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View Full Version : Need opinions on this Epi LP fretters!



LagrangeCalvert
May 10th, 2007, 11:03 PM
This guitar I played at a friends house and kinda liked it...but I was sitting down so I didn't notice the back of it...but the neck was super comfy...I will swap pups in it but I really did dig this axe...I own a bolt on Epi Special 2 that has about 400 dollars sunk into it and its really nice, but I really want a set neck guitar...opinions.

Really read up on this cause its got some Neat and somewhat different features.

Thank you all in advance. PS.. this guitar has a satin finish on the neck only so its buttery smooth even when you start sweating so no sticky finish on the neck

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Ultra-Electric-Guitar?sku=518770

Spudman
May 11th, 2007, 07:35 AM
You'll love it. For a once in a lifetime Epi Les Paul purchase check out the Elitist. It will cost a lot more though.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Elitist-Les-Paul-Standard-Plus-Electric-Guitar?sku=518401

duhvoodooman
May 11th, 2007, 08:22 AM
You'll love it. For a once in a lifetime Epi Les Paul purchase check out the Elitist. It will cost a lot more though.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Elitist-Les-Paul-Standard-Plus-Electric-Guitar?sku=518401
That's virtually identical to the Elitist LP Standard I own, even the same color, except I didn't get the fancy flame maple "Plus" top. At the time, the non-Plus model I have had been recently discontinued, and MF had it on a close-out price of $699. About the only thing that didn't just blow me away about it was the pickups, which were good but nothing really special. So I put a couple of Duncan humbuckers in it, and now I'd put it up against almost any LP Gibson makes here in the US.

joe324
May 19th, 2007, 05:20 PM
i have the special 2 and want help upgrading it help upgrading . help?




p.s im in the uk with no experience whatsoever in upgrading

Plank_Spanker
May 19th, 2007, 08:32 PM
LC,

If that guitar is setting your hair on fire, go for it! :D

Brian Krashpad
May 20th, 2007, 06:04 AM
i have the special 2 and want help upgrading it help upgrading . help?




p.s im in the uk with no experience whatsoever in upgrading

With all due respect to the OP (who had upgraded his before looking for a setneck), you're better off just selling it and buying a different guitar. There's not a big market for bolt-neck LP copies, and unless you're absolutely certain you'd never sell it, keep in mind one never makes back money spent on mods. I would sell it and get a setneck Epi (or other LP-type guitar).

Spudman
May 20th, 2007, 09:59 AM
With all due respect to the OP (who had upgraded his before looking for a setneck), you're better off just selling it and buying a different guitar. There's not a big market for bolt-neck LP copies, and unless you're absolutely certain you'd never sell it, keep in mind one never makes back money spent on mods. I would sell it and get a setneck Epi (or other LP-type guitar).

I'll second everything BK says.

joe324
May 20th, 2007, 11:19 AM
With all due respect to the OP (who had upgraded his before looking for a setneck), you're better off just selling it and buying a different guitar. There's not a big market for bolt-neck LP copies, and unless you're absolutely certain you'd never sell it, keep in mind one never makes back money spent on mods. I would sell it and get a setneck Epi (or other LP-type guitar).


I'll Probably Never Sell It As It's less than 6months old and my first electric guitar and my first guitar i've bought soley out of my own money...i'm only 14 remember :p

edit: Selling It Really isn't an option but upgrading little bits through time is!

pie_man_25
July 24th, 2007, 07:00 AM
I'll Probably Never Sell It As It's less than 6months old and my first electric guitar and my first guitar i've bought soley out of my own money...i'm only 14 remember :p

edit: Selling It Really isn't an option but upgrading little bits through time is!

wow, I'm doing the exact same thing, except I'll be modding the neck too so its got six bolts instead of four to increase stability and sustain so it is almost like a set-neck.

LagrangeCalvert
July 31st, 2007, 12:00 AM
well, I have a LP special two with about 700 dollars put into it...along with quite a few man hours into it as well. my advice is know what you want....and plan ahead guys. I've got more mods done to that guitar than to any other (besides my strat) and you need to start off with a great Special 2 to make it work in the first place. I had the sales boy bring out EVERY special 2 they had in stock. Then went through and played them all till I found one that played right (3 hours for a base 150 guitar......). Their necks are a disaster and unless you plan on keeping it, don't bother throwing tons of money at it.

If you want me to go into further detail on the special I have of mine I can start another thread......and help you along with that needs to be done.

stingx
July 31st, 2007, 05:38 AM
wow, I'm doing the exact same thing, except I'll be modding the neck too so its got six bolts instead of four to increase stability and sustain so it is almost like a set-neck.

http://www.njxriders.com/forum/html/emoticons/24.gif

pie_man_25
August 3rd, 2007, 07:20 AM
http://www.njxriders.com/forum/html/emoticons/24.gif

hey man, ernie ball did the same thing with the stingray (although it is a bass)
and it increased sustain and neck stability to the point where it pretty much was a set-neck. I think you should do your studying before you laugh at somebody.

guitartist
August 3rd, 2007, 04:46 PM
Personally, I think too much is made of the "set neck = better sustain" equation. Its very true in strictly acoustic terms, but as far as playing rock-n-roll electric goes, sustain really depends on your pick ups and your amp.
I mean, you never hear anyone dis Hendrix or SRV's sustain do you, yet they played bolt ons.

