Epi Les Paul build

TRex

TRex

New member
Hey guys

I guess this is another "poor mans Gibson" build, but I am looking to upgrade my Eipiphone Les Paul Standard '09 to a guitar that can keep up with a lower Gibson (like the standard).

 I do have quite a bit of experience soldering and wiring other electronics such as Airsoft guns and repairing household items. However, I have not done any guitar work besides replacing a pot in the guitar a month or so ago. I just want a great overall guitar for jamming with friends and maybe even playing some small gigs, so Right now I'm just kinda window shopping.  I am going to order some CTS audio pots and wire to replace my old alphas. I plan to bring the guitar over to a buddy of mine to get his opinion on the frets and maybe a bone nut, and of course new pickups.

I'm going for a quintessential Les Paul build, so I was thinking about a Jazz/JB combo set. What are your opinions? I also have looked at the Duncan Distortion sets, but they seem a bit too top heavy for my taste. This makes them sound really piercing IMO.

I mostly play Classic Rock, Hard Rock/Metal, Blues, and Alternative/Punk rock. I play Clapton to Slash to BB king to you name it,so I would like a versatile guitar.

I do plan to do individual coil split on push pull volume pots and maybe a master series/Parallel on the neck tone knob.  I'm pretty sure all that would make a sick sounding guitar. If you have any tips on this kind of stuff, let me know. :feedback:
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

CTS pots aren't going to sound any different, they may last longer, but if your pots are fine now, you may have many years of good use left in them. Not a priority for me.

You're wanting to cover a lot of ground, and no PU is going to do all of that as well as you'd like. I'd go with a set of good PAF's, as my emphasis is on blues and classic rock. How much Clapton, BB, Slash are you going to be playing? That's PAF territory. 'Quintessential Les Paul' is PAF's. If you want a high output bridge, a SH-5 is a good choice for metal and heavier rock. Some guys like JB's in LP's, for others that guitar/PU mix doesn't work at all.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

blueman335 said:
CTS pots aren't going to sound any different, they may last longer, but if your pots are fine now, you may have many years of good use left in them. Not a priority for me.

You're wanting to cover a lot of ground, and no PU is going to do all of that as well as you'd like. I'd go with a set of good PAF's, as my emphasis is on blues and classic rock. How much Clapton, BB, Slash are you going to be playing? That's PAF territory. 'Quintessential Les Paul' is PAF's. If you want a high output bridge, a SH-5 is a good choice for metal and heavier rock. Some guys like JB's in LP's, for others that guitar/PU mix doesn't work at all.
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The CTS pots are mostly for the push pull and to replace the the stock ones as they seem to be dropping one by one.

And I wonder how an SH-5 gets a PAF tone out of a ceramic magnet.

I just watched a few videos of the JAZZ pickup, and I am blown away by the sound. The split sound is absolutely amazing to my ears. The JB really seems to do well under a lot of gain, but it can sound nice clean.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

One thing to note with the CTS is that you'll need to make the holes bigger in the top the posts are larger, something to do with metric/imperial I think.

On the pickup front may I suggest leaning towards the vintage output side, it's easier to push the amp that bit harder toget the distortion than to clean up the high outpur for the BB King. Maybe even the Slash set, although I've not got it Ive seen the youtube video for the neck pickup. If you can get 4 conductor versions that is.

I have 59s in my 2004 Epi Les paul tandard and I'm very happy about them, although i dont play metal.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

TRex said:
The CTS pots are mostly for the push pull and to replace the the stock ones as they seem to be dropping one by one.

And I wonder how an SH-5 gets a PAF tone out of a ceramic magnet.

I just watched a few videos of the JAZZ pickup, and I am blown away by the sound. The split sound is absolutely amazing to my ears. The JB really seems to do well under a lot of gain, but it can sound nice clean.
Click to expand...

Remember when you listen to clips: They're using different guitars, amps, speakers, and effects than you are, and you will probably not be able to duplicate those tones yourself. If a clip of a JB is in a Strat thru one brand of amp, you are not going to sound like that using an LP thru a different amp. JB's are at their best in bright woods (like Strats) playing metal. It's not an overly versatile PU for a lot of guitars and genres.

I don't think there's anything PAF-like about SH-5's. You need to decide what's your priority with that guitar: vintage PAF tones, or aggressive metal tones.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

I would think that a JB/Jazz, 59b/Jazzn or especially a WLH set would sound just fine.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

blueman335 said:
Remember when you listen to clips: They're using different guitars, amps, speakers, and effects than you are, and you will probably not be able to duplicate those tones yourself. If a clip of a JB is in a Strat thru one brand of amp, you are not going to sound like that using an LP thru a different amp. JB's are at their best in bright woods (like Strats) playing metal. It's not an overly versatile PU for a lot of guitars and genres.

