antwhi2001 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Following on from this thread, it arrived last night : http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/61155-converting-wrap-around-to-t-o-m-bridge/ First impressions: generally good. Pics will follow when I get a chance. Tuners don't actually seem bad, they're quite firm. Action was good out of the box, but strings were not tuned to pitch. Once I tuned it, the neck started to bow, so I'm going to have to play with the truss rod. It's very light, well balanced, slim neck. The front shows the grain though the trans burst. Back, sides and neck are darker blue with grain just visible. Custom shop logo on back of neck. No sharp frets. The bottom strap button had broken off in the box somehow (screw snapped). Came with usual Casino poster, cheap lead and truss rod key. Neck plate says made in Indonesia. Pots work fine, but pickup is too harsh for my tastes. Would be good for heavy distortion stuff but poor when clean. I'll take some pics at the weekend, when I'll also swap the pup for a burstbucker I have lying around. For £99 these seem great, especially the chance to get these limited edition colours in the UK. Brians' trans red one looks lovely, and this one's nice too. It'll be gigged at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesomeagle1 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 HNGD! Love that color. Not available here in the states. Great project guitar> I've looking for one to play around with for a while now. Needs a P90 though IMHO Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Congrats Antwhi, can't wait to see the pics. How are you going to repair that busted strap screw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Thanks Pete. I've got an Epi P90 lying around but can't see a way of installing it without either fabricating a surround plate, (which probably won't look great) or leaving some screw holes visible. The burstbucker is about 8.5k output so will be a similar level to most P90s, and hopefully a bit warmer than the stock pup. The strap screw is fixed, I managed to put another screw in alongside the remains of the original one. I suspect it was broken before the guitar was boxed, I can't see how it could happen in the box. There's no other damage, no marks anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 HNGD But you know the rules, it ain't official until you post the picks - we want to vicariously share your joy. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Congrats antwhi2001, glad to see you took the plunge, seems you're pretty happy with it, HNGD. Have you eyed up that TOM bridge you had to see the differences in post spacing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Here you go.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'd kill for a Junior in that color! Come to think of it, I'd accept that color Junior as payment for my last job. Very nice! I agree, the pickup on these doesn't clean up well. It's a rocker and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 After my first Epi Junior, I don't even play them until the pickup is swapped out. I know that's closed-minded of me, but that one just sounded so bad that I can't bear to hear it or any thing like it again. Same with the tuners.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 After my first Epi Junior, I don't even play them until the pickup is swapped out. I know that's closed-minded of me, but that one just sounded so bad that I can't bear to hear it or any thing like it again. Same with the tuners.... I agree. I still wish I had one in trans blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 I'll post more pics when I have them loaded. Having adjusted the truss rod and let it settle overnight, I'm impressed with the neck, which has a slim flat profile. Action is pretty low now, no rattling or buzzing at all, intonation ok. Sustain is good. This is a big improvement on the last Indonesian Special/Junior I had, which was about 10 yrs old and had lots of fret/neck issues. If you wanted to up-spec one of these, all you need is one good pickup, a set of tuners, and a new jack socket (stock one is very flimsy). Pots are 500k A and B and seem ok. If you're in the UK the trans blue, trans red or TV yellow finishes from GAK are very tempting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanFoFyan Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 That is a really nice color! Been seein many LP Juniors. I'm craving like a surf green SG junior with a white pickgaurd. Are the juniors smaller or something or is junior purely a name thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 That is a really nice color! Been seein many LP Juniors. I'm craving like a surf green SG junior with a white pickgaurd. Are the juniors smaller or something or is junior purely a name thing? Single pickup, only volume and tone controls, flat body, bolt on neck. Fun for hard rock and "light" metal. I bought one for my son a few years ago and recently claimed it as my own. If he wants it back, he has only to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanFoFyan Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Single pickup, only volume and tone controls, flat body, bolt on neck. Fun for hard rock and "light" metal. I bought one for my son a few years ago and recently claimed it as my own. If he wants it back, he has only to ask. in that case i want it back :-D . and yeah i noted all of the single stuff but what i was asking is if the guitars itself is actually smaller like body size neck size scale length etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEpiphone Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 in that case i want it back :-D . and yeah i noted all of the single stuff but what i was asking is if the guitars itself is actually smaller like body size neck size scale length etc... @bryanfofyan: I have an Epi. LP Jr. and the Epi. LP Special II. They appear to me to be of identical shape in both the bodies and necks. My LP II is mahogany (neck and body) and is heavier. The pup ring of the Jr. is not angled like the Special II's rings and is taller than the Special II's neck p/u ring(nearly 1/2" height). As far as pots I did notice that the Jr.'s are mini size(I haven't checked the Special II's yet (can