Anybody Here Ever Play Thur Epiphone OBL's?

[stevieb]

I have Epiphone OBL's installed on a solid-body electric. Not gonna say any more about the guitar- I want comments on the pups, not the guitar. Sure, you might be able to mine my other post to figure that out, but please don't. They are certainly an upgrade over the pups that were there, but not a huge stup up. Reviews of these pups are very hard to come by- no reviews on Harmony Central, and a Google search for "Epiphone OBL Sinlge coil" got me nothing of any value. Bill Lawrence's website is VERY critical of all Epiphone "OBL" pups, but, given he is no longer making any money from Epi using his initials, one would expect him to have a rather sour opinion.

Anybody here have any EXPERIENCE with these pups? Please, restrict your comments to either having PLAYED a guitar with Epi OBL single coils, or having at least HEARD a guitar played that you KNEW the pups were Epi OBL single coils. Saying you hate them because Epi ripped off Bill, or regurtating the pablum from Bill's website is just a waste of time. Oh, and it is easy to recognize these pups- pole pieces are hidden beneath a plastic cover, and they have a raised graphic on the face of the pup, looks something like this:

////////////////////// OBL

Thanks.

 

[rknrollo]

just found this old thread, epiphone obls are great, I have played gigs and recorded with my epi del rey and they sound fantastic, in fact I found a guy on Craigslist who worked at Gibson and had 5 sets of new ones last year and I bought them all for 12.00 each. They are nice and hot but turn them down and they clean up nice and sound great in split coil mode as well.

 

[stevieb]

I installed a set (all single coils, or SSS) in a strat copy. Picked 'em up cheap when Mars Music was almost done, cheap enough that I knew if I left and researched them, they'd be gone when I cam back. Not knowing anything about them- no literature with them- I took a chance. Had them on that guitar for about 4-5 years, so yeah, I got some experience with them!

That I left them on for that time is a good indicator- I liked them well enough. Much better than the no-name pups on that guitar (no-name pups may have come out of a Yamaha pacifica)- the OBL's had some character, whereas the YP's were just pickups. I'd say the OBL's are better than the stock pups in your average Squier, about the same quality as those in a MIM Strat.

Mr. Lawrence seems to have a very simple formula for what is a "good" pickup and what is "junk:" If he is currently making money off them, they are good, otherwise... Those Epi pups are apparently not the only ones that have fallen out of Mr. Lawrence's favor, for the same economical reasons. Although the man has a good rep, you just gotta take what he says with a grain of salt. Well, sometimes with a cattle salt lick (anybody else ever seen any of those?) IMHO, he is NO Seth Lover.

Anyway, back to the pups. An upgrade for most inexpensive guitars, not bad for most mid-levels. I sure would not remove my Texas Specials for them, though.

 

[Tadpui]

Although the man has a good rep, you just gotta take what he says with a grain of salt. Well, sometimes with a cattle salt lick (anybody else ever seen any of those?)

I haven't seen one in a really long time, but I remember them from my grandmother's pasture land. Looked like a charcoal grill with a giant block of salt on the grate. If I could have been guaranteed that I got there before the cows did, I woulda licked it

 

[stevieb]

I haven't seen one in a really long time, but I remember them from my grandmother's pasture land. Looked like a charcoal grill with a giant block of salt on the grate. If I could have been guaranteed that I got there before the cows did, I woulda licked it

Ewwwwww! Gross!

 

[theD1CKENS]

I sure do miss Mars Music. I bought my first half-stack there