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Moved from an Epi LP Special II to an Epi LP Custom

  • 10-11-2009 11:10PM
    #1
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi guys, as the title suggests, Ive moved up the Epiphone ladder a little. Got a Custom, and will put down my Special II.

    My question is from a tech view, as Im not entirely happy with the Custom yet. Upon playing it on my own equiptment, the Custom is FAR bassier than the Special. To get the kinda tone I like, Ive had to bump to treble and contour up significantly, not leaving much room for further adjustments. I know the pickups are different, and visually they look roughly the same height on both guitars. Is this expected once you move off the bottom of the list of Epiphone guitars?

    The guitar tends to "mush" the sound, far easier than the Special. With the cheaper guitar, Im getting far bettwe definition when two notes are played at the same time, but on the Custom, its definitely not as clear. For example, on the 12th fret playing the D and G strings together I can hear a rapid pulsing in the background, which I don't get with the Special.

    Then theres the volume pots. On the Special, they acted like a gain knob. Not really lowering the volume of the guitar, they lowered the gain. So you could play bluesy stuff, then ramp the volume to get a better distortion, without it getting really louder. On the Custom, the volume knobs have no effect on gain/distortion until they are practically at zero...would this be considered normal for this model guitar?

    The strings on it are brand new Ernie Ball regular slinky's, and may need some time to stretch/bed in. The intonation is more or less perfect, as is the action height so I'm kinda stumped. Anybody any thoughts/advice?


Comments

  • #2
    Dord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,815 ✭✭✭✭Dord


    EnterNow wrote: »
    Hi guys, as the title suggests, Ive moved up the Epiphone ladder a little. Got a Custom, and will put down my Special II.

    My question is from a tech view, as Im not entirely happy with the Custom yet. Upon playing it on my own equiptment, the Custom is FAR bassier than the Special. To get the kinda tone I like, Ive had to bump to treble and contour up significantly, not leaving much room for further adjustments. I know the pickups are different, and visually they look roughly the same height on both guitars. Is this expected once you move off the bottom of the list of Epiphone guitars?

    The guitar tends to "mush" the sound, far easier than the Special. With the cheaper guitar, Im getting far bettwe definition when two notes are played at the same time, but on the Custom, its definitely not as clear. For example, on the 12th fret playing the D and G strings together I can hear a rapid pulsing in the background, which I don't get with the Special.

    Then theres the volume pots. On the Special, they acted like a gain knob. Not really lowering the volume of the guitar, they lowered the gain. So you could play bluesy stuff, then ramp the volume to get a better distortion, without it getting really louder. On the Custom, the volume knobs have no effect on gain/distortion until they are practically at zero...would this be considered normal for this model guitar?

    The strings on it are brand new Ernie Ball regular slinky's, and may need some time to stretch/bed in. The intonation is more or less perfect, as is the action height so I'm kinda stumped. Anybody any thoughts/advice?

    Regarding the pots not affecting the volume until the end, to me it sounds like they're Log (Audio Taper) pots rather than Linear. Your Special would have linear pots which has a gradual sweep across the range of motion.

    For the bassier sound, most of the customs have 300K pots now. This is a little low for humbuckers and would make them sound a bit muddy. You should change these to 500K. So you should get it rewired with 500K linear pots. :)


  • #3
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Dord wrote: »
    Regarding the pots not affecting the volume until the end, to me it sounds like they're Log (Audio Taper) pots rather than Linear. Your Special would have linear pots which has a gradual sweep across the range of motion.

    For the bassier sound, most of the customs have 300K pots now. This is a little low for humbuckers and would make them sound a bit muddy. You should change these to 500K. So you should get it rewired with 500K linear pots. :)

    Thats great Dord, I appreciate the advice. Any suggestions for a good retailer for the parts, I can do the work myself. Volume and audio pots it is then :)


  • #4
    Dord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,815 ✭✭✭✭Dord


    Try X-Music, I think they have some parts out there. Just to make sure, it's linear pots you need not audio taper (log) pots. ;)


  • #5
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    So four of these Dord - http://www.thomann.de/ie/goeldo_e500l_poti_500.htm ?

    Or these - http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/CPC500B/CTS_500K_Linear_Taper_Guitar_Volume_Tone_Control_Pot.html


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