LeicesterGuy26 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Ok so here's the deal. Ive just bought a Epi black beauty and want to change the pickups but don't have the first clue about changing electrics or anything on guitars. I play using a Vox VT30 and a Marshall avt 20 limited edition (btw which is better in your opinion?) anyway I play a lot of different styles of music from hendrix - hurt - Metallica - Foo fighters - blues - Kings of Leon and Oasis. Pretty much everything and everything but mostly rock. So Im wondering what pickups to change to as the stock ones are a little bit to muddy and don't give me the overdrive I'm looking for. A lot of people have said get Gibson 57 classics, Burstbuckers or seymour duncan alnico pro II's ?? Any advice would great. Sorry for being such a simpleton :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexygibson Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 IMO, the Burstbuckers and 57' Classics are a bit on the bright side. Alot of guys like the Duncans and another opition is EMGs. If you play alot of high gain material than EMGs may be the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicesterGuy26 Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 what emg's would you recommend ? are they easy to fit or is it a pro's job ? is it pricey ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 If you like Zakk Wyldes sound you can get his model EMG's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 If you've never changed out electrics before, starting on a semi-hollow body will be a challenge. Because of the solid wood block down the centre of the body, all the wiring, pots, switch and jack socket have to come out of the f-holes. And go back in through them. Some models f-holes will only allow mini-pots, most will allow full size pots and its a squeeze. If you did take this on I'd recommend doing some background reading first and getting used to doing quick, shiny solder joints before you risk frying your pots. One of our contributors, lpdeluxe, has posted his experiences here, and has recently offered other enquirers to email them if you PM him. I had a quick look on the search but couldn't find the last time he posted the piece here. I also did a piece on replacing pups and wiring on my Sheraton and I can't find it on my computer! I'll search here, and paste it in if (when!) I find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Found it. Here we go: I bought my Sherry last year when I was on a long holiday and needed something to play. It jumped off the shelf at me and we got on fine while I was playing it acoustically in motel rooms. When I got it home and played through either of my valve amps I found the tone muddy at the neck and screechy at the bridge, not a tone I would want to gig or record with. Its a 2004 model with the serial number beginning with an 'I'. I believe that Epiphone might have improved their sound with later models. So I decided on new pickups, and while I'm in there, why not change out the wiring as well, how hard can that be? Cost was a factor for the pups, boutique was not an option. I opted for GFS (Guitarfetish) Vintage 59's. I'd heard good reports of GFS, and these Alnico buckers at $40 each seemed to be worth a try. GFS rate them at 8.5-8.8K for the Bridge, 8.0-8.2K for the neck. I measured mine then forgot to write it down, but they were in that region. The GFS pups looked identical to the originals in their gold finish and black surround, and fit just as they should. Their leads are 4-core, offering the option of coil splitting and phase reverse but I didn't take advantage of either of those. Getting the pots, switch and jack out of the guitar was relatively easy. The hole for the pickup cables from the pup cavity to the body chamber is not big enough to remove components through, they have to come out of the f-hole. I masked the edges of the f-hole with insulating tape and they came out easily enough. I heard elsewhere (here?) that the Samick-made Sheratons have a smaller f-hole that you can't get the components out through. I don't know if that is true. Obviously, getting new components back in through their respective body holes would be near impossible without some nifty method. Before taking the old components out, I shoved some 4mm bore plastic tubing over the pot shafts. As they are 5mm the tubing needed opening out with sharp nose pliers but it gave a secure fit. I cut the long section off a jack plug and soldered it to a cable so it could hold the jack socket and pass through the jack socket body hole. I didn't attach tubing to the switch as that was accessible by fingers through the f-hole. Turns out the bridge vol & tone were also accessible so they didn't need tubing. From Guitarpartsresource.com I bought the 'wiring kit for SG/ES' which consists of CTS pots, Switchcraft jack and switch, Orange Drop capacitors and braided wire. I copied the wiring layout from my EA250 as this uses all braided cable and has independent volume controls, i.e. in the middle switch position either volume pot only affects its own pickup. I drew this out and there's a link in my other post about wiring hum