Epi 57 Classics

[DennisMiller]

I'm interested in using a Dot or a Sheraton as a building platform, putting 57 Classics in it. Tonight, I noticed the following guitar, which has the Epi version of 57 Classics in it. How close would you say these are to the genuine Gibson pickups?

 

Link

 

Thanks,

Dennis

[jcwillow777]

I'm interested in using a Dot or a Sheraton as a building platform, putting 57 Classics in it. Tonight, I noticed the following guitar, which has the Epi version of 57 Classics in it. How close would you say these are to the genuine Gibson pickups?

 

Link

 

Thanks,

Dennis

 

Not close at all. That is a nice looking guitar though. I have a Dot and Sherry and they both had the same pups in them. I can't remember exactly but they were, 57 somethings. I didn't care for them and put a set of GFS Vintage 59s in both and haven't regretted a day since I did it.

 

If you are gonna change the pups, I recommend doing the switch, pots, jack, caps and wiring as well.

[mud guy]

Hey Dennis-

 

The epi 57 classics are the standard bridge and neck pickup that comes with all regular dots. It is also the standard neck pickup in regular les pauls. I have not modded my dot, I find the pickups are actually not bad as long as the amp is set correctly. Here's a picture of a 57 classic from my les paul custom, you can see it is labeled for the dot as well:

 

Photo of back of 57 classic humbucker

 

-Calvin

[Whitmore Willy]

Hey Dennis- I find the pickups are actually not bad as long as the amp is set correctly.

-Calvin

IMHO, I would say that is a good assessment.

As JC mentions pots, caps, wiring, and a good amp will also make a big difference.

 

If you are going to play louder or with a more powerful amp I think you will find

they lack clarity and definition.

 

I have the GFS vintage 59s in one of my Pauls. Definitely a better pickup but still not Gibsons. There is a reason Gibsons cost as much as they do. Although a fair amount of the price goes to brand recognition, you still get what you pay for.

 

Willy

[BillyGibson]

I agree with the above regardingthe Epi 57's. They are a nice humbucking p/u. The "57" thing seems more a a marketing thing to create a state of mind for how they want to position the dot deluxe in the market. I had one and it was okay.... I traded it in for a gibby std. trad with real 57's. They are great for what I play. Very warm, yet the growl is just waiting to be let loose. If you want metal, then you can change your amp settings.

[DennisMiller]

Hadn't thought of mentioning it, but I play as a hobby, just at home. If I play out, usually only at an Acoustic Guitar Forum jam, it never includes electrics.

 

So, the answer is that I tend to play at lower volumes at home. The guitar may be set on 10, but the practice size amps I have hardly ever get set above 3 or 4... Fender Pro Junior being the one I use most.

 

If the pickups in the Dots and the Sheraton are the same, I'll only have to make a choice on cosmetic looks then. And I've played the Dot enough to agree that the pickups really aren't bad. I could probably live with them quite happily.

 

I should have asked before, but is there much difference in the neck profiles? I would prefer something as chunky as possible.

[Tuiblue]

The Dot necks are usually thicker/chunkier than the Sheri.

 

If your playing at home, turned down, then the stock pups will probably serve you well. Money may be better spent on a good quality low watt amp head, and cab.

[DennisMiller]

Let's talk about that then... My amps are a Fender Pro Junior, a Marshall MG15CD, (you can plug in a cd and play along), a 12 watt Squier bass amp and a Behringer acoustic amp.

 

When you refer to a low wattage amp and head, what besides stuff like that would you think of?

 

Thanks for the info about the neck profile. I have really large hands and the bigger the neck, or the deeper a V profile, the more comfortable I am.

[Tuiblue]

I guess the first thing I would suggest is going to a local music store, a Guitar Center if one is close, and try out a Dot and a Sheri, on several amp combo's. Vox ATC4 with cab, an Epi Valve Jr/with cab.

 

I suspect your like me, I only play at home or with my son. So a super loud/big amp isn't for me. Personally I have a Bugera V-5 and a Fender 25R which covers the amp requirements for me.

 

The Bug has a switchable output, .1/1/5 watt, and a headphone jack, plus it can be plugged into a cab. So if your looking for crunch at very low volume, these adjustable low watt amps are nice for that.

 

As I said at first, play them yourself, only you know what your looking for. All of us have our own opinions, but your ears will tell you the truth.

[DennisMiller]

I tend to play clean 99.9% of the time. At 61, I don't find much use for distortion.

 

There is a GC near me, but it's one of their smallest stores. Their variety of equipment in every department reflects either a very inexpensive budget or what foreign visitors buy most of, at least this time of year it does. What I usually have to do is search the GC website to see what is interesting, write down the stock number, determine whether it's in stock at their store and tell them they have it in stock at their store if the website says they do. I've shocked a few of the sales people there when I gave them the number to something I wanted and they didn't know they had it.

[bonzoboy]

My Epi Les Paul Traditional Pro has a '57 Classic in the neck position and an Epi Burstbucker clone on the bridge. The '57 Classic to my ears sounds much like a PAF.I mentioned in another thread how much it sounded like Robert Fripp's PAF equipped Les Paul from the song Epitaph on King Crimson's first album,it was uncanny how close the sound was when paired with a Blues Jr.

[IndianScout]

my Epi 1960 tribute has the 57 classic's in it, talk about some milky tone, love them..

