LP upgrade time!

[L_Mo]

Hey all..

 

This forum gives me GAS in the worst way. However, I simply can't afford it, so I'm looking to do the next best thing: mod what I've got.

 

I have a Dot and a LP classic blue quilt top that looks exactly like Matiac's. The LP was pretty beat up when I got it, so I'm dubbing it my "project guitar" and I plan to do some upgrades.. So I have a few questions, as this will be my first undertaking.

 

1) I'm looking into GFS pickups. Basically, they're at a price I can afford. I've heard they're at least a marginal upgrade to the stock pickups (correct me please if that's wrong), and I want the experience of changing them out. So the big problem I'm having: which ones do I want? I don't know a lot about pickup sounds, honestly. All I can say is I play blues, jazz, classic and hard rock. I like a hot pickup sound that's good with distortion, but I don't want it to sacrifice a good clean sound. What GFS pickup fits this? Or alternatively, any other pickups that are in the same ballpark or -slightly- more expensive?

 

2) I'm considering re-wiring and replacing almost everything. This is primarily because I want to add DPDT pots to do a coil tap. So the question is: what are good "upgrade" electronics? Any favored brand for the pots or any special wires people prefer?

 

Any tips are appreciated before I begin!

[V-Type]

Welcome too Epi Modder central.

Im a freak at changing out pickups on low to mid level guitars and turning them into Pro/near pro sounding instruments.

GFS are a great alternative too the new Duncans,Dimarzio,s Gibsons,etc...

You''d probably like a Hot PAF. Its not over the top for driving an amps gain as much as some ceramics. Alnico II or V mags seem to be the best of both worlds for me. I personally use The Gibson 498/490 sets and Duncan Sh-11/AP II set myself.

But the GFS clips ive heard and in person sound impressive and a deffinate tonal improvement over the Stockers too my ear.

For wiring kits GFS also has some impressive LP drop in's that I also may upgrade too.

Upgrading guitars is almost as fun as playing em.

8-[/

[TWANG]

Hey all..

 

This forum gives me GAS in the worst way. However' date=' I simply can't afford it, so I'm looking to do the next best thing: mod what I've got.

 

I have a Dot and a LP classic blue quilt top that looks exactly like Matiac's. The LP was pretty beat up when I got it, so I'm dubbing it my "project guitar" and I plan to do some upgrades.. So I have a few questions, as this will be my first undertaking.

 

1) I'm looking into GFS pickups. Basically, they're at a price I can afford. I've heard they're at least a marginal upgrade to the stock pickups (correct me please if that's wrong), and I want the experience of changing them out. So the big problem I'm having: which ones do I want? I don't know a lot about pickup sounds, honestly. All I can say is I play blues, jazz, classic and hard rock. I like a hot pickup sound that's good with distortion, but I don't want it to sacrifice a good clean sound. What GFS pickup fits this? Or alternatively, any other pickups that are in the same ballpark or -slightly- more expensive?

 

2) I'm considering re-wiring and replacing almost everything. This is primarily because I want to add DPDT pots to do a coil tap. So the question is: what are good "upgrade" electronics? Any favored brand for the pots or any special wires people prefer?

 

Any tips are appreciated before I begin!

 

[/quote']

 

upgrades are a great idea. You get to try out things that don't break the bank completely, improve your ears, have fun, and wind up with something better.

 

blues, jazz, classic and hard rock

for me that's a vintage output humbucker. I don't know from GFS, frankly. I hear good things.

I sell Kent Armstrongs. This aint a sales pitch, though. They're the ones I know most about. Owning two epis currently,

one old, one new, I do have some comparison experience.

I like the 12 pole piece humbucker with 4 conductor wiring.. I think it's like 8.4K ohms.. vintage output, but with better string to string balance and able to switch to single coil, or do series/parallel wiring so you have more modern sounds available as well.

 

Whatever you end up with, those are good things to think about.

 

CTS and Alpha pots are pretty much it for me. CTS with a slightly firmer feel. I've had excellent results with both of them and no problems so far. They don't cost much, but they are worth the extra you pay sans name brand, etc.

 

In guitars the capacitors generally run from your typical radio shack, not the little brown ones like you see that are flat, but the fatter ones, green usually.. *do a google on guitar capacitor types so I don't have to explain it all*..

to name brands like Sozo Mallory Sprague Hovland... Hovland being very expensive and oil filled.

I don't see the expense being worth it. I'll put sprague or mallory in guitars I sell, because people believe there's better tone there, but I haven't really been able to hear it.

(amps are another story)

So my advice is CTS pots.. vintage style cloth wrapped wire, and I suggest, since they are so cheap, varying values for your tone controls.. find what your new pickups and you like best.

Shield painting or copper foil sheilding is a good idea, even with humbucks.. and pretty easy to do with a paul.

 

keep your wires short.. as short as you can. make sure you don't let little tiny wires stick out, or short to the sheilding.

