The Electra Forums

just picked up what i believe to be a 2242 in decent shape. it needs the usual stuff for a guitar of its age. three way switch, tuner machines, strings, maybe pickups. all in all it's in very good shape. here are my questions
1. what pickups would you recommend as an upgrade to the stock ones.
2. what tuner machines are a good replacement for the originals. the semi closed that look like a match are around $6-10 on line. i'd like to go with a better tuner but i have concerns about the existing screw holes working with anything but the "stock" looking replacements
thanks for the help. i'm sure i'll have more questions as i get into this.

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" dreamers have tomorrow if today does not come true"

Well, I'm a convert to locking machine heads, and Gotoh do very nice ones amongst which you're almost certain to find a combination of button and screw tang which match your guitars hardware!

There's a plethora of pickups out there from really expensive - Bareknuckle, to economy - GFS - and all prices in between! Choosing one is really a matter of reading the specs and reviews of anything that takes your fancy and taking a chance, eh! DiMarzio do nice ones, Seymour Duncan, too... I hesitate to recommend anything as it would be purely subjective; have fun playing about with them!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

thanks corsair. i've been looking at the gotoh and grovers. if i upgrade the tuners i'm going to have to do some work on the mounting holes. nothing out there matches my hole pattern.
the number of pickups out there makes my head spin. headed to a guitar shop this week to listen to some different pickups. maybe that will help.

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" dreamers have tomorrow if today does not come true"

Isn't it mind-boggling?! In a good way!!

Bear in mind that pickups will sound different in different guitars; a set that sound the dogs bollocks in one guitar will be absolute pants in another....

I'm surprised that you couldn't find a matching tuner in the Gotoh range; they equipped an awful lot of Matsumoku guitars as OEM!! Can you post photos of what you've got??

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

hopefully these pics will come through ok.
it is amazing how much there is to choose from. both grover and gotoh have several tuners that will work. my problem has been trying to find tuners that have the same mounting hole spacing as the originals on the guitar. all the upgrades will leave one of the screw holes exposed. no big deal really i'm just being a toot. the upgrade will be well worth having a hole show.
actually started working on her yesterday taking things apart and ordering new parts. can't wait to get it all back together and see how it sounds. working on the nut today. decided to buy a blank and shape and cut my own.
still debating on pickups. dual coil for sure.

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" dreamers have tomorrow if today does not come true"

finally got some images of the "new to me" electra. originally thought it might be a 2242 but i think it maybe a 2244. at any rate, i'm going to do a little work on her and bring her back to life. it did play when i got it but the nut was damaged, the tuners were so worn they wouldn't hold when tension was put on them and the three way toggle was bent and apparently not working. looks like it has 250k pots and old humbuckers. so now where to start. obviously replacing the nut, tuners, switch and strings.
i got a set of locking grover knock offs but they just dont look right on this guitar. so i ordered a set of tuners that look like the originals. problem is that the screw holes in the covers of the new tuners are the opposite of the originals.
here's what i'd like help on from you who have done this before: thanks for any help!
1. should i go to 500k pots
2. should i gut the electronics and rewire the whole guitar
3. recommendations for pickups
4. best way to fill the old screw holes and match the finish on the back of the neck

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" dreamers have tomorrow if today does not come true"

That is an earlier one I would say. On that old of a model I'd probably recommend changing out the pickups, pots, and tuners. I'd suggest 500K Audio taper pots in the correct size, lots of places carry them and import ones such as alpha brand won't be too expensive and still be as good or better than the stock ones (and are more suitable for humbuckers). Most import 3-way switches will work as well if it was made for an import LP. For pickups depends on what you like and look for in output style (High, Medium, Lower/Vintage output and various styles). I would suggest a used set off of ebay so you can get them sometimes for half price. For tuners, I like grover rotomatics (holes won't match, but not a big deal), gotoh, or there are lots of gotoh copies out there as well. Guitar Fetish (GFS) has a good selection. You can get lots of little parts off of GFS, or if you know what you are getting get them off of ebay or amazon. You will need a nut too. I suggest a simulated bone nut that has been pre-slotted for someone that is a newbie to doing that. Get the gibson style with the width that matches your width of the fingerboard. It will have to be filed and shaped but the preslotted version makes it a lot easier for a new person. Oh, sometimes you can get a whole wiring harness if you buy used off of ebay - such as out of an epiphone LP - sometimes pickups and all. If you do, it could be a good bargain. The new "probucker" epiphone pickups are really quite good for vintage style humbuckers (surprisingly good really). Good luck!

