Epiphone electronics upgrade advice

Ash.J.Williams

Hi, common enough problem here. I've always wanted to mess around with a hollowbody guitar, and have aquired an Epihone "the Dot" guitar. However my Gibson explorer renders it practically useless in the mix as it sound dead in comparison. My explorer has a set of 490's and I'm very happy with the tone. Should I install same on the epiphone or should I go higher??? Also should I upgrade the entire electronics while i'm at it??

Stock pickups in the epiphone.

martinedwards

there will be a different sound from a hollobody and a solid body even with the same pups.

if the pots aren't scratchy then changing them wont make an audible difference.... (but some will disagree!)

Seziertisch

Pickups play a major role in the sound of any electric guitar. My personal recommendation would be these guys http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/ In terms of price/performance definitely one of the best out there.

zafo

I'd keep the pots but maybe get some film or even Sprague Orange drop caps in there. Wouldn't worry about getting Gibson branded pickups either, have a good look at all the different types out there.

Personally I'd recommend some nice p90s (hb shaped) for it, can't go wrong with Mean 90s from GFS. Then you'd have two super usable guitars that'd cover a fairly wide range of sounds. Going with GFS you could probably afford a set of nice humbuckers too so you could try both and mix and match if that takes your fancy.

Heard good stuff about Wizard too. Their p90 in hb case looks really nice, decent price for a handwound pickup too.

Ash.J.Williams

Yes i'm very p90 curious but never wanted to commit financially to trying one out! I've emailed Wizard now to see what they advise. Those prices are brilliant. Thanks for the advise.

martinedwards

you looked at guitarfetish.com?

zafo

I probably should have spelt out guitar fetish instead of writing GFS. Cheers Martin.

www.guitarfetish.com

Ash.J.Williams

Have you guys dealt with GFS? man....that's alsmost too good to be true! Anyone bought a guitar from them? what's customer service like?

Ash.J.Williams

THinking about gettin one!


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xaviere-XV-950-Rockabilly-Hollowbody-Guitars_c_311.html

zafo

I've used but not bought pickups and know a bunch of people with the Mean 90s, don't know much about the guitars though.

Seziertisch

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

THinking about gettin one!


http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xaviere-XV-950-Rockabilly-Hollowbody-Guitars_c_311.html

Yeah, though it is probably not going to be a step up from your Epiphone Dot, and by the time you factor in shipping and import VAT (probably) it might not be that much cheaper than secondhand Gretsch Electromatic, of which there are a few floating around.

If you those are the kind of sounds you are inclined towards I would say try a set of P90s in you Dot and see what it does for you. I also think that the newer Dots I have played have been really nice guitars.

Ravelleman

Internet fora like Harmony Central are full of horror stories about GFS' customer service.

The brand has never appealed to me, really. That being said, I've never tried any of their products.