Hi New here! Heard you guys were very knowledgable about upgrading pups for Epis!

[willmak]

I've been thinking about putting in a pair of gibson 57 classic pluses into an epi semi-hollow because I found a good deal for a pair of them. However, what's the difference between these and the regular 57 classics? I noticed the 335 comes the dual 57 classics as the standard. Would having dual 57 classic pluses not sound right with a semi hollow? I am trying to get as close to a 335 tone on the cheap as I can.

 

My dillema is that since I would be getting a getting a pair of 57+ as part of the package, I can't buy just one. From what I gather online, most people use a 57 for neck and 57+ on the bridge combo or 57s for both. I haven't really seen or read anyone using 57+ pups for both the neck and bridge. Is there a reason for this?

[AlanH]

I've been thinking about putting in a pair of gibson 57 classic pluses into an epi semi-hollow because I found a good deal for a pair of them. However' date=' what's the difference between these and the regular 57 classics? I noticed the 335 comes the dual 57 classics as the standard. Would having dual 57 classic pluses not sound right with a semi hollow? I am trying to get as close to a 335 tone on the cheap as I can.

 

My dillema is that since I would be getting a getting a pair of 57+ as part of the package, I can't buy just one. From what I gather online, most people use a 57 for neck and 57+ on the bridge combo or 57s for both. I haven't really seen or read anyone using 57+ pups for both the neck and bridge. Is there a reason for this?[/quote']

 

I think the pluses are more wound for a hotter signal making them more suitable for a bridge pickup. For blues/rock a 57/57 plus combo would be appropriate and for jazz/blues/cleans a 57/57 combo would be appropriate.

 

I think semi hollow Epis and Gibsons tend not to have hot pickups in order to make better use of the distinct tonal qualities of that type of guitar.

 

 

Edit:

 

To illustrate the point, I've just taken the epiphone HOTCH and 57 combination out of my Epi LP. The rear of the Epi 57 has a sticker which says it's for Les Paul (neck) and Dot (Neck and Bridge).

 

So, if you want to get closer to the Gibson 335 tone without the muddy Epiphone pickups swap out for a pair of Gibson 57s.

[Briguy]

Personally, I think it USED to be that Epi PAFs were pretty bush league and you had to pull 'em out and drop in some classic '57s or SDs or some such; but today, I'm really impressed with what Epi is doing with their humbuckers. I just talked to a guy in marketing at Epi and he was telling me what strides they've made in the pickups...double wax potting them, paying close attention to the quality control and so forth. He said the days of junk pickups on Epi's...at least the higher end guitars is a thing of the past.

But if you still think you need to swap them out just to make yourself sleep better, here's a pretty good site to help you along:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=100119

[willmak]

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up going with a seymour duncan hot rodder set in a dot. While I wait for those to arrive, was this a good choice? This is my first semi-hollow and I really want that britpop sound from bands such as Oasis.

[Ricochet]

I think for an Oasis sound you would have fared better with the Seymour Duncan Blues-set(2x '59) but in any case, the Hotrod-set is still an excellent choice.

[Guest]

Hey AcousticDoc, This is not Oasis but this might interest you anyway.

 

Here is a Sheraton with SD Jazz SH-2n neck and SD JB SH-4 bridge, good choice.

 

This guy has got a very nice Freddie King vibe going on out of that combination

 

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

[AlanH]

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up going with a seymour duncan hot rodder set in a dot. While I wait for those to arrive' date=' was this a good choice? This is my first semi-hollow and I really want that britpop sound from bands such as Oasis. [/quote']

 

This set is good for Jazz and for metal because of their clarity and the hot sounds (for metal) from the very wound JB. I think they will be good for both the cleaner and the rockier songs that Oasis do.

 

I just swapped the stock set in my Epi LP for the SD hotrodded set and below are the 'before and after' results on the same amp settings.

 

After I made this video I quickly realised I could dial down the pots on the guitar to cut down any excessive gain or harshness when needed.

 

Alan

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

This is a great video of a guy from singapore who put them in an archtop with great results. He's a good player. When you see this video you won't be disappointed with your choice. This guy kills me too:

 

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFOya6Qnm3s[/YOUTUBE]

[Guest icantbuyafender]

as these videos show, better pickups breed better note for note clarity and allow more subtle nuances to pop out.

 

I would have faired for the SD vintage blues set, as Ricochet suggested.

[willmak]

Doh! Would I have faired better for the tone I'm looking for with the stock epi dot pickups then?

[Guest icantbuyafender]

Doh! Would I have faired better for the tone I'm looking for with the stock epi dot pickups then?

 

Well, the vintage blues set is focused around the PAF sound.

 

The '57 classics are AlNiCo II magnets and the '59s are AlNiCo V.

 

The hot rod set is just that.... a JB and Jazz... a hotter set that can give all the ugly grit and all the pretty glam that you could want.

 

The '59s are a step down, and for the guy that wont be playing hi-gain but wants a bit of nitty gritty when playin a classic rock ditty.

 

The '57 classics and 490R/490T alnicoII magnets give lesser output. Hi gain is not recomended unless its from the amp itself. In my experience the alnico II magnets showcase the amplifier's distortion so you can really get the amp's character, and tend to make hi-gain stomp boxes squeal.

 

So my man, it serves right to look at the pickup spectrum like this:

 

'57classic '57classic plus vintage blues('59s) Hot rod set(JB/Jazz)

Low output Moderate output Hotter output

[AlanH]

Doh! Would I have faired better for the tone I'm looking for with the stock epi dot pickups then?

 

As ICBAF said' date=' Duncans will give you much better articulation and clarity.

 

I can't tell much difference between the different SD humbuckers on their website sound clips:

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/audio-samples/humbuckers_and/

 

but I can tell a massive difference between my JB/Jazz set and the

stock Epis.

 

I think your hot rodded set will be great for Brit pop.

 

Alan

[Briguy]

And, for what it's worth, you might want to check out this video too.

Sure, it's hype from and for Epiphone but it's very informative anyway.

http://www.gearwire.com/epiphone-lespaul-hardware-01.html

[AlanH]

And' date=' for what it's worth, you might want to check out this video too.

Sure, it's hype from and for Epiphone but it's very informative anyway.

http://www.gearwire.com/epiphone-lespaul-hardware-01.html

 

As you say, this is an Epi promo video. Its focus seems to be on persuading prospective purchasers to buy Epi guitars over similarly priced competitors because Epi use their own pickups. My '07 LP stock pups were Epi branded and wax potted (to reduce squeal) but I still found them muddy.

 

It would, however, be interesting to compare the quality of Epi stock pickups versus competitors such as Ibanez own or the 'Duncan Designed' versions you get on many far eastern made models. Sometimes home made is not the best option when outside sources can do the job better.

[bkrejcik]

I JUST got a used Dot, which the owner had upgraded to some extent, and he owed a bit to even up the trade we were making, so he did some stuff I asked for and sent me the guitar. I'm barely getting acquainted with it, but it does great early British rock/pop (think Beatles), early jazz stuff (50s-60s), great blues of many kinds (good Peter Green, BB King, not high-gain stuff), and an amazing couple of classic-Telecaster tones. It has VintageVibe HCC pickups in it with two push-pulls for series/parallel and in/out of phase. The pickups are a kind of low-output P90, you can see on the VintageVibe site. Amazing versatility, but I haven't had a chance yet to air them out on an amp; I've had to use the headphone output on my Roland Cube 30. Soon I'll be playing it with pedals and such. I have to admit it did matter which amp model I was using, of course, but I mostly used the Tweed (Bassman) and Brit Combo (Vox) models.