I don't think there's anything PAF-like about SH-5's. You need to decide what's your priority with that guitar: vintage PAF tones, or aggressive metal tones.
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Noted, and I'm mostly looking for tests in Les Paul type guitars out of a moderate sized amp. Especially back to back comparisons are the best to tell differences.
Demanic said:
I would think that a JB/Jazz, 59b/Jazzn or especially a WLH set would sound just fine.
Click to expand...
Cool I think the JB+Jazz great thus far
 
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Re: Epi Les Paul build

A friend of mine has essentially a Distortion/Jazz (though the Jazz is a DD version) in Jay Turser LP and it sounds fantastic. Another has a 59 in the bridge of his Epi Les Paul and I love that too. I don't see how the JB could sound bad.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

Demanic said:
A friend of mine has essentially a Distortion/Jazz (though the Jazz is a DD version) in Jay Turser LP and it sounds fantastic. Another has a 59 in the bridge of his Epi Les Paul and I love that too. I don't see how the JB could sound bad.
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I'm not a big fan of the DD, as it sounds a little too piercing
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

I love the Jazz. Imo it is the neck pickup for a LP. There are many great options for your bridge pup but it is hard to beat a Jazz in the neck.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

SnakeAces said:
I love the Jazz. Imo it is the neck pickup for a LP. There are many great options for your bridge pup but it is hard to beat a Jazz in the neck.
Click to expand...
Agreed, it sounds perfect in most recording I have heard it
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

TRex said:
If you have any tips on this kind of stuff, let me know.
Click to expand...

On a guitar such as yours, a lot of the sounds obtained through Coil Split and series/parallel linking of both pickups are not going to see much use. (No, folks. This is not a dig at Epiphone.) The Les Paul user whose name is most closely associated with having every possible coil permutation at his fingertips admits to having no use for the overwhelming majority of them.

Through a decent valve amplifier, a pair of '59s or WLHs or similar should do most things with just the three basic neck/both/bridge selections. Phase reversal might be desirable for Peter Green-isms. My own taste for a neck/Rhythm position humbucker would be either a PGN or a '59 with an A4 magnet swap.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

Funkfingers said:
On a guitar such as yours, a lot of the sounds obtained through Coil Split and series/parallel linking of both pickups are not going to see much use. (No, folks. This is not a dig at Epiphone.) The Les Paul user whose name is most closely associated with having every possible coil permutation at his fingertips admits to having no use for the overwhelming majority of them.

Through a decent valve amplifier, a pair of '59s or WLHs or similar should do most things with just the three basic neck/both/bridge selections. Phase reversal might be desirable for Peter Green-isms. My own taste for a neck/Rhythm position humbucker would be either a PGN or a '59 with an A4 magnet swap.
Click to expand...

I donno about that

I'm looking to make this guitar my go to guitar. I am not sure about series or parallel but I'll definitely use coil splitting to mimic strat/tele sounds. I can't always bring a strat and a les paul with me places, ya know. Haha

I do get what you mean, most of the time I'll be using the guitar with the pots down. Thanks
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

blueman335 said:
Not if you're playing blues, Clapton, BB, and classic rock. There's a lot of better choices than a JB.
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I have heard the Jazz is great for getting vlose to B.B.'s live sound. The JB with low/mid gain seems to sound great for classic rock.

I'm sure there are closer sounding pups, but idk these sound great for the hard Rock and punk rock I play a lot of, and can pull out a good sound for classic rock.

I'm also starting to like the 59', but I'll have to pick something a bit harder sounding in the bridge.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

I have Gibson '61 pups in my Gibson Les Paul, output is 7.8K (vintage) and I can go from real good cleans to a lot of distortion (80' heavy metal) no problem. Low output pups like those work quite well with Fender/Vox amps for clean/breakup. For a heavier sound, low output pups work VERY well with Marshall JCM800/Soldano but less good with mega-gain amps like Mesa Rectifier.

If it was my goto guitar I will never go JB on for an "quintessantial" LP. I would install APH/WLH/PG set if you want to split or Slash if not. And as already stated, don't really see much use of splitting humbucker in an LP as this will not give you a Strat sound.
 
Re: Epi Les Paul build

TRex said:
The JB with low/mid gain seems to sound great for classic rock.

I'm sure there are closer sounding pups, but idk these sound great for the hard Rock and punk rock I play a lot of, and can pull out a good sound for classic rock.
Click to expand...


Let's hope it works for you. Just be aware that sometimes JB's work well in LP's, and other times they don't, so that you're not blindsided if it doesn't sound like what you want. Many posts on both sides of that view. Sound clips probably were Strats, not LP's. Colorful descriptions from members that stick in my mind over the years about JB's in mahogany are: 'Ice pick spike', 'Dentist drill whine', 'Farty low end', and 'Cheap blaring old trumpet.' All of these guys loved JB's in their Strats. You're now aware, the decision is yours. Keep us posted on how it works out.
 
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