[Black Beauty 3 Upgrade]

Done!

Thank you All for your valuable assistance.

[Black Beauty 3 Upgrade]

Hi thefatman,

Hope you're pleased with your BB3. I was totally stoked when I bought mine in 2004.

Couple of things buddy; What year is yours? Where was it built, China, Korea or Japan?

The serial no. will tell you all.

Be careful with the strap studs, they come loose easily. Install straplocks asap, we don't wanna see broken headstocks or necks dude.

 

My BB3 was built in Unsung/Korea in 2004. The pups on mine ore different to the ones I had on my other Epi's. They are Gibson designed HB's, not the usual Classics HB's or those muddy

Hotch HB's. I rewired the entire thing with Gibson wires, CTS pots, PIO caps and Switchcraft

switches and jackplug.I left the original pups on. The guitar sounded clearer and had a little more oomph in reserve. I did a comparison with a Gibson LP traditional and the BB3 through a Marshall JCM 800 and could barely tell the difference soundwise. I actually prefered the feel of my BB3 over the Gibby. Probably 'cause of the way I set it up.

I also put a Les Trem on her. Got it from Stew Mac a few years back.

I have a couple of pictures on this forum. Check out 'Lets see your Epiphone'.

 

These BB3's are some of the best LP's that Epiphone has put out. Some are better than others, but in general, they are exceptionally good value and, given a good set-up and better

electrics, will hold their own in any situation. I highly recommend them.

(I'm bias of course)

My Black Beauty3 is my favourate of all my gits.

 

ps. The bridge and middle pups should be on when the switch is in the middle position.

That's how the're wired.

 

Paul :)

No sir. maybe when they moved production from Korea to China they changed the wiring.

when I have the pickup selector in the middle position only the middle pickup is working.

I did the tap test:)

I know it was made in China.

s/n 11071507304

[Black Beauty 3 Upgrade]

Due to teh way the strings nodes are located, middle HB's never sound as good as when they're in the bridge or neck. Not a good location for a humbucker. Almost no one plays HHH guitars,a nd teh few that do, rarely if ever use the middle PU.

 

What I've done on mine is put an HB-sized P-90 in the middle slot. There's a number of brands out now, and the GFS Mean 90 is pretty popular on the Duncan forum, goes for around $30. Get the bridge model.

 

Thank you all for your help. Well I got her home yesterday afternoon. I was surprised by several things. the middle pick up uses the same volume and tone controls as the bridge pick up. also when the pickup selector is in the middle, only the middle pickup is active.

 

So far Ive found the middle pickup to be very usable, not as bright as the bridge and not as warm as the neck.

[Black Beauty 3 Upgrade]

Greetings.

 

I'm waiting for my Black beauty 3 to arrive and I have some questions that some of you might be able to answer.

 

1) I'm going to be switching out the pups with Seymour Duncan's. I've put an Alnico 2 pro slash in the bridge and

SH-2 Jazz in the neck of my Epi Double neck and i'm very happy with the sound. My concern is the middle pick up.

I was thinking of putting a P90 in the middle slot. or in both the neck and middle. Any suggestions?

 

2) Will a 6 way Rotary switch fit in the cavity of the pickup selector?

 

My link

 

 

3) I'm planning on installing a Bigsby B700 vibrato.Is there a big difference between the one's made in the USA

as opposed to the Bigsby licensed one's made over seas?

 

4) Should I replace the bridge with something that has rollers? If so, what would you suggest. I would need

something that would fit on the guitar without having to do any modifications.

 

Thank you in advance.

[i.d. your Epiphone here -- serial # key, guitardater link + factory codes... a worldwide guide >part 3]

Serial# U08020861

Link does not work, can anyone help me out?