My 2005 Epiphone Les Paul Custom

[IronWeso]

Hey all,

About 8 months back I purchased a used Epiphone Les Paul Custom for a nice price from a private seller. This is my first LP. I must say, I absolutely love the guitar. It plays and sounds beautiful. It even sounds beautiful through a crappy amp. I plan on purchasing a new amp in the near future.

I was wondering if there are any helpful upgrades that anyone on here might suggest. If so please do. Don't worry, I've already got strap locks on it

[diceman]

The first thing I would do is take off the pick guard and selector switch ring. GREAT looking LP! Some Schaller strap locks would be a good addition. You may want to upgrade the pickups and pots eventually, but you should get yourself a good amp first, I think - that will effect your sound more than anything at this point.

[KY_GuitarMan]

That's a nice guitar. I don't own any white LP's myself but hey if they were good enough for Randy Rhodes then they're good enough for me.

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by diceman

The first thing I would do is take off the pick guard and selector switch ring. GREAT looking LP! Some Schaller strap locks would be a good addition. You may want to upgrade the pickups and pots eventually, but you should get yourself a good amp first, I think - that will effect your sound more than anything at this point.

Thanks man! Yea, a new amp purchase will definitely be happening in the next month or two for me.

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by KY_GuitarMan

That's a nice guitar. I don't own any white LP's myself but hey if they were good enough for Randy Rhodes then they're good enough for me.

Thanks! Thats exactly what I thought when I saw the guitar. I thought of Randy playing his beautiful white LP.

[diceman]

I love white LP's. My Epi has started to yellow quite a bit - which is great! My Elitist is still pretty "white." The white Gibsons w/ the Nitro age VERY well - my first Les Paul was a Gibson Studio in white, and it turned creamy white - almost yellow - I loved that guitar and miss her terribly.

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by diceman

I love white LP's. My Epi has started to yellow quite a bit - which is great! My Elitist is still pretty "white." The white Gibsons w/ the Nitro age VERY well - my first Les Paul was a Gibson Studio in white, and it turned creamy white - almost yellow - I loved that guitar and miss her terribly.

Dare I ask what happened to your first LP?

[diceman]

Oooooh, long story, but worth telling! I had a buddy that I played in a band with who was moving to Alaska - he threw a big going away party for himself (and this guy was always broke) - tons of booze, etc. I asked where he got the cash for all of it, and he said that he'd pawned his Les Paul! I got the ticket from him, got it out of hoc, and told him that he could buy it back from me for what I paid to get it out ($300!!!) - whenever he had the money. I didn't hear much from him for a few years, but he did show up again, and ended up buying the Les Paul back from me (sure was hard to let her go!) - he also ended up buying my PA system and my Crate Blue Voodoo 1/2 stack. I miss all of that gear SO MUCH! I kind of see that Les Paul as having been "on loan," but I grew very attached to her in those few years and never really thought he'd be back to get her. My Elitist is a better playing and sounding guitar - hands down - but I sure miss that Studio...

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by diceman

Oooooh, long story, but worth telling! I had a buddy that I played in a band with who was moving to Alaska - he threw a big going away party for himself (and this guy was always broke) - tons of booze, etc. I asked where he got the cash for all of it, and he said that he'd pawned his Les Paul! I got the ticket from him, got it out of hoc, and told him that he could buy it back from me for what I paid to get it out ($300!!!) - whenever he had the money. I didn't hear much from him for a few years, but he did show up again, and ended up buying the Les Paul back from me (sure was hard to let her go!) - he also ended up buying my PA system and my Crate Blue Voodoo 1/2 stack. I miss all of that gear SO MUCH! I kind of see that Les Paul as having been "on loan," but I grew very attached to her in those few years and never really thought he'd be back to get her. My Elitist is a better playing and sounding guitar - hands down - but I sure miss that Studio...

Wow. I never heard a tale like that before. That was a friendly offer from you. Have you seen him since? You should go out there to visit him and play the guitar (assuming he still has it! )

[lifele55]

I couldn't wait for it to age, so I bought it "aged" .

[lifele55]

Sad story to hear diceman. But good man you are, kept to your word .

[diceman]

Life - I like that antique finish - I don't think they have that finish in the US models... It looks great!

Clansman - we had some differences - but hopefully we'll bump in to each other again someday! I'd pay him twice what the guitar is worth to get that thing back, for sentimental reasons. I'm sure that his attachment to it is stronger than mine though! It was just a fantastic guitar - he's got thousands of hours of playing on that thing - I really hope he held on to it and that it didn't end up in a pawn shop again... that would be a tragedy.

I quite playing for several years after that - sold him most of my gear, and then I ended up getting that white Epi in my avatar about 4 years ago (the one that I put a zebra pup in) and she really got me back in to playing. I have at least as much attachment to my current white LP's as I did for the Studio, so I'm not hurting too bad - although I would love to have her back.

[lifele55]

Hey clansman, regarding the upgrades.. after an amp upgrade next would prolly be the pickup upgrades. Unless of course they've already been upgraded or they already sound good for you.

For me personally, I added orange caps to the tone pots and they definitely opened up the pickups much more, less muddy though I'd prefer a hotter neck humbucker with a little more bite like the P90s. Hmm..

dice: Yeah its supposed to be designed for the Japan market..

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by lifele55

Hey clansman, regarding the upgrades.. after an amp upgrade next would prolly be the pickup upgrades. Unless of course they've already been upgraded or they already sound good for you.

For me personally, I added orange caps to the tone pots and they definitely opened up the pickups much more, less muddy though I'd prefer a hotter neck humbucker with a little more bite like the P90s. Hmm..

I probably won't upgrade the pickups. At least not for a while. They're pretty solid and I had an upgrade experience in the past that didn't go the way I wanted it to.

I am interested in adding orange caps to the tone pots as you mentioned. Do they really make a difference? And how do I go about this and where can I get them?

Thanks!

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by theclansman1114

I probably won't upgrade the pickups. At least not for a while. They're pretty solid and I had an upgrade experience in the past that didn't go the way I wanted it to.

I am interested in adding orange caps to the tone pots as you mentioned. Do they really make a difference? And how do I go about this and where can I get them?

Thanks!

Are you talking about orange drop caps and better pots if you need them this is one place you can get them as well some inexspensive pickups which some say are good never tried the Humbucker the strat pups are pretty good Untitled Page the caps install just de solder the ones in the guitar and solder the new ones in the same spots no , positive or negative to worry about . Another upgrade would be to have a bone nut put on the guitar.

[lifele55]

Clan: Yes they actually do make a difference... I would do a recording to let you have a hear but the comp at home is down so I can't do anything (writing all these at work).

Opens up the pickups much more, less mud, more definition.. but of course, some pickup adjustments also help in gaining abit of clarity from the pickups.

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by lifele55

Clan: Yes they actually do make a difference... I would do a recording to let you have a hear but the comp at home is down so I can't do anything (writing all these at work).

Opens up the pickups much more, less mud, more definition.. but of course, some pickup adjustments also help in gaining abit of clarity from the pickups.

What value caps did you use?

[IronWeso]

Originally Posted by lifele55

Clan: Yes they actually do make a difference... I would do a recording to let you have a hear but the comp at home is down so I can't do anything (writing all these at work).

Opens up the pickups much more, less mud, more definition.. but of course, some pickup adjustments also help in gaining abit of clarity from the pickups.

What other pickup adjustments can I make to improve tone?

[lifele55]

OD: I forgot, gotta go back to check on that one. The guitar tech helped me set it up.. Wasn't handy with the soldering iron and hesitated too much to do it myself.

Clan: Well adjusting the pickup height is a start, then maybe adjusting the polepieces.

[brettk7]

I believe white is the greatest color for everything.

If possible, I would always go with a white finish over anything else. This goes for cars too. White really shows off those body lines more than anything else.

[lifele55]

Oh regards to the caps value, I think it might be .022uf....

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by lifele55

Oh regards to the caps value, I think it might be .022uf....

Yeah thats the standard farefor HBs. I will have to try em. can not see how the orange drop would make a sound diff, I know the brown ceramic can give out had it happen, but I keep hearing about how the better caps do make a diff. I will have to check it out. I need a couple of pots for my gold top any how so now would be the time. Thanks 55

[Paul]

i'm quite fond of the white lp customs how thick is the body?

[loneguitar]

Nice, very nice custom congrats Bro