Customizing Guitars...

[Atom Bomb]

Mainly the pick ups.

I got a nice epiphone Les Paul type a guit. It feels awesome and plays freaking amazing but over the last few months of recording i have found that where it is in a Epi it may be lacking in the pick up deparmtent.

I began double tracking guits and i used my brothers Epi and it sounded fucking huge? I know he uses those big bottom little top Ernie ball strings, but like, were talking huge tonal difference here.

How do i find out what pick up's i have on there currently?

and does anyone have any reccomendatons?


Is it something i can do on my own? or should i just get the dickheads at the store to do it?

 

[miroslav]

Is it something i can do on my own? or should i just get the dickheads at the store to do it?

"get the dickheads at the store to do it"



Actually...it's no big deal, if you can do basic soldering. (Don't be a slacker, McFly)
A bit of fiddling removing everything...but just make a note of the wire connections and then duplicate them with your new pups.

Can't you get info from Epiphone using the serial number about what is in there now?

 

[DrewPeterson7]

How do i find out what pick up's i have on there currently?

Junk. You can find this by looking at the headstock where it says "Epiphone," and further confirm it by using your ears to tell you that the tone just seems lacking.

As for why your bro's guitar sounds better, who knows... It could be a replacement set of pickups, it could be simply the pickups are closer (or farther) from the screen, it could be just the chunk of wood the guitars are made out of. Any number of factors, really, even right down to those strings.

 

[Atom Bomb]

Junk. You can find this by looking at the headstock where it says "Epiphone," and further confirm it by using your ears to tell you that the tone just seems lacking.

As for why your bro's guitar sounds better, who knows... It could be a replacement set of pickups, it could be simply the pickups are closer (or farther) from the screen, it could be just the chunk of wood the guitars are made out of. Any number of factors, really, even right down to those strings.

yea i dunno. thats what i can't figure out. I am going to dive deeper into this.

As pathetic a grasp at evidence as this following comment will be i am sure you may shed light on it for me..

His epi was about 200 cheaper then mine? So i am not sure why the difference.

But i was also told epiphones were kinda made from gibson stuff that didn't cut the mustard? Not sure how much truth there is to that?

Drew, i know there is alot of contributing factors, wood, hows things sit, strings etc. but yea. Can't wrap my head around this. Maybe i should try a heaveir guage string too? I have been playing really light ones lately.


Slav... yea. If i was back 'home' i would let those guys do it. but the ones in town here where we are so remote in the lay of the land. im skeptical. When i first started going there with questions, i didn't expect the answers to be 'one sec im gona run out back and google it'

not cool.

But i may start looking into it by serial number and stuff too. May not hurt to put a little work into it anyways.

Thanks for the tips guys!!!

 

[Luca Brasi]

The posters on this thread have given you some good information Strings are certainly a good, cheap place to start. A bigger gauge string set will be a tad harder to bend, but you might find the trade off in sustain and/or tone an improvement. There's a lot of difference in an .008 and a .011 first string. That's not to say a set of strings will solve all your woes.

You didn't mention what type of music you play, which of course has a lot to do with how you want your guitar to sound. Google can be a friend here as you search pickup manufacturers for the right pup for you. And don't be scared of coil tapping using a push/pull knob, it can offer you a single coil sound out of your bucker.

The possibilies are endless. Don't just search for a sound, decide what you want and go in that direction.