Epiphone 700T 650R modification

[Powerstrokedr]

So, i took the ceramic 8 magnets out of both of these factory epi pick ups and replaced with alnico 5. The ceramic 8 sounds fine for metal i guess, but sucks for anything else in that pup. Why bother you ask, well i had a cheapo epi sg special and figured why not..what can it hurt, before buying a replacement set. Well...long story short, these are actually perfect for angus young tone with a wide open marshall, and if i roll the volume back a little i get a slightly hotter gary rossington tone. For a 120 guitar, i now have pups that sond amazingly good and i would gig with it. Bear in mind i have changed the tuners, installed a mojo tone mustard cap and put on a tusq nut and replaced the pots because a real SG is retardedly expensive.

 

[dexfx69]

Re: Epiphone 700T 650R modification

Nice! IMHO, the pups are actually excellent "as is" with the ceramic magnets. Mine sound superb, with DC resistances of 8k on the neck and 15k on the bridge. However, I can understand you might want a more "vintage" tone (a little less bright and with a slightly looser bottom end) with alnicos. For me, I prefer the subtle difference of the ceramics as it gives humbuckers (most of which are not very "sparkly") a little more high end sparkle and a little tighter low end definition. I can always use my tone control to trim off treble if I want a less bright tone. This setup gives me more tonal options.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Epiphone 700T 650R modification

Nah, even with the tone pot rolled down the ceramics have a brittle quality to their highs. The A5 smooths out the highs, but they are still sparkly and the bass is tight.

Powerstrokedr, nice move replacing the magnets with the A5. That's probably the best you can do with those pups. But, they will still sound a bit muddy compared to a good Duncan set (C5 or C8 in the bridge, and Pearly Gates, Screamin' Demon, or '59 in the neck). I totally agree with your choice to go Epi with some upgrade mods instead of Gibson. Epi is turning out some great quality instruments and you can own three or four for the price of a "genuine" Gibson with poor quality control.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Epiphone 700T 650R modification

Is there a Ceramic 8?

 

[goodtimes54321]

Re: Epiphone 700T 650R modification

Nah, even with the tone pot rolled down the ceramics have a brittle quality to their highs. The A5 smooths out the highs, but they are still sparkly and the bass is tight.

Powerstrokedr, nice move replacing the magnets with the A5. That's probably the best you can do with those pups. But, they will still sound a bit muddy compared to a good Duncan set (C5 or C8 in the bridge, and Pearly Gates, Screamin' Demon, or '59 in the neck). I totally agree with your choice to go Epi with some upgrade mods instead of Gibson. Epi is turning out some great quality instruments and you can own three or four for the price of a "genuine" Gibson with poor quality control.

Just pick up a set of Chinese gibson 490/498T knock offs.....they are good. 8k/14k
22.00 for the set....I've used the bridge pu in a couple guitars. I just did a Epiphone LP Jr....added a dpdt to the 498t clone. Wonderful single coil sound and parallel.....you get series, single, parallel with a on/on/on dpdt on one pickup (two coils of fun)....it fits nicely between the two pots.
Here's their link on ebay....they ship from CA.....they also ship from Kentucky sometimes (I got them in 3 or 4 days)....can always get them from china....takes about a month that way. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-G...xVNNi6g:sc:ShippingMethodStandard!32609!US!-1