Epiphone LP Standard Pickups

[oguzhana]

Hello all,

 

I am new to the electric guitar and to this forum. So greetings to everyone.

 

I switched to electric guitar about 4 months ago. I played it before but this time I take it more seriously so I bought myself an Epiphone Les Paul Standard.

I bought it in Sweden, and it says its made in Indonesia. I dont know if thats good but everything feels so smooth so far.

 

I use it at home with a Fender Mustang I Amp. I am new to the electronics of a guitar as well so I have very limited knowledge about pickups and what lays

behind that. I know somewhat simple things about single coil, double coil, humbucker pickups, but not in detail to be honest.

 

I will ask for your help to point me somewhere that I can read about such things and grasp the knowledge easily. My goal is to change the pickup(s) on my guitar

so that I can catch this Jimmy Page sound and switch between pickups as he does. When I was googling on that matter I saw people talking about wiring schemes,

which made me think if it is possible to get a different sound with the same pickups but only changing the wiring?? And also people talk about push-pull switches.

Covered vs uncovered pickups?

 

So in brief, there is a sea of sources out there which makes me nothing but confused about everything. I dont have many people around me to ask about such things

so I turn to you guys. I dont expect you to write pages long about the stuff I ask but a well organized source might save my life.

 

Thank you.

 

Ouz.

[gearhead]

Welcome to the Epiphone forum! Post some pics of your LP.

 

I don't think you're gonna do much with the stock Epi pups in that LP. They are 2 wire which gives you no options. So you may want to change them out. There are a thousand options for pups, so you'll need to research the sound you want. Also prices vary alot, so how deep your pocket is has a limiting effect on what you're gonna buy. Gibson pickups are solid, but a bit pricey. Guitar .Fetish has good pickups for the cash.

And the Epi's I've had, and played that were made in Indonesia were nice units!

[Whitmore Willy]

Ouz,

 

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your guitar! Posting pics is almost a right of passage around here. Soooooo.....

When you get a chance let's see your Epi L.P.

 

Well, you sure do know how to make an entrance.

I'm hoping this thread turns out to be fun and educational for all of us.

 

I'm sure books have been written on the history of Guitars and their pickups. Wish I could recommend a few. What little I know has mostly come from experimenting. Might want to try for a book or two from Amazon, Stewmac, Local library. I'm sure you might come up with some interesting vids if you search "Guitar Pickups" on youtube.

 

You seem to have the basics. Most basic guitar pickups include the Fender single coil, the humbucker and the P90s.

As much as I dislike Wikipedia, it is a fair source for basic background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_pickups

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-90

 

A music glossary can help so you understand words, terms and concepts: (ie: coil split - coil tap)

http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/l--A

 

There is also a fair amount of informational resources in the DIY at the top of the Epiphone Lounge.

Included are sources for wiring....information and explanations.

 

I hope other members will put up links to some of their favorite sites.

Heck, just going to a site like GFS pickups is an education.

 

Guitar .Fetish has good pickups for the cash.

And the Epi's I've had, and played that were made in Indonesia were nice units!

They have some sort of version of just about every pickup out there:

http://store.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Guitar-Pickups_c_7.html

 

Hope this helps you to get started,

 

Willy

 

Edit: Small side thought.

 

We have all been where you are now. Learn the basics and accept the idea that learning this stuff takes a bit of time. If you look at the wiring diagrams and schematics, over time, you will come to understand them.

You have ground.

You have hot.

 

With 2 vol. and 2 tone there are four basic styles. After that, most things are a variance.

The first four diagrams show the basics: Most Epi's are wired "Modern Dependent".

http://www.dominocs.com/AshBassGuitar/WireLibrary-Gibson.html

 

Want lots of derivatives and a look at how switches come into play?

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams/

 

The more time you look at them, the sooner and better you will come to understand them.

 

W.W.

