Got an Epiphone, now what to do with it?

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Dolemite

Dolemite

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....and no doorstop jokes! :rolleyes:

OK, here's the deal. I picked up a very slightly used Epiphone Les Paul Special II with a cheap little amp for $110. This is my first guitar, I just wanted something basic to learn on, but at the same time, I want that something to be decent. I know the general opinion of Epiphone around here and I'm not going to defend the brand, I just need a little advice. From what I understand, the stock pickups aren't great and the tuners (though they seem fine to me) should probably be replaced. So far, I've gotten a Kent Armstrong M213K which is a 7.8K ohm humbucker intended (I think) for the neck position. I'm planning to replace the bridge pickup as well, probably with a Kent Armstrong M214K or something similar. Now for the questions:

1. Should I replace the tuners? If so, with what?

2. Are there any other simple upgrades I should do?

3. I consider myself fairly technically inclined and handy enough with a soldering iron. Should install these upgrades myself or have it done by a pro? Also, should I have the guitar setup by a pro?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
i've got an epiphone les paul custom myself. i don't think the epiphone pu's are that bad (at least they're quite powerful). they're not gibson - but what did we expect? ;)
i found out that you can get rid of the terrible whistle that this guitar has by replacing the pu-switch (!!!) with an original gibson switch.
so if you like (or you just can accept) the sound of your guitar - go for the switch.
i myself like my epi... I know it doesn't sound exactly like a gibson but I don't care.
 
If the thing will stay in tune, you don't need to replace the tuners. It's not a cosmetic improvement, it's cause some of them won't stay in tune very well.
I wouldn't put any more money into that guitar if I were you. And, I own some pi's, they're not all bad. But if it plays well and sounds good for what you want, don't mess wih it any more than you have to.

H2H
 
If this is your first guitar, you've probably nailed it just right. Play that sucker!!
 
A Les Paul Special II is really not worth putting money into. Just save the money you want to spend on upgrades for your next guitar.
 
my brother stripped all the paint off of his, and it looks badass. LoL. Some of these crazy punkers. Anyways, I think it's an awesome guitar stock for any kind of rock. The frets were always a little too small up top, but you can't do much with that. But it is a nice guitar, especially a first. Jam on brotherman
 
Heh, well the consensus seems to be, "don't put any more money into it." That would normally seem like the best answer to me but I've already gotten one new pickup (but haven't put it in yet) and I was planning on replacing the bridge PU too. As far as saving for my next guitar, given my budget this will probably be my only guitar for the forseeable future. So should I go ahead and replace the pickups or am I just polishing a turd here? To be honest, after hearing everything that was wrong with epi's, I was pretty impressed with the look and feel of it, even though I know that may have nothing to do with the sound. Also, if I can handle a soldering iron I'm assuming I can do the pickup replacement myself, right?
 
I definitly think you are trying to polish a turd, but it isn't that bad of a guitar (for what it is anyway), I just don't think it is worth puting more money into. If you allready have the pickup then go ahead and put it in (unless you think you can get a decent turn around selling it). And yes you should be able to put the pickup in yourself, ive done it several times with no problem
 
Hee hee- he watched "Christine"

Dolemite, no offense dude...

but I agree with Carter Simcoe (good quote, man!). I have a nifty Electra(?) copy of a
'59 Gibson Flying Vee that I have minimally invested in- had to replace a well-worn switch
(you're right on that one, Six!) and the original tuners were shit so I splurged for a nice set
of chrome Gotohs. Tuning stayed rock solid after that; so if your tuners are holdin' it, save
your money. Pickups? play the damn thing awhile and see what they can do- mine are Brand
X and they play as good as a spendy set of Seymour Duncans I wanted. But most of all, have
fun with it! After all, you can smash this one on stage and afford it...:-)

Peace and grins
Faithmonster
 
Well, as fate would have it, I have a chance to buy an Essex Les Paul copy with an EMG 89 in the neck and an 85 in the bridge for $225. If I sell the Epi I could afford it. Should I go for it? Anybody heard anything about Essex?
 
Don't know much about the Essex, but the EMG's make the axe sound like it's definitely worth the price.


