Got a Epi les paul special II ,i really like it

[tragewombat]

I put in a set of Schaller ST6B tuners in my Special I P90. No drilling required, not super heavy either and works like a charm

 

[WindsorCircle00]

Hmmm I really don't even want an extra .01 of weight that's how OCD I am..

How did it sound stock? I went thru an old 90's Peavy solid state amp using amp distortion.

You guys are all really cool.. I'm glad I'm back here on mylespaul.. BTW this sounds and feels even 100x better than the similar Gibson Les Paul junior I had a year ago.

 

[tragewombat]

Hmmm I really don't even want an extra .01 of weight that's how OCD I am..

How did it sound stock? I went thru an old 90's Peavy solid state amp using amp distortion.

You guys are all really cool.. I'm glad I'm back here on mylespaul.. BTW this sounds and feels even 100x better than the similar Gibson Les Paul junior I had a year ago.

I still have the old ones so i could technically measure the difference, but my scales are crap... The Schaller site lists the ST6Bs at 26grams per piece
Gitarren Original Series | Schaller-Electronic

edit: my super crappy scales yield 22 grams to the original tuners. (not sure if the 26 grams included the bearings that came in the package, 6 bearings weight ~15 grams
in total btw)

 

[WindsorCircle00]

Thanks brother I really appreciate your help going the extra mile keep me up to date!

 

[Ishmann]

I purchased a special II back in April when GC had them on sale for $120. When I went in to try them out I also compared the Special II with other more expensive LPs. I was using the same amp and really couldn't tell much of a difference. I'm still pretty new to guitar so some of that could have been me.

Mine was set up great out of the box. I have played it a lot since. The factory strings are starting to sound dead so I am going to change them soon with Slinky Cobalts.

 

[A1Coyote]

I replaced the stock Special II tuners on one of my kid's Special II guitars. It made a big difference. There is a thread on the subject.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/epiphone-les-pauls/337494-epiphone-les-paul-special-ii-tuners.html

The TonePros Kluson Deluxe tuners are heavier, but the added weight is not noticeable on the guitar. Best part was that there was little to modify, I was even able to leave the stock bushings for the tuner pegs in the headstