Upgrading advice needed

[Whiplash]

hey guys, I have an Lp-100, and a ridiculously thin wallet. so instead of being able to upgrade the guitar, i was thinking of making some adjustments to this one. I've been using this completely stock, no adjustments what so ever...and it still has delivered pretty reasonably, even in drop tuning metal. and considering that everyone's biggest gripe with this guitar is the poor factory finish, i'm hoping that if i actually do get it set up, it would end up in a pretty decent result. and i'm thinking of upgrading the pickups, and i really wanna know, for metal, would duncans (jb/59 [or if you have any other suggestions]) or Emgs (active/passive? 81/85? 81/60?) be better?..could really use some help..thanks!

[Hector Arcadius]

Do you intend to play only metal? Personally, I would go with the Duncans JB/Jazz combo, it's really versatile. I would even add split-coil option, to be able to play anything from blues / country to metal.

 

If you are on a thin wallet, perhaps versatility should be an important factor to your decision. Anyway, almost all metalheads love their EMGs 81/85, so it depends. Listen to ALL the samples you can find, and also take your amp in consideration. Active pickups also create additional noise...

 

Good luck deciding!

[animalfarm]

Thin wallet means head to Guitarfetish, home of GFS pups.

I and other members have used GFS pups, and actually like

them!!! Good price for quality pickups.

 

Link:

 

http://store.guitarfetish.com/humbuckers.html

[Whiplash]

i wouldn't really know anything about gfs man..and since i have to get mine shipped..i plan on making the expense once...would passive EMGs like the HZ series react well in an LP-100?...coz i kind'o need to keep my guitar into consideration..i'm pretty inclined towards duncans myself..but do they provide clarity and sustain..coz i like the chunky zakk wylde tone...and no i'm not only into metal..so diversity would be a good option for me...but i'm a little hesitant about the duncans since i've heard so much about how EMGs will sound like zakk wylde's guitar in any guitar..but the blackouts will react to the wood and metal and so forth...so is that just for the blackouts or are all duncans very responsive towards the wood and metal?

[Hungrycat]

If you're leaning towards EMGs look at the 81/60 set. The 81 for metal/hard rock and the 60 for everything else.

[Whiplash]

actually i was more inclined towards the EMG HZ passives..coz well..carving out a new colon for my guitar is just a thought too brutal to venture for me:$...ppl say the JB's too trebly...and the well the HZs are in the epiphone zakk wylde guitar..and the mids and that chunky punch in the face tone is kind'o important...are the fables about the JB true?

[Sjael]

I'm gonna one-up Cat and suggest the EMG 81X/60X. They are the normal EMG pickups but with a Blackout-esque preamp which will give you much more natural and dynamic cleans and keep the EMG signature kick-*** distortion.

 

EMG active and passive pickups are actually quite different in tone, even though they are designed to sound alike.

 

Keep in mind you can also drop the battery(s) into the control cavity of your LP. Usually no routing required, unless you want a fancy battery box.

[epi369]

Bro... I have my LP100 [MIK] for 12yrs now n very happy with the stock pickup...all you need is to do some cheap DIY upgrade...

 

Here's mine:

 

1. Treble bleed. See his vid, this guy is superb:

 

2. For tone caps (I prefer film capacitors)... I use 0.015uf [153] (neck) 0.033uf [333] (bridge).

 

3. Do some Gibson 50' wiring... mine w/ independence volume.

 

4. Go and have your pickup wax potted...

 

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/potting.htm

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/dip.htm

 

p/s.. your LP100 will be much happier.... just my 1 cent...

[Whiplash]

thanks so much man...that's really helpful..coz i really like this guitar...and the pickups aswell..i mean..obviously a set of duncans or emgs would be a step up..but still...the only thing bugging me is the intonation...but i'll definitely have this done aswell...were you able to get the intonation perfect?..coz mine's screwed up in so many places it seems a little too far gone...

[Hector Arcadius]

Just a small note, out of subject, if I may... IMHO, there is no such thing as ''ridiculously thin wallet''. Only ''ridiculously FAT wallets'' exist.

 

Just saying... [ ]

[Whiplash]

lol...noted.

[epi369]

thanks so much man...that's really helpful..coz i really like this guitar...and the pickups aswell..i mean..obviously a set of duncans or emgs would be a step up..but still...the only thing bugging me is the intonation...but i'll definitely have this done aswell...were you able to get the intonation perfect?..coz mine's screwed up in so many places it seems a little too far gone...

 

No problem Bro... yup... you need to do some adjustment on the LP100... need a quit room ... see this guy doing some intonation check and setup...

 

 

or here...

 

 

 

p/s... hope this help you with the intonation...

[Stevie Nazarenie]

i keep hearing the duncan invader is a very similar pickup to the gfs "rail" ones. (you know power/ crunchy.) these are passive and cheap. i personally would go for an alnico emg set if i had the money... maybe 85/ 85. or 85/ 60.

 

i have tried heavy alnico's and i like them. i have some of these ibanez vk1/ vk2. mine are alnico 5. 2 bars per pickup! i got them for about £3 the split tone is a strat. the humbucker tone is what i'd expect if fender made humbucker pickups. these are would heavy but clean up well!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ibanez-VK1%2FVK2-Hot-Rail-High-Output-Humbucker-Pickup-_W0QQitemZ270476171824QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091027?IMSfp=TL091027205005r23046

 

that said they won't fit an lp copy!