitars including every name brand in the book. Earlier that week, his main axe was in a bad car accident and its case was crushed with it inside, rendering it useless for his purposes. He had set out to buy a new 335, and was actually planning on buying a Gibson that very day at that store in Detroit (my memory is a bit fuzzy here, it could have been Grand Rapids. I'll have to ask him.) Coincidentally, a sales rep who was friends with the owner of the shop showed up while he was playing a 335, and when he saw what was going on, he brought a x420VS in from his car for Mike to play. He distinctly remembers the sales rep presenting the guitar to him as a prototype and asking him what he thought. Mike played it and another gibson for what remembers as hours before determining the Electra was head-and-shoulders better. He found it comparable to the Gibson in fit and finish, but said no matter what adjustment he made to the gibson he couldn't get it to play as flawlessly as the 420. On top of that, the x420 had the added bonus of more sound variety. He's been playing it ever since (stock) and it was there that my own romance with Electra started.

I know for a fact his guitar is stock, and I know for a fact it has push/pull tone pots (not volume) but it's the only guitar I can be certain of. Was it a prototype thing? Any one else with pertinent knowledge please do tell.

Also, two of the tuners are junk, and I intend to soon replace them all with a new set. I'm thinking something like these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110210088374&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching but they aren't quite a match. If anyone has a set of gold locking tuners (12:1+ ratio) they think might fit please let me know. I'll post pics of the tuners later. I am looking to change out all the silver hardware to gold or bronze (Opinions?). That being said, I'm also going to need gold pickup covers that will fit and a gold tailpiece. Am I correct in believing that Gibson style tailpieces are generic fitting on Electra's like any other guitar?

Lastly, any thoughts on how the X420 compares to the x410, Elvin Bishop, or any other electra 335 model? I have only the 410 and EB left to try, and a chance to buy a 410 has presented itself. I have not decided whether to haggle the price down to something I can live with or let it go. All the x420's I know of from original owners (a total of two not including web stories ) cost around $700-800 new. This is significantly more than what I have heard for 410's, and I am interested to learn exactly why the extreme difference in value. All comentary on anything I have brought up welcome. Sorry for the ramble, but now I think you will see why I have waited so long to post this guitar. I needed to get kinda bored =)

Edited for excessive rambles

Lovely!

It wouldn't surprise me if someoneremoved the coil tap wiring when they changed the pickups. Not all pickups are wired for them (although I bet these are) and surprisingly, many people don't like the extra wiring options. Some people even paid to have the 5-ways removed on their MPC's and replaced with more familiar 3-ways (SLM shop would do this).

It's possible there was some variation in eerly models, but I bet all stock X420's do have coil tap. It's a really strong feature and doesn't add much to the cost of the guitar, and by this time it was practically an Electra trademark.

Sweet guitar! Good work!

M

Great story! Mine is similar, I bought my x420 at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI after playing a Gibson 335 that just didn't compare!

Mine did not have coil taps, btw, and still seemed to have the original factory electronics. The pots were sealed in these strange metal shells. When I had the wiring worked on a few years later the repairman had not seen anything like it.

Still one of my two or three favorite guitars.

Elderly Instruments! I used to live in Lansing, and I got my second ever Electra- a Red Burst X189- from them. I realized later they'd done a -killer- setup job. Really nice folks- smalll world!

Yes it is a small world;

Went to to Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI while on a contract job around April 1999 or so; I just remember how cold it was and also due to the fact that the President was in town that day we had to take a major detour just to get to the music store. We were working in the downtown area and they had most it blocked off for the President's motorcade route.

RCSBlues

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RCSBlues

Here's a link to my 420vs. It does have the original push-pull pots but they are inactivated with the pickups that are in it now.

The "upgrades" were done by the prvious owner. I would have kept it stock but these pickups and Nashville bridge are nice so no complaints. Eveything that you hear abouth these guitars is true....they are killer.

http://www.rivercityamps.com/electra/x420vs.php

Elderly music does indeed rule. Nowhere else will you see such a variety of people or instruments matched in such fantastic (albeit sometimes unexpected) ways. Kyle, that is a very nice axe you have there, and I'm just a hairbit jealous . The x420vs was the model that originally put me on the hunt for Electra guitars, and it's still the grail as far as I'm concerned. If I were ever forced into commiting an act of questionable legality with an x420vs as the tainted objective, I think I'd be in a fight to death with my conscience to keep it . Can you tell I've had dreams about this ?:P.