eman789 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Okay, so I've got the Epiphone Les Paul Jr lying around here that I got a while back with the Rocksmith Bundle. The other day the idea of possibly modding it came to my attention. So far I've come up with switching the tuners, pickup, and possibly bridge. My Epiphone is all stock, so it currently has the Epiphone Diecast Tuners. What tuners should i buy to avoid drilling into the headstock? I'd like to give it a vintage look. I'm new to this forum, so any help at all would be great. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrian66 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 These are great guitars, but there not worth putting alot of money into. Easy fixes that don't have to cost much are the nut, the pots, the tuners, and the pickup. I like CTS pots and Tusq nuts. On eBay you should be able to get them all for less than $20.00. The tuners I would also get off of eBay. You can get some cheap Grovers from China. They take forever to get here, but they stay in tune pretty good. And last, I would get a pickup from guitarfetish.com. I put a set of GFS humbuckers in a guitar that I built, and they sound great. I think they were $30 something each. So really, for less than $100.00, you can make that LP Jr. sound and play like a guitar that cost a whole lot more! Oh yeah, dont worry about drilling the headstock to fit the new tuners, its easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman789 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 These are great guitars, but there not worth putting alot of money into. Easy fixes that don't have to cost much are the nut, the pots, the tuners, and the pickup. I like CTS pots and Tusq nuts. On eBay you should be able to get them all for less than $20.00. The tuners I would also get off of eBay. You can get some cheap Grovers from China. They take forever to get here, but they stay in tune pretty good. And last, I would get a pickup from guitarfetish.com. I put a set of GFS humbuckers in a guitar that I built, and they sound great. I think they were $30 something each. So really, for less than $100.00, you can make that LP Jr. sound and play like a guitar that cost a whole lot more! Oh yeah, dont worry about drilling the headstock to fit the new tuners, its easy. How would I go about swapping out the tuners? Should I just drill them out and use wood glue to fill the wholes that don't match up with the new tuners and drill new ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrian66 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Just pre-drill the new screw holes before you put the screws in. You may also have to drill the main hole that the tuner goes in as well. I'm not sure what the stock mounting hole size is. You can fill old screw holes in if you want but I wouldn't worry about it. Remember, this is not a valuable guitar. It is the perfect guitar to learn how to do this stuff on. If you screw it up you can replace the neck. Just take your time and have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Stock holes for the "economy tuners" on Juniors and Specials are 8mm. All the Grover tuners that I have installed use 10mm holes. As to screw holes: If you are going to screw near an old hole, then, fill it in with a toothpick. Put it in the hole and mark it with a pencil. Remove and literally, cut and paste. (Elmers) If the old screw holes are visible, for aesthetics, they can be topped off or filled with crayon shavings. (Rub the colored wax in with your thumb.) As to 8mm tuners. I've never use them but, I understand that Guitarfetish carries tuners and bushings (both standard and conversion) that might work with minimal modification to the holes. http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tuners_c_5.html Anyway, although I did change the hole sizes in order to use Grover tuners see if this interests you. Might provide some insight into tools and such....Just give it a bit to load. (it's an old thread) http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/76854-beater-guitar-part-2/ Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman789 Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Stock holes for the "economy tuners" on Juniors and Specials are 8mm. All the Grover tuners that I have installed use 10mm holes. As to screw holes: If you are going to screw near an old hole, then, fill it in with a toothpick. Put it in the hole and mark it with a pencil. Remove and literally, cut and paste. (Elmers) If the old screw holes are visible, for aesthetics, they can be topped off or filled with crayon shavings. (Rub the colored wax in with your thumb.) As to 8mm tuners. I've never use them but, I understand that Guitarfetish carries tuners and bushings (both standard and conversion) that might work with minimal modification to the holes. http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tuners_c_5.html Anyway, although I did change the hole sizes in order to use Grover tuners see if this interests you. Might provide some insight into tools and such....Just give it a bit to load. (it's an old thread) http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/76854-beater-guitar-part-2/ Willy So there's no real easy way to just swap tuners without avoiding drilling new holes? No brand or style that would just make swapping it as easy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 So there's no real easy way to just swap tuners without avoiding drilling new holes? No brand or style that would just make swapping it as easy? Maybe I should have been more specific. I have never used the ones from Guitarfetish. Others have stated that they have bought tuners from Guitarfetish and they were either drop in or a minor change of bushings. As to the accuracy of this I have no idea as I tend to use Grovers. Pick out a couple of models from them that you might be interested in. Contact Guitarfetish and ask them what size holes and bushings are needed. Before hand, remove a string and a tuner (its only two small screws) and measure the existing peg diameter as well as the inside of the bushing hole. This will provide some insight into what you will be looking for. Hope this helps, Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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