Epiphone dot stock pots

[YahliP]

hi guys,

 

i have amazing Epiphone dot 2016,

it is already upgraded with Seymour Duncan pickups and locking grover tuners (cause i installed bigsby )

 

what is the stock pots that coming with Epiphone dot 2016 and what upgrade should be done (if any ) ?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Y.P

[Yorgle]

Do the stock potentiometers work? If so, there's nothing to be gained by replacing them. Ohms is Ohms.

[Col Mustard]

I'll answer this question because I did this job on my 2014 Epiphone ES-339 P-90 Pro.

 

I bought this Epiphone "semi-hollow body" in like 2015, as my vote in the Great 2015 Gibson Bash-Fest...

All of the negativity about Gibson on guitar fora was so tiresome... I just couldn't stand it.

 

So I went looking at the Epiphone Casino, which I'd always wanted.

I found instead: The Epiphone Casino Coupe, and I was instantly attracted.

I drooled over catalogs, I tried out one in a music store, and when I was

ready to buy one, I was totally distracted by the ES-339.

 

Same size body as the Coupe... (slightly larger than a Les Paul)

P-90 p'ups, which sounded great. I bought one, and fell arse over teakettle for it

and have been a fan ever since.

 

The only kinship that my ES-339 P-90 pro has to your Dot, is that it's sort of a

hollow body guitar. Mine's smaller than the ES-335, and the 335 has hum buckers.

 

But I'll bet that the wiring harness is the same. I fell so hard for my Epi ES-339 that

I decided to mod it with all the best of everything I could buy or make. I was NOT going

to tackle the wiring harness, for one glaring reason... this job is a *****.

 

Trying to replace the wiring on a semi hollow body guitar means everything has to

come out the F-hole, and then everything has to go back in. There's no easy way to

do it. On your ES-335 it might be a little easier, because your guitar is a full hollow

body, so the wiring harness can come out the hole for the bridge p'up.

 

But it's still a *****. It's fiddly and you have to follow the instructions precisely.

And here's the benefit of my experience, you get it for free. I got it the hard way.

To get the wiring harness out, first you make a cardboard template, poking holes in a

a piece of cardboard to mark the position of each pot and the switch.

Then you build your wiring harness, following the soldering instructions from the

StewMac kit. They give good instructions. If you wire it according to the instructions

and you build it on your cardboard template, it will fit in your guitar and work better

than the cheap Epi parts ever did.

 

Before you remove the factory harness, you tie a one meter long piece of fishing line (10lb test works fine)

to each component. When you pull the factory harness out, keep these lines going back through the holes for each

component, so you can pull each one into the proper hole. Brilliant huh?

 

But here's the bite. I bought CTS 500k pots to replace whatever Epiphone installed. These are the best, right?

After I built my new spiffy wiring harness, I fished the old one out through the F-hole on my ES-339 (with the solid

center block)... and I looked at what I had removed, and they were the same thing. Epiphone installed CTS 500k

pots as factory stock parts. I comforted myself by saying that of course my wiring job was superior to anyone else's...

But I wasn't kidding anyone, including myself.

 

So maybe you don't have to replace your wiring harness at all. IMHO the weak point of Epiphone wiring harness is

usually the switch. So you might want to replace that at some time in the future... but I'd play what you have until

the switch goes wonky, and then replace only that.

[Supersonic]

 

On your ES-335 it might be a little easier, because your guitar is a full hollow

body, so the wiring harness can come out the hole for the bridge p'up.

 

 

The 335 or 'Dot' is a semi-hollow body with a center block like your 339. It's not fully hollow like a Casino.

 

I agree though, trying to fish the guts out through the f-hole is about as fun as getting teeth pulled.

[tweed2]

Or, getting a colonoscopy.....

[Col Mustard]

GET THE HOOK!

 

well and so... If Epiphone installs CTS pots as factory stock,

what does CTS stand for any more?

 

It used to stand for "Chicago Telephone Supply" and the owner

of the company was probably a drinking buddy of Mr. C. M. Berlin,

who owned Gibson in the forties.

 

But now I believe there are CTS electronics plants in many nations

including China. I also believe that Epi Guitars are getting better and

better, from the dim days of the 20th century to now.

 

They still have problems making a good toggle switch. Those have

gone south on the Epi guitars I have played. But it's easier to

replace just the switch than to do the whole shebang.

[Revolution Six]

Remove the crap chinese swich.

 

Install a SWITCHCRAFT.

[Revolution Six]

Stock electronics are very bad.

[YahliP]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks so much for your posts.

i have decided to leave the stock pots (also sent email to Gibson trying figure out if it is already CTS Or Alpha which is good enough for me)

 

1. i will update you once i will get answer from gibson.

2. also will upload picture off my beautiful Epi DOT.

 

 

Thanks so much,

 

Enjoy weekend !

 

Yahli.

 

[YahliP]

Remove the crap chinese swich.

 

Install a SWITCHCRAFT.

 

 

can u send me link of which SWITCHCRAFT switch you refer to ?

[Col Mustard]

here is a link to Philadelphia Luthier Tools and Supplies...

they sell toggle switch for Gibson or Epiphone guitars.

 

https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/nashville-bridges/gotoh-ge103b-t-guitar-nashville-bridge-with-large-metric-posts/

 

My suggestion is not to do anything if you don't have to.

My experience with Epi guitars is that the toggle switch may be a weak part

but don't let that spoil your experience with this lovely Dot.

 

I bought my ES-339 new, and played it hard for almost a year before the switch

began to crackle. At that point, I decided to replace the whole wiring harness....

My intention was to upgrade EVERYTHING so that I would only have to do it

once.

 

There was nothing wrong with the other parts that I removed, and the pots were

CTS 500k potentiometers. So I concluded that it might not have been necessary.

Other players have said that simply spraying some DeOxit into the switch solved

any problems they had. I would recommend that you get a can of DeOxit and keep

it with your guitar maintenance supplies. That can be used on guitar pots,

amplifier pots, the input jack, lots of uses.

 

Good motto to follow:

 

IF IT IS NOT BROKEN,

DO NOT FIX IT.

[YahliP]

here is a link to Philadelphia Luthier Tools and Supplies...

they sell toggle switch for Gibson or Epiphone guitars.

 

https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/nashville-bridges/gotoh-ge103b-t-guitar-nashville-bridge-with-large-metric-posts/

 

My suggestion is not to do anything if you don't have to.

My experience with Epi guitars is that the toggle switch may be a weak part

but don't let that spoil your experience with this lovely Dot.

 

I bought my ES-339 new, and played it hard for almost a year before the switch

began to crackle. At that point, I decided to replace the whole wiring harness....

My intention was to upgrade EVERYTHING so that I would only have to do it

once.

 

There was nothing wrong with the other parts that I removed, and the pots were

CTS 500k potentiometers. So I concluded that it might not have been necessary.

Other players have said that simply spraying some DeOxit into the switch solved

any problems they had. I would recommend that you get a can of DeOxit and keep

it with your guitar maintenance supplies. That can be used on guitar pots,

amplifier pots, the input jack, lots of uses.

 

Good motto to follow:

 

IF IT IS NOT BROKEN,

DO NOT FIX IT.

 

thanks mate!