 

[DennisMiller]

I hit the local GC today and tried my best to hear myself over the music they were running in the store, much less the teenagers. I swear, I would have thought kids the age I saw should have been in school. These weren't college students.

 

Of what I could hear, I rather liked the Dot. The neck felt pretty good, but the neck on the Dot Studio is actually fatter. I'm not sure I want a master volume and master tone, but I'm going to think about it.

[mud guy]

my dot is chunkier than my les paul. Ive only played sheris in stores and I found the neck comfortable but thin.

 

As far as amps go, I have a vox ac4 tv combo that is a great little 4 watt tube amp that is still quite loud unless you set it to 1 watt or 1/4 watt, but it is nearly impossible to get a clean tone out of it. My other amp is a 50 watt tube combo (A/B) with master volume (traynor ycv50) and the clean channel is great at any volume, but to get good dirt, the master has to be past half way which is way too loud most of the time, but very addictive.

[Guest CheapShoes]

Dennis: I think a master volume amp may be what you want for home use. Suggest also trying out a Fender SuperChamp SCXD while you're in the store. Channel 1 will give you all the Princeton reverb tones, and Ch2 with the voicings has a lot clean Fender and Vox options (voices #1 & #2 are the most popular for clean, but #s 6-7 vox are also pretty good). 6V6 output tubes give a very warm sound, with subtle preamp modeling in the preamp and a great reverb. As for most amps, the speaker gets better with use, and there are good swap-out options if you decide need more volume to use it in a band with drums. Goes up to 15W wound up, but shines at lower volumes.

[DennisMiller]

Just an update to this... I ordered the sunburst Dot in the plain top, not the flame. (I don't really care about the free case) Shipping notice has been sent to UPS and tracking should be available later tonight or tomorrow. I'm guessing it will arrive Friday or Monday. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide what I want to record with it and what I want to use to lay down the background tracks.

[Aymara]

When you refer to a low wattage amp and head, what besides stuff like that would you think of?

 

Maybe a little inspiration from my side ... I use a Line 6 Pocket Pod as a combination of headphone amp and multi-effect pedal ... from clean Blues and Jazz sounds over several amp models, Chorus, Delay and Flanger up to different distortion levels from Crunch up to Metal ... a lot of possibilities.

 

I thought, you might be interested playing without disturbing anybody sometimes. But you also could use it with an amp or for recording.

 

I love this little red bean ;)

 

Maybe test it in a shop ... for what this little toy can do, it's relatively inexpensive.

[PP_CS336]

my Epi 1960 tribute has the 57 classic's in it, talk about some milky tone, love them..

 

 

IndianScout, but aren't the '57 Classics in the Epiphone 1960 Tribute Les Paul suppose to be the Gibson ones (notice in your picture the bottom

of the pickup has a PAF (Patent Applied For) label as opposed to the other picture someone else posted that the pickup read "Epiphone" '57HB instead.

[DennisMiller]

Maybe a little inspiration from my side ... I use a Line 6 Pocket Pod as a combination of headphone amp and multi-effect pedal ... from clean Blues and Jazz sounds over several amp models, Chorus, Delay and Flanger up to different distortion levels from Crunch up to Metal ... a lot of possibilities.

I have a similar device called a Johnson J-Station. Every once in a blue moon, I feel like using it, but usually, I play straight into the amp with only a Tube Screamer sometimes.

 

The J-Station can also use headphones.

[damian]

Dennis; jcwillow777 is fairly right on.....Epi pickups aren't bad, but they aren't Gibbies either. I recommend switching them out with a '57 in the neck and a '57 plus in the bridge.

 

Explain to be a bit what you need in an amp; you know I own over 50 guitars and more amps than I know.......

 

Regardless on what volume you play your new Epi at, the Gibby pickups will make a huge noticable difference.....

 

Much regards, Damian.....

[DennisMiller]

It arrives tomorrow, so let me see how I like the factory pups over a few weeks and we'll see if I want to change them. I just keep remembering one of the stupidist things I ever did with a guitar purchase, and it concerned 57 Classics.

 

I bought a faded 335 with 57 Classics back when they first came out. It was a customer return at MF and supposedly had scratches on it, but I never found anything wrong like that. I only paid $1200 for it. When it arrived, the fret sprout was so bad I was genuinely afraid I would cut my hand on it. There were splinters inside the body where the f-holes hadn't even been sanded. One tuner didn't hold very well...

 

I kept it for about 48 hours and couldn't make myself get over all the things that were wrong. I returned it and when asked if I wanted a replacement at the regular price, because they had no more returns they could give me, I said no. I just got the credit and that was that.

 

After the fact, I realized I had overlooked the most important thing, that it sounded wonderful and was all the guitar I wanted other than my Strat. I should have taken it to Guitar Center and let them get the work done to make it right, presumably free under warranty.

 

By the time I decided to try a new one, the price had gone up so much I decided to wait for another return, but I never found one and the price kept going up. I just gave up after a while and now, it's been about 3 years.

 

Now, with the Dot coming tomorrow, I'm hoping for some of the same feelings I felt with the faded 335 to come rushing back. I know the feel will be good and I expect the workmanship to be good as far as wood work. If the pickups and electronics turn out good, it will just be icing on the cake. And if I decide they need changing down the road, that will be no worse than what I intended in the first place. I don't think I can lose either way.