I don't think I'd play old school jazz licks with a bolt on, that warm natural type of sound does rely a lot more on the acoustics of the guitar itself, rather than electronics. But with even a little gain in your amp, the difference in sound between bolt ons and set necks pretty much goes out the window.Yes, Les Pauls do sound a lot different than strats, but its due to the difference between humbuckers and single coils IMO.

pie_man_25
August 3rd, 2007, 07:49 PM
Personally, I think too much is made of the "set neck = better sustain" equation. Its very true in strictly acoustic terms, but as far as playing rock-n-roll electric goes, sustain really depends on your pick ups and your amp.
I mean, you never hear anyone dis Hendrix or SRV's sustain do you, yet they played bolt ons.

I don't think I'd play old school jazz licks with a bolt on, that warm natural type of sound does rely a lot more on the acoustics of the guitar itself, rather than electronics. But with even a little gain in your amp, the difference in sound between bolt ons and set necks pretty much goes out the window.Yes, Les Pauls do sound a lot different than strats, but its due to the difference between humbuckers and single coils IMO.


now they make strats with humbuckers.

but now on a more serious note, you do have a point, although the impedance of a p-90 or a humbucker can be imitated rather closely by using an extremely reactive magnet and extra winding/thicker winding wires, I've once used the magnets from a few 20-year old fujitsu hard drives and some copper wire to make a sort of mini p-90 on my tele copy and it sounds pretty good, it's ferrite core ceramic, not alnico 5 which I think is also a ceramic, but its still pretty good.

guitartist
August 6th, 2007, 01:54 PM
now they make strats with humbuckers.




Yeah, I know I've got one...and its got great sustain!

Duff
December 1st, 2007, 06:48 AM
You might want to check out rondomusic.com for something similar, maybe a lot less expensive, or a lot more for your money.

I have no affilliation with them.

Duffy

Duff
December 1st, 2007, 06:51 AM
Try going to guitarfetish.com they might ship to your area. They have pickups, bridges, tuners, etc., at very, very affordable prices.

I have no affilliation with them. They are well known.

Duffy

Duff
December 15th, 2007, 06:47 AM
I would think twice about building up that guitar.

The price of the parts, etc. would probably be more than if you went to rondomusic.com and ordered a new guitar.

They have some strat copies for 99 US dollars that are really nice.

They have LP copies for less than 199.

The special II is going to have other problems when you start building it up, like noisy electronics after you put in more sensitive pickups that bring out the inherent weaknesses of the guitar. You will have to fix those problems too, if you want to really upgrade it: like rewiring things and putting in new pots, capacitors, and things like switches and jacks, new ground, etc. No telling what you might get into.

It is better to upgrade a better guitar to begin with.

However, you might be happy upgrading just the pickups from guitarfetish.com or something like that and live with the buzz or hum if you get any. You should be able to find way better pickups really inexpensively and then solder them in just like the old ones were. You might have to solder a couple other wires together to link up the pair of coils if they are set up to split the coils as a more advanced option that you might not want to get into; more parts, special push pull pots, etc. You can just solder better pickups straight in and they will screw right into the pickup rings you already have. Quite simple actually. You could get started for a small amount just by upgrading the pickups to something else that is better. Make sure it is better than what you already have though, first.

Duffy
Winfield, Pa.

LagrangeCalvert
December 21st, 2007, 02:27 AM
I own and gig with a LP special 2....Like I stated in an earlier you have to start with a good one to begin with. And in stock guise I have never noticed any humming or anything. The most I had was a scratchy tone pot...

Any Econo axe you upgrade your gonna need to look at all your upgrades (including wiring/grounding to cut down on noise) and start with a good one - usually picked out at the store so you can feel it for yourself.

Duff you make it sound like their horrible guitars (The special 2) and I can say that some are poorly put together and some slip through QC but their not bad.

But I can also see that at that price point there are other guitars that could be modded also. Also IMHO the reason you beef up one of these guitars is to make something that the companies don't....something like that.

Brian Krashpad
December 21st, 2007, 07:56 AM
well, I have a LP special two with about 700 dollars put into it...along with quite a few man hours into it as well.

Hmm, I gotta say I don't understand putting that much money into a bolt-on LP copy.

For that kind of money you could've just gone out and gotten a used Gibson Les Paul Studio that wouldn't require any mods.

