My GAS a Pro-grade Instrument

[Glacies]

That seems like a good plan of action WRT the Ibanez. You can see if you like that and what it does well, doesn't do well, etc.

Before you do too too much with the Epi, I might recommend you just mess with the pickup height a bit. I dinked around with pickup replacement in the past and got very different sounds on an LP by just raising up the neck pickup a bit. It's entirely possible that you will want to change the pickups anyway, but it's a quick tweak that can yield surprising differences. Just screw the two screws on the side of the pickup ring clockwise to raise the pickups.

I just took in into my guy for a setup - works out of his garage, is cheap but quality. He charged me extra for this one but I haven't picked it up yet or asked why, I'm wondering if he adjusted the pickups.

When you say that the pots are "lacking", what do you mean? I'm thinking maybe a humbucker-size P90 for your neck pickup, maybe a GFS Mean 90 (I like mine) or something similar that's brighter than a humbucker.

Personally, I wouldn't pay $100 for a control assembly when I can assemble one myself for half that price. But then, I'm poor.

Pots barely change the tone at all on the epi, and the volume knob is essentially On/off - there's no rolling off the volume. I never cared too much about upgrading it, especially because I wanted to learn how to play first. Now I'm there (debatable) and want to invest in what has developed into an important part of my life.

I looked up doing some work with the pickups on the SX, and couldn't find anywhere near a cost effective solution. What kind of pickups, where do you get them?

[Glacies]

Now I'm thinking about a P90 on the epi at the neck. That sounds really sexy to me.

[Bookkeeper's Son]

I'm no electronics tech, but soldering isn't rocket surgery. Four CTS 500k audio taper pots, Switchcraft 3-way and jack, a couple caps (I don't put much stock in bulltique caps, personally), and some wire. About 50 bucks. Don't overcomplicate it. The Epi stuff wears out - mine did after 3 whole years of light use. That said, my guitar didn't get any better due to the new parts; just solved the scratchy pots and dodgy 3-way. I didn't expect a sonic improvement; it wasn't a reasonable expectation. It was simply a repair project.

I got the parts from http://www.guitarnucleus.com/gnstore/elec.html - reasonable prices, good service.

[Eric***]

Pots barely change the tone at all on the epi, and the volume knob is essentially On/off - there's no rolling off the volume. I never cared too much about upgrading it, especially because I wanted to learn how to play first. Now I'm there (debatable) and want to invest in what has developed into an important part of my life.

I looked up doing some work with the pickups on the SX, and couldn't find anywhere near a cost effective solution. What kind of pickups, where do you get them?

I was going to recommend some Rose Mariposa pickups at $30 for a set, but it looks like they've jacked up all of their prices and they're now $60 for a set, which is still decent, just not as good obviously. Toneriders are supposed to be good pickups.

In my experience, a pot is a pot unless you switch out audio taper (brings the volume down logarithmicly, similar to how we hear) for a linear taper (all of your volume will be within the first 15% of the travel of the pot), there's not a ton of difference in sound. Feel, yes. Sound, not a super-duper amount. Then again, I haven't done much in the way of direct A/B comparisons with this stuff. I think what I'm trying to say is that if you don't notice much of a difference in adjusting the volume and tone knobs, it might have something to do with how the amp is set up. Or maybe I've just never experienced that.

P90 is all about preference. I prefer the sound of humbuckers, but that's just me.

[Bookkeeper's Son]

I figger that new controls are a worthwhile investment if Glacies wants a reliable gigging instrument or backup.