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I just acquired an old used guitar. It is an Epiphone Dot Deluxe. It is a 1998, made in the Samick factory. It sat in a case for years before I got it.
I changed the strings and cleaned the guitar from end to end. The thing cleaned up really well, except for the pickup covers.
My original idea was to change the pickup and pots and put some good aftermarket pickups in her. (I was thinking Phat Cats because I really love P90s and don't have any guitars with them!)
(Remember, I have no idea what happened to this guitar before I got it.) The first thing I noticed was that the pickup selector switch was backwards. Up is the bridge and down selects the neck. I also noticed that the taper on the volume pots was really good. I had slight variations in sound all the way from 10 down to 2. So I think somebody has already messed with the electronics, unless the factory in Korea installed very good pots but backwards switches!
Now to the pickup covers. They are tarnished. They may have started as gold, but now they're,.....not. I know these things can go "bad", but would a '98 tarnish that badly already? I've been playing the guitar, and it sounds really good. If somebody already messed with the switch, maybe these are Antiquities!
I called SD and the guy who answered was very cool and basically said that there was no way of knowing without pulling the pickups and checking the back plate. I know that is the correct answer, but I was wondering if any of the forum members had any real-world experience with Antiquities.
ALSO, if these are just tarnished stock pickups, what is the Recommendation of the Forum when it comes to pickups in a 335-style guitar? Will Phat Cats kick butt? Should I go with the Seth Lover model? I'm a rocker but I love a good thick clean tone too!
Thanks!!
I changed the strings and cleaned the guitar from end to end. The thing cleaned up really well, except for the pickup covers.
My original idea was to change the pickup and pots and put some good aftermarket pickups in her. (I was thinking Phat Cats because I really love P90s and don't have any guitars with them!)
(Remember, I have no idea what happened to this guitar before I got it.) The first thing I noticed was that the pickup selector switch was backwards. Up is the bridge and down selects the neck. I also noticed that the taper on the volume pots was really good. I had slight variations in sound all the way from 10 down to 2. So I think somebody has already messed with the electronics, unless the factory in Korea installed very good pots but backwards switches!
Now to the pickup covers. They are tarnished. They may have started as gold, but now they're,.....not. I know these things can go "bad", but would a '98 tarnish that badly already? I've been playing the guitar, and it sounds really good. If somebody already messed with the switch, maybe these are Antiquities!
I called SD and the guy who answered was very cool and basically said that there was no way of knowing without pulling the pickups and checking the back plate. I know that is the correct answer, but I was wondering if any of the forum members had any real-world experience with Antiquities.
ALSO, if these are just tarnished stock pickups, what is the Recommendation of the Forum when it comes to pickups in a 335-style guitar? Will Phat Cats kick butt? Should I go with the Seth Lover model? I'm a rocker but I love a good thick clean tone too!
Thanks!!
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