Heck I have a Les Paul Classic I only paid $750 for.

oldguy
December 21st, 2007, 08:16 AM
I say to each his own. I spent some time doing mostly cosmetic mods, and filing fret sprout on a "51 Squier. Why?..... cuz I wanted to.
Lagrange, correct me if I'm wrong, don't you also work with (or for) a luthier quite a bit?
If so, I would guess that any mods/work you've done on your axes was a learning experience, and maybe you got "a deal" on some of your parts.
The old saying " you can't turn a pig's ear into a silk purse" may be true (I've never tried that, myself), but I have taken inexpensive guitars and re-worked the frets, intonation, tweaked the necks, filed the nuts, etc. until I had them playing every bit as good as any American made Strat, Tele, or Les Paul.
That said, if I wanted to keep modding them w/ the hardware and electronics needed, I could make them as good or better than their USA counterparts. And I'd have the satisfaction of knowing I did it, and I learned something along the way. I just wouldn't have a "real" Am.made axe.
I'd venture a guess. Lagrange Calvert's axes probably play and sound as good as any you could pick up off the rack, regardless of where they're built.
:D :D :D

F_BSurfer
December 21st, 2007, 09:31 AM
Yea play what you like and like what you play
Couple years ago I took a Epi lp 2 on partial trade and that thing was awesome played far better than most Gibson set neck I've played not long after I had it my son borrowed it, haven't seen it since (well I've seen it it just hasn't returned to me) Week ago he was hired to do two studio sessions one in La and one in Miami and what he took with him was the epi and for what its worth he does own a sweeeeet gibby and Ibanez

LagrangeCalvert
December 21st, 2007, 01:55 PM
I say to each his own. I spent some time doing mostly cosmetic mods, and filing fret sprout on a "51 Squier. Why?..... cuz I wanted to.
Lagrange, correct me if I'm wrong, don't you also work with (or for) a luthier quite a bit?
Lagrange Calvert's axes probably play and sound as good as any you could pick up off the rack, regardless of where they're built.
:D :D :D


HA....you got me :beer: :AOK: I do in fact work with a luthier when I am not playing in my band or at coffee houses doing acoustic gigs here in the Ohio Kentucky Indiana area (Based out of Cincinnati) the only thing is I do not get a discount on parts (unless I buy bulk...and that aint gonna happen!) but the help from a guy who is one of the best in the business when it comes to mods/repairs and building axes. So you could say my mods are a little more substantial than that of the average modder <-- thats not an insult but I do kinda have an advantage of working with/for a luthier.

LagrangeCalvert
December 21st, 2007, 02:06 PM
Hmm, I gotta say I don't understand putting that much money into a bolt-on LP copy.

For that kind of money you could've just gone out and gotten a used Gibson Les Paul Studio that wouldn't require any mods.

Heck I have a Les Paul Classic I only paid $750 for.

But I couldn't find a LP that I really really liked, and that being said one with really really low and wide frets - I dressed mine to .032 (dunlop frets at that) - Sperzel tuners, A roller Nut, Graphite saddles a wetsanded neck, Matched NOS 300K Gibson pots, and a Tone Pros Tune-O-Matic in it - Oh I forgot Seymour Duncan Pickups - For That much money.


Sorry.....just thought I'd explain the money I put into it. The most expensive part (time consuming AND cost) was the big chunk of Brass that is put in the neck pocket to increase sustain and add some bite. Routing the pocket was fun and getting a hunk of brass in there was too!

BUT in retrospect, I could have picked a guitar that was better to mod from stock BUT I'm a cheap bastard and IMHO the Hardware makes the guitar.

Kazz
December 22nd, 2007, 04:04 AM
as far as putting 700 into an Epi...I probably would not have done that when Gibson has that Mahogany LP for for $799

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Les-Paul-Vintage-Mahogany-Electric-Guitar?sku=517536

However if you were looking for an inexpensive guitar to mod out of the box, I would suggest the Greg Bennett Samick made Avion series.

I have this one here and so far have added Washburn EMG-Select pups to her who knows what lays in her future.http://www.gregbennettguitars.com/images/av-3-cs.jpg


I know when my bonus check comes in late March...I will probably be picking up that Les Paul mentioned above.....should have bought the used one I seen at Guitar Center earlier this year for $500 I have kicked myself weekly for not buying that thing...the tone was perfect to me.

TS808
December 27th, 2007, 08:57 PM
I would seriously consider (and someone mentioned this earlier) an Agile AL-3000 from www.rondomusic.com. I was skeptical about buying one at first because I thought it was too good to be true...a quality guitar for $369. It came with grover tuners, nickel plated hardware, an EBONY fretboard with abalone inlays. The finish on both of mine is flawless, and the pickups are Alnico. The electronics are pretty good, and the tone....VERY GOOD.

stingx
December 27th, 2007, 09:07 PM
For $699 I would buy the new Epiphone Slash Signature model.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Slash-Signature-Les-Paul-Standard-Plus-Top-Electric-Guitar?sku=515623

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/8/5/9/540859.jpg