Need opinions on this Epi LP fretters!

[LagrangeCalvert]

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/produ...tar?sku=518770

[Spudman***]

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/produ...tar?sku=518401

[duhvoodooman***]

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/produ...tar?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]

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]

LC,

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

[Brian Krashpad]

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***]

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]

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

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

[pie_man_25]

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

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]

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]

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.

[pie_man_25]

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]

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]

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]

now they make strats with humbuckers.

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

[Duff]

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]

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]

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]

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.