 

remember to always turn the pot all the way down before soldering. so hot spots don't give you screwed up performance... they burn out the track and you can lose volume completely at spots where the soldering heat transfers to the pot position. all the way down is where you don't give a damn anyway.

 

Remember that there are reasons people prefer certain pot values.. don't assume 500K is what your guitar wants.. esp. if you series parallel or dual single coil.. maybe 300K.. same with cap values.. look.. it only takes one of each pot to find out what you like where.. and when you're done, surely you can store that extra pot away, or lay it on a pal.. same with caps.

 

Get that tone!

TWANG

[lpplayer]

GFS....my experience is they are excellent. Probably made in the same factory as all the other import pickups. I have used two models so far, the Crunchy PAF and the fat PAF. The Crunchy PAF replaced the Duncan Designed pickups in my Strat. They were a big improvement. Dirtier sound to them, but not a supercharged or distorted pickup.

 

Last month I put Fat PAF's in my PRS SE Custom. They sound great for that guitar...harmonics are better, the sound is definitely fatter, and more defined than the stock pickups. Clean and dirty they are excellent. You can get them covered, uncovered, black, zebra...

[bluefoxicy]

I have ... a LP classic blue quilt top that looks exactly like Matiac's.

 

Oi, is that an Epi or a Gibson? If it's an Epi how the heck do I get one?

[matiac]

Either leftovers, or second hand Blue, they don't make 'em anymore, I haven't seen ANY quilts on ebay, and I'm in there pokin' around almost every day. Oh yeah, I think he's got an Epiphone.

[bluefoxicy]

Either leftovers' date=' or second hand Blue, they don't make 'em anymore, I haven't seen ANY quilts on ebay, and I'm in there pokin' around almost every day.[/quote']

 

Yargh. So sad. Oh well, the Slash model has a pretty finish (dig the deep red-brown on the back) and a blue-green Chameleon Studio later on in life will do it for me for now.

[matiac]

Hey Blue, look what I found...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Classic-Quilt-Top-Electic-Guitar-NM_W0QQitemZ320224342426QQihZ011QQcategoryZ33037QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[L_Mo]

Thanks for the pointers everyone! I'll try to keep updating on my progress to see what happens. I'll definitely try putting in different pots to see what sounds better!

 

Btw yes the blue quilt is an epiphone. I found it in bad shape at a 2nd hand guitar store, -covered- in stickers, a big screw replacing the strap button, broken-off pickguard... etc. After a bit of TLC and she's lookin' pretty good!

[bluefoxicy]

Hey Blue' date=' look what I found...[/quote']

 

Doh.. I don't have the money to get that and the Slash model :s My budget's actually backed up for 3 months!

 

Good find though.

[matiac]

Ya know, it's just a real crappy day here, warm, but raining. So I thought I'd do a little photo shoot, consisting of just this one picture, I always like the pictures where the Quilt can be seen, it looks great, even if it is a veneer. And the Goldtop is always a photographing pleasure, hell, that just goes without saying, they're both a couple of keepers, and I'll give them the best home I possibly can...oh brother, here, look.

[old1]

I'm a drummer that just got serious about playing guitar over the last year but don't hold that against me. I've heard a lot of guitars in the many bands I've played in over last 40+ years, so with what brain cells and hearing I have left I believe I can still recongnize a good guitar sound when I hear it. My current lead player still has an all original Strat he bought in 63. That worn rusty thing still sounds sweet!

Until I'm sure I'll stick with learning guitar I didn't want to spend a lot so I picked up a used Epi LP studio made in Korea in 2000. As others have reported the stock PUPs were muddy and lifeless so I decided to upgrade them.

I ordered GFS 59s, Fat PAFs and the Dream 180s with the thought I'd pick a winner and send the rest back for credit.

Problem is I like them all. They're all a definate improvement over the stock pups. The dream 180s were a bit to jangly for a LP type sound but should work well in an archtop. The Vintage 59s are more LP sounding with good bottom and top end but seem to lack in the middle a bit. I settled on the Fat PAFs since they sound more balanced to me. They have a bit less top and bottom end than the other GFS PUPS but have a good middle that brings out the LP honk or hollow log type sound I like. They're hot wound and have noticeably more ouput but clean up nicely when I roll the guitars volume control back a bit. I also installed a coil split switch and can get some decent single coill sounds as well. The Fat PAFs seem to work best for this since you've still got an approx. 5K pickup, which likely is the reason they're not thin sounding like the others in single coil mode.

I had my lead player jam a few tunes with it and he was impressed with the difference over the stock PUPs. No more mud and leads cut the mix nicely.

I have no idea whether spending a bunch more on PUPS would be worth it for this guitar. All I know is I'm happy with the improvement for what little I paid.

I've also replaced a bad tone pot with a GFS brand and the tone caps with GFS Sprague large orange caps with good results.

Hope this helps.

Good luck with your upgrades!