epiphone lp 100

GREEN DAY LP GEEK

GREEN DAY LP GEEK

New member
should i put money into my lp 100 i think of a guitar like a car, why should i buy a better new on when i can puit the money i would spend to buy that into the one i currently have y'know? pickups?, pickup covers, better fret board?, truss rod cover?,ect
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

Um...there isn't really much you "put into" an LP 100 IMO.

After a decent pickup, thrash it until it falls apart. At somepoint you have to admit that having a better car, really is a better option. Kind of like going from a Yugo to a Toyota, even if it's just a Corolla.

Fret board replace? Pickup covers? Truss cover? I'm just not feeling your vision here.

As a beater punk/pop guitar, fine. Let's go with the LP 100. Toss an Invader in the bridge just for fun. But play a real Gibson for 2 minutes. You'll know why.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

At least get a set neck Epi; lots of guys mod them. Better starting point, better foundation. Doesn't make sense to put money into an entry-level guitar.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

My LP100 was pretty sweet, but it's mainly because I put way more into it than really made sense:

Bone nut, by a good local tech.
Seymour Duncan '59 neck, AII Pro bridge.
CTS pots.
Cast-off Gotoh bridge from another guitar that didn't need it anymore.
Glued the neck in with full-strength wood glue. (Highly controversial, and not without serious drawbacks. But who cares?)

It wouldn't make sense to buy a guitar like that, planning to do expensive things to it, to make it better. I can justify having done it in the past, because I'm crazy, and because I like learning about the differences that this or that change makes in a guitar. But if you're planning on having a guitar for a while, definitely get a set-neck Epi like blueman335 said. It's a better-built guitar with a thicker body and a lot more of the real Les Paul DNA in it.

On the other hand, if you could do like Ace said and throw in one pickup that makes the thing a lot more fun for you to play, that doesn't seem so bad.

But don't think you're going to make other people cry with how awesome your LP100 is, after you replace every single part on it and spend enough for a new Gibson in the process. There's a lot to be said for investing up-front in the things you can't easily replace in a guitar -- like the body, the set neck, the wood, construction quality, fret job.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

I think he already has it, based on his post.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

Somewhere between what Aceman and Pigbacon posted lays the truth.

Sure, you can throw any amount of money at yo' laminate plank. At the end of the process, it will just be a superannuated laminate plank. (This is not necessarily a bad thing. Laminate bodies often make for excellent slide guitars.)

IMO, if the Epi LP100 is your only guitar, spend just enough to make it gigworthy. One good pickup, two good quality pots, a durable jack socket, decent material nut, stable machineheads. Junk the rest.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

A dude I used to play in a band with had one of those with a set of '59s in it. It sounded pretty good. It looked like **** and I hated the way it played, but it didn't hold him back and we were in a punk band, so who gives a **** what it looked like?

Basically, if you like how the guitar plays and want to change the sound of it a bit, there's no harm in changing a few things to get it where you want it.

My advice would be to go to a good shop and play as many guitars as you can, both in the LP100 price range and above. If you think the playability and acoustic tone compares favourably with the other guitars you play, then do what you can to getthe tone where you want it. If one (or several) of the other guitars feels and plays better than yours, then start saving for a new one.

EDIT: Oh yeah, you're never going to change the fretboard on it, so I'd give up on that. There's also no real conceivable reason to get a new 'better' truss rod cover, so I don't follow your thinking on that either.
 
Last edited:
Re: epiphone lp 100

It's one of the bottom of the range Epi's... You probably can polish a turd if you invest enough in it but a couple of months and a few hundred dollars down the line you're gonna realise that YOU just wasted all that time and money buffing a hunk of sh!t.....

The amount you'll spend fixing it up could be used to just get a better guitar.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

By the time you upgrade one or two things, the combined costs of the guitar, parts, and labor would be the cost of a whole new better guitar.

A refret with a fret job for example will be the cost of the guitar. A new fretboard is a complete waste of money, it is a very unusual and intensive procedure that I can assure you will be the cost of A COUPLE new guitars, if you can find someone willing to do it for you.

