brant Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 What would be the best mods for this guitar. I am not going to sale it. So I am not worried about getting the money back that I will put in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Brant, Welcome to the forum!!! A good setup is #1. If you do it yourself it costs nothing. http://mysite.verizon.net/jazz.guitar/guitarsetup.htm If it has the "economy tuners" then changing them is not the worst thing you can do. Although some never have any problem with them....many do. Aside from that, the choices are about cost vs value. I set up a LP Special for my grandson. Frankly, I accepted that I can always replace most of the parts with the originals in the event that we someday sell it. So, I did a complete make over. I could have bought a more upscale Epi for the money I have into it. Still, it is now a very good player. I did the upgrades so, they only cost the price of the parts. They included a fret leveling, new nut, new tuners, new pickups, a wider Gotoh bridge and.... a good setup. Best of luck, Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Brant... The thing that bothers me about the question is that you don't say what you want and expect from the instrument, nor what you feel are the instrument's strengths and weaknesses are for what, how and where you might play - and through what sort of amplification systems. Other than the very wise advice about a real setup that fits what and how you play - which can be very different for different players - here's my advice: 1. What and how do you play? Heavy pick technique on heavy strings or light pick technique on medium or light strings... or... heck I fingerpick all my guitars, including the one remaining "board" guitar, a S100c Guild from the '70s that's largely an SG clone. Mine "SG" is stock but with very nice HBs and I use 8-38s for mostly physically gentle fingerpicking. It's my only 8-38 guitar, btw. If I'm doing flatpicking or fingerpicking "rhythm" guitar swapping leads, etc., I use a semi-hollow with 9-42. 2. What don't you like about how the guitar plays? Does it hold tune? Might a better nut suit your playing - and that includes fitting to your specific strings, etc., as well as less binding and whatever many think benefit tone... This all is in parallel with your string choice and playing style as well as music style. 3. Do you want some sort of a whammy? That itself brings a bit of considerations including nut, potential of a locking nut and/or tuners, potential of a roller bridge of some sort, etc., etc., etc. 4. What do you play in terms of style of music and what are your tone expectations? Some folks will talk about this or that set of pickups, but I figure you should figure what and how you play first, then look into pup and control variations of what you have. For example, do you plan to use heavier gauge strings, but to drop to a D 'stedda E so you get a different sorta tone and playing style? When you're as close as you figure anybody can get to what you want... then start to look at electronic changes. 5. Now the electronics and the surrounding controversies... Once the above four points have been completed, now consider changing pups/electronics to suit what it is you're doing. Frankly I think that in most cases replacing Epi HB pups, even some of the earlier poorer ones, is an exercise in percentages small enough that a player can get as much or more difference through change in technique and strings. New pups, even significantly different pups, won't make you sound like Eric Clapton if your hands aren't capable of coming anywhere close to what Clapton did/does. On the other hand, if you have sufficient technical skills for what you're playing and hope to play... now you can consider pup and electronics variations. For me, I'd consider a cupla variables and some are fairly inexpensive and some would be more than the dollar value of your Epi in the first place. A. Replace HBs with HBs that are known to fit your style of music and style of playing (including string types and gauges) better than what you may have. B. Replace HBs with p90s or even something like the old Gretsch pups that were ... different. (Apparently some at Guitarfetish.com fit that bill). If you're doing that, you may as well consider what might be the best pot, cap and wiring for the new pups. 3. You might consider some of the rigs where you can switch HBs to various different electronic variations to offer a wider variation of sound. This must needs incorporate more expensive and relatively specialized pots, etc. 4. You might consider something along the lines of the Gibson Varitone circuitry and switching even with the pups you have - although I think you'd likely replace the pots, etc., otherwise. And then after putting in that circuitry and working with it a bit... you may want to consider different pups that match more closely the original Gibbie versions... 5. There are options also with various piezo equipment that could be run mono or stereo with what you have and could require a bit more "messing" with controls, piezo pre-amp, blend for mono and stereo... etc., etc., etc. It's not all that common, but it offers some interesting options. 6. There are options also to add what amounts to a stomp box in the guitar... 7. Handling things simpler, you may be more interested in swapping the switching so you'd have one master tone, a volume for each pup (regardless what the pups might be) and a master volume. Or... simply add a master volume. 8. Now that you've read some of the above... take a deep breath and consider what you hope to accomplish for what, how and where you actually play, whether you've messed with strings and setup to meet that need first before messing with "change" ... and then consider what might be of benefit to what you do. <grin> Yeah, cost-benefit also is always a consideration. Unless you see the project as a learning project with cost as a relatively minor factor and actually fitting your music a lesser factor, experimenting with strings, setup and what you already have is a very inexpensive first step. Then there's a purpose and design for anything you do in terms of mods. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Good advice from Willie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brant Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 I am a beginner. My amp is peavey vypyr 30. I want to set it to be will rounded country,blues,rock . I am using the riffstation software to lean to play. U can play a song with the the riffstation it shows u the chord. I am learning to play the song by Merle Haggard I think I'll stay here and drink. I can not get my guitar to sound like what I am hearing. The g b e strings sounds like they are ring know matter how much pressure I put on them when I play the D chord. I got the guitar from someone. I don't know what kind of strings are on it. Plays very easy. I like the way it feels. I like the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brant Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 I am a beginner. My amp is peavey vypyr 30. I want to set it to be will rounded country,blues,rock . I am using the riffstation software to lean to play. U can play a song with the the riffstation it shows u the chord. I am learning to play the song by Merle Haggard I think I'll stay here and drink. I can not get my guitar to sound like what I am hearing. The g b e strings sounds like they are ring know matter how much pressure I put on them when I play the D chord. I got the guitar from someone. I don't know what kind of strings are on it. Plays very easy. I like the way it feels. I like the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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