Epiphone Guitars

[Tone2TheBone]

I think I'm used to it by now. hahahaha

[Spudman***]

Tone

I have both a Pearly gates and a JB. The PG is in a basswood Ibanez in the neck position and the JB is in an Alder Jap Strat in the bridge with coil taps. If you want tone I would go with something else in my opinion. I haven't been happy with either. There isn't a lot of difference with the JB tapped. Then again I'm not sure just exactly how it is tapped. I have found that pickup to be a dark high output sound in HB mode.

I think the 59 is better than the PG which is basically what the PG is. The PG is supposed to have more "sizzle", but I haven't found that in my case. And a Screamin Demon has way more tone than the JB. It is a lower output pickup. I'd even go so far as to try the Dimarzio Norton/ Tone Zone combos or stay with Gibson's or Seths.

I went with Ibanez AH pickups in my Epi Paul. Lower output and better tone than most everything else I've tried. They will brighten the sound up though and you can get them cheap at you know where.

[SuperSwede]

Tone, I had PAF + in my LP. I think you should have a look at them as well...

But whatever you do, dont install one of these :
http://www.axesrus.com/axeplates_files/lpfe.jpg

[Tone2TheBone]

SuperSwede,

hahahahaha...don't worry man as highly as I revere the Eagle I won't opt for the Eagle pickguard on my LP. LMAO

What are the advantages of the PAF+ SS? The neck pickup in my Gibson LP is a standard Gibson PAF and it's cool. Beautiful sound. A little hot for me in a neck pup though although thats just a matter of setting the volume lower on that pup. I think the coolest combo would be a P-90 in the neck and a humbucker in the bridge. Thats kinda the sound I want to hear in the neck ala Stratocaster style.

Spud,

I don't think I can go wrong with a '59 in any position. Thats unfortunate that your PG isn't to your liking. Man I love my Pearly...it's hot...not too hot though...but hot enough, yet when backed off it cleans up nicely. Hot or lukewarm she purrs warm vintage tone all night long.

I played her again last night, both amped and unplugged. People always say that you can tell if a guitar is going to be a good one or not when you play it unplugged...listening to it resonate. This little baby resonates in a spectacular way. You can hear the guitar's natural wood tone coming through very easily...almost as if you're listening to the neck pickup when plugged in. Now THAT is sweet. After reading your posts I think I want to go for a more vintage output even in the bridge since I already have one Pearly. I'm thinking a sweet little '59 in the bridge and neck. Anyway if I want more output I have the amps to do that no biggie. I'm finding I play more cleanly these days just out of love for shear woody sounds...even with grit on the dirty channels it's not hot rod metal gain. Think Marshall Plexi tone here. I'm thinking the '59s will give me the best of both worlds.

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Tone i think you should put some texas specials in there somewhwere between the two big ones , if you dont want to cut the top you could always gaff tape them there ....sorry couldnt resist.. beautiful top on that baby , looks realy good man nice flame , personally i've always loved sd pearley's, i think that i read somewhere that the shafts on the epi pots are metric rather than standard,but a good set of cts and some cloth wire should set thing right ...how heavy is that bad boy , once again very nice top ..6S9L

[SuperSwede]

Tone, the PAF+ has more output but is also a bit fatter than the standard. It might be a little to hot to pair up with a P100 however...
I haven´t tried the Gibson P100 myself but it is a p90 packed in a standard Gibson humbucker case.

[Tone2TheBone]

6Strings,

Yeah a Texas Special tone off the neck is exactly what I love how did you know!

I love my Pearly too but I'm kinda leaning toward making this guitar different. The flame top on this baby just makes me think '58 or '59 even in Epidom. The spirits are leading me toward a vintagey sound I think. I'm still in honeymoon phase now that I set it up myself and I haven't opened up the cavity yet to see what's under there. ....Somehow that sounds comical and you'd think I would have had a peek by now! lmao. Yeah I read the same thing about the pots being metric and having to (gasp) drill out larger diameter holes for different pots, but Nelskie says his different pots fit his Epi LP. Of course his is a 1990s model too. Could be different nowadays.

I have a postal scale at work and now that you mention it I'm going to bring her in tomorrow again and weigh her. She's probably gotta be a bit under the 10 pound mark BUT she isn't anorexic either. She's got some nice round heft to her...comfortable heft, the kind that you KNOW makes for a great sounding geetar not a cheap one. I'm used to Les Pauls so the weight doesn't bother me. I'll repost her weight tomorrow.

SS,

Thanks for the info on the PAF+!