Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

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seratone

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I bought a used Epiphone Dot for a great price from our local Classifieds (Kijiji). The seller had some interesting mods done to it - like locking Grover Tuners - but I noticed the pickups holes looked empty - he said he had read somewhere that if you unscrew the pickup poles you effectively get a single coil sound - which he preferred...

OK...I plan on upgrading to Burstbuckers or Duncan's (SH1b SH4) eventually - but in the mean time I want to get this thing up and running - install a Bigsby etc.

Do I just buy replacements and screw them in? - I found 12 brass pole pieces that I had lying around from some Chinese P-90's - they fit - but I take it they wont conduct the same way? How short or long should they be?
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

There is no set length for poles. As long as they reach the baseplate that is fine.
Different materials will change the tone in subtle ways. If its a typical epi humbucker I doubt it would make a huge difference to the end result - many of the epi pickups are quite dull and a good first option as an upgrade.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

That whole thing about removing the screws to effectively make a single coil has me scratching my head...

Ive never heard of that helpful tip, is there any truth or merit to that, or is it not a reasonable fascimile of a single coil. Im gonna say the latter, otherwise it would be more common place and I certainly would have heard of that.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

That modification escapes me too. When I was buying it, I strummed it briefly through a Tweed something - and it had a surprisingly bright single coil 'Chime'.
 
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Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

I'd just move some new pickups into that guitar immediately, and throw the others in the trash.

Seth Lovers would be nice.

I prefer them with the covers removed. Much better for overdriven blues and rock n roll than covered.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Yeah, those pickups, even when new, were nothing special. Seths, certainly, if you want to make this a main guitar. Even something like used '59s would be worth investing in- more than trying to resurrect stock Epi pickups.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

metalchurch79 said:
That whole thing about removing the screws to effectively make a single coil has me scratching my head...

Ive never heard of that helpful tip, is there any truth or merit to that, or is it not a reasonable fascimile of a single coil. Im gonna say the latter, otherwise it would be more common place and I certainly would have heard of that.
Click to expand...

Well, in a guitar fitted with humbuckers its about as close as you'll get. You get all of 1 coil and a little bit of another as there is a small amount of magnetic field overlapping from the slug coil which will allow some signal induction on the screw coil.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Thanks, I understand the theory and concept, but Ive never heard of that before ever...

So essentially, its simply a hum-cancelling single coil in a humbucker size when you're all said and done.

Appreciate the insight on this Alex.
 
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Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Yeah, its not like spin-a-split, but its not too far from. As you're getting mainly 1 coil its not really hum cancelling. Its just a bit more beefy than split but in the same tonal vein.

I've never tried it myself as I have guitars that do s/c tone properly. But there was a vid where I heard the tone and it sounded a bit tele-ish......the vid was from that annoying guy who's always droning on about about how much he 'knows' when he's practically clueless.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Removing screws to get a single coilish tone isn't that obscure, Dimebag used to do it with his neck pickup [IIRC usually a '59, sometimes even a bridge model] in some of his guitars. No surprise if he found it problematic opposite an L-500XL...
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

You didn't say what year this Dot is. But if it's a pretty recent one it might have the Custombuckers; they're not half bad, pretty similar to BurstBuckers in character.
If your Dot has pull-out tone pots for coil split it likely has the Custombuckers.

That's not to say that Seths or Antiquities couldn't be much better. Neither of those has four-conductor wiring to make split wiring possible but they don't really need it. And the old 335s didn't have it anyway.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

OP here - I hit most of my local music stores looking for used pickups. I found that if you had a quiet word the the repair guys, you'll discover a whole underground pickup market. I managed to get a 59 Classic - I put it in the bridge. I'll replace the neck when somethings better pops up. So this Epin-dot was $300 CAN w/ locking tuners, and pickup poles missing. I had a Bigsby B7 from another project$($200)....and the addition of the Gibson 59 classic ($75) has made it the the best guitar I own. Converted into US funds - it's a lot of guilt for $450... I'm a total semi-hollow convert...
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Wondering how (if) this would work on an Invader, or Full Shred lol.

Maybe if you replaced them with rods? Maybe half and half? Holes on the EAD of the outer coil and the GBE of the inner coil? You could probably make your own wide-rangers this way? And if you could selectively add/subtract poles/screws from each coil? Maybe 1-3-5 of one coil and 2-4-6 of the other?
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

Problem is you still have a bar mag at the bottom......it would be perhaps a very confused magnetic field to have rod mags in there too......especially remembering rod mags have different polarities at top and bottom.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

AlexR said:
Problem is you still have a bar mag at the bottom......it would be perhaps a very confused magnetic field to have rod mags in there too......especially remembering rod mags have different polarities at top and bottom.
Click to expand...

It's been done successfully. Just a matter of orientation. The original PRS pickups were made that way and they totally rock. Not completely sure but I believe the Mojotone PW Hornet humbuckers have alnico slugs with ceramics under the screw coils.
 
Re: Pickup Poles Missing in an EPI Dot - what to replace them with?

I know of the know it all guy who can be completely wrong on some occasions.
He is verbose and self pontificating - sometimes talking three "mods" at one time (not that even go together) I tried the single coil idea out, removed the poles, flipped it so it would be slugs closest to the bridge, some power lost, a little more high end, but still sounded dull in comparison to a real single coil, like those original double stacked "no hum" Fender "single coil" pickups. Sorry for all the asterisks.
Go Seth Lover, if you need more "BITE" try a polished A5 magnet in the bridge p'up, it will take it to the upper range of single-coil-ness cut, but won't give you the real chime of a s.coil.
A push pull could, but others on this forum know about that, I do not. Be wary of that middle age hippie know it all, I have heard him say on matters of pure taste and subjectivity, that only his answer is correct.
Steve Buffington
 
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