[Blueman335]

I don't think you're gonna do much with the stock Epi pups in that LP. They are 2 wire which gives you no options. So you may want to change them out. There are a thousand options for pups, so you'll need to research the sound you want. Also prices vary alot, so how deep your pocket is has a limiting effect on what you're gonna buy. Gibson pickups are solid, but a bit pricey. Guitar .Fetish has good pickups for the cash.

And the Epi's I've had, and played that were made in Indonesia were nice units!

 

Yes, you'll want to upgrade PU's at some point, it's the weakest link on an Epi; I've done that to all my Epi's. For an LP, PAF's are always a good idea; Seymour Duncan makes some of the best. I just put a pair of Seth's in an LP Std, and a set of '59's in another. I have PG's in yet another. I don't know if you can buy on eBay and get things shipped to you, but they have lost of used American-made PU's that you can often get for around half price, which is how I get most of mine (used).

 

Techincally you can still do a couple things with single lead wire PU's; 1) phase and 2) link them in series, both of which are part of the Jimmy Page system (which I put in a few Epi's). To do the rest of the Jimmy Page system you need 4 wire lead HB's to get coil cut. There's many good wiring diagrams on the Duncan website, and a lot of knowledgeable people on it's forum. Check it out.

[RaSTuS]

Techincally you can still do a couple things with single lead wire PU's; 1) phase and 2) link them in series, both of which are part of the Jimmy Page system (which I put in a few Epi's). To do the rest of the Jimmy Page system you need 4 wire lead HB's to get coil cut. There's many good wiring diagrams on the Duncan website, and a lot of knowledgeable people on it's forum. Check it out.

It's also very easy to modify single/dual lead buckers into 4 lead variants, if it's a recently manufactured LP it may also have the new ProBuckers which would be worth keeping, better to experiment with the standard pickups then spend a heap on SDs et al, and screwing them up. Same philosophy as getting a beater guitar to practice mods on.

.

[oguzhana]

Thank you all for your answers, I started to dig in already. Looks like there is much to learn and experiment.

I guess I will stick to the standard PUs for a while and when I got bored I will try to experiment with some

second hand PUs. Until then I can learn what pickup sounds like what I hope.

Thanks again,

Ouz.

[oguzhana]

Ouz,

 

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your guitar! Posting pics is almost a right of passage around here. Soooooo.....

When you get a chance let's see your Epi L.P.

 

Well, you sure do know how to make an entrance.

I'm hoping this thread turns out to be fun and educational for all of us.

 

I'm sure books have been written on the history of Guitars and their pickups. Wish I could recommend a few. What little I know has mostly come from experimenting. Might want to try for a book or two from Amazon, Stewmac, Local library. I'm sure you might come up with some interesting vids if you search "Guitar Pickups" on youtube.

 

You seem to have the basics. Most basic guitar pickups include the Fender single coil, the humbucker and the P90s.

As much as I dislike Wikipedia, it is a fair source for basic background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_pickups

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-90

 

A music glossary can help so you understand words, terms and concepts: (ie: coil split - coil tap)

http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/l--A

 

There is also a fair amount of informational resources in the DIY at the top of the Epiphone Lounge.

Included are sources for wiring....information and explanations.

 

I hope other members will put up links to some of their favorite sites.

Heck, just going to a site like GFS pickups is an education.

 

 

They have some sort of version of just about every pickup out there:

http://store.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Guitar-Pickups_c_7.html

 

Hope this helps you to get started,

 

Willy

 

Edit: Small side thought.

 

We have all been where you are now. Learn the basics and accept the idea that learning this stuff takes a bit of time. If you look at the wiring diagrams and schematics, over time, you will come to understand them.

You have ground.

You have hot.

 

With 2 vol. and 2 tone there are four basic styles. After that, most things are a variance.

The first four diagrams show the basics: Most Epi's are wired "Modern Dependent".

http://www.dominocs.com/AshBassGuitar/WireLibrary-Gibson.html

 

Want lots of derivatives and a look at how switches come into play?

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams/

 

The more time you look at them, the sooner and better you will come to understand them.

 

W.W.

 

Hi Willy,

Just saw your edit, thank you, they will help a lot.

BR,

Ouz.