Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

K

Kwikr 1

New member
Hi guys new to the board . I just purchased a Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio for my Nephew who's big into Classic Rock and Death Metal . I would like to upgrade the picks for him as well . Can you please suggest SD Passive and Active pickup sets that would best be suited for him . From my research I was leaning towards the SD AHB-1 Black Outs . Or a SD JB on the bridge and a SD Jazz on the neck . This is all new to me so go gentle . :) Many thanks .
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

No knowledge of Blackouts but a JB JAzz combo would be pretty cool in that guitar for him. You might even install coil taps because they both split pretty well in that setup.

That way he can get real heavy or dial it back for a classic rock vibe and split the pups to approximate a Strat-y sort of vibe.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

For an ultra versatile set in a LP, go with a Pearly Gates in the neck, Custom in the bridge, and a quad of 500k CTS pots.
 
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Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

I have a Epi Goth LP , its a very dark guitar(sounds as dark as it looks) a jazz does work really well in the neck, and I think a JB in the bridge would sound pretty good but Im thinking it would sound too hollow
I would probably go with a Distortion set in it for passives for great Rock/Metal tones..
Actives....well I'll just say if my Uncle put a set of Blackouts in my LP for me,he would Rank coolset uncle in the history of Uncles for the rest of my life :bigthumb: :notworthy :headbang:
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

I put set of EMG's 81-85 in my LP, she is really heavy. But when I want to tone it down she sounds beautiful, especially the neck on clean. So wide.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

You mention the SD "customs" I see 3 different types . What ones are we talking about ? and what is the difference between SH and TB in the different pickups ? many thanks .
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

If you want to go with actives I thoroughly recommend an 81TW bridge and 89 neck, although to be fair these are not the best set for classic rock. These, unlike most actives, are switchable to single coil so you can also get lighter cleaner tones. Otherwise, like others have recommended Distortion/Jazz or Custom/Jazz.
 
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Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Kwikr 1 said:
You mention the SD "customs" I see 3 different types . What ones are we talking about ? and what is the difference between SH and TB in the different pickups ? many thanks .
Click to expand...

BTW, you're on the right track. I have a bunch of Epi's, upgraded PU's in all of them, and they sound very good now.

Yeah, they've confused many of us with the names too (who comes up with them?). The "Custom" is high output and has a ceramic magnet & is very popular around here for metal.

The Custom 5 is the same PU, except that it has an alnico 5 (A5) which works well for classic rock & hard rock, and the Custom Custom has an A2 which makes it pretty warm & rounded, and probably not what you'd want.

TB is trembucker (take off on the word humbucker) and has slightly wider pole piece (screw) spacings for vibrato bars.

A drawback to actives is that they're battery-operated, and like everything else battery-operated, they seem to fail at the least opportune times.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

blueman335 said:
BTW, you're on the right track. I have a bunch of Epi's, upgraded PU's in all of them, and they sound very good now.

Yeah, they've confused many of us with the names too (who comes up with them?). The "Custom" is high output and has a ceramic magnet & is very popular around here for metal.

The Custom 5 is the same PU, except that it has an alnico 5 (A5) which works well for classic rock & hard rock, and the Custom Custom has an A2 which makes it pretty warm & rounded, and probably not what you'd want.

TB is trembucker (take off on the word humbucker) and has slightly wider pole piece (screw) spacings for vibrato bars.

A drawback to actives is that they're battery-operated, and like everything else battery-operated, they seem to fail at the least opportune times.
Click to expand...

so all the above mentioned pickups are "active" ?
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Custom/Jazz, Distortion/Distortion, Custom5/PG, or even a set of 59's should do the trick for most styles.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Since the goth is often dark avoid a 59 neck, they are already considered to be too bassy by some. I think the Jazz neck is the safest choice. I think the Custom bridge is very safe (and easy to modify with mag swaps) but if he plays a lot of modern metal may not be quite enough.

I reckon, if he plays 50/50 metal and classic rock go with Custom/Jazz, if it is 70/30 go with Distortion/Jazz, if it is more like 90/10 go with actives.

Or if you really want to cover all bases in one guitar, go with P Rails.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Mark Le Comte said:
Since the goth is often dark avoid a 59 neck, they are already considered to be too bassy by some. I think the Jazz neck is the safest choice. I think the Custom bridge is very safe (and easy to modify with mag swaps) but if he plays a lot of modern metal may not be quite enough.

I reckon, if he plays 50/50 metal and classic rock go with Custom/Jazz, if it is 70/30 go with Distortion/Jazz, if it is more like 90/10 go with actives.

Or if you really want to cover all bases in one guitar, go with P Rails.
Click to expand...


so the Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbucker Set is what I should be looking at based on 50/50 play...correct ? thanks .
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Kwikr 1 said:
so the Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbucker Set is what I should be looking at based on 50/50 play...correct ? thanks .
Click to expand...

Not quite. I think the Hot rodded set is a JB and a Jazz N. I think a custom and Jazz Neck would be better for 50/50.

The JB has many fans, but equally many that dont find it works well in their guitar. I have recently (last couple of hours) tried a JB with an A8 magnet and really like it so far, but the custom is a much safer choice for a wide range of music.
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Mark Le Comte said:
Not quite. I think the Hot rodded set is a JB and a Jazz N. I think a custom and Jazz Neck would be better for 50/50.

The JB has many fans, but equally many that dont find it works well in their guitar. I have recently (last couple of hours) tried a JB with an A8 magnet and really like it so far, but the custom is a much safer choice for a wide range of music.
Click to expand...

my mistake . I want the Custom SH-5 in the bridge and the Jazz SH-2 in the neck ..correct ? I think I'm starting to get this . :)
 
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Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Yes. I still think you really want the Pearly Gates in the neck though. Hey, if it's good enough for the Reverend Willy G... :burnout:
 
Re: Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio upgrade help

Kwikr 1 said:
my mistake . I want the Custom SH-5 in the bridge and the Jazz SH-2 in the neck ..correct ? I think I'm starting to get this . :)
Click to expand...

That is what I would go with. I cant really comment on the Pearly Gates neck that a few others are recommending though as I have not tried one.
 
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