sick of my '56 goldtop

metallicaxlxl

metallicaxlxl

New member
EDIT: i completely redid this post, thought it was too boring, this one is better, hopefully more will read...

ever since i got my amp i thought i had made a mistake, a 650 dollar mistake, but i tried to ignore it. today, i got to try the amp with my friends alnico II pro loaded epiphone custom, and found out the mistake wasnt made a month ago when i bought the amp, but rather, a year and a half ago when i bought my epi '56 goldtop. i hadnt noticed the problem until i got the traynor because the crate covered up the tone so much that it would actually sound like what i wanted it to.

so anyways, now its either i get my cavities reshaped, and i put the anlico II pro/custom custom hybrid ive been saying i was getting, and also get an alnico II pro neck, or, i sell/trade my guitar for another les paul that has humbuckers. i was looking at agile or edwards or tokai guitars, but edwards and tokai would mean that i need to put a bit of money into it, but not agile. would anyone go for a trade? if not ..

would anyone suggest what i should do??

thanks.
 
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Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

well tonaly, the one guitarist i could say that would get closest to the tone i want is slash. just that 80's rock/metal sound. that is exactly what i heard coming out of my amp when i had my friends guitar in it, and that is what made me realize my problem.

1st off, my bridge pickup is wayyyyy too bright, but ive already established that a long time ago. yesterday, i put my p-90 neck pickup back in, and it just sounded extrememely awfull, it wasnt even a solid sound coming out of it, it was just weird, i can probalby live with my mini-humbucker neck pickup for a while, but id be wanting to replace it sooner or later because it becomes muddy whenever i dont play clean or soloing., but the bridge pickup defenantly has to go.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

Does your guitar have 500k pots in it? Replacing the 300k pots in my lp opened it up quite a bit.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

I say get a new one. Lick my topic says, I've never played a guitar that sounds better than my LP with a CC/A2P combo. Granted, it's about $300 for the pups/electronics/installation and at least $300 for the Epi (probably more) plus $50 for good tuners. So it's at least $650 or so just to get a good one. But man they sound ridiculous.

And I finally got my Slash tone. I've been working on Sweet Child for about a year now (I know, I suck), and I can play everything except the really fast part during the solo. But I've got the sound as close to nailed as I can get without a great amp.

My main point is that if you can afford the blow to buy a new Epi and load it up, then that's your best option. And please buy Honeyburst!
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

well, if i was giving it away, id be sure to pm you guys, but truth comes, im not!! hah.

anyhow,

bigalthethird - if i was to buy a new guitar, it most certainly wouldnt be an epiphone, if i were planning on getting an epi, id just stick with mine, it would be cheaper, and i love goldtops.

dangly - i think i use it way more than most people. on some songs i change it 3 to 4 times, or when i improv to change my tone i just change it as much as i need. im not stranger to tone knobs.

firebird - i think that "could" help, but i mean yeah i do know it makes a difference, but with what i have right now... its just no there. i know for a fact that nothing can save the bridge pickup, its just amazingly bright, and i dont think anything can save it. i think i want to get the base of the tone i want first, so pickups and guitar #1, than fine tune it with electronics change. i dont want the electronics change , and i dont think it can change my tone THAT much??
 
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Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

Change out the pickups? EMG makes p-90 size buckers, as doess D*marzio, and seymour has a set of "hot"p-90's

Slash manly plays with his neck pickups with the tone rolled off live.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

a set of Gibsons current minis *may* be an improvement...they are pretty hot and fat (but still zing like a mini...my Deluxe sounded incredible)

...or better (less "iffy") choice:

P90 size DiMarzio buckers...Worked for Adrian Smith in his Goldtop :bigthumb:

AdrianSmith1.jpg
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

thanks for the suggestions, but i think im officially done with those smaller pickups. im fullly upgrading to full-sized humbuckers. now, im going to get the a2p/CC hybrid i said i would get, but i need to figure out something for the neck pickup. i liked the a2p neck, but since my friend already has that, and im making the hybrid from a CC i buy and his current a2p, so if i get the a2p neck, wed both have the exact same guitar (except for color and wood and finish). so i looking for something else that would sound really good for 80's slash kind of sound. i was looking around the '59 or jazz. maybe a hybrid?? if i could buy a premade one (i dont really want to buy both pickups)

any suggestions?
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

Slash uses Alnico 2 pros in both spots on his guitars. Appetite was recorded with them.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

The Custom 5 sounds great in Les Pauls. It can cover a lot of ground but yes, Slash uses Alnico II Pros in both neck and bridge.

Check in to the P-90 sized humbuckers. Much better than having to take a router to your guitar, or trying to cover up bigger hole than what is there now. The regular humbuckers may fit OK, but you might have a nice gap on either side of the ring, if you're able to screw the ring down at all.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

i called a shop around my house, they said that they could route it just fine from p-90 to full sized humbucker. they have a pretty good reputation around here, so im guessing theyd do a good job at it.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

Take a look at the dimensions of a humbucker and then those of a P-90. The entire P-90 coil is wider than a regular humbucker. Yes, it would need to be routed just a tad on each side for the tables to go in BUT, since the coil is wider, the wood that the humbucker mounting ring would grab hold of is gone in the P-90 route.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

yeah, but if they say that they can route it, im guessing it means they can make it compeltely possible to install a humbucker in it, so they probably add wood to the sidese or something, since its under the covers, you cant really see it. but ill have to ask them the question. ill do this when i get home.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

Yes, do ask. If they do add wood in there, there is a chance that it might be seen slightly on either side of the rings. It just depends on how much they have to take out. From the dimensions of both types, it's not much at all, and they might not have to take out any, just add some on for the ring mounting screws to grip on to.
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

i was looking at metric dimentino things of both, and...

p-90
width: 83.82mm
height: 32.51mm

humbucker
width: (end-end of each ear thing) 84.20mm
height: 36.52

seeing as the humbucker rings cover up the whole pickup, it will be wider, or equal to 84.20, so it will cover up the whole thing. the height they gotta take off 2mm on each side
 
Re: sick of my '56 goldtop

The height I'm assuming you mean from one side to the other, neck towards bridge. Yeah, they'll need to take some out there. As long as the cover is wider and taller (by what you mean) than the P-90 hole, then it'll be fine. I just hate to see nice GT, or any guitar, look messed up.
 
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