epi les paul upgrade

subzero12

so lads I've an epi les paul which has allot sentimental value and it gets played allot so i cant see myself ever selling it ,so i decided it needs some upgrades cause its all stock at the minute bar a new jack plate.

what I'm thinking is Seymour Duncan SSH JB hot rodded humbucker set
or either Seymour Duncan SSH-6 Set Distortion Mayhem sets
I'm leaning towards the jd set wired up basically like this http://www.seymourduncan.com/pdfs/support/schematics/2h_2v_2t_3w_2pp.pdf
then a tonepros bridge and maybe grover locking rotomatics

has anyone used sperzel trim-locks ? i leaning towards the Grover's mainly because there's ordinary Grover's on the epi , but if there any better i may go for the trim-locks , the the only other thing is getting a bone nut

has anyone got any other ideas, or opinions on what could be done to do with it ? thank in advance again

Creeping-Death

The hell with the Seymour Duncan's IMO, EMG all the way, the fact that theyre active can be a pain sometimes but they best everything out there. i'd stick with the grovers aswell mate, no point in fixin it if it aint broke

subzero12

Creeping-Death wrote: »

The hell with the Seymour Duncan's IMO, EMG all the way, the fact that theyre active can be a pain sometimes but they best everything out there. i'd stick with the grovers aswell mate, no point in fixin it if it aint broke

i never liked emgs at all they sound kinda sterile to me . i do have seymour duncans blackouts in my schecter c7 ,there way better than emgs imo. theres more mids and they just sound more organic to me , but with the epi i wanna stick with passives .

spoonbadger

Creeping-Death wrote: »

The hell with the Seymour Duncan's IMO, EMG all the way, the fact that theyre active can be a pain sometimes but they best everything out there. i'd stick with the grovers aswell mate, no point in fixin it if it aint broke

Em no. Emgs are good if you want to make chugga sounds and prefer distortion to quality....

For everything else,there's normal pickups.

The JBs are very well regarded p'ups, but it depends on what kinda music you play?.

I cant really comment on the sperzels vs. grovers debate (never tried locking grovers) but i can tell you that the sperzels are very good indeed!. I doubt there'd be that much difference to be honest.

Everything seems fine, but i'd recomend replacing the volume/tone pots and wiring too. Epi wiring is just a li'l bit pants :eek:.

Creeping-Death

Ahh i see where we clash, that awful word, midrange... never used/needed it and never will either... EMG's are good for metal, thats bout it, and coz theyre active you'll never get anything other than screaming distortion, suits me fine though .. I'd lean toward the JB's myself, versatile is too light a word to describe them theyre suited to anything...

subzero12

spoonbadger wrote: »

Em no. Emgs are good if you want to make chugga sounds and prefer distortion to quality....

For everything else,there's normal pickups.

The JBs are very well regarded p'ups, but it depends on what kinda music you play?.

I cant really comment on the sperzels vs. grovers debate (never tried locking grovers) but i can tell you that the sperzels are very good indeed!. I doubt there'd be that much difference to be honest.

Everything seems fine, but i'd recomend replacing the volume/tone pots and wiring too. Epi wiring is just a li'l bit pants :eek:.

i play allot metal but i tend to use the epi practising playing bluesy stuff, yeah i know about the wiring im gonna get all new pots an caps and im gonna sheild the pick up cavitys too me thinks .

subzero12

Creeping-Death wrote: »

Ahh i see where we clash, that awful word, midrange... never used/needed it and never will either... EMG's are good for metal, thats bout it, and coz theyre active you'll never get anything other than screaming distortion, suits me fine though .. I'd lean toward the JB's myself, versatile is too light a word to describe them theyre suited to anything...

i like metal its actually the majority of what i play just im heading in a different direction with this guitar ,plus i use my c7 with the blackouts for metal , and from what ive been reading the blackout have been giving emgs a run for there money and are get pretty popular , ah i like some mids i think when people totally cut the mids it sounds kinda crap but that just my opinion .