trouble. I mounted the components into the top of a cardboard box for easy soldering. When it came to replacing the new wiring loom I found the six holes in the top of the body were too small! The new, better components were all bigger than the originals. I took all the holes out to 10mm with a drill bit held in a pair of pliers, no way I was trusting myself with an electric drill on this! Everything then went back where it belongs quite easily, a little fiddling to get pots through the f-hole. I didn't plan it, but just visible through the f-hole is one of the orange drop capacitors and a length of braided cable. I can live with that! So, was it worth it? The GFS pickups sound better than the originals. No muddyness or screech. They aren't Gibsons or Lollars but then again they aren't $300. I might have made replacing the wiring sound easier than it was. It's a lot of work and fiddling, I would say you should be really sure you wanted to replace components other than the pickups before taking it on. Hope this was of interest, good luck if you're upgrading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geff Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 On the subject of EMGs, be aware that they are active (EMG passives are a pointless red herring) and need a 9V battery hidden somewhere in your guitar. Unless you only do modern hard rock, EMGs are really not your answer anyway as they are usually described as "sterile", meaning they rob your guitar of its own inherent tone. A good high output passive pickup is what you need. The SD HOT ROD set is their best selling combination and a versatile pairing, reasonably priced at around $130 for the pair. GFS also do a wide range of generally well-spoken-of pickups at great prices (expect around $80 for a pair). If you have the cash, genuine Gibsons are good. Burstbuckers are one of thier more popular ranges but they have all sorts to suit all styles. The Dirty Fingers (as featured on the prophecy range) are great for a warm Blues to all out raunchy distortion with a very high output (Highest of any standard gibson pickup?). Take a peak at the Gibson forums where the topic of pickups is often hot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy1281734128 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 ive just gone for a gibson 57 neck, and SD 59 bridge for my sherry, with 2 gibson p94s going in my epi sg. will post up pics, and sound updates next week when they're installed. or the week afterm depending on when they get here from the states... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w1av Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Hi, Last year I put in a set of GFS Vintage 59's in my WASHBURN Oscar Schmidt Delta King....It made guitar sound MUCH better as far as enhancing the nice tone of the guitar...all pup positions sound CLEAN and CLEAR with no muddiness. The bridge pup is nice too, no skreetch. It has BETTER sustain too! I would steer clear of those active pickups because like Geff said, it will kill the original tone. Then if thats the case you might as well put EMG's in ANYTHING! Cause you won't be able to tell what the heck kind of guitar you are playing. I go for the TONE!!!! But then I dont play rock. After reading many reviews on the GFS 59's I do agree they are not Gibsons or Lollars, BUT they do enhance what you have, keeping the original tone. For me they were perfect cause I play clean with MAYBE some overdrive in some cases. And the price is right too. I have the 59's in this guitar and also my LP Classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicesterGuy26 Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 I think I'll leave the emgs, sound a bit to much for what I want and a bit of a hassle to get in. Im still quite interested in the SD alnico pro 2 in the neck position. So I might go for them first and get something for the bridge a bit later on. Just being looking at all the other pickups and now am spoilt for choice. Have seen quite a lot of good reviews for the pearly gates pickups. There are some on ebay (with an alnico 2) Ive heard them separate but not together. Would it be worth getting ? Seems like a top buy to be honest ! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Seymour-Duncan-Pearly-Gates-Alnico2-Bk-Pickups-Gibson_W0QQitemZ200308672249QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item200308672249&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318#ht_3147wt_1165 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicesterGuy26 Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 what's the big difference then between Gibson 57 classics and the 59's ? sorry for all the questions. But am reading all the reply's and its helping loads so thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy1281734128 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2056391 http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=1598807 http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98323 heres a couple of forum pages on the difference between 57s and 59s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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