Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

[Snake Aces]

Has anyone done an Epiphone 56 Goldtop with the SP90-2 Hot Soapbars yet?

I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio currently, if not for the rareness of the one I have, I would probably try some SD's in it and play it more often. However, I would hate to lose my brushed aluminum pup covers on it. I do not currently have $2800 to drop on a Gibson 56 Goldtop reissue, yet I'm in love with that guitar.

My idea is to buy the Epiphone and get the SD SP90-2's for both the neck and bridge, upgrade the tuners, bridge, stop tail piece, switch, and etc. I am curious if anyone has done it, how they like it, and what type of pots I should buy for the switch??

 

[cream123]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

check out bada bing's (on the forum, search the members list) ebay store he has a kit ready for reffiting electronics. it includes the works for electronics, except for p-90's. i hear the antiquities are great but they may be too vintage. bada bing also has tonepros . they are pricey but nothing but the best.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

IMO, you can get those Epi '56 Reissues and leave everything as-is before deciding what needs to be changed and what doesn't. The biggest mistake people make is get a guitar and change everything immediately before even getting familiar with it and what it can do.

As an owner of a current model LP Standard Plus, I can say this: the tuners are fine, the bridge and tailpiece are fine, the wiring is fine, the electronics are OK. My switch is still the original, two pots have been replaced when they went bad. Pickups were replaced too, but several months after I bought it.

I too want one of those Epi RI's. They look great in person and I just love Goldtops. I'd ultimately would rather have one with humbuckers but the '56 would do.

The newer Epi's sound really good, build quality is leaps and bounds above what it was even 6 years ago. Those that dog them either never played them and just follow what everyone else says, only played a handful in one store, or had one that was made 10 years ago when they were not very good.

Unless you are extremely anal about your guitars to the point that everything has to be changed when you buy it, leave everything as-is and just swap the pickups out when you get a chance.

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

yeah the epi goldtop is a wonderfull guitar. very well built, defenantly one of the better built epiphones, comes right after the elistits seriese or whatever those are called. i had everything original in there for about 5 to 6 months, and at about that time i decided id be wanting more of a humbucker sound to it, so placed mini-humbuckers in there. now im switching again, thinking full/sized humbucker in bridge, and going back to p-90 in neck <--- (just to try it out, if not good ill go back to mini) its just i dont remember much of those p-90 days, and i got a new amp since than, and maybe itll sound better than id hoped to.

the tuners are fine if you never undo the strings and reuse them (like if youre going to do some electronics changes and take off the strings, than put them back in. once they get put back in, the ends start slipping out so the tuning changes a lot, and also you get a lot of rattling from the bridge area. im replacing the tuners someday with gotoh kluson style locking tuners (gibson keystone look NOT epiphone keystone, those green things are puke color :eek13: )

the input jack is pretty ****ty. both mine and my friend who has an epi starts jacking up (get it jack/jacking HAAH IM FUNNY!! anywawys...) so it just starts cutting the sound a bit whenever it gets touched/moved around the leat bit, so new switchcraft ones will do the job just fine.

the pots should be changed one day or another. they are pretty low quality, break easily, not very smooth and stuff, and i personally wouldnt want it dying on me during a gig, its already gone bad on me (not during gig) but just hitting it made it come back.

switch is decent, not very smooth, still would consider replacing it while youre at it, mine makes a lot of noise when switching.

now, if you actually did read through all that, hopefully it helped somehow, but i agree with erikH, wait a bit before switching stuff and build up an opinion. this way you will hear the most difference.

good luck, the goldtop is a fantastic guitar, you wont regret getting it.

(only build problem would be the neck cavity. its a bit messy in there, but its not bad if you plan on sticking with p-90's. can be a sligh problem with mini-humbuckers, but its doable..

 

[ErikH]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

metallica: there's a better way when you're swapping pickups where you don't have to take the strings off the tuners while doing electronic work. Get a capo. Put it on the first fret position, then loosen the strings enough to allow the tailpiece to come off. Just move it out of the way. Or, loosen them up just enough that you can get the pickups in and out with the tailpiece still in place (this is what I do). Just watch the screws so they don't hit the finish. With humbuckers, I just lower them as far as I can in to the ring and then take the whole thing out.

Funny how some call the jack "input" when it's not.

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

yeah its more of an ouput jack, but i ahve become accustomed to calling it input jack.

that capoing thing isnt a bad idea actually. im going to start doing this.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

It "is" an output jack. There's no "more of" at all....LOL. You're not the only one that thinks like that though. It's because of the saying "plugging in" and thinking plugging in to the guitar rather than "in to" the amp.

When it comes to the pots, CTS or Alpha brand are the best ones. I didn't have time to wait to get those when the volumes on mine went out (at different times) so I tossed in some Might Might GC Labelled pots really quick. They work fine. I like the WD brand pots better though when it comes to a quick fix. They have a better taper.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Epiphone 56 Goldtop reissue w/ SD soapbars??

Right on! Thanks for all your help.

I usually play on an instrument for about a year to get to know it before I actually make changes. I think with this Epi I would probably go in for surgery right away as long as I know exactly what I am looking for out of it. I'd have to buy one first though...