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Epiphone LP Ultra 2 PROBLEM!


WinterOrb

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Anyone owning an LP Ultra II needs to be aware that their guitar comes broken by default.

 

Because of the faulty wiring there is a terrible noise bleed rendering the toggle switch pretty much useless. The rhythm pickup will bleed into the Treble pickup and vice-versa. This problem is most noticeable when there is any kind of distortion turned on.

 

If you are the unfortunate owner of an Epiphone Ultra 2 and want to test this out for yourselves follow these simple steps.

 

Make sure you're running in mono mode.

1: Set the toggle switch to TREBLE

2: Turn the RHYTHM VOLUME to 10

3: Roll the NANOMAG volume to 0

4: Roll the TREBLE volume to 0

 

5: Strum anything and listen to your guitar bleed like a Hemophiliac.

With the volume of the Nanomag and the treble pup off there should be 0 noise, but the Rhythm pup is still audible making your tone uhh... "unique".

 

So, how do you control this?

Well it can be controlled, but the toggle switch doesn't work on this guitar AT ALL. It does work a bit with an amp set to clean simply because the bleed is less noticeable. To keep this POS in check you have to set the volume on whatever the toggle switch is not using to 0.

 

To Epiphone. I'm very disappointed with your product. I, as a consumer will never buy your products again. I may buy a Gibson of some sort in the future, but never again will I buy any kind of Epiphone until this product is fixed, recalled or whatever it is your company does for customers who buy your broken products. This guitar was bought in Canada and Yorkville Distributor had become very familiar with my LP Ultra 2, because I sent it back at least twice. Once for the Nanomag Preamp being DOA and again because I thought the noise bleed/toggle switch was broken.

 

This was the customer service response I got from the distributor who looked at the toggle switch issue.

 

"Thanks to your inputs, we have done some research regarding the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II's innovative wiring and concluded that there is some chance that they all do somewhat the same thing. But first, here is a breif synopsis of how the controls work from our service dept.:

 

>>>> The Bridge pickup volume and Neck pickup volume controls are the same as a normal Les Paul. However, what is usually the neck pickup tone control is now a master tone control for the guitar. It will control the nano mag pickup tone as well, but only in mono mode. And what is usually the bridge pickup tone control is actually a master volume for the nano mag pickup. If this is turned up you will have signal regardless of where the bridge and neck pickup volume controls or the switch are set.>>>>

 

With a passive circuit as complex as this, it is more likely that signal voltages will leak a little than it is with a standard guitar circuit where the selector switch regulates everything."

 

This is the reason they are being blown out from Long & McQuade here in Canada.

I guess because of me since I brought this problem forward.

 

So, there you have it. Broken Ultra 2.

BUYER BEWARE

.!..:- ..!.

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I have an Ultra II as well. And I have the same issue with bleeding thru the pickups, so yes it seems to be a design issue.

 

I can live with it, just keep the un-used pickup volume at 0, but you shouldn't have to.

 

There are some other issues on mine too. the frets bands aren't placed correctly so thebottom E string sometimes gets stuck under a fret-edge at the side of the neck. Maybe they can be adjusted or filed, but if they need to be replaced it's gonna cost.

 

I have an Epi SG Prophecy too that is better quality so I wouldn't dismiss all Epiphone guitars because of this.

 

The Ultra II I may sell or trade in for another guitar. Haven't decided on if I will keep it or not yet.

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I sold it at a major loss, but at least I got something for that worthless chunk of kindling.

Nat, anyone who owns an Ultra 2 has the same problem. I had a few stores and the Canadian distributor test multiple Ultra 2's and now L&M is practically giving them away across the country as a result.

 

To anyone thinking about buying a Les Paul Ultra 2, please be aware of this problem.

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Sorry to hear that the Ultra II has its problems. I shopped for 1 a year ago but wasn't impressed with the quality or sound of the guitar. You might contact the design team at shadow (I think that's the name of the nanomag mfgr). They may be able to give you more insight into the Ultra II wiring and some options for correcting it.