Creeping-Death

Schecter for metal and epi for blues aye? stick jb's in the epi then, and vol and tone pots id do as standard when changing pickups anyways....

subzero12

Creeping-Death wrote: »

Schecter for metal and epi for blues aye? stick jb's in the epi then, and vol and tone pots id do as standard when changing pickups anyways....

tis the plan

Flesh Gorden

The locking tuners are a life saver - as your probably well aware the G string never stays in tune in Epi's

Brand won't matter all are excellent - what I do is take a look at €3K+ custom made guitars and see what they use

You should get them from Stew Macs or Ebay - there a lot cheaper (half) from the USA


Pickups: BARE KNUCKLES all the way -

Remember the Duncans the likes of Slash uses are hand wound by the man himself - the ones you buy off the shelf are machine made with cost cutting and maximum profit in mind

Bare Knuckles are hand made and built to a top standard - Main guy Tim is really sound and open to ideas - He rewound some old pickups for me a few years back did a great job

they cost the same as the famous brands - but are bulit with quality in mind not cost - and they work out less then duncans and Dimarzios

You won't find a bad review out there


BTW - I remember finding out from one of the reps from Rossetti that a lot of the Korean made (pre 03' - the best) Epi Les Pauls where made from Alder instead of mahogany (same stuff they make Strats from )

I wouldn't worry about the bridge - your not going to get any noticeable difference by changing

You could get new pots with the bumble bee capacitors ( same Gibson used in the 50's)

Its well worth getting it set up professionally too

Paolo_M

Check out the SD Alnico II Pro's if it's a bluesy tone you're after. The JBs are great, I've one in one of my LPs, but they're better suited for rock music. The JB has more gain and sounds "harder" which is great for rock but the Alnico II Pro's kinda "sing" more which I think is better for blues (think Clapton on the Beano album). They're actually the pick up that Slash uses too.

subzero12

thanks lads for the ideas just one question about push/pull pots theres 2 different types and im not totally sure which out of either of the 2 is suited to the epi http://www.thomann.de/ie/goeldo_pushpull_poti_500kohm.htm
and theres http://www.thomann.de/ie/goeldo_pushpull_poti_500kohm_lp.htm any ideas on which of the 2 is suited ?

punchdrunk

i've got locking grovers on my epi that are fantastic,thumbs up from me!
plus there won't be any horrible holes left behind from the sperzels using different mounting locations

as for humbuckers for blues i love my seymour duncan seth lover's and my bareknuckle emeralds...you couldn't go wrong with either!

Doctor J

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

The locking tuners are a life saver - as your probably well aware the G string never stays in tune in Epi's

In my experience, the main problem with tuning and Epiphones is the dreadfully cut nut. Every Epi I've ever played has had nut slots cut too tight. The result? That ping sound every now and then when you adjust a machine head, the sound of the string getting stuck in the nut and then suddenly releasing when the tension on one side of the nut is greater than the friction holding the string in the nut. Get your nut slotted properly and learn how to string a guitar and you won't have any tuning issues.

This is just simple physics, there is no black magic involved, though given the amount of money parts companies are making it's no wonder millions are spent trying to make people believe that stock tuners, pickups, bridges, pots, etc etc etc aren't good enough.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Doctor J wrote: »

In my experience, the main problem with tuning and Epiphones is the dreadfully cut nut. Every Epi I've ever played has had nut slots cut too tight. The result? That ping sound every now and then when you adjust a machine head, the sound of the string getting stuck in the nut and then suddenly releasing when the tension on one side of the nut is greater than the friction holding the string in the nut. Get your nut slotted properly and learn how to string a guitar and you won't have any tuning issues.

This is just simple physics, there is no black magic involved, though given the amount of money parts companies are making it's no wonder millions are spent trying to make people believe that stock tuners, pickups, bridges, pots, etc etc etc aren't good enough.

the exact same thing happens with my eipe, ping sound and g is always out of tune when i pick up the guitar! i thought it was just my guitar, i dont feel so bad now!!

Flesh Gorden

Doctor J wrote: »

main problem with tuning and Epiphones is the dreadfully cut nut. Every Epi I've ever played has had nut slots cut too tight.

Very True

But one thing to remember when buying parts for an Epi - is when you see "Les Paul" parts that doesn't mean it will fit an Epi

even a scratchplate i replaced a week ago had to be re-cut, filed and sanded to fit into place because the size was too big and where the screw-holes where drilled

Its the same with the jack plate - I bought a Gibson one that had to be coaxed into place

As i mentioned its well worth getting it set up professionally - especially to get nut cut perfectly - the frets dressed and sort out any other problems that are just beginning

You won't go wrong with an uncut nut and a professional to do the work

boycey

Theres a good thread on the My Les Paul forum where Roman Rist does a cool photo thread about setting up an Epi Les Paul- very like Docs excellent thread on setting up his Aria bass. Well worth checking out for any Les Paul owner, not just Epi owners.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/epiphone-les-pauls/14714-complete-epi-custom-setup.html