Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

I'm gonna go against the grain here and recommend a full shred neck and Duncan distortion bridge. The full shred neck is often overlooked as its very articulate and warm while still full and bright. Gr)eat cleans despite the shred name.

I will attest to this - the full shred brings so much massive woolly (when played under distortion) and articulate tone.

Clean, it's boggling

I had it on a Japanese RR3 (yes, I6 wasn't always a roots rocker), and it was glorious

[Blood Orange]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

blueman335 - "Custom 5 (SH-14) is very good in SG's and mahogany. If you want more mids and less treble, then put in an A8 magnet and you'll have the great C8. For what you're doing, I'm thinking a PAF in the bridge is probably not your best option."

If a C8 is pretty good then wouldn't it be easier to just get the C8 instead of upgrading a C5? Or is it either more cost effective or different to do so? And I'm not sure what you mean by a PAF, but I imagine the SH-4 has or is one? Thanks for all your help.

[Blood Orange]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

To Immortal Six,
How exactly does the full shred sound? Is it good for many different types of playing or just metal?

Also in general I don't mind rolling back the treble settings for the 59's but are they that much better than the Jazz SH-2N?

[Quencho092]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

seth lover.

[Franknfilms]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

If a C8 is pretty good then wouldn't it be easier to just get the C8 instead of upgrading a C5? Or is it either more cost effective or different to do so? And I'm not sure what you mean by a PAF, but I imagine the SH-4 has or is one? Thanks for all your help.

PAF basically means low output vintage style pickups. Usually always great in the neck regardless of your style. As for the C8, you can't buy it because it is not for sale. We, on the forum, just buy other customs and install an alnico 8 magnet. You can't buy a custom 8, you have make it yourself. This is why I recommend buying the custom 5 because you have to buy something right?

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

To Immortal Six,
How exactly does the full shred sound? Is it good for many different types of playing or just metal?

Also in general I don't mind rolling back the treble settings for the 59's but are they that much better than the Jazz SH-2N?

The Full Shred neck, in my experience, has very soft highs - nothing shrill in there at all. It's an articulate pickup obviously; being aimed at shredders who use lots of notes very fast, and I find that it gets a little mushy with chording.

I wouldn't put one in a guitar these days, but that's mostly because I think it's ugly.

I will try and find a clip of it from when I had that crazy RR3 and post it.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

Found a clip of that Full Shred in the RR3:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=5009504

Performed poorly, and also recorded very poorly with only the very poorest of equipment

It's the lead / solo part.

[Mr. B]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

I've tried dozens of combos in my SG's. I finally settled on the Gibson 498t bridge and Duncan 59 neck. Uncovered preferably.

[astrozombie]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

You should replace the bridge with a tonepros or something similar and the nut. those will influence tone more, not to mention resonance and sustain.

[lex666]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

You should replace the bridge with a tonepros or something similar and the nut. those will influence tone more, not to mention resonance and sustain.

Actually, Epi has been doing another thing right and upgraded their hardware with locking bridges & tails. My LP Ultra II has the locking bridge and tail and its a very good system. Instead of tightening a hex screw like TonePros, Epi uses a spring loaded system that "snaps" firmly in place. While it doesn't necessarily "lock" like the TonePros, its still a very tite fitting system. Here's the specs for the G-400 from Epi's website:

Body Mahogany
Neck Mahogany, gluedin
Scale 24.75”
Neck Profile SlimTaper™ “D”
Nut width 1.68
Fingerboard Rosewood, 24 fret
Fingerboard Radius 12”
Neck Pickup Alnico Classic™ humbucker
Bridge Pickup Alnico Classic Plus™ humbucker:
Bridge LockTone™ Tune-O-Matic Tailpiece Stopbar
Controls Neck pickup: 1-Volume, 1-Tone/ Bridge pickup: 1-Volume, 1-Tone w/full-size 500K O potentiometers
Hardware Nickel
Tuners GroverŪ 14:1 ratio
Color Cherry (CH), Ebony (EB), left handed model available in Cherry (CH).


Edit: just realized the OP's G-400 is over a year old. hopefully his guitar came equipped with this system.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

Only two pups to consider for the bridge: P-90 or C8.

For the neck there are many choices for an SG: P-90, '59(b), Pearly Gates, APH-1, Screamin Demon, etc.

[notryt]

Re: Upgrading an Epiphone G-400

Resurrecting the dead... New tech use a SD BMP-1 blackout preamp with the stock pickups.. simply an amazing little gadget.. as easy as replacing a bad pot (30 mins start - finish)