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Thorny

That is an earlier one I would say. On that old of a model I'd probably recommend changing out the pickups, pots, and tuners. I'd suggest 500K Audio taper pots in the correct size, lots of places carry them and import ones such as alpha brand won't be too expensive and still be as good or better than the stock ones (and are more suitable for humbuckers). Most import 3-way switches will work as well if it was made for an import LP. For pickups depends on what you like and look for in output style (High, Medium, Lower/Vintage output and various styles). I would suggest a used set off of ebay so you can get them sometimes for half price. For tuners, I like grover rotomatics (holes won't match, but not a big deal), gotoh, or there are lots of gotoh copies out there as well. Guitar Fetish (GFS) has a good selection. You can get lots of little parts off of GFS, or if you know what you are getting get them off of ebay or amazon. You will need a nut too. I suggest a simulated bone nut that has been pre-slotted for someone that is a newbie to doing that. Get the gibson style with the width that matches your width of the fingerboard. It will have to be filed and shaped but the preslotted version makes it a lot easier for a new person. Oh, sometimes you can get a whole wiring harness if you buy used off of ebay - such as out of an epiphone LP - sometimes pickups and all. If you do, it could be a good bargain. The new "probucker" epiphone pickups are really quite good for vintage style humbuckers (surprisingly good really). Any of that will be a step up from the electronics in that oldest of models. Some of those really early ones had single coils in a humbucking sized package. Good luck!

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Thorny

Yep to 500k pots and to Alpha components; I've used them annd they're OK. Making your own loom isn'too much of an effort; I'm doing one presently for an APII LC440 and what i do is make a template of the control cavity from a piece of ply, drilled to accept the pots and switch and then mount the controls upside down on it; it just make life a little more simple for numpties like me!!

I'm really surprised you couldn't get replacement tuners that fitted, but just fill the screw holes with a little filler mixed with a black stain of some sort, I suppose. You're not going to want to sand back the whole headstock, either, so be very fussy with the levelling off of your filler... i.e. smooth it out well before it goes off!

Yep also to the bone nut, pre slotted!! Saves an awful lot of mucking about with nut files, which are quite expensive tools for a one off job!!

Pickups... yeah, off the likes off eBay is a good idea! Intersting times ahead, fella!! Go hard!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

thanks for the replies guys. all the feedback has been very helpful. here's the plan so far.
i've filled and sanded the back of the head to get rid of all the screw holes. next step is primer, lacquer and clear coat. then lots of finish sanding and buffing. the new "old style" tuners look great and really fit the overall vintage look.
decided to replace all the electronics. new 500k pots. i got several and metered them all to see what the ohms reading were. got four that are within 3-4ohms of each other at about 517 +/- a few ohms. should be a good matched set. new output jack and threeway switch. still deciding on the caps to use. i've got both 0.022 and 0.47's. i was leaning toward the 0.022's but recently got some 0.033's. decisions decisions!
went with the tusq xl nut that's pre-notched. a little shaping and we should be good to go.
also will shield the cavity to keep unwanted noise to a minimum.
keep those suggestions coming!

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" dreamers have tomorrow if today does not come true"

Sounds like your on the right track with it. Electra Guitars was supossed to start selling the new Magna flux pick ups in sets and singles. Dont know if they are doing that yet, but might be worth giving them a call if its in the budget. I love those older models.

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SlmGuy