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What kind of pickups are in your Epi?


gripweed

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I'm a big fan of vintage style pickups. The majority of my Epi have Duncans in them. I've tried the Seth Lover, Pearly Gates the '59, the Jazz and a Duncan custom shop pickup called the Brobucker. I also have a Fralin 7.5 humbucker in the neck of my "V". I really liked the stock pickups in my LP standard, but they were a little hotter than I usually like.

 

So give it up -- what have you used in your Epis?

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I right away bought a Gibson 498/490 set and honestly the sonics of my Epi LPC were Very near that of the few Gibson LPC's I had tinkered with at GC and at Jams. Now I have the Duncan Custom Custom Sh-11 and APII set and the tones are Heavenly. I tried the JB as well and wasnt quite as happy as with the Gibsons and my current Duncans.

Back in the early 80's I had a real Gibson LPC with dual Dimarzio's Super distortions and the tones were VG across the board IMO.

So many good p'up upgrades available today that its staggering.

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I'm a big fan of vintage style pickups. The majority of my Epi have Duncans in them. I've tried the Seth Lover' date=' Pearly Gates the '59, the Jazz and a Duncan custom shop pickup called the Brobucker. I also have a Fralin 7.5 humbucker in the neck of my "V". I really liked the stock pickups in my LP standard, but they were a little hotter than I usually like.

 

So give it up -- what have you used in your Epis?[/quote']

 

 

Kent Armstrong Kentrons in my Sheraton, GFS Mean 90s in my Lucille, GFS lipstick (Dano style) humbuckers in my Flamekat, and my Byrdland has a Gibson 490R in the neck position (done by the previous owner). I have Duncan 59s in a couple of my non-Epis, I like them a lot.

 

 

flamekat.jpg

 

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The ones in mine are out of a '74 SG with the covers removed...Bill Lawerence something-or-others, I like 'em better than what was in it stock, they was too hot, I'm thinkin' I'm gonna swap the ones out of the Gibson at some point too...

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both my epis have kent armstrong p90s in them.

I find I can get all I want toward single or humbuck out of them.. plus their own unique voice.

 

I have KAs in my non epis, too. even basses.

I wish I had lost's wildkat as I've not heard the epi p90s outside of a store for just a couple of minutes, and that's not enough for an opinion.

I love those wildkats.

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My G-400 has had a WCR Herc bridge, a JB and a 490R/498T set in it. I allways returned to the stock pups.

 

Until I bought a set of WCR Iron Man (Iron Men?). m/ They currently have AlNiCo 8 magnets, but I have AlNiCo 5 and ceramic 8 magnets too, to try at a later time...

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Only my 90's Epis needed help in the pickup department. The other changes were strictly for tonal variety.

 

All non-stock pickups are Seymour Duncan pickups.

 

Epi - bridge/neck:

LP Goldtop - Duncan Distortion/Jazz

LP Classic - Duncan Custom/Jazz

LP Standard - Stock/Stock

Dot - Seth Lover/Seth Lover

LP Custom - Stock/Stock

 

There is one pickup in transition. I'm awaiting a Brobucker for the bridge of my LP Custom.

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i have a yr.2000 epi standard les paul that had god awful pups.changed mine to gfs cruchy pat set.did'nt have much money so i thought what the hell.turned out to be a great set.bridge has good crunch,smooths out good with volume chages,neck pup is fantastic.so good i'm ordering another neck pup to try in the bridge position,real vintage vibe in my opinion.bridge pup is 14k but does'nt seem that "hot"neck is 10k just about perfect i believe.cheap price hard to believe.but i still love the sd59's just could'nt cough up the money at the time.just a side note i measured the resistance on these and they are correct,but the neck pup seems much louder why is that?anybody have an answer?i'm thinking its less compressed but i don't know.

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...

just a side note i measured the resistance on these and they are correct' date='but the neck pup seems much louder why is that?anybody have an answer?i'm thinking its less compressed but i don't know.[/quote']

 

Side reply: Higher string amplitude further away from the bridge may still be the culprit. I know, difficult to accept for a 10k neck vs. a 14k bridge. Still, DC resistance isn't everything. Could be magnet or coil wire differences if they're supposed to be a matched (balanced) set.

 

I'm not familiar w/ that set but you may try lowering the neck pup (or raising the bridge) to see if they balance a little better. As appropriate, you know.

 

I suppose it could be extremes on the pot tolerances having some effect too.

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My list of G-400's goes as follows:

 

Iommi - stock with Iommi pickups neck and bridge

'66 style limited - Burstbucker II neck and Angus Young bridge

'62 style cherry - Burstbucker II neck and Burstbucker III bridge

'62 style beater - Duncan '59 neck and Duncan Pearly Gates bridge

Vibrola-ed project - P-94R and P-94T

 

I've got a Traveler with the stock HB that I might change out with somthing hotter eventually

 

Wedgie

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I've always got a buzz from well chosen affordable guitars that perform above their station...hence my affection for modern Epis and Tokais etc :-k

 

The same goes for Pickups. The Epi LP in our house has a pair of Wilkinson nickel covered WVC-N pickups.

forty quid the pair and I'd defy anybody to listen blind and say they were inferior to PAF-alikes from SD, Gibson or anybody else you'd care to mention. [My own favourite PAF types are the SD Seths and the Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays...but they're based on a different softer PAF voice and not so versatile in many applications]

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I am just so dull and boring that I left my Epi Stock with the Classic 57's. However my Strats are a different story.

 

I left the stock ones in my Eric Clapton Artist Series Strat "Blackie", the noiseless pups are amazing. As a matter of fact the entire guitar is, and will remain stock. They did a great job on it.

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