Me
 
The first thing I notice is that guitar is made of alder, which is a pretty light wood. But then again, I think your LP special2 might be alder also. Anyhow, it seems to be one of the new ones in this batch of asian guitars.
Another one to look at is http://www.ravenwestguitar.com . Some eye-candy for cheap, around $200-$300. they get good reviews on Harmony Central also. The thing about these are they use real mahogany bodies and necks and maple tops, which is the real LesPaul (and PRS) combination to get their tone.

BUT-
I am begenning to think that all the reviews at Harmony Central are rigged by the manufaturers and the sellers of the guitars. Not all guitars should get high ratings.

H2H
 
Yeah, I don't put too much weight in those reviews. The epiphone is also alder, so no advantage there.

I'm just amazed by the sheer number of guitar manufacturers. Before I started looking, I knew of probably 5 or 6, like Fender, Gibson/Epiphone, Peavey, Yamaha, Kramer, Martin, Taylor, Guild, etc. I guess anybody can import some piece of plywood and slap their name on it, tho.
 
If it were ME, and I felt like messing around...I'd slap 2 P-90's in that Special2 and it would SCREAM! It has a lite body, and (unless they've changed it) a bolt-on neck. So the resonance will transfer through the entire guitar very quickly(No glue to stop resonance...wood on wood), making it a bright guitar. With P-90's I bet it would cut through anything!

Just a thought.

H2H
 
H2H,

Well, you read me pretty well. Yes, I do like to mess around with things :)

Interesting idea with the P-90's. You're right about the Special 2, its pretty light with a bolt-on neck. You're gonna realize how inexperienced I am, but I'm not quite sure what P-90's sound like. As I understand it, there a bit in between regular single coils and humbuckers. Anybody care to clue me in a little better? I have seen a few P-90's that are made the right size to replace humbuckers. Would it make any sense at all to put my new humbucker in the neck and a P-90 in the bridge?

BTW, thanks for all the help, guys.
 
WHAT!!!!!

It has a lite body, and (unless they've changed it) a bolt-on neck. So the resonance will transfer through the entire guitar very quickly(No glue to stop resonance...wood on wood)
Click to expand...

Sorry H2H, but you have that whole concept backwards. Heavier bodies with set necks have more resonance than light ones with with bolt on necks.
 
That is an often mis-understood concept.
Wood to wood, as in a bolt joint, gives a direct resonance from the body to the neck. A glue joint between results in wood to glue to wood, with the glue acting as a dampener.

This is the reason that the Fender Strats that have 1 piece bodies, are much more valued than the ones with several pieces glued together. The glue itself is a dampener.

That being said:
The actual design of the joint at the neck is just as important in this. A large part of the reason a Les Paul has better sustain than a strat is the surface area of the touching parts. Fenders have very little surface area of the neck touching the body. Look at a Strat, the sides of the neck don't touch at all, and sometimes the front doesn't. just the bottom. In contrast, take a look at a Parker P-38. This is one of the best bolts I have seen. It is secure, low heel, and touches a larger area than a Fender. With this design, it takes advantage of the transfer between body and neck.

Another big factor is mounting the pickups directly to the body of the guitar rather than to a pickguard. But that is another issue, we're talking about neck joints now :).

H2H
 
AND I just realized I think we are talking about 2 different things.
You were talking about increased sustain with a glued joint, weren't you? Sorry. I was talking about the TONE transferring throughout the entire guitar. You get a brighter tone with the wood to wood. On a (for example) Les Paul, You lose alot of highs because of the glued joint. So people use P-90's to get a brighter sound. And I was thinking that P-90's on a bolt-neck LP would SCREAM! (And I still stand behind that statement:))

This may help to explain a little. Taken From Ed Roman's description of his Quicksilver guitar:

The incredible versatility of the Quicksilver is totally defeated when you glue the neck in.
The energy transference is dampened at the glue joint. The wood to wood connection on the bolt in transfers far more tone that the set neck does.
The opposing argument states that you sacrifice sustain for tone. The Quicksilver gets around that problem by rigidly bolting one pickup directly into the neck and one pickup directly into the body.


H2H
 
Dolemite-

You don't want to mix a humbucker with a P-90 in the same guitar. Reason is that a P-90 is a very low output pickup and most humbuckers are high output. when you selected between the two pickups, you would have a drastic volume change. That is generally unwanted in a guitar.

H2H
 
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