Advice on upgrading my pickups? (Epiphone Les Paul Special ll)

[TopHatDinosaur]

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Special ll (I know very weak guitar). I do not have the budget to buy a more expensive guitar as I have just bought a new Fender Mustang lll to replace my equally weak small little Vox mini amp. What I would like to know is if I replaced the pickups in my guitar would that make it sound better? The amp sounds killer but my guitar still lacks in getting the tone I want and still sounds like a cheap guitar. which in hind sight I should have saved up for a better Les Paul.

I am an intermediate player looking for an Instrumental rock tone similar to Joe Satriani. (If that can be done on a Les Paul) I also play a lot of bluesy Joe Bonamassa , Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore licks too which is why I bought the Epiphone Les Paul to begin with. Now I want experiment in trying to replicate Joe Satriani tone. I have an affection for Joe Satriani as I consider him my favorite guitar player. I love the clean Chorus sounds John Petrucci plays too.

 

I also own a Digitech Effects/expression pedal with built in Wah and Whammy, along with a Digitech Hot Rod distortion pedal.

 

Option 1

https://new.andertons.co.uk/p/DP213FW/electric-guitar-pickups/dimarzio-dp213-paf-joe-pickup-in-white

 

https://new.andertons.co.uk/p/DP216FW/electric-guitar-pickups/dimarzio-mo-joe-bridge-pickup-in-white-f-spaced

 

Option 2

http://www.thomann.de/gb/dimarzio_liquifire_dp227_bk.htmref=search_rslt_Dimarzio+LiquiFire+Humbucker+Pickup_233336_0

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/dimarzio_crunch_lab_dp228f_wh.htm?ref=search_rslt_crunch+lab_236119_2

 

I posted the same question on Yahoo answers and someone wrote back saying f spaced pickups are wrong(without explaining why, I am not familiar with pickup compatibility). Even though they are Humbuckers did he mean they won't fit in my guitar or will they simply not sound right in a Les Paul? Even though I have seen YouTube videos of people with them using Les Paul guitars.

 

Sorry for the long winded post I wanted to make explain myself in detail.

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

TophatDinosaur

[sparquelito]

TopHatDinosaur,

 

The question you ask requires a multi-dimensional response.

 

* Would more expensive pickups give you some different tones, and maybe bring you closer to the tones you wish to hear emanating from your guitar?

Maybe.

Probably.

It depends.

 

* Is tone more a function of the guitar's pickups, or a combination of the guitar, the pickups, the amp, the pedals, and MAINLY the player's technique and phrasing?

The latter more so than the former.

 

* Would Billy Gibbons still sound like Billy Gibbons if he picked up a First Act guitar in Walmart, and plugged it into a cheap beginner's amplifier?

Most definitely.

 

My advice is to take your time, play a lot of other people's gear, try everything, and then proceed slowly and carefully.

Tone won't magically arrive overnight with the purchase of a set of Dimarzio pickups.

 

It comes when it comes.

 

Steve Vai would tell you to keep exploring all the options of your Epiphone's tone and volume knobs before you go and buy more gear.

:unsure:

[kidblast]

I have to say. There are some pretty good low cost pickups theses days. Also, Check out gfs pickups and check the reviews when you are window shopping, one of my buddies tried some gfs humbuckers and they sounded a lot better than I was expecting.

[Tates]

How much will is cost you to purchase new pickups and have them installed?

 

If you Les Paul Special ii is in decent shape, I think you can be confident of getting $50 (if not more) for it on Craigslist.

 

Also, a new Epi Les Paul Standard or Traditional Pro can be had for $350-$500. If you're spending over $200 on pickups, and believe you can sell your Special, it may actually make financial sense to buy a new guitar.

[hanker]

I got Seymour Duncan Hotrodded Humbuckers for Christmas and put them on my Epi LP Special II. They sound much better than the stock pair, but cost almost as much as the guitar did! I play my Strat a lot more that the Epi LP Special though. If you can, I would get a better LP if that's what you like to play. The others cost more because they have much better hardware and do sound better.

[BowerR64]

If im not mistaken the EPI LP special 2 has Epiphone 650R/700T (Ceramic8) 12.8(neck)-16.6(bridge) pickup set.

 

IMO the only thing your going to gain with a pickup swap is a slight EQ curve in the tone. better bass, or better midrange or better treble. That pickup combo is a high output setup. If you go with a lower output pickup your going to loose a little gain and output

 

If it was my rig ide get a good setup on the guitar, maybe have the intonation set good and maybe put a better speaker in the amp. It appears to have a celestion in them but i think the are the 70/80 which imo is not as well rounded in tone as a greenback, or a V30 or what ide sugest is a G12T75 in that amp

[jonnyg]

As you've mentioned Andertons I'm assuming that you're in the UK. If so, you should at least consider Iron Gear pickups. A pair will cost you half the price of the DiMarzio PUPs and Iron Gear are seriously good. I've used them in my Wilshire re-issue (Rolling Mill 2), a Mexican Classic 50's Strat (Pig Irons) and a Vintage (brand) LP type guitar (Blues Engines to replace the Wilkinson pickups fitted as standard) and in each case there has been a great and very noticeable improvement. Have a look here http://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_043.htm The Dirty Torque/Blues Engine combo have Alnico V and IV magnets (respectively) each with 4 conductor wiring. With the right switching you can get all the cleans or dirtys you want. Choice of open coils or with covers is up to you. You'll even find wiring diagrams for the pickups on the site. One word of caution. I don't recommend their wiring kits. Most of the stuff is OK but I wasn't impressed with the Alpha pots.

[jdogric12]

I've had a Special II since '96. First thing I did was put Gibson P94's in it, and a Bigsby B5. it's still great!