les paul customisation questions

[MarshallRoadie]

i have an epiphone les paul standard which i picked up cheap









excuse me for sounding stupid because i am new to this

q1: what pickups do you think are good and why, i will be looking for some to suit punk style ie clash sex pistols

q2: what pots come with the standard and are they any good, if not what would be good, looking at this harness it looks messy in there compared to some diy jobs ive seen on this site and i think the caps are done differently to what i have seen for two pickup four pot combo on this site

q3: what are the differences between cap types ie Film and Foil, Ceramic Disc, Mylar Film, Poly and other types

q4: are there any differences between toggle switches as i dont feel there will be

q5: whats good wire to use and wheres good to get it

at the least i will be getting some new pups and doing a rewire after atempting a refinish for a custom colour and a few other mods

thanks in advance for any questions answered and advice given

[i am wet]

Here I can answer q2 and q4.
q2: The pots are not very good, I'm planning on taking them out of my guitar soon.
q4: My Gibson's switch it much easier to switch on, my Epiphone it a bit stiffer.

[weirdotis]

Welcome to the forum!

1. It sounds like you'd want something with ceramic magnets for punk style. Dimarzio makes some awesome ceramic magnet pickups, so I'd hop on over to their site. They have a pickup selection wizard where you enter some information and they suggest some pickups for you. But in general, see if you can find a guitar with the pickups you want at your local shop and try before you buy.

2. Not sure what the pots are, but a swap for 500K CTS's can only help.

3. Most guitars (including Gibson) come with the ceramic caps, but the vintage ones used Paper in Oil caps, specifically Bumblebees and Black Beautys. Not sure what the tonal differencees are, you'd have to ask Jonesy.

4. No difference in toggle switches unless you like period-correct aged plastic for your switch tip.

5. Stewmac has some wire, not sure where to get it other than that though.

[MarshallRoadie]

cheers for the replys

i will probably go for the cts 500k pots

still not sure what pups to go for i could try some guitars but they might not have the mahogany bodys, looking at the ceramic pups though they seem to be aimed at the metal end of the market im looking for more classic punk but what do i know eh

still wondering about the cap config in the wiring they seem to be wired from the pot to earth on the same pot just wondering if thats right but then again what do i know lol

one more question are epiphones a different shape to gibson as i brought some parts and they dont fit like ie. back pannels and scratch plates...

[bfcg]

A lot of punk bands used Mosrite and dan electro type guitars. I don't know if the pups were stock but they did not have to sound too good. Raunch is what they wanted.
I saw lots of punk bands in late 70's to mid '80's. That was the NYC scene at the time. They basically all use pretty crappy stuff. The more commercially viable "punk" Clash,...etc. had better equipment.
I liked the Clash but I did not think it fair to the real punk bands that the Clash was considered punk.
I lived near Dee Dee and Joey Ramone and I know that they used really crappy stuff.

[MarshallRoadie]

as to wether the clash is real punk or not is a matter of opinion but thanks for the info

The Clash - White Riot Live (1978 Victoria Park London)

The Clash - White Riot Live (1978 Victoria Park London)

[bfcg]

Didn't mean any offense, it's just that the clash became more refined .
It is what helped them to survive as a band as punk was fading away.
This is what it looked like at CBGB's Pre spiked hair.

YouTube - Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation

YouTube - Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation

[MarshallRoadie]

none taken, everyone is entitled to their opinion, being from the uk myself bias my tastes, thanks for the richard hell vid