What pickups on my Epi Dot?
jrobe...@hotmail.com
with the sound (after replacing the tuners and nut so that it would
stay in tune). I keep hearing from people that the stock pickups in
Epi Dots suck and that I should upgrade. The thing is, I think the
stock pickups sounds pretty good. That got me wondering, has
Gibson/Epiphone used different pickups in the Dot's at different times?
I assume they have. Did I luck out and get a Dot at a time when they
were putting good pickups in them? I remember that, when I bought it,
the pickups had a sticker on them that said "Designed by Gibson". Now
the Dot's have stickers that say "Designed by Epiphone". Does that
mean they are different now? Were they better when I bought them? Can
anyone give me a little info on this?
Jdavyd Williams
honestly... if you think they sound good, what are you worried about? i
wouldn't mess with it. let the other folks think what they want - only
you have to be happy with the way your guitar sounds.
Ron.Th...@faa.gov
>I have an Epiphone Dot that is about 5 years old, and I'm quite happy
>with the sound (after replacing the tuners and nut so that it would
>stay in tune). I keep hearing from people that the stock pickups in
>Epi Dots suck and that I should upgrade.
There are no absolutes in this stuff. It's like telling people with
green cars that green cars suck and they should upgrade the color to
red.
>The thing is, I think the stock pickups sounds pretty good.
Remember that...
>Did I luck out and get a Dot at a time when they
>were putting good pickups in them?
What you think sounds good and what others call "good" just don't have
to be the same. When others call something "good" and you try it and
don't like it, that is just fine too. If you like the way it sounds,
keep playing it and enjoy it and get better and have more fun at it.
Don't get bogged down in the Swamp Of Tone. You'll die there without
ever having learned the fun of it all.
jrobe...@hotmail.com
years, but I keep wondering. I get told by a number of different
sources: "Wait 'til you drop some Classic '57's in there, and you won't
believe how good a guitar that is. You won't know how you got along
without them."
So, I'm torn between two lines of thought:
(1) Why mess with a good thing?
(2) Maybe I could make a *good* thing into a *great* thing.
I'm tending towards #1, but I'd be interested if someone knew, for
example, whether Gibson was putting 490's into its Epi Dots for awhile,
or something like that.
Derek
my PRS Archtop, and I couldn't be happier. Gave it a mellower, darker
tone. The PRS pup was a bit harsh for my ears.
Ron.Th...@faa.gov
thing CAN be better, but don't assume it will be. If the guitar has
490s in it it is quite possible you will like the 57s better. I know I
do, but you may not. I don't think that they ever put 490s in them,
but I could be wrong. Lift them out, see what they look like?
scullen
pickups, even though everyone says I should.
If I was unhappy with the sound in any way, I wouldn't hesitate, but
why fix what aint broken?
Frank
same applies to single-coils). Many times the differences can be
nulled out by changes in your amp's eq and gain settings. In a blind
a/b test - especially in a band setting - most people's ability to tell
a difference is greatly reduced. I was watching a live John Mayer
freeview on DirecTV the other night a couldn't tell much difference in
his sound when he switched from a Strat to a Gibson hollowbody (335?) -
it was all in his fingers!
Frank
Mike Hartigan
jrobe...@hotmail.com says...
Everybody knows that Epi pups suck! Ask any Gibson owner ;-)
Seriously, I read your post three times, and I interpret it this way
-- after hearing the guitar with the stock pups, YOU (the only one
whose opinion counts) are happy with it. 'People' (who presumably
have never heard it) think they suck and should be replaced. Where
is the confusion here?
WRT changing the pickups from one year to the next - I don't believe
that Epiphone ever specifies what model of pickups they use in their
guitars. 'Humbucker' is typically as specific as they get. I
suspect that this affords them the flexibility to use whatever is
available at the time they order them. Keep in mind, also, that even
known pickups have variances from one batch to the next. There are
those who claim that Stevie Ray Vaughan's unique tone was due, in
part, to extra windings in his stock Strat pickups. Not by design,
just by chance. Variations like that are inherent in mass
production.
jrobe...@hotmail.com
> Seriously, I read your post three times, and I interpret it this way
> -- after hearing the guitar with the stock pups, YOU (the only one
> whose opinion counts) are happy with it. 'People' (who presumably
> have never heard it) think they suck and should be replaced. Where
> is the confusion here?
Well, I think that the guitar sounds *good*, but I'm told that it could
sound *great* with new pickups. I'm happy with what I have, but
suspect that I could be even happier with a pickup swap. Happy is
good. Happier is better. The extension of that is that I am wondering
if maybe I have better pickups in it now (in my 5-year-old guitar) than
what Epi is currently putting in their guitars. That's all. No
confusion.
Robert Barker
news:1136273130.5...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Mike Hartigan wrote:
>> Seriously, I read your post three times, and I interpret it this way
>> -- after hearing the guitar with the stock pups, YOU (the only one
>> whose opinion counts) are happy with it. 'People' (who presumably
>> have never heard it) think they suck and should be replaced. Where
>> is the confusion here?
>
> Well, I think that the guitar sounds *good*, but I'm told that it could
> sound *great* with new pickups.
'Nuff said. Well, it's pretty obvious that the 'tone quest' seed has been
successfully planted now, so I would go ahead and get the new pickups,
*whichever* model tickles your fancy (I like the Classic 57's, myself), and
get 'em installed. The worst *possible* outcome will be that you'll end up
with a set of used pickups for sale.
Of course you realize that this process really has no end once it gets
started, except for what your checkbook can stand, because if you did
install a set of 57's, for example, and you thought they sounded fantastic,
there'd be someone waiting in the wings to tell you how much more incredible
your guitar would sound with a set of active EMG's.....Heh. Good luck.
Max Smith
start!!
If you think your pickups sound "good", more practice and refinement of
your picking technique and amp settings will get you to "great".
This may be reaching for a metaphor, but the famed "greatest swordsman"
of Japan, Miyamoto Musashi, advised using a good sword, not a custom
made one-of-a-kind sword, and refine your technique. He even advised
practicing from time to time with unfamilar swords - what I'm saying, I
guess, is that your sound - *your* tone - should come mostly from you,
not your pickups.
Just my $.02
Max