 

As you note the bleed is undesireable. But I think there may be some basic circuit design mods that can improve or resolve the problem. But I think you would be better served by the design team that created it instead of the support group at Gibson/Epi.

 

Good Luck.

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Or you could have had some one fix it. Instead of just getting rid of it. And if they (repair guy) tell you that the wiring is too complex, you can order up a schematic from Shadow, since they sell the Nanomag separate and all. I think you were just looking for an excuse to complain.

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Or you could have had some one fix it. Instead of just getting rid of it. And if they (repair guy) tell you that the wiring is too complex' date=' you can order up a schematic from Shadow, since they sell the Nanomag separate and all. I think you were just looking for an excuse to complain.[/quote']

Normally I'm not one to point fingers, but I agree with this.

 

If they really are 'giving them away,' then I'll gladly take one on the cheap and spend 5 minutes with a soldering iron, yank the PCB and have a sweet as guitar. [biggrin]

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Never said I was going to give it away! I did however say that i may sell it or trade it in for another guitar. But I may also keep it.

 

I am a bit unhappy about some of the quality issues. The bleeding seems to be a construction issue. I can't solder myself and handing it in to t tech would cost more than I think it is worth. It doesn't bother me enough. But when i saw someone else have the same problem I thought i should verify the issue.

 

The frets on mine is more an individual quality issue I think. It's annoying at times, but not big enough to spend the rather steep cost of having it refretted. That's a pretty big job. I have in fact had it to a tech, but they were busy until July so i ahve to go back then. If they give me an estimate i may have them fix it. But I'm not really willing to spend half the guitars value on asjustements. In that case, I can always look at what I get for it as a trade in.

 

I can live with both selling it and keeping it, but I think in the long run I will eventually sell it for another one, probably a Gibson in fact.

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While it seems like there is a problem, it's an easy one to fix or deal with and one you should have noted before buying. You must be high if you think you personally have LM "giving away" these guitars across the country.

 

I were working in the Epi office I'd actually be pretty happy that you're sworn to never buy an Epi again, with customers who don't know s**t about guitars, who needs enemies.

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For you "fanbois" buy an Ultra 2, still under warranty, and see if Epiphone fixes the noise bleed. lol.

 

To me I don't like to buy broken stuff, but if you're OK with a company selling you crap... by all means carry on. Logically do you think their products are going to get better if they know you'll buy broken crap and like it?

Flame me all you want on that, I'm older than 5 years and know I'm right.

 

If you buy something NEW and like to throw more money at it to make it work the way it should have to begin with... you're just stupid.

Oh, and if you're this person have I got some awesome stuff to sell to you! Please PM me, I'll gladly take your money and sell you awesome(haha) stuff... no... really.

 

 

The distributor (Yorkville) decided to unload all their stock to L&M for cheap, because ALL of the Ultra 2's are faulty. The Ultra 2's dropped from $1000 to a sale price of $699 and reg price of $799. Because they know that once people find out the Ultra 2's come broken right off the shelf no one will buy them. These are still a new product, I don't think they have stopped production on them yet.

 

This is a quote from the CSR for the distributor of ALL of Canada for Epiphone "Thanks to your inputs, we have done some research regarding the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II's innovative wiring and concluded that there is some chance that they all do somewhat the same thing."

I have the email and can forward it to you if you would like. It clearly indicates they had no idea that all Ultra 2's did that until I told them to fix my guitar.

 

Anyway, buy one or not. I don't care. Just be aware that the toggle switch doesn't work because of noise bleed.

 

Ps: To that guy who likes to buy new broken crap. We should do business, seriously...

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i may be wrong here' date=' but perhaps a simple change of a toggle switch would help?[/quote']

 

Nope, trust me it would have been fixed if that were the case.

