newlife15 Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Good day all, I recently purchased an epiphone casino which I absolutely love. I was thinking about swapping out the pickups to the Gibson dog ears and decided to email Gibson since epiphone is owned by Gibson.I just asked: Message: I am thinking of swapping out my p 90's on the epi casino for the USA Gibson p 90 dog ears that are used on the Gibson es330. My question is are the us p90's a straight drop in on the epiphone or will I have to make any adjustments? Thanks Roy Their reply: "Unfortunately we don’t do epiphone repair here so I can’t help you on the pickup change out. Sorry I couldn’t be more help." So then I asked: Well then is there a separate division who handles epiphone...Gibson and Epiphone are one company though separate. Is there someone else who might help? Thanks you Roy. And their reply was: "Sorry there is not an epiphone repair division. The cost to do repair on epiphone instrument usually exceed the value of the instrument so most any epiphone repair is done by the owners or a luthier friend." So now I am asking you, isn't that sort of insulting? I mean I love my epiphones and in my thinking there absolutely should be support for epiphone Instruments No matter what the cost. Am I missing so ethi g here? You'd think they can answer a simple question about their product. I mean I. The Gibson website under products they have both Epiphone and Gibson..... Please help me get a handle on this because I think if you spend x amount of dollars on an instrument there should be so e kind of support.... Thanks, Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I am with Gibson on this one... Epi's are low cost, mass produced in the Far East instruments representing good VFM... It is not appropriate to get involved in modifications which may well cost more than the instrument is worth And as suggested, one route to take would be a local luthier or DIY if confident and skilled... V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 id imagine that the dog ear pickups from gibso being screwed to the top of the guitar like the epiphone ones should give you no problems replacing them . the cans on top should be the same spec. its just the ciols on the gibbys may be heavier wound. easy enough to find out go to a guitar store and measure the cans for the screw placement and can size. the can being the dog ear chrome part. this will answer your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtb2000 Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 After doing some research on the pups you want to switch out, the Gibson p90's will fit in the Epi, But Epiphone or Gibson will not do the work for you. I have an older EPI Les Paul goldtop with soapbar p90's in it, I had them switched to Gibsons at a local guitar center for $220 cost of labor and new pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 after further thought . you should be able to take the pickup out of the gibson cans and drop it in to the epiphone cans if they arent eaxct fit to your screw pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlife15 Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Replying to Joe I just thought that there would be some kind of support for epi just because they are oned by Gibson and a little confused as to why they couldn't answer one super simple question. I guess I have spoken to too many Customer service areas and gotten easy answers... But be that as it may i wish there was a customer service area to answer questions. I mean you can call fender customer service and ask about their Mexican strats........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 It seems to me that the replies from Gibson were very informational, factual and forthright. They said did not have an answer your question. They explained why. They advised you on how and where to seek the answer to your question. What more do you really expect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I think that whether or not Epiphone does repair work or the cost of the repair exceeding the cost of the instrument is really a moot point and doesnt adress the question. Maybe this question was beyond the scope of customer service, or maybe they dont have time look for an answer to this question or access to the information. I think that customer service is really more for feilding complaints, rather than asking random questions about sizes of this or that. Not that your question wasnt valid, as you seem to be prepared to drop a few bucks on Gibson pickups, but I just dont think that these things are within the scope of their customer service job description. You may get lucky and find someone that know the answer or how to obtain it, but it doesnt take someone knowledgable about Epiphone guitars to field complaints or answer questions about shipping dates....and that seems to be mostly what they do. They could spend all day answering odd questions about one thing or another, but when it comes down to it, adressing complaints is far more important, and their days are probably filled with complaint calls, as that is the nature of the beast when you pump out as many guitars as Epiphone and Gibson combined. These forum are really more for adressing questions like yours, and IIRC, there is a difference in sizes between certain Epiphone P90 pickups and standard P90s. Though I'm recalling some older 1990's Junior models where I know this to be the case. I am not certain if this is still the case for newer Epiphone P90 models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I'm not surprised, miffed or insulted - I own Epis and Gibsons. Epis are as cheap as they are Awesome!! As inexpensive as they are I can't imagine Gibson would do anything but lose money trying to support them to any meaningful degree. I figure that's part of the trade-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I do wonder why the OP wasn't directed to this forum..... but he ultimately did come here, although to complain about Gibson, and not to ask about the pickup swap. Well, he has over 120 posts, so he isnt exactly a newbie. Of course, he should have known to come here first, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlife15 Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Lol....please forgive me for not coming straight to the source. I should have come here first with all the vast wealth of information from the greatest forum out there. My bad...won't happen again...I feel like the dude that went to the police first instead of the Godfather........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I'm not sure why Joe got minused for his last post, but he speaks the truth. Most peoples' opinions on the Epiphone P90 are positive. We've been complaining about Epiphone pickups on this forum for years. The Epiphone P90 is very rarely, if never, brought up in these complaints. Swapping pickups is really a matter of preference and if it floats your boat, go for it. But I have to back up Joe's post because he speaks the truth regarding the general consensus of Epiphone P90 pickups. I'm getting a little tired of seeing people being minused for no reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlife15 Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Yes I agree 100%. I am keeping the Epi p90's. they sound fine. I guess that I have been predijuced over the years and programmed to always swap out epi pickups because people always say that's its weak point..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magneezo Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I never did get much help regarding anything that wasn't stock on the Epiphone guitar when it came to Gibson. They were absolutely no help when it came to aftermarket upgrades. On the other hand Ari Lehtela of LA Guitars in Charlotte is the Authorized Gibson Repair center specialist here and he was very helpful in sourcing and replacing parts for my Epiphone So, just because the corporate telephone end won't help doesn't mean an Authorized Gibson Center won't come off as amazing. Ari proved that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggy Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I think it ultimately depends on whether you get a 'just here cos it's a job' wonk answering your query or someone who cares! I emailed a query about my Epi's construction, etc and got a response from a guy in customer services saying he'd find out for me. Sure enough he came back a few days later with loads of info and apologies for what info was unavailable and the reasons why. Brilliant customer service. Different guy who responded to a very simple query re my BC30 - Zilch, no help whatsoever and frankly gave the impression he couldn't give a s**t either. Frankly it'snot specifically a Gibson/Epiphone problem but but is simply an issue which affects anyone who has to deal with customer support anywhere I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlife15 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Joe your right. I should have kept it simple. It's just that you hear so much about the history of epiphone and all of the great players who play and played Epi's, the excitement from Henry and 140 years of this and that and you can't tell me if swapping the pickups is a straight drop in? Just seems strange to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemans335 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Epi P-90's are good, Gibson's are better. If you can get a used Gibson P-90 or two for a good price, do it. I've changed PU's in dozens of guitars, HB's and P-90's, it's easy to do. There's video instruction online. Join the Seymoir Duncan forum and we'll teach you how to do all kinds of things yourself. Know your instrument, take control of it. P-90's have a hot wire and a ground. You can see where the ones from the old PU attach to the volume pot. 5 minutes of soldering and you're done. Not much harder than tying your shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Miscommunication here I think. I have found, that at times when Gibson genuinely doesn't know, they find out and get back. But in this case, what the guy is saying is they don't have any Epi parts around, don't expect to get any, so therefore, he doesn't have any better access to finding out than the public, or a repair shop. The comment about "not repairing" makes sense, as I think the proceedure would be to simply replace the guitar. So, NOT having a "factory" repair facility makes perfect sense. Neither would it make sense to repair them. Repairing a Gibson, that's different. And they also BUILD them there. Personally, I'd say "thanks for trying" and appreciate the detailed responce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 pssssst !! Guitar Fetish(.com) sells some dayum good p'ups for about 1/2 the cost of other brands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTar Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Their reply: "Unfortunately we don’t do epiphone repair here so I can’t help you on the pickup change out. Sorry I couldn’t be more help." I have to say that was a good reply. It wasn't wrong and it was honest. My sole dealing with gibson customer service was to report a broken strap lock button and an issue on a pick guard spacer and they promptly replaced both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Question Reply Really ? Read his question again.... Is nobody here able to read ? READ post #8. L5LARRY says it as well as I can think to say it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggy Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 READ post #8. L5LARRY says it as well as I can think to say it. Really? Imagine contacting General Motors Customer Services with the following query Do Cadillac wheels have the same PCD as a Buick? Would you be happy if the response was: Sorry we don't repair Buicks as it's usually cheaper to scrap them so can't help you. Try contacting an independent (i.e. non franchise) repair shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstick Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Bender4life. What HB from Guitar Fetish would you recommend to replace the ones in a Epi Lp quilt top classic. I play rock/blues and some country. Also do you no anything about their Xarrier LP Jr copies? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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