Epi Casino upgrade

[Stig]

Just to add my $0.02 - P-90's are a very simple and very old design. They're pretty hard to screw up. The Epi's are "Gibson Designed," so there's probably very little appreciable difference between them and their Gib$on counterparts.

I still may replace the switch, pots, caps and jack someday.

[CajunBlues]

Just to add my $0.02 - P-90's are a very simple and very old design. They're pretty hard to screw up. The Epi's are "Gibson Designed' date='" so there's probably very little appreciable difference between them and their Gib$on counterparts.

I still may replace the switch, pots, caps and jack someday.[/quote']

 

There is a difference between gibson and epiphone pickups... Especially the humbuckers... I will have to agree with you that the P90s are less of a difference... And for some reason the mini-humbckers I had in a Korean Riviera were in the same leauge as the Gibsons (I made that swap)...

 

But even the market knows there is a difference... Used gibson p90s will sell for more on average than the epiphones...

 

I still to this day don't know why the epiphone mini buckers sound so good.... bcause they are not mass produced maybe they indeed are USA... But why wouldn't they advertise that ??

[AS90]

I would love to buy a Vox AC30' date=' but cannot see spending almost a $1000 for a 30w amp[/quote']

 

 

You do realise a 30w tube amp is VERY loud? Its not like a 30w SS amp.

[cookieman15061]

Everything except the pups in the Chinese casino is garbage. If you have a casino then you know. Cheap toggle switch, input jack, wiring, caps all crap. The sound I got from mine was muddy to say the least and there was no gradual tapering of sound with the tone and volume knobs. I also had an annoying hum that i could not get rid of. This guitar was a Christmas present from my wife and I loved it but i just couldn't stand to play it. I had all but convinced myself to sell it but decided to make the necessary upgrades. If you wanna argue about whether my tone improved or not have at it.

 

I will say the total sound of my guitar greatly improved.

 

I also replaced the tuners and nut with bone.

 

She's a player now and thats a fact.

[New To Strats]

Bone tuners?

[Vic Flick]

Bone tuners?

 

[cookieman15061]

Bone tuners?

 

nope just the nut.

[KX36]

KX and DotHead...

 

If you go out on youtube there are some guys that have taken guitar/s and wired up two different harnesses outside the guitar and done comparisons by switching between wiring within the same video... When I get home from work' date=' I will send out some links... The ususal conclusion is that the wiring does not affect tone... However the taper from epi pots is horrible.. That reason alone would make me change out the pots... I have had capacitors break just from a loose pot... Bad switches... Wiring on jacks break off... And just unknown gremlins come along when things break and you cannot figure out what the deal is... [/quote']

 

I have also seen these videos, and I'm in the middle of doing the same thing myself.

 

I can't remember the link cos I'm at work too, but the conclusion of the guy on youtube with the riverera in terms of pots was that there's no tonal difference in pots but he prefered the taper on a different brand of pots.

 

His experimentation, although praiseworthy for effort, was hardly scientific. What you really need is a blind test, (preferably double blind) where it is impossible for the person doing the experiments to determine which one they're listening to until they've already completely finished practical experimentation. But it's never going to be really scientifically great as long as the result is measured by a human ear listening to it and forming an opinion. That guy also was quite subjective in some of his opinions, saying "well they're about the same, but I think this one [which he paid relatively much more for] is slightly better". It's hard to say his opinion isn't influenced by how much he's spent on them. It's also impossible to measure statistical significance without any quantitive data and qualitative data (e.g. "I think this one is more muddy but that one is more warm") is pretty useless as these adjectives hardly have a fixed meaning between players, let alone a definition based on something like a frequency signature.

 

Unfortunately, my experiments can't really be blind either because although I'm a professional scientist, it requires cooperation from an uninterested 3rd party and my Mrs won't help.

[TP]

Count me among the folks that changed everything electrical except the pickups. I really like my 1996 Peerless pickups!

 

But I LOVE what the wiring, switch and pots upgrade did!!! (along with changing the knobs to match my factory installed Epiphone Bigsby)

 

[Stig]

 

I still to this day don't know why the epiphone mini buckers sound so good.... bcause they are not mass produced maybe they indeed are USA... But why wouldn't they advertise that ??

 

Well, I have a '71 LP Deluxe Goldtop that came with Minis, and Gibson originally used them because they were surplus Epi's that they had laying around.

[Markwell]

I'm looking to upgrade the electronics in my Casino once I get the money together. I'd just feel a lot safer playing it, because at the moment there are times when I feel that the switch is going to break, and maybe damage the top.

 

I'm also going to replace the nut and bridge - my nut must have been made on a bad day, because there are a few strands of plastic hanging off at the edges.