Epi Les Paul Redo!

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jmath1677

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Bare with me, this is going to be a long one, but I'm confused and I don't know jack about "the guts" of guitars...I just play them, I don't fix them. About 6 months ago I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus - I was disappointed and although I've gotten a lot more used to it since then, I still continue to be disappointed. Whenever I play with distortion, 90% of the time I will require the treble switch. When I play clean, I require Rhythm or both pickups selected but either way, I can't get a decent tone and have to go back to the treble which is always lackluster for a fat clean tone anyways. So I'm looking for replacement pickups and I can't spend more than $200, the rest below explains my predicament further:
1. I don't necessarily have a major issue with the treble pickup (bridge pickup right?), it has a nice bright tone with just enough lows to even out the sound. Too twangy for clean sound but I don't want to use it for clean tone in the first place so it's pretty good for distorted rhythm riffs. My one complaint is that it sounds slightly muffled either way, clean or not. I can live with it, but if there's something with the same attributes only a little clearer I'll take it. Any suggestions?

2. On the other hand, I have a major issue with the rhythm pickup (neck?) and it also affects how it sounds when both pickups are selected in the middle switch position. Whether, I'm playing clean or a little over-driven, or wildly distorted it's the same story - the higher pitched strings (g,b,e) - sound great - exactly how I want them for several of my songs (especially when clean...its beautiful). But the lower 3 strings (e,a,d), while there seems to be a good strong sense of low tone (a major reason for me buying a les paul copy in the first place)... at the same time that same low tone is extremely muffled and almost entirely unrelated to the nice clear tone of the higher 3 strings when all 6 are played together...it clashes majorly...I HATE IT. It is awful, it is disgusting. What should I replace it with?

As far as guitar tone goes - I like guitars to be either pretty bright or pretty low, in-between doesn't really ever suit my taste in any situation. I'm really into vintage sound: Beatles -White Album and Abbey Road, Elvis - "Hound Dog" solo, Jimi Hendrix "The Wind Cries Mary" solo, iconic Led Zeppelin I and II stuff...bla bla bla you get the gist. My fear in looking at pickups labeled as vintage is that I'll lose a lot of power or something, you know, that they'll be weak and too unlike the modern pickups that I've trained myself to get along with all these years. Because while I like playing vintage, that doesn't mean that I don't want to ever do a Radiohead or a Nirvana cover every once in a while.

I watched a before and after video comparing stock epi les paul pickups to the seymour duncan "hot rodded" package (extremely popular...overly recommended in my opinion) and it sounded worse to me. It sounded like he turned his les paul into some off-brand department store strat with a bright tinny....weak noise. I don't want that, even if it's the most recommended set up thus far.

And WTF are pots and caps all about? Should I change those too? If so, do I change those first or after the pickups?
Should I fix anything else while I'm at it? JEEZ.

THANKS...if you've made it this far, you're awesome!
 
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Changing pups will be result in the biggest change and greatest bang for your buck, but what you like is gonna be hugely subjective. I love the Gibson Burstbucker Pro Alneco 5's I put in my epi paul, you may not.

Some say you gotta change pots, that epi pots are crap, but I did not and have no reason to. If they are not noisy, I see no need to change them. I prefer to adjust tone at the amp, so I also feel no need to monkey with the caps.
 
What gauge strings are you playing? Have you tried adjusting the pickup heights? This might help some.
When I bought my epi, I did it knowing that I was going to replace all of the electronics. It did make a huge difference.
 
I haven't tried adjusting pickup heights but these pickups are so bad off that nothing like that can save them in my opinion. I'm using standard gauge ernie balls right now, not too light, not too heavy, seem fine to me.

As stevieb mentioned, pickups are really subjective and that's a good point. It sucks that it's impossible to test out pickups before buying. I'm at the point now though that whatever I replace my current pickups with would be better than no change at all. Maybe I shouldn't ask for brand names or types, but maybe more like materials. Is it simply that epi pickups are made of some low grade crap that causes such muffling/dampening of tone? Are there certain specs in pickups that I should be looking for or avoiding?

And also, how about this: Anyone know of any pickups that can simulate late 60s rock? I'm going for a Jimmy Page/George Harrison kind of thing...ya know...enough highs to get really messy sounding during a solo or something, but enough lows to set it apart from the overly used modern distorted Fender sound.
 
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You're right about the epi pickups. They aren't very good.
Search on youtube for pickup clips, or demos to find something close to the tone you're looking for.
 
Changing pups will be result in the biggest change and greatest bang for your buck, but what you like is gonna be hugely subjective. I love the Gibson Burstbucker Pro Alneco 5's I put in my epi paul, you may not.

Some say you gotta change pots, that epi pots are crap, but I did not and have no reason to. If they are not noisy, I see no need to change them. I prefer to adjust tone at the amp, so I also feel no need to monkey with the caps.
I must ditto all of this.
 
Yay! I found a pickup combination that I think I'll be able to manipulate to my advantage for a great tone...both are Seymour Duncan: Neck = Pearly Gates (SHPG-1) and Bridge = Custom Custom (SH-11). So, as stated early, I'm a newb with all this highly technical guitar stuff. If I order these and take them to my guitar shop, will they be able to fit them in an epiphone les paul and they'll work right? I'm a little unsure of pickup compatibility, wiring issues, etc....I dunno, I'm paranoid. Is this all good?
 
Have you tried other guitars through your amp or this guitar through other amps? The amp represents a big chunk of your tone. IMHO make sure your amp can deliver before you look to the pickups.

A good setup might also be a good investment before you start spending on upgrades.

That having been said, SD makes great pickups and the set you're looking at are good choices.
 
Changing pups will be result in the biggest change and greatest bang for your buck, but what you like is gonna be hugely subjective. I love the Gibson Burstbucker Pro Alneco 5's I put in my epi paul, you may not.

I like these as well. I swapped them into a baritone ibanez and they really cleaned up the low end of that guitar.
 
Yeah, I've tried this guitar through other amps, and other guitars through this amp...I wanna replace the amp eventually with a fender reverb (don't we all) but the amp is not the major problem here -- it sounds good with other guitars. Epiphone Les Paul stock pickups just suck, from days of research, that's my best conclusion.
 
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