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Took Delivery of my $169 MF "Stupid Deal" Wilshire


audiomitch

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Unpacked it and out appeared a tiny, shiny white guitar. It is SMALL. I knew it was a short scale, but the body is smallish too. No big deal, just smaller than I was expecting. The build quality seems very nice so far, but the setup is almost non-existent. The last new Epi I bought was an EB-3 bass and it had the same setup issues: way too much relief and action set too high. I did a quicky on the truss rod, and found out it was basically spinning loose. No tension on the nut whatsoever. Easy fix and they supply a hex wrench. After that I lowered the bridge. Voila! A quick and dirty setup.

 

The serial number is from 2008, so this guitar has been sitting in it's box for the last two years.

 

It has the factory strings that will definitely be replaced. But even with those the guitar has a nice amount of sustain and tone. Kind of like a miniature SG. I'm going to replace the pickups with a Gibson Burstbucker Pro and a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover that I have sitting in a box. It's basically the reason I bought this guitar (and the price!). But even if I didn't replace the pickups it would still sound acceptable.

 

My first impression:

 

First of all, for the price it's a fantastic guitar!

 

Second of all, if price wasn't a factor, and I was shopping around I may not have picked this guitar. Not fond of the neck shape. I had a Epi Les Paul Studio once that had the same wide neck. But you never know, after I put some decent strings and the new pickups it may be sublime!

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I can't believe that this guitar was so cheap and that I missed it. It's hard to believe anything of quality could be that cheap.

 

I wonder if you could put some P90's in there. Do they fit in the standard bucker spot?

 

There are humbucker sized P90's by various manufacturers, but a regular P90 won't fit in a humbucker cavity. Gibsons version is a P94.

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Now I AM curious as to the pickups in the guitar - I checked

out the MF website, they indicate it has:

(unless I'm looking at wrong git)

 

Bridge pickup: Alnico Classic Plus 4 humbucker

Neck pickup: Alnico Classic 4 humbucker

Coil-splittable pickups

 

I do not know the Epi Model # of a "Plus 4" pup, or the

resistance value. Will try my luck via reviews and see if

I can find out...

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Now I AM curious as to the pickups in the guitar - I checked

out the MF website, they indicate it has:

(unless I'm looking at wrong git)

 

Bridge pickup: Alnico Classic Plus 4 humbucker

Neck pickup: Alnico Classic 4 humbucker

Coil-splittable pickups

 

I do not know the Epi Model # of a "Plus 4" pup, or the

resistance value. Will try my luck via reviews and see if

I can find out...

I think you're looking at the specs for the new Wilshire Pro model which has only been out a couple of months. This looks to me like the model Epiphone released around four years ago which I'm pretty sure didn't have coil splitting. I may be wrong. Here's a link. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Limited-Edition-Wilshire-Electric-Guitar?sku=518527

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Now I AM curious as to the pickups in the guitar - I checked

out the MF website, they indicate it has:

(unless I'm looking at wrong git)

 

Bridge pickup: Alnico Classic Plus 4 humbucker

Neck pickup: Alnico Classic 4 humbucker

Coil-splittable pickups

 

I do not know the Epi Model # of a "Plus 4" pup, or the

resistance value. Will try my luck via reviews and see if

I can find out...

 

Pickup pics -

 

both.jpg

 

neck.jpg

 

bridge.jpg

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Thank you, A.M. !!!! G-400 pups, I'm pleasantly surprised -

they're good ones. I was looking at wrong git on MF website.

 

You have:

Bridge - HOTCH(G), 13.3Kohms, Alnico Classic PLUS

Neck - 57CH(G), 8.2Kohms, Alnico Classic

 

Great pickups, Also used in most EPI Les Pauls. I LOVE

them for Project Guitars! For "some reason", lots of folks

pull 'em for pup swaps, and you can find sets on ebay for

very reasonable prices. Just stay away from the sets shipping from

Hong Kong...

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Is it just me, or is this body route a little excessive?

 

BTW, the new pickups sound pretty fricken' great in this guitar!

 

Body_Route.jpg

 

#1. Think of all the stuff you can hide in there! [thumbup]

#2. I TOLD you I LOVE the G-400 pups (earlier post), that's why I

"dig" them for project gits!!!

 

634105067164057840-Muppets.jpg

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Is it just me, or is this body route a little excessive?

 

BTW, the new pickups sound pretty fricken' great in this guitar!

 

Body_Route.jpg

Welcome to the Brotherhood Of Ridiculous Under-pickguard Routes!

 

EpiphoneGothExplorerCustom5.jpg

 

The nifty route on the explorer just for the 3-way switch. It eliminates all possiblity if ditching the pickguard and hiding the switch cavity under a poker chip. [glare]

 

They could've at least just routed it in the back or something. [crying]

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Welcome to the Brotherhood Of Ridiculous Under-pickguard Routes!

 

EpiphoneGothExplorerCustom5.jpg

 

The nifty route on the explorer just for the 3-way switch. It eliminates all possiblity if ditching the pickguard and hiding the switch cavity under a poker chip. [glare]

 

They could've at least just routed it in the back or something. [crying]

 

It must be efficient for the manufacturing process. They were gonna stick that plastic there anyway ;)

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