Burny SG Custom RSG 70

[Bilbo15]

Hello,

After a few months of research, a new guitar is finally coming home soon.
I just purchased a black Burny SG custom with 3 golden PU.

I had a Greco ss500 of the SUper REal era that got stolen like 10years ago and I'm still missing her. I hope this one will comfort me a bit of her loss! I think it wont be of the same quality but I hope it will still be quite good..

I have a few questions for the owners of the model or experts in MIJ guitars :
1) I want to install a maestro vibrola to make her look a bit more to the sg custom 1963 like this one. Where can I buy a replacement vibrola like this? The perfect would be a Burny written one or an aged one without brand on it but I think I am dreaming...

2) what do you think of the PU installed? There is a sticker on the rings with VH1 written but from the date (1989 or 1990), it should be something like VH3, that have mixed reviews on the net

3) For the electronics, do you think it s worth upgrading with higher quality pots and condos or just wasting money for nothing.

4) the buttons seemed to be broken, do I have to buy metrics or US sized for replacements?

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[PermissionToLand]

Nice score! I'm sure it will play very well. I'd recommend a wide bevel pickguard like that real Gibson. It's an easy upgrade that really enhances every guitar IMO.

1. I'd just check out the usual places like Stewmac, Allparts and of course Reverb and Ebay. There are lots of options these days for aged parts, but they usually aren't cheap. Guitar Fetish might have an affordable alternative.

2. The RSG-70 switched from VH-3s to VH-1s in 1990. But they were not the same sought after VH-1s used on the early '80s models. I couldn't find solid information on whether they're ceramic or alnico magnets while researching for the SG Wiki.

Burny RSG

The Burny RSG models were their new line of SG copies introduced as part of the Revival Series in 1982, replacing the FSG. Though the official catalog specs call out a two-piece body, they often used three pieces. Unfortunately, the RSG never got the most desirable 1985-1989 VH-1 pickups, only...

solidguitar.fandom.com

3. Pickups are the majority of your tone. Unless you have a bum pot or want to change the values, it won't make much of a difference, if any. Cleaning them out with computer duster can help clear any scratchiness.

4. Almost certainly metric.

 

[Gary Gretsch]

That is a pretty nice guitar. Where do you buy them? what is the price range. Below is the one I like. Also the junior is nice.

RSG-45/50/55/60 (Classics/Traditional Series)​

 

[Bilbo15]

That is a pretty nice guitar. Where do you buy them? what is the price range. Below is the one I like. Also the junior is nice.

RSG-45/50/55/60 (Classics/Traditional Series)​

I bought it directly on japan auctions
Price is something like 600€, but i will have to pay the shipment and taxes over it. So not cheap for a copy but a Gibson is still pricier!

 

[Bilbo15]

I

Nice score! I'm sure it will play very well. I'd recommend a wide bevel pickguard like that real Gibson. It's an easy upgrade that really enhances every guitar IMO.

1. I'd just check out the usual places like Stewmac, Allparts and of course Reverb and Ebay. There are lots of options these days for aged parts, but they usually aren't cheap. Guitar Fetish might have an affordable alternative.

2. The RSG-70 switched from VH-3s to VH-1s in 1990. But they were not the same sought after VH-1s used on the early '80s models. I couldn't find solid information on whether they're ceramic or alnico magnets while researching for the SG Wiki.

Burny RSG

The Burny RSG models were their new line of SG copies introduced as part of the Revival Series in 1982, replacing the FSG. Though the official catalog specs call out a two-piece body, they often used three pieces. Unfortunately, the RSG never got the most desirable 1985-1989 VH-1 pickups, only...

solidguitar.fandom.com

3. Pickups are the majority of your tone. Unless you have a bum pot or want to change the values, it won't make much of a difference, if any. Cleaning them out with computer duster can help clear any scratchiness.

4. Almost certainly metric.

didnt know about these wide bevel pickgards. That would clearly be great with this color!

For the pickups, is the size of the vh1 2 3... standard for swapping them?
Do you have brands to advise? I have more experience with p90 compared to humbuckers.

Do you advise a particular wiring for 3 pu? I am not familiar with it and I heard the original one is kind of rubbish (no possibility of center pu alone)

 

[PermissionToLand]

I

didnt know about these wide bevel pickgards. That would clearly be great with this color!