A used Gibson SG Faded for example will not be any more than $500. You will have more than twice the guitar of a LP100 then. The parts are better, the craftsmanship will be better (even if you hate Gibson's quality control/craftsmanship today), and will be in every aspect a better guitar/bang for your buck. If you ever decide to sell it down the road as well, you can probably sell it for what you paid. You can easily get one for less than $500 if you are patient and look, or even $400 if you really look.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

Throw some GFS pickups in it, and get some better tuners. It'll sound and play much better, and you've only spent a little bit of money. Save the stock parts so you can swap them back if you decide to move on.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

Tuners: I never had a problem with the tuners, after I replaced the (especially poor) plastic nut with a good bone nut made for the guitar by a skilled guitar dude. The nut was seriously the worst thing on that guitar, and everything else on it was pretty serviceable by comparison -- even the pickups, which I believe were uncovered versions of the Alnico V Classic "paraffin brick" humbuckers that I'd torn out of my Epi Custom with such unfettered glee.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

When your amp is a 15 watt crate spend your money on a new amp first then worry about the guitar.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

Myaccount876 said:
By the time you upgrade one or two things, the combined costs of the guitar, parts, and labor would be the cost of a whole new better guitar.
Click to expand...

+1. This is where some guys get lost in left field, dumping money into a bottom end guitar. They often end up spending more than if they would have just bought a better guitar to begin with. If you have a $150 guitar and put $300 of upgrades in it, you still have a $150 guitar. It's like teenagers that get a puny little 4 cylinder car, and put on a huge spoiler, ground effects, decals, rims, etc. It's still a puny little 4 cylinder car, only people laugh when they see it.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

blueman335 said:
+1. This is where some guys get lost in left field, dumping money into a bottom end guitar. They often end up spending more than if they would have just bought a better guitar to begin with. If you have a $150 guitar and put $300 of upgrades in it, you still have a $150 guitar. It's like teenagers that get a puny little 4 cylinder car, and put on a huge spoiler, ground effects, decals, rims, etc. It's still a puny little 4 cylinder car, only people laugh when they see it.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

There is a saying that should be ingrained into everyone's head from a very young age:

"Buy once, cry once."

Buy some starter guitar, keep on crying how bad it is without changing a thing, and then buy something great that is a huge jump forward. Then you only bought once, cried once instead of bought many, cried many times.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

I got one. Not fat and heavy. Well tuned, plays and sounds great. Has Sd pups installed. I like mine.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

blueman335 said:
+1. This is where some guys get lost in left field, dumping money into a bottom end guitar. They often end up spending more than if they would have just bought a better guitar to begin with. If you have a $150 guitar and put $300 of upgrades in it, you still have a $150 guitar. It's like teenagers that get a puny little 4 cylinder car, and put on a huge spoiler, ground effects, decals, rims, etc. It's still a puny little 4 cylinder car, only people laugh when they see it.
Click to expand...

Bad analogy. All those car mods are visual upgrades, where changing pickups, tuners, and the nut on a guitar are functional upgrades.
 
Re: epiphone lp 100

dominus said:
Bad analogy. All those car mods are visual upgrades, where changing pickups, tuners, and the nut on a guitar are functional upgrades.
Click to expand...

It's still dumping money into something that's not worth it. For what it costs to replace the super cheap parts on an entry-level guitar, you could have gotten a used mid-price guitar for less and be way ahead as far as quality goes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Epiphone LP Goldtop
Replies
9
Views
237
Sam SG
S
Jermo3178
NGD - Epi IBG '59 LP part 2
Replies
12
Views
619
Aceman
Aceman
Wolfshead
Trembucker covers? NGD Alex Lifeson Epiphone Axcess Custom
Replies
7
Views
231
Wolfshead
Wolfshead
Chris Pile
Solar CHUG LITE pedal
Replies
4
Views
396
Chris Pile
Chris Pile
Chris Pile
On the bench - Guild B-302
Replies
5
Views
154
Wattage
Wattage
Back
Top