It's the printed circuit board in the guitar that lets the signal bleed through.

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The distributor (Yorkville) decided to unload all their stock to L&M for cheap' date=' because ALL of the Ultra 2's are faulty. The Ultra 2's dropped from $1000 to a sale price of $699 and reg price of $799. Because they know that once people find out the Ultra 2's come broken right off the shelf no one will buy them. These are still a new product, I don't think they have stopped production on them yet.

 

[/quote']

 

Well, for starters, they're not new ... the Ultra II has been around for almost two years now. It has received numerous awards including the Platinum Award for excellence from Guitar World Magazine:

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

The regular street price here in the United States is still and has always been $749.99, with the occasional sale price of $699.99 ... no panic and no sell-offs. It sells just fine and many players (including several in this forum) enjoy the flexability afforded by this hybrid-type guitar.

 

You obviously did not, WinterOrb. You sold yours off and have aparently moved on to others things. Why not leave it at that? I'm not sure what kind of reaction you were expectling just because YOU didn't care for this particular piece of gear! Getting rid of it was clearly the right move for you ... be happy, move on and next time you do any guitar shopping may I suggest that you do a bit more research in order to avoid disappointment.

 

Jim

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Well' date=' for starters, they're not new ... the Ultra II has been around for almost two years now. It has received numerous awards including the Platinum Award for excellence from Guitar World Magazine:

 

 

The regular street price here in the United States is still and has always been $749.99, with the occasional sale price of $699.99 ... no panic and no sell-offs. It sells just fine and many players (including several in this forum) enjoy the flexability afforded by this hybrid-type guitar.

 

You obviously did not, WinterOrb. You sold yours off and have aparently moved on to others things. Why not leave it at that? I'm not sure what kind of reaction you were expectling just because YOU didn't care for this particular piece of gear! Getting rid of it was clearly the right move for you ... be happy, move on and next time you do any guitar shopping may I suggest that you do a bit more research in order to avoid disappointment.

 

Jim

[/quote']

 

 

Thanks for you criticism Jim, but I did do research on them.

There is no place on the net that says anything about the toggle switch not working for any of the Ultra 2's. Considering the statement from the distributor, that "I brought it to their attention" and that they had to test more of them to see if they all did that, says "Hey! I'm the only one out of all you clowns that found the noise bleed." So, I felt it necessary to inform people of this problem. I feel I have done so. Posts like yours, buddy, kinda drag it on... But that is fine since it gives more people a chance to get informed.

 

My reason for the reply about selling off my Ultra 2 was a reply to Nattsvart and not really any of your concern. Thanks for your interest, but it has been left at that.

 

It's rare here in Canada that prices match the ones in the US because our dollar is usually lower than yours and we generally have to pay more for items that are imported from the States for shipping, import fees, taxes and did I mention our dollar us usually lower? So, for your regular price of $749.99 to have never changed and ours to have dropped from $995 to $699 indicates that the Canadian Distributor no longer wishes to carry the Ultra 2's and has chosen L&M to unload the guitars for them. If that isn't clear enough an employee from L&M who I dealt with told me that the distributor sold them to L&M at "pawn shop prices because I brought it to the distributors attention". The funny thing is, I never bought my guitar at L&M. But this is irrelevant...

 

What is relevant is that the toggle switch doesn't work. THE END. lol

 

Love the guitar, hate the guitar or hate me for telling you; that, the toggle switch doesn't work and is a decoration on the guitar and that I feel it should work since it's there... Is a decision I leave in your hands for you to decide. If you don't mind buying crappy broken products right off the manufacturers assembly line that, is also up to you, but at least now you've been a little bit educated.

 

You can't tell me now that you would run out and buy an Ultra 2 knowing this problem. Can you?

 

PS: Not even that guy from Guitar World knew about the problem and the guitar in his hands has the same defect as the rest. Unless he chose not to disclose that information.

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