someone comment?). I am jealous that someone out there is getting blue when they order blue (I, on the other hand, received a pur-paul guitar) I should be grapeful. P.S. cjlandry: I'm not saying you WOULD kill for one of those, but your profile pic proves you could IF necessary. P.S.S.: The pickup ring on the LP Jr. IS angled..my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEpiphone Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 @bryanfofyan: I have an Epi. LP Jr. and the Epi. LP Special II. They appear to me to be of identical shape in both the bodies and necks. My LP II is mahogany (neck and body) and is heavier. The pup ring of the Jr. is not angled like the Special II's rings and is taller than the Special II's neck p/u ring(nearly 1/2" height). As far as pots I did notice that the Jr.'s are mini size(I haven't checked the Special II's yet (can someone comment?). I am jealous that someone out there is getting blue when they order blue (I, on the other hand, received a pur-paul guitar) I should be grapeful. P.S. cjlandry: I'm not saying you WOULD kill for one of those, but your profile pic proves you could IF necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanFoFyan Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 @bryanfofyan: I have an Epi. LP Jr. and the Epi. LP Special II. They appear to me to be of identical shape in both the bodies and necks. My LP II is mahogany (neck and body) and is heavier. The pup ring of the Jr. is not angled like the Special II's rings and is taller than the Special II's neck p/u ring(nearly 1/2" height). As far as pots I did notice that the Jr.'s are mini size(I haven't checked the Special II's yet (can someone comment?). I am jealous that someone out there is getting blue when they order blue (I, on the other hand, received a pur-paul guitar) I should be grapeful. P.S. cjlandry: I'm not saying you WOULD kill for one of those, but your profile pic proves you could IF necessary. P.S.S.: The pickup ring on the LP Jr. IS angled..my bad. gotcha. id really enjoy like an sg junior with only 1 volume knob and thats it. for some reason lately i been really going for less is more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 gotcha. id really enjoy like an sg junior with only 1 volume knob and thats it. for some reason lately i been really going for less is more. Some days I think that the volume and tone pot for each pickup is overkill, then I find that I like 'em when I pick up a guitar that doesn't have 'em. It's kinda like having the toggle switch behave like a pedal. Not quite, but kinda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 P.S. cjlandry: I'm not saying you WOULD kill for one of those, but your profile pic proves you could IF necessary. Nah, can't you see that I'm not very motivated? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 At last, better pics.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEpiphone Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 That is a BEAUTIFUL guitar. Congratulations and HNGD! Did it come with the covered pickup? Mine (and all the others new ones I've seen in the USA) came with the open pickup. How is the action and sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Wow, knob pointers and solid wood body too. Dang I wish we could get those over here, there's a color for every day of the week. BTW, the bolt-on bodies are 1/4" thinner than the set-neck '57 reissue versions. It's not really noticable unless you compare them side by each, see photo in post #36 in this thread: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/49573-lp-jr-anyone-lp-jr-thread/page__hl__%2Bset+%2Bneck+%2Bjunior+%2Breissue+%2Bsunburst__st__20&do=findComment&comment=676696 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 I should clarify, I added the pointer washers. I also swapped the pup, didn't like the stock one at all. I had a spare burstbucker but it seems to be dead, so I fitted a G+B Tobasco 15k alnico 5. Hotter than I wanted but the only working spare in the house. I've deliberately set it a bit lower than I normally would, and it sounds ok. The body does seem to be a solid piece, and it has plenty of natural sustain, quite a bright natural tone. I can't fault it; even the tuners have a tight firm action and work fine. I'm going to use it at a band rehearsal tomorrow night and see how it copes with a range of sounds. Just playing it at home, I've noticed that just having 1 pup pushes a player into using the tone control more, and also picking at different positions to get more variety. The action is good, no issues with it. Had to tweak the truss rod a couple of times, a little buzzing on the bass E at the first 2 frets, but nothing serious. No dead spots, no sharp ends. Slim 60s neck with a slightly flatter profile than most. Very easy to play. Seems to stay in tune fine. The lacquer is the usual thick shiny poly, which some don't like, but it suits this guitar. I didn't really need another guitar (no, really...) but was tempted by the £99 price and the pretty colour. I seem to have got a keeper though. If I fall on hard times I'll sell a Gibson or 2 and hang on to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Used it last night at rehearsal, played for about 2 hours. Had tuning issues on G and B strings all night. The strings are on correctly and are stretched, so it's either nut, tuners, or both. Going to work on the nut slots first. Tone-wise, the only issue I had was that I couldn't get a decent clean rythm sound. I sort of expected that, I'd probably be more satisfied with a P90 there. I may drop a P94-equivalent in at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjlandry Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Used it last night at rehearsal, played for about 2 hours. Had tuning issues on G and B strings all night. The strings are on correctly and are stretched, so it's either nut, tuners, or both. Going to work on the nut slots first. Tone-wise, the only issue I had was that I couldn't get a decent clean rythm sound. I sort of expected that, I'd probably be more satisfied with a P90 there. I may drop a P94-equivalent in at some point. Yeah, the pickup is a screamer. Doesn't clean up well at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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