How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

T

T- Bone

New member
Hi,

I own a Epiphone zephyr blues deluxe. I'm not happy with the sound quility of the stock epi P90's. Well I'm a hugh T-bone walker freak and I want to make mij epi sound like a original Gibson es-5 (or at least most close like).

Like an es 5 I want my pickups to be able to go out op phase. I want to wire my middle pickup out of phase with a poll/push pot on the middle volume knob.

Well I want to now which sd P90's would give the best sound close like the Gibson es-5 T-Bone Walker played.

What is the difference between the P90's of the antiquity series or the vintage P90's? Which would u reconmand for mij epi zbd???

Thanks,



Btw please dont mind my bad English, I'm Dutch
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

Hey T Bone! Welcome!! Im not sure about your question as Im a newbie to p90s, but you may have more luck with a pickup wiring question in the pickup section.

Good luck with your project!!!
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

You don't want the SP90-2 or SP90-3, they both have high-powered ceramic magnets. You ought to consider other brands, like Gibson, who made the P-90's in ES-5's. Just look thru the P-90's for sale on eBay to get an idea. You want vintage-wound, dog ear-style.

I'm a T-Bone fan myself.
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

WOOT! a T-Bone fan!
ahem - Epi Zephyr Blues. I usually would say get seymours, but the GFS dogear p90s are brilliant. I put a set in a 1966 epiphone Al Caiola (a casino sig model) and it sounded beautiful. It had handbuilt p90s from Vintage Vibe in there before that. The GFS's really impressed me - and they are cheap!
http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Alnico-Vintage-Wound-Dogear-Black-Pickup_c_84.html
the other things i liked about them is that the pole pieced lined up with the strings in both positions (unlike gibson p90s), and they were calibrated. If you read the ad you will also see that these pickups are wired for easy phase reversal.
While you are doing all that - shell out a few extra bucks and get a full new set of pots, switches, jack and sprague orange drop caps.
Asian made epis have really cheap nasty electronics - and good ones are not really expensive. you can get the whole lot at that site i sent you (including push/pull).
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

Another T-Bone fan here! I agree with Blueman 335 about the Gibson P90's. They sound wonderful in my Revolution Casino that my son is now using in his band. If you can find vintage for a good price jump on them but even the new ones will sound better than the SD's you're considering. Keep us posted as this sounds like a good project for a stormy monday.
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

gibson175 said:
the GFS dogear p90s are brilliant. I put a set in a 1966 epiphone Al Caiola (a casino sig model) and it sounded beautiful. ...The GFS's really impressed me - and they are cheap!
Click to expand...


+1. GFS P-90's are well-liked here.

As far Epi electronics, I only change them if there's a problem (which is rare), other than that they stay in there.
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

blueman335 said:
+1. GFS P-90's are well-liked here.

As far Epi electronics, I only change them if there's a problem (which is rare), other than that they stay in there.
Click to expand...

I personally would change out the cheap electronics, even if they're working fine. Quality pots have a much better taper (usually) and they're not so stiff when you turn them. I like being able to easily manipulate my guitar's volume control, and on 99% of imports I've played, I can't do that. Also, I like a more linear taper to the volume pot, so the transition from clean to dirt isn't immediate.
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

Hmm actually I never heard of GFS P90's but I'm kind of new to pickups and such.

I've been told that the vintage P90's where wired the old school way gibson did in the 50's. But thats not thru?

Changing the electrics is something I'm gonna do for sure. I agree even i've they all work fine it helps the playability of my guitar.

As an amp i'm using a little 5 w tubeamp. It's an Epiphone valve junior hotrod head. For mij guitar ruim is more than powerfull enough, but it's not a bassman. Don't have the money for a bassman or an original es 5. Thats why i want to change my epiphone zep to a poor mans es-5

Greetz!
 
Last edited:
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

good plan....save your money .
an es5 thru that (epi) amp will not sound inspiring, but a zephyr thru a good tweed style amp will sound really hip, so save up for a good amp.
Even something modest like a fender blues junior would be getting close and not too expensive.
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

Ofcourse a good amp has an drastic influence on the sound of your guitar, even more I think it's the player who influences the sound of the guitar. To be honnest I got the playing pretty well covered. I also tried my guitar on mutiple amps but I still didn't got that T-Bone vibe, so that's why I want to change the pickups.

My plan for so far:

Change the complete electrics.
Change al the volume knobs with a push/pull so I can select which pickup I want to have on verry easy.
Have the middle pickup wired out of phase wich the other two
Change the stock epi P90's to higher quality vintage sounding P90's.

But which P90's I should go for? I emailed the Tone wizzard of seymour duncan and they sad I should go for the antiquity p90's (ofcourse they will advice that because of a commercial interest) But I want to know why? What's the difference between the P90's from the vintage series and the antiquity series and how a they compares to the GFS P90's?

Btw please don't mind my crappy English I dutch :D
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

WELCOME TO THE DUNCAN FORUMS MATE !!!

Welkom by die Duncan Forums ou maat...hier kan jy baie dinge leer !


http://sdpickups.com/zephyr.shtml
I believe he can put them i Dog Ear covers for you.
And like Blueman said, try the Gison units, after all, they masge the P90s.

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s&sub=p90s&pickup=half_note_90
BK can deff put their P90's in a Dog Ear cover !


Do you know how long i have been looking for a Epiphone Zephyr Blues Deluxe ?
I have seen one, in the last 6 years. And the bloke did not want to sell. Bugger !!!

PS : yet another T-Bone fan here !
 
Re: How to Turn a Epi Zephyr blues Deluxe into an Gib Es- 5

according to me. who did you think? i cant speak for other people's opinions.
Ive tried both too and compared them.
However - you might notice i did not mention SD p90s...thats cos i have not tried them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
How to install 3 P90's on an Epiphone P93?
Replies
4
Views
261
jeremy
jeremy
IMENATOR
How to choose a 5 string bass for a better B string sound?
Replies
13
Views
1K
donaldr
donaldr
JohnnyGuitarCA
2 questions about pickups for ES-335 type guitars in a hard rock context
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
nienturi
nienturi
B
P-Rails and Tonewoods
Replies
12
Views
797
Mincer
Mincer
Hiwatts and Gibsons
Happy NPaD.
Replies
0
Views
337
Hiwatts and Gibsons
Hiwatts and Gibsons
Back
Top