For the pickups, is the size of the vh1 2 3... standard for swapping them?
Do you have brands to advise? I have more experience with p90 compared to humbuckers.

Do you advise a particular wiring for 3 pu? I am not familiar with it and I heard the original one is kind of rubbish (no possibility of center pu alone)

I couldn't say about the pickup size, but most likely they're the standard humbucker size.

There are so many pickup brands out there, I don't think you could go wrong. I'd give the originals a chance first, though. If you're on a budget, Guitar Fetish has their GFS line of pickups which I've found to be very good for the price.

I'd say the brand is less important than knowing what kind of tone you want and how pickup specs relate to tone.

I've never owned a 3 pickup guitar, so I have no opinions on that.

 

[papagayo]

Nice Burny SG, made in Japan are high quality, great choice.
If this guitar was mine, I wouldn’t install a Vibrola. This part is a source of problems.
Wide bevel 5 ply pickguard Vs stock pickguard.

 

[Bilbo15]

Nice Burny SG, made in Japan are high quality, great choice.
If this guitar was mine, I wouldn’t install a Vibrola. This part is a source of problems.

I read so many different point of view on this subject that I dont thinl there is a definitive answer. I would only use it for small bends and I dont think it would be a particular problem

The thing is that I dont have any guitar with vibrato and I have several ideas to use it in my music. So I think it would be a nice choice. And I think they just look so cool on these sg!!!

 

[Go Nigel Go]

The downsides of vibrato units is pretty over blown, especially if you already have a few hardtails. There are a few extra setup considerations, but once that is done there is a fresh world of possibilities that will be opened up that is totally worth it.

 

[papagayo]

Yes, a Vibrola is a nice part but a Bigsby is really better.
A Vibrola kills the sustain, tuning issues an flat strings angle at the bridge.
The SG is not a vibrato guitar IMHO.

EDIT : Look at the poor strings angle on the ABR-1 bridge:

 

[Kirk Dahnke]

I have a 1990 Standard. Totally love it. All parts are metric. I hated the pickups and put in a set of Slash pickups I had laying around from a trade. Sounds great. The parts are all high quality Japanese so I'd only replace if necessary. Burnys MIJs are great guitars. Congrats! The VH-1 pickups are not the good ones and I yanked them out pretty quickly. If you want some boutique pickups at Duncan prices try Brandonwound pickups. I put a set in my 1990 black LPC. Also a Burny. I got a deal on both from a Japanese seller. Also the Duncan WLHs are excellent. I found a used pair and put them in another MIJ LP. Love them. Also check out "Q Pickups" on Reverb. They're out of Croatia and make excellent pickups for a bit less. I bought a Tele bridge pickup from them and I love it. Personally I'd probably only replace the neck and bridge pickups. Bigsby make a tremolo that attaches without drilling. But I'd leave it be. SG hardtails are the way to go. If you want to go cheap on pickups then id look at Artec. They make the GFS pickups but you dont have to pay tax or shipping if you get them on eBay.

 

[jlee]

Nice guitar!!

Do you use the volume and tone controls? i use my controls a lot and hated the pots in every Burny I’ve owned. Also never liked the pickups.

All of the parts are metric. If you replace the pots with CTS or VIPots, you will need to enlarge the holes.

VIPots have a great 50s style taper. They clean up very quickly when rolling down to “7-8”, then clean up more gradually as you roll further down. It’s like hitting a boost pedal when rolling up from 7-10.

 

[Bilbo15]

I didnt received the guitar yet so I will take mytime to test it and decide when received. But for the moment i plan :
- vibrola (maybe roller bridge if problem and locking tuner in addition)
- replace neck and bridge with seymour duncan, bare knuckle or whatever but not for gold price!
- replace the central pickup with a p90 sized for humbucker. I love the p90 sound and maybe it s an opportunity to have a killer guitar with different sounds

Did someone tried a combination of humbucker and p90 on the same guitar?

