Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

[Mpz1220]

I have a epiphone special 2 which I actually love it's all stock except for the tuners. The previous owner changed them out. I wanted to up grade the pickups, put locking tuners in, and change the nut to graphite or bone. Now being that the body is probably a really low end kind of wood and doesn't really resonate much sound does anyone think that the pickups or a certain kind of pickup could really bring it to life? I play blues, jazz, Garcia Dead music but not interested in copying Garcia's sound really.
I don't want to buy another guitar I have another that's nice. I just like the feel of this one. I feel like it's worth it to beef it up and I could always use the parts for other projects


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[treyhaislip]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

What are you wanting to improve? More sustain? More clarity? More warmth?...

Bill Lawrence pickups can do wonders to "cheap" guitars (expensive ones too.) I would check eBay, the Trading Post (here), Reverb, Craigslist, etc. for used pickups since new ones might be as much as the guitar and will not help with resale...just a thought.

 

[Mpz1220]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

More warmth and sustain. Thanks for the input I'll check them out


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[Clint 55]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

There's nothing wrong with the wood. Mine has an alder body with mahog neck. If you want to upgrade it, go for it. Nut materials that I'd recommend are corian for a warm sound or graph tech for a brighter sound. If you play blues and jazz and classic rock, the 59 JB set is a great starting point.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

Pickups can only better transfer what is there already. Just as many have discovered the originals sounded more pleasing as have had the upgrades sounding better.

The upside is that if you keep the stock parts the guitar can be sold off or retired with the upgrades going to the next instrument.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

Try the duncan and dimarzio pickup selectors on their websites. They will give you recommendations based on the kind of guitar, amp, and music you play.
In my own experience it is definitely worth changing pickups, although I always bought them used to keep the price/benefit ratio in line.
Good pickups make ANY guitar sound better and more fun to play. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Progbusters]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

my best sounding and playing guitar is the $200 epiphone ls100. Fast wide neck, slim body, Solid wood is sounding good with my Custom5, upgraded pots, caps, and 50's wiring. i put graphtech nut and gotoh tunomatic and tailpiece.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

Hey man - you don't have to please anyone but YOURSELF.

As long as you are doing for you, for the sound etc...It's all good. Do not get caught up in "Improvements" that will increase the value. It's a dog of an Epiphone and it won't ever be worth anything cash wise.

But if you want to upgrade the sound, the number 1 thing you can do is new pickups.

I'd say go find some used 59's on the bay.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

I have an Epiphone Special I P-90 that I picked up about a year and a half ago and I love it! I was looking for a P-90 guitar and (as usual), Guitar Center didn't have squat! I had been passing by this guitar because it was so cheap but I finally relented and gave it a try and was VERY pleasantly surprised at how good it felt.

In my case, I actually really like the stock P-90s that came on it. However, I have replaced the tuners with locking tuners and the bridge with an intonatable wraparound from GFS.

She's a great little guitar, and I even gig with her from time to time.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Thoughts on scaling up a cheap guitar?

I read in your original post that you like the feel of that Epiphone, so I'd say go ahead and upgrade it! It seems like you want to keep the guitar, so it would benefit from new pickups, a set of locking tuners and a GraphTech Black Tusq XL nut for example. You say you want more warmth and sustain, my first pick would be an Alnico II Pro set as a pickup upgrade. Sustain and warmth is what the Alnico II Pro is all about!

The upside is that if you keep the stock parts the guitar can be sold off or retired with the upgrades going to the next instrument.

I think Alex has given wise advise, it's always good to keep the parts you are upgrading so if you ever want to sell the guitar, you can return it to "stock" and don't lose your parts nor value.! If you are 100% sure you want to keep the guitar, you can go ahead and sell the parts, but if not I'd keep them around.