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Found me an Epi Les Paul


Martin101

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So I went to my local guitar junk shop and they had an epiphine les paul, very beautyful guitar actual. So I traded

my blues jr. amp for it.

I like it allo, espcially the neck, which has that gibson scale along with the neck profile being very slim. I've been playing it almost as much as my very expensive Fender Stratocaster.

so I love the feel of the instrument, only I do not like the pickups. the guitar sounds very muddy..... are Les Pauls suppose to sound that way? I'm use to single coils.

I'm thinking of maybe changing the pickups.

The guitar has green tuners and says Gibson over the truss rod cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it in my Fendder Blues jr. amp and

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Congrats on your guitar...green keys and Gibson on the truss rod...sounds like an older model...the better ones only my opinion!

 

The LP will definitely sound different than what you are used to, being a Strat player. The pickups are only one element to the difference in sound. Epi pickups have been criticized by many, but I think they sound great for what they are and the price of the guitar. There are many on these boards with advice regarding aftermarket pickups to change your sound.

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LP's do sound darker/thicker than strats, and this can turn into muddiness fairly easily. Before replacing the pickups, I'd recommend the following (since they're cheaper and easier).

 

1) Experiment with your amp settings. If you've dialed your amp in to sound good with the thin single coils on a strat, you may need to lower the lows and mids and/or boost the highs with an LP. The amount of drive or gain may need adjusting too, since the LP 'buckers are MUCH higher output than Fenders.

 

2) Try lowering the pickups (or polepieces) on the LP. This will reduce the output and de-emphasize the lower mids where the mud lives.

 

3) Play fewer notes in chording and try using a thinner pick or lighter touch. Three or four notes may sound better than all six. As a keyboard player, I find that big chords that sound great on acoustic piano often sound muddy on a Rhodes, so I cut back the number of notes I play on the Rhodes to compensate.

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Along with what's been posted, LP's do "sound" darker or not as alive. The Epi LP, IMO has a brighter and more versatile sound. I experienced the same issue after playng a Strat most of the time then, being that Jimmy Page had continually laid it out with an LP, I bought one had to learn the difference. Play it awhile and then make your decision on changing the pickups. If you decide to do so, you can get plenty of advice from members of this forum...........J

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Along with what's been posted, LP's do "sound" darker or not as alive. The Epi LP, IMO has a brighter and more versatile sound. I experienced the same issue after playng a Strat most of the time then, being that Jimmy Page had continually laid it out with an LP, I bought one had to learn the difference. Play it awhile and then make your decision on changing the pickups. If you decide to do so, you can get plenty of advice from members of this forum...........J

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thanks for the responses

 

I am really starting to love this guitar.... the neck is amazing.... very slim......... my fingers are extremely small and I find that this fits my hand and fingers better than my wayyy more expensive strat.

It even looks better.....

 

I actually am starting to like the neck pickup..... and the bride pu sounds good distorted but not too good clean to my ears, I will try to see about an after market humbucker for the bridge

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Differences between humbuckers and single coils aside, well, Epiphone pickups tend to sound like bantha poodoo. So buy a pair of Seymour Duncans or original Gibson pickups and see what that Les Paul can really do. At least it'll hold you over until you can afford a real Les Paul.

 

eliteLP2.jpg

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I think your assessment of the pickups is about the same as on mine. The stock neck pickup is pretty good when in the clean mode, which tends to be more of what I play, and the stock bridge was kind of... yuck... when played clean. It was a bit better dirty, but I replaced it with one that suited my tastes more.

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...

so I love the feel of the instrument' date=' only I do not like the pickups. the guitar sounds very muddy..... are Les Pauls suppose to sound that way? I'm use to single coils.

I'm thinking of maybe changing the pickups.

...

[/quote']

 

+1 on the Strat vs. LP differences.

 

All the recommendations above are great! They're priced right also. ;-) Try them out first.

 

If it's older (like my 90's) the pickups may indeed need help! I actually saved the open coils from my Classic just as an example of how inexpensively pickups can be manufactured. If I can find them on the shelf, I'll snap a pic or two and post back. Replacement pickups made my 90's Epis into the guitars the should've been.

 

I'm definitely on record here in the forum as NOT having those issues with my 00's Epi pickups! I believe the 00's pickups are good! Got them in my Standard with no real reason to change them out.

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