 

[rabbit]

For what it's worth, I own over half a dozen MIJ SGs.
- Unless a component is not working properly or broken do not replace it
- If it didn't come with a vibrola/bigsby, leave it be. Buy a guitar that originally came that way if that's what you wanted.
- Humbucker size P90s are nothing like real P90s

When you receive the guitar test for functionality. If everything works then tear it down, clean it up, put a fresh set of strings on and spend time setting it up properly and learning the quirks and characteristics of this new guitar.

If you still choose to do upgrades do them one at a time, you never know what may/will go wrong and it can be costly moving forward and trying to go backwards.

 

[Bilbo15]

For what it's worth, I own over half a dozen MIJ SGs.
- Unless a component is not working properly or broken do not replace it
- If it didn't come with a vibrola/bigsby, leave it be. Buy a guitar that originally came that way if that's what you wanted.
- Humbucker size P90s are nothing like real P90s

When you receive the guitar test for functionality. If everything works then tear it down, clean it up, put a fresh set of strings on and spend time setting it up properly and learning the quirks and characteristics of this new guitar.

If you still choose to do upgrades do them one at a time, you never know what may/will go wrong and it can be costly moving forward and trying to go backwards.

Thanks for the advice
I owned a few mij guitars too (aria tele, epiphone casino, greco sg, greco firebird) and I try to let them as much original as possible but a guitar is for playing for me, not for collection. If I feel the need to replace things to match my sound, I dont hesitate to do it. And if I sell it, I put the original back on it

For me those old MIJ guitars are the perfect platform for upgrade

 

[Bilbo15]

Still thinking and I discovered about the Les Trem vibrato from Duesenberg. This would not need any permanent modification. The reviews are mixed on the tuning stability. Did someone installed on an sg?

Duesenberg Les Trem II

Did you ever want to simply swap the tailpiece on your guitar for a tremolo without any modification? Meet the Duesenberg Les Trem. The Duesenberg…

store.duesenberg.de

Did someone tried to mix 2 humbuckers and a p90 on an sg? I cannot find good audio examples on internet

 

[PermissionToLand]

Yes, a Vibrola is a nice part but a Bigsby is really better.
A Vibrola kills the sustain, tuning issues an flat strings angle at the bridge.
The SG is not a vibrato guitar IMHO.

EDIT : Look at the poor strings angle on the ABR-1 bridge:

View attachment 50995

The SG was designed from birth to have a vibrola. Larry Allers and Ted McCarty knew what they were doing. There is no "poor" or "proper" break angle, unless the strings are literally popping out of the saddle slots. It's just a preference; less of an angle gives you softer feeling strings, while more of an angle gives you (slightly) more sustain. I will always put playability and comfort over an imperceptible difference of sustain. People have done tests measuring the soundwaves between high and low tailpieces and the difference is in milliseconds, if any.

 

[papagayo]

The SG was designed from birth to have a vibrola. Larry Allers and Ted McCarty knew what they were doing. There is no "poor" or "proper" break angle, unless the strings are literally popping out of the saddle slots. It's just a preference; less of an angle gives you softer feeling strings, while more of an angle gives you (slightly) more sustain. I will always put playability and comfort over an imperceptible difference of sustain. People have done tests measuring the soundwaves between high and low tailpieces and the difference is in milliseconds, if any.

With a 1962 technology the result is not bad. A roller bridge or an ABR-1 with domed thumbwheels is a great upgrade for a Vibrola Gibson SG.
Actually many brands make very good vibrato guitars, and they stay in tune.

 

[Bilbo15]

Hello there!

I received the beast a week ago and..... I was a bit deceived at first. It was in an absolutely terrible state of dirtiness. All the metallic parts are partly rusted and the strings were just like barbed wire! But the good part is that there s no important mark, just a crack in the finish at the start of the neck but I really dont think the neck has moved. The neck is curved a bit in the wrong way but there is no strings so it seems normal. And the frets are surprisingly in good conditions. The electronic seems to work but I will have to check closely with new strings.

I am at the point of finishing the cleaning/ derusting job and will try it musically soon.

I have still one problem for the moment. The input jack is totally rusted and impossible to unscrew. I tried wd40 but the bolt refuse to turn, and instead, it s an internal piece that is turning. Do you have advice to fix it?

 

[Bilbo15]

There she is by the way
https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=23/19/4rtn.jpg