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Most Suitable Epiphone for Rockabilly Style


erik1930

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For a long time i used this Epi Dot to play rockabilly. It did a fine job. Its modded with a bigsby, roller bridge and Gibson classic 57s. The Sheraton will get you there, but you may want to think about a pickup swap. GFS Surf90s are a popular Rockabilly pickup sounding similar to Gretsch Dynasonics.

 

8Balldot.jpg

 

My go to guitars for rockabilly now are a Gretsch 5120 with Filtertrons, a non gretsch hollowbdy with GFS Surf90s and a Jazzmaster.

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Epi ES-345 (because it was on special a year ago), TV Jones Classic Pickups with English rings, rewired with Switchcraft gear (switch, jacks) & CTS pots, Orange Drop caps, (rewired mainly to get rid of Varitone circuit, so the 6-way switch is now only cosmetic), Stewmac Schaller 14" radius roller bridge, original Bigsby Chet wire handle for the standard Bigsby, Gibson top hat knobs, bone nut, Kluson locking tuners. The thing sounds like an ever-so-slightly warmed-over Gretsch in middle switch position (both pickups), & switching the bridge pickup only holds its own in sound with Setzer's version of Summertime Blues (when played clean on a Vox AC30 with some reverb dialed in) for an example.

 

EpiFin_zps65bed78b.jpg

 

This conversion would work with any Epi ES-335, 355, Sheraton, Casino, Dot etc as well. Given that all the hardware apart from the Bigsby and frets was swapped out in doing this, so long as the body and neck are good a real cheap wrecker could be a good starting point.

 

It sounds nothing like it did in standard trim. [woot][biggrin]

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Epi ES-345 (because it was on special a year ago), TV Jones Classic Pickups with English rings, rewired with Switchcraft gear (switch, jacks) & CTS pots, Orange Drop caps, (rewired mainly to get rid of Varitone circuit, so the 6-way switch is now only cosmetic), Stewmac Schaller 12" radius roller bridge, original Bigsby Chet wire handle for the standard Bigsby, Gibson top hat knobs, bone nut, Kluson locking tuners. The thing sounds like an ever-so-slightly warmed-over Gretsch in middle switch position (both pickups), & switching the bridge pickup only holds its own in sound with Setzer's version of Summertime Blues (when played clean on a Vox AC30 with some reverb dialed in) for an example.

 

EpiFin_zps65bed78b.jpg

 

This conversion would work with any Epi ES-335, 355, Sheraton, Casino, Dot etc as well. Given that all the hardware apart from the Bigsby and frets was swapped out in doing this, so long as the body and neck are good a real cheap wrecker could be a good starting point.

 

It sounds nothing like it did in standard trim. [woot][biggrin]

 

It looks absolutely bad-*** with the tv jones pups! Great looking Gee-tar, bet it sounds fantastic too

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I know it's not an Epiphone, but on a budget these Xaviere xv-950 guitars look like tasty rockabilly machines...

 

Well, now that you mention it, the Xavi XV-570 is identified as a "Rockabilly Semi-hollow". GF's description: "Rockabilly Heaven with a pair of our incredible Minitron Nashville pickups, a Trapeze Tailpiece and tuneomatic bridge."

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This conversion would work with any Epi ES-335, 355, Sheraton, Casino, Dot etc as well. Given that all the hardware apart from the Bigsby and frets was swapped out in doing this, so long as the body and neck are good a real cheap wrecker could be a good starting point.

 

It sounds nothing like it did in standard trim. [woot][biggrin]

I totally agree. Here's another conversion of a Riviera. These are original Gretsch Filtertron HS pickups, thus no english mount. But the sound is incredible, no comparison to the chinese mini humbuckers. Added Bigsby, Grover Super Rotomatics, Duesenberg roller bridge and entire new harness with the usual suspects.

 

wui9.jpg

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I've been in the process of transforming my 2010 Dot into a "rockabilly tone machine". Installed a Bigsby and a bone nut first. Am now in the process of installing Vineham P-90 style pickups and 50's wiring. I'll try to get some pics and maybe a sound clip up when it's finished, hopefully within a few days. Can't wait to hear how it sounds through my Fender SCXD and Vox AC15!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alan7140, that is absolutely gorgeous. Did the Schaller drop straight onto the standard posts?

Thanks :)

No, the metric posts were not a match so I had to remove them and to drill out the mounting holes in the sound board a bit to press-fit the imperial-sized posts that came with the Schaller. I can't remember the drill size, but it was one from a standard imperial set, so nothing exotic.

 

The Schaller is good because the saddles are radiused at 14" which transitions the straight Bigsby string bar nicely to the fret board's 12" radius. The saddle rollers are also angled slightly to take into account the slightly slanted angle the bridge is mounted at, so the strings pass straight along the slots rather than binding in the groove. Very clever engineering and very well made, so worth the money I think.

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