LGK_Dude Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hello everyone, I'm a new guitar player looking to upgrade from my Esteban acoustic/electric to a new Electric guitar. I'm a composer by trade, and use Prominy's LPC guitar sample library, and LOVE the sound of that Les Paul Custom! (498T & 490R pickups) However, being new to guitar I cannot justify buying a Gibson (yet). So I'm looking at the Epiphone models. I like the idea of the Epiphone Ultra as it gives you both that Humbucker sound (is it close to the 498T?) as well as an acoustic electric sound. Being a composer who writes in a variety of styles, these tonal options appeal to me, but being new to guitar, I do not know the differences between the Ultra-II and the Ultra-339. The 339 is a hollow body (obviously) but what does this do to the sound? Anyone have any examples of a hollow body vs an LP body to compare? Even though I write in different styles, my main goal is to have a nice, warm rock sound for my progressive rock music (think Rush, but more modern). Is the Ultra a good choice, or should I simply go for something like the Epi LP Studio, which is about half the price, and add a Boss Acoustic Simulator for $130 if needed? (on a side note, anyone know why musiciansfriend has the Ultra-II but NOT the Ultra-III?) Which of the epiphone pickups sounds closer to the Gibson 498T, the Alnico Classic Humbuckers on the Epiphone studio (or Alnico Classic Plus on some models), or the Epiphone ProBucker on the Ultra? According to Epi, the ProBuckers are trying to match the sound of the Gibson Burstbuckers. What are Burstbuckers? Or does it really matter, and I should simply buy different pickups and switch them out on the Epiphone (though I dont think you can switch out pickups in the Ultra because of the nanomag?) Or maybe I'll have to go 100% USA and grab a Gibson Melody Maker...as you can see, I have a lot spinning through my mind!! Thank you guys in advance for helping out this Newb. This Guitar forum seems to be a very cool community where people seem to really help each other out, which is great to see! Thanks for any advice you can share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretter Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Dude, welcome to here! I have the LP UltraIII and I don't really use all the features all that much, but I like having them. That being said, since I already have an Ultra that don't fully use, I just ordered the ES-339 without that feature. Now, you being a composer as you say, might get a lot of use out the Guitar Rig feature. While I can't give you a comparison to the 498s, I'll tell you that the stock probuckers are a very good pick up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethyr Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hello and welcome to the forums. I own both an Ultra III LP and a Studio LP from Epi. I think the price should be indicative of this, but there's absolutely no comparison between the two out of the box. The Probuckers are stunningly good pickups, which was totally unexpected. However, I think the cost of buying a lower end Epi LP and fitting in the pickups that you're set on (498T & 490R) comes in cheaper than a brand new Ultra III. At least, afaik, an Ultra III sells for about 540 euros here in Europe... At that price, you could afford anything up to, say, a LP Standard Plus Top (350 euros around here) + your mentioned pup configuration (around 140 euro around here), with money to spare for a nice hardcase or something. So it comes down to this: do you want the Nanomag and the USB connection and all the other bells and whistles that come with the Ultra III? By the way, here's the Ultra III on MF: Ultra III As you can see, for that kind of money, you can easily buy a standard LP and fit the pups of your choice on it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epi Rocks Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hello everyone, I'm a new guitar player looking to upgrade from my Esteban acoustic/electric to a new Electric guitar. I'm a composer by trade, and use Prominy's LPC guitar sample library, and LOVE the sound of that Les Paul Custom! (498T & 490R pickups) However, being new to guitar I cannot justify buying a Gibson (yet). So I'm looking at the Epiphone models. I like the idea of the Epiphone Ultra as it gives you both that Humbucker sound (is it close to the 498T?) as well as an acoustic electric sound. Being a composer who writes in a variety of styles, these tonal options appeal to me, but being new to guitar, I do not know the differences between the Ultra-II and the Ultra-339. The 339 is a hollow body (obviously) but what does this do to the sound? Anyone have any examples of a hollow body vs an LP body to compare? Even though I write in different styles, my main goal is to have a nice, warm rock sound for my progressive rock music (think Rush, but more modern). Is the Ultra a good choice, or should I simply go for something like the Epi LP Studio, which is about half the price, and add a Boss Acoustic Simulator for $130 if needed? (on a side note, anyone know why musiciansfriend has the Ultra-II but NOT the Ultra-III?) Which of the epiphone pickups sounds closer to the Gibson 498T, the Alnico Classic Humbuckers on the Epiphone studio (or Alnico Classic Plus on some models), or the Epiphone ProBucker on the Ultra? According to Epi, the ProBuckers are trying to match the sound of the Gibson Burstbuckers. What are Burstbuckers? Or does it really matter, and I should simply buy different pickups and switch them out on the Epiphone (though I dont think you can switch out pickups in the Ultra because of the nanomag?) Or maybe I'll have to go 100% USA and grab a Gibson Melody Maker...as you can see, I have a lot spinning through my mind!! Thank you guys in advance for helping out this Newb. This Guitar forum seems to be a very cool community where people seem to really help each other out, which is great to see! Thanks for any advice you can share! Hi LGK Dude, welcome to the forum. I hope you like it here. I think the Ultra is a better choice over the Studio. Much more refined and an excellent guitar in anyones language. Have you looked at the Epi 60's LP Tribute? It comes with Gibson 490R and 498T pickups, a slim, one piece neck and the regular LP Standard appointments. Definitely a superb guitar and a less expensive option to a Gibson LP, but sounds 'EXACTLY' as a Gibson LP should. Go and try one out first, then see what your options are. Try the New Epi LP Prophecy GX also, while you're at it. It comes with Gibson pickups also. It all comes down to what feels and sounds right for you. Good luck dude. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGK_Dude Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Dude, welcome to here! I have the LP UltraIII and I don't really use all the features all that much, but I like having them. That being said, since I already have an Ultra that don't fully use, I just ordered the ES-339 without that feature. Now, you being a composer as you say, might get a lot of use out the Guitar Rig feature. While I can't give you a comparison to the 498s, I'll tell you that the stock probuckers are a very good pick up. Thank you for the reply! Yeah, I LOVE Guitar rig and actually already own the full version (use it with my sample libraries when composing) so getting LE with the guitar doesn't really matter. And the USB, though cool, I dont think I'll get much use out of that as well since I already have an analog to digital converter as well as a Tube preamp with Hi-z inputs. It might work ok for practicing on the laptop maybe? Also, since I already own an acoustic electric (granted a crapy one) dont know if the nanomag is that vital to my setup, though I must admit hearing the blended tone and the ability to have two outputs going at once while recording direct would be cool! But is it "double the price" cool? Now I'm starting to talk myself out of it! haha! Fretter, as an ultra-III owner, do you know if its possible to record via USB and 1/4" jack at the same time? For example, record the clean nanomag via USB and run the humbuckers through a tube preamp at the same time? Also, as someone who owns an Ultra-III and is purchasing a ES-339 hollowbody, can you tell me the difference in tone your expecting between the two guitars? They both use the same pickups, right? So I'm curious as to the differences your expecting. So, overall how are you enjoying the Ultra III? As a guitar (without all the bells and whistles) do you find its significantly better then an Epi LP studio? Thanks again for your reply and sharing your thoughts, and for welcoming me to these forums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGK_Dude Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hi LGK Dude, welcome to the forum. I hope you like it here. I think the Ultra is a better choice over the Studio. Much more refined and an excellent guitar in anyones language. Have you looked at the Epi 60's LP Tribute? It comes with Gibson 490R and 498T pickups, a slim, one piece neck and the regular LP Standard appointments. Definitely a superb guitar and a less expensive option to a Gibson LP, but sounds 'EXACTLY' as a Gibson LP should. Go and try one out first, then see what your options are. Try the New Epi LP Prophecy GX also, while you're at it. It comes with Gibson pickups also. It all comes down to what feels and sounds right for you. Good luck dude. Paul I didn't even know about these options!! Will for sure add them to the list to check out! Thanks!! edit: the Epi 60's LP Tribute says it comes with the Gibson USA '57 Classic Plus Humbucker; is that another name for the Gibson 490R & 498T's? edit2: looks like the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Custom GX is no longer available?! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethyr Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hi LGK Dude, welcome to the forum. I hope you like it here. I think the Ultra is a better choice over the Studio. Much more refined and an excellent guitar in anyones language. Have you looked at the Epi 60's LP Tribute? It comes with Gibson 490R and 498T pickups, a slim, one piece neck and the regular LP Standard appointments. Definitely a superb guitar and a less expensive option to a Gibson LP, but sounds 'EXACTLY' as a Gibson LP should. Go and try one out first, then see what your options are. Try the New Epi LP Prophecy GX also, while you're at it. It comes with Gibson pickups also. It all comes down to what feels and sounds right for you. Good luck dude. Paul I thought the Tribute came with Classic '57s? Those are a bit more "vintage" aren't they? Although technically the 490R was made based on the classic 57s or something like that... Doesn't matter though, the Classics are still absolutely perfect for Rock. But yeah, forgot to mention that, as Epi Rocks said, the Tribute and the Prophecy GX come with Gibson pups, and they're also already coil-tapped for you. They're at the same price range as the Ultra III as far as I know, they both come with hardshell cases (the Ultra III doesn't) and the GX especially has some nice added features like 24 frets and an ebony fretboard... Perhaps those would be the best choices, since you won't have to go through the effort of swapping pups on your first electric guitar. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epi Rocks Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I thought the Tribute came with Classic '57s? Those are a bit more "vintage" aren't they? Although technically the 490R was made based on the classic 57s or something like that... Doesn't matter though, the Classics are still absolutely perfect for Rock. But yeah, forgot to mention that, as Epi Rocks said, the Tribute and the Prophecy GX come with Gibson pups, and they're also already coil-tapped for you. They're at the same price range as the Ultra III as far as I know, they both come with hardshell cases (the Ultra III doesn't) and the GX especially has some nice added features like 24 frets and an ebony fretboard... Perhaps those would be the best choices, since you won't have to go through the effort of swapping pups on your first electric guitar. :) OOOPS!!! My bad there. The tribute does come with 57 Classics not the 490r & 498T. Thanks for that correction mate, brain's a little slow this morning. I need more coffee. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretter Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thank you for the reply! Yeah, I LOVE Guitar rig and actually already own the full version (use it with my sample libraries when composing) so getting LE with the guitar doesn't really matter. And the USB, though cool, I dont think I'll get much use out of that as well since I already have an analog to digital converter as well as a Tube preamp with Hi-z inputs. It might work ok for practicing on the laptop maybe? Also, since I already own an acoustic electric (granted a crapy one) dont know if the nanomag is that vital to my setup, though I must admit hearing the blended tone and the ability to have two outputs going at once while recording direct would be cool! But is it "double the price" cool? Now I'm starting to talk myself out of it! haha! Fretter, as an ultra-III owner, do you know if its possible to record via USB and 1/4" jack at the same time? For example, record the clean nanomag via USB and run the humbuckers through a tube preamp at the same time? Also, as someone who owns an Ultra-III and is purchasing a ES-339 hollowbody, can you tell me the difference in tone your expecting between the two guitars? They both use the same pickups, right? So I'm curious as to the differences your expecting. So, overall how are you enjoying the Ultra III? As a guitar (without all the bells and whistles) do you find its significantly better then an Epi LP studio? Thanks again for your reply and sharing your thoughts, and for welcoming me to these forums! Now that you mentioned the dual outputs, I forgot to tell you I tried that once - Wow! Tone Nirvana! Ran the buckers through a digitech into my Marshall dfx 50 and the nano through a Carvin 50w tuber with a little chorus blended. Played the main riff to Kashmir and I was just blown away. While I mostly play my Ultra as though it were a standard, at that point I really felt like it was worth it for the extra money. I can just imagine some Rush riffs going through that same set up. Even without the the dual set up, I get some pretty fat sounds when I run all three pick ups through overdirve on the Marshall. If the extra money is not that much of an issue, then I would really recommend getting the Ultra. But then with the equipment you alreday have, I think there is still alot that you can do with a Studio LP. Dangitalltoheck! Now I got me wishing that I would have gotten that 339 with the Ultra. LOL, just kidding I went that way primarily because of the ciol splitting. Got a taste of that with my Nighthawk. I demo-ed the 339 Ultra at GC before making my order. While yes, they are the same pups as on my LP, they sounded a whole world of different coming from the semi hollow body. The tone was actually brighter. The neck while the same as my LP, felt a little different to me too. But the overall feel playing that guitar was great. As for your recording question, I'm not sure. I haven't even tried my USB yet. I never got my pass word from Native Instruments yet. Been meaning to contact them about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethyr Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Fretter, as an ultra-III owner, do you know if its possible to record via USB and 1/4" jack at the same time? For example, record the clean nanomag via USB and run the humbuckers through a tube preamp at the same time? Also, as someone who owns an Ultra-III and is purchasing a ES-339 hollowbody, can you tell me the difference in tone your expecting between the two guitars? They both use the same pickups, right? So I'm curious as to the differences your expecting. That would be impossible because the USB sends a blended signal of both the magnetic and acoustic pickups (controlled by the push knob), no matter what you have plugged in the normal jacks. At least in all my attempts I haven't managed to get a stereo signal with separated magn./acou. pups from the USB cable. If you want to split the two sounds, you have to use the standard jacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGK_Dude Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 I didn't even know about these options!! Will for sure add them to the list to check out! Thanks!! edit: the Epi 60's LP Tribute says it comes with the Gibson USA '57 Classic Plus Humbucker; is that another name for the Gibson 490R & 498T's? edit2: looks like the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Custom GX is no longer available?! :( Ok, I found a youtube for the Prophecy Les Paul Custom GX with the actual Gibson 498T 490R Humbuckers!! I'll for sure have to check this out one! Thank you for the tip Epi Rocks! I'm going to go to my local guitar center and try out the ultra III, but they dont have the Custom GX, so I'll have to play something else with the 49T 490R pickups and compare. Judging from the video though, that sound is what I'm after! Do you think the Ultra III can achieve this sound? Is it more the amp or the pickups? Thanks again everyone for your help and sharing your thoughts! What a way cool forum!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 LGK Dude; LOt's of advice above for you............My two cents, based on your original post; For an Epi Les Paul, the Epi Tribute is, only IMHO, your best choice......I'm not knocking the Ultra LPs at all..............The Epi 339 can now be found for $399.00 NEW.......You can upgrade the pickups to genuine Gibson 57s for $202.00 dollars ( 57s are about $101.00 at "AmplifiedParts..)......I prefer well built guitars without the built-in bells and whistles.....IMHO, keep the bells and whistles separate........Epi pickups CAN be fine for some folks......I prefer Gibson pickups........ 490s are not 57s...........There are three versions of genuine Gibby Burstbuckers; all are nice ( unpotted )........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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