Epi Les Paul Standard Upgrades- What Should I Do, Beyond New Pups?

  • Thread starter Thread starter stevieb
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just curious about jacks. now, switches/pots I understand - moving parts are involved, etc.

a jack doesn't have any moving parts and it's really just 2 contacts separated by layers of pcb-board type stuff.

why would it matter?

I understand that one factor is tightness - how well it latches on to a cable plug.
 
when i first saw the title of this thread my first thought was machine heads...but i did a quick thread search for setup and it came up with a zero....


so thats it ...everyone knows the rule....when you buy an epi then you spend at least 100usd getting a setup...fret dressing ..stuff like that.:)
 
Gear_Junky said:
just curious about jacks. now, switches/pots I understand - moving parts are involved, etc.

a jack doesn't have any moving parts and it's really just 2 contacts separated by layers of pcb-board type stuff.

why would it matter?

I understand that one factor is tightness - how well it latches on to a cable plug.
Click to expand...



The cheap jacks used by most Asian manufacturers in cheap guitars (all Epiphones) are made of a very light gauge and cheap metal. Also, the geometry of the design makes it very easy for metal fatigue to cause them to make intermittent contact. A good jack is made of a much heavier gauge of steel, and is designed to combat the stress of constant plugging and unplugging.

I was going to put up some pictures of this, but I can't find any of a cheap jack right now. It's enough to say that a good Switchcraft jack will last you years longer than a cheap POS jack.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Here you go. The one on the left is a cheap POS, the one on the right is a good Switchcraft #11 (the one you want). It's hard to see what I'm talking about as far as the gauge of the metal, but you can see the shape of the tip connection. The Switchcraft spreads the stress of plugging in out over a much larger area of the piece. With the cheap jack, it all gets concentrated right at the more than 90 degree bend at the bottom. These things fail as fast as you can say POS. The Switchcraft ones will get loose over time, but you can bend them back ("retension" in geek speak) for decades before they fail. You can't bend the cheap ones back.

Also, look at the solder terminals. The Switchcraft ones are much easier to deal with.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 

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Changed the tuners today. Took Grovers off, put Grovers on. New ones were "Gibson Genuine Replacement Parts," I got really cheap when Mars went out of business. Yep, been sitting on them all these years. Only difference I could asertain was the news have bell-shaped heads on 'em, other than that, they look, feel, move, weigh, smell and taste the same.

Anybody wanna buy them from me?
 
Light said:
Here you go. The one on the left is a cheap POS, the one on the right is a good Switchcraft #11 (the one you want). It's hard to see what I'm talking about as far as the gauge of the metal, but you can see the shape of the tip connection. The Switchcraft spreads the stress of plugging in out over a much larger area of the piece. With the cheap jack, it all gets concentrated right at the more than 90 degree bend at the bottom. These things fail as fast as you can say POS. The Switchcraft ones will get loose over time, but you can bend them back ("retension" in geek speak) for decades before they fail. You can't bend the cheap ones back.

Also, look at the solder terminals. The Switchcraft ones are much easier to deal with.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

100 X seconded.
 
Light said:
Stew-Mac's pots are problematic, at best. I'd advise against them. It's not that they're bad, but they are not as good as a CTS, and the shafts are the wrong size for most knobs.

Don't bother with a "kit", just go to your local guitar shop - they will probably have what you need. You need four 500k long shaft pots, a good quality switch, and a good quality (i.e., switchcraft) jack. You can use the wire that is in the guitar (if it follows standard Epi practice, their will be plenty of it in there), and if you want you can reuse the caps as well. If you do want to buy new caps, you need two .047μF caps.

Oh yeah, and don't use plumbing solder. I can't figure out how anyone could miss that one, but they do.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

Bought a pile of tools from them but no parts really..their pots THAT bad???
 
Corndog said:
Bought a pile of tools from them but no parts really..their pots THAT bad???
Click to expand...


No, just not that great and the odd sized shaft is really annoying. And they are noticeably less reliable. And they don't cost any less than a CTS pot, so why bother.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
What to change on epiphone?
Well, my latest project is a custom paint job (black with old school hot rod flames) Epiphone Korina wood '58 V copy.

On it I'm going to change a few things to "better than original":

The paint...
The clearcoat...
The headstock logo...
The pickups...
The keys...
The bridge...
The pickguard...
The tone and volume pots...
the input jack...
the caps...
The knobs...
The selector switch...
The wires...
And...Oh yeah...all the screws, springs, and so on to put the thing back together.


It should be a good guitar with these upgrades.

My advice is to take anything and everything off the guitar body and headstock and throw it away.

But new stuff, replace EVERYTHING, and have a gigable guitar.

My 2 cents
 
jimistone said:
What to change on epiphone?
Well, my latest project is a custom paint job (black with old school hot rod flames) Epiphone Korina wood '58 V copy.

On it I'm going to change a few things to "better than original":

The paint...
The clearcoat...
The headstock logo...
The pickups...
The keys...
The bridge...
The pickguard...
The tone and volume pots...
the input jack...
the caps...
The knobs...
The selector switch...
The wires...
And...Oh yeah...all the screws, springs, and so on to put the thing back together.


It should be a good guitar with these upgrades.

My advice is to take anything and everything off the guitar body and headstock and throw it away.

But new stuff, replace EVERYTHING, and have a gigable guitar.

My 2 cents
Click to expand...


That would be overkill.



Which I approve of, but still.





The electronics, without question, should be the first thing. The rest of the hardware is all perfectly serviceable.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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