Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus..pickup question.

[Street Lethal]

Hi, long time lurker first time poster.

I bought a new Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus from Sam Ash for a very good price. It was shipped directly from their distribution center in Florida to my house in another state. It arrived in a Epiphone box and it came with the case, although the top of the case has a small nick on it but that doesn't bother me.

I noticed that the guitar was missing the decals around the push pull tone knobs and the warranty card that's usually wrapped around the tuners. I checked the frets out and there's no marks on them at all. It doesn't appear to be played/used. The back has some circular scratches that appear to be from buffing at the factory. I've seen this before on new guitars.

The main thing is when I took the strings off to change them I took the pickups out to check that they're Gibson 57s. The bridge had the "Patent Applied For" sticker plus the white sticker with 57+ 860-31505-L 1/25/15 printed on it. The neck is missing the PAF sticker and only has the white sticker with 57 860-31504-L 1/21/15 printed on it. The base plate looks exactly like the bridge pickup's base plate. It looks like the correct nickel plate. I checked the wiring compartment, everything looked clean, nothing looked resoldered, and the pots are correct for this model.

I think the neck pickup is the real deal and it sounds like the real deal I'm just wondering if anybody has had this same issue with this particular model from Epiphone and with Gibson pickups.

The guitar plays great so I will most likely keep it, it was third one they sent me, the other two had bad fretwork and QC issues. This one has excellent fretwork.

Thanks.

 

[purpledc]

I would not worry about the patented applied for sticker. The other sticker is the one I am more worried about. You can clearly see that the bridge pickup is identified as a 57 plus and the neck a regular 57. My tribute plus did not have the things on the volume controls nor was there anything attached to the headstock either. Mine came from sweetwater.

 

[Street Lethal]

Hi, Thanks for the response. I've been playing the guitar and it sounds great. I think they just forgot to put the sticker on at the factory, it definitely sounds like the real deal to me. Either way, I'm happy I picked this model up, I got a really good break on the price because Sam Ash considers it a closeout item. That's what I was told by two different store managers at two separate locations in different states. I did mention to the manager at my local store that the case had a nick in it, he swapped the case out for a new one with no nicks on it. They stepped up and made sure I as happy so I tip my hat to Sam Ash. The last item I bought from them prior to this was over 20 years ago.

I will say there seems to be some QC issues with this model, as I mentioned this is the third one. The first two came off the wall in their store. The first one had weird factory defects in the finish that wasn't from people handling the instrument. It looked like creases and indentations in the clear coat and they were very obvious when you tilted the guitar in the light. The second one had popped frets up and down the neck and a hump at the 15th fret, so the frets were not level at all so it was buzzing and fretting out in several spots. So this third one was sent directly from their distribution center.

I had a 2014 Epi Les Paul Traditional Pro in Desert Burst that I sold earlier this year because it just didn't do it for me. I initially liked it when I bought it but I played it less and less and it got to the point that I never played it. If I don't play it, it goes out the door. I don't collect wall hangers.

 

[sunnydog]

Just got in from picking up one used. I will have to check mine when I change the strings and set it up.
Though it is set close to my liking as is, the owner bought it and never played it so it is still in the out of the box setup.

 

[Street Lethal]

I think you'll be happy with it. I previously had a Traditional Pro and a Standard Plustop Pro, both were stock, and the Tribute sounds better than both.

 

[cybermgk]

Though just seeing this thread, made a scam idea pop in my head. and, if I can think of it, unscrupulous folks have.

Buy one of these epis with Gibson pickups from online dealer with great return policy.

Replace pups with cheapies.

Return guitar

Sell Gibson pups.

 

[chasenblues]

Though just seeing this thread, made a scam idea pop in my head. and, if I can think of it, unscrupulous folks have.

Buy one of these epis with Gibson pickups from online dealer with great return policy.

Replace pups with cheapies.

Return guitar

Sell Gibson pups.

I've read stories-accounts of this happening with guitars bought at brick and mortar(mainly GC) stores also.

 

[Street Lethal]

Though just seeing this thread, made a scam idea pop in my head. and, if I can think of it, unscrupulous folks have.

Buy one of these epis with Gibson pickups from online dealer with great return policy.

Replace pups with cheapies.

Return guitar

Sell Gibson pups.

That was my concern before I even bought the guitar, hence the reason I checked the pickups and was concerned about the PAF sticker that was missing. Everything else I have looked at and heard from this particular pickup in my guitar tells me it's the real deal. It reads 7.9k which is right where it should be. It sounds awesome.

 

[sunnydog]

I think you'll be happy with it. I previously had a Traditional Pro and a Standard Plustop Pro, both were stock, and the Tribute sounds better than both.

yes indeed quite happy with it .Jammed with a few people tonight, it works
great . I do have a 100th bday pro custom, it also works great.
They are both great but different enough that one doesn't get in the way of the other . The only thing I dislike about the trib is the tuners they gotta go.

Oh and my pups have the PAF sticker

 

[Street Lethal]

yes indeed quite happy with it .Jammed with a few people tonight, it works
great . I do have a 100th bday pro custom, it also works great.
They are both great but different enough that one doesn't get in the way of the other . The only thing I dislike about the trib is the tuners they gotta go.

Oh and my pups have the PAF sticker

You mentioned the tuners, I have to agree they're a bit of a hassle when trying to get the string through the post hole and it's not open and you have to click it back and forth and line it up so it opens. Also, I use a D'Addario mix gauge set (9-46) and these tuners like to break high E strings a lot...at least for me. So I have to wrap the high E a few times before I put it through the hole and it cuts down on the high E string breakage. Wrapping the string is the same thing I do on non-locking tuners when stringing them up. I never had a problem with non-locking tuners in the past so I may replace these down the road with standard tuners.

 

[sunnydog]

You mentioned the tuners, I have to agree they're a bit of a hassle when trying to get the string through the post hole and it's not open and you have to click it back and forth and line it up so it opens. Also, I use a D'Addario mix gauge set (9-46) and these tuners like to break high E strings a lot...at least for me. So I have to wrap the high E a few times before I put it through the hole and it cuts down on the high E string breakage. Wrapping the string is the same thing I do on non-locking tuners when stringing them up. I never had a problem with non-locking tuners in the past so I may replace these down the road with standard tuners.

yes same with me never had a problem with reg non locking and besides your concerns IMO they are butt fugly .I have ordered the reg 102 18n grovers for mine.

 

[purpledc]

Yeah I swapped tuners too. But it was a tedious search as not many manufacturers make aftermarket parts in nickel. I actually imported some kluson lockig tuners from europe so i could keep all nickel hardware and locking capabilities.

 

[sunnydog]

Yeah I swapped tuners too. But it was a tedious search as not many manufacturers make aftermarket parts in nickel. I actually imported some kluson lockig tuners from europe so i could keep all nickel hardware and locking capabilities.

Cool I think I saw those in a thread . Nice looking guys as well congrats

 

[DigitalTone]

Ha, just had the exact same experience and ended up on this thread. Necro thread!