hi all, i have an eppi les paul custom which i bought new, it a great guitar for me as i have only been playing just over a year now, and loving it !!!!.
i was wondering if there is and mods i can make to the guitar to improve its sound and playing quality, ive heard about changing pickups but im not to sure were to start, im playing it thru a line 6 spider 75 amp, which i a great amp with all the preset sounds.
so if anyone can give me any advise, it would be great.
cheers, glynn.
if it sounds great as it is, why do you want to change it? I'm all for modding guitars (and I'm doing just that right now), but you should only do it if you're clear on what you want to change and why.
But if you do go down that route, you might want to change all the electrics. Some Epis (like mine, c1998) come with cheap tone an volume pots, and I prefer the orange drop caps. Both of these are available from places like guitarfetish.com. I'm also changing the pups in my Epi for a set of Seymour Duncan 59s. I might have gone for a JB and jazz humbucker pair instead, but my Spear guitar has them on it already. But there are tons of different pups, and I chose the 59s because I want my Epu to have a classic vintage LP sound. You need to know what you want your guitar to sound like before you choose pups. Better is subjective here.
Check before you buy though. I bought an electronics upgrade kit for my Epi Les Paul Standard I bought last year and when I opened it up to change the parts I found the very same pots and togle switch already in the guitar. I did upgrade the bridge with one from Guitar Fetish that was more the modern "Nashville" style that Gibson uses now. I hate those retaining wires that hold the saddles down. I used the kit in my old Epi SG. It had the cheap pots and switch. I love the pickups that came in mine so they are staying.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I second the idea of changing pups to a SD '59 and a JB bridge, which is exactly what I have in my Guild Polara, under different names. These are really standard, or maybe optimal for want of a better word, across the Planet?
For a milder sound if you want, '57 Classics by Gibson, and Alnico II's like Slash uses are nice. However, you can crank these up and get some pretty awesome distortion!
Or if you want to save money, eBay might offer some take-outs from an LP Std., Gibson 496R and 498T; they're okay but not sensational IMO.
Pots were mentioned, as well as the good Orange Drop cap, which is quite affordable. Stick with good 500K pots, all 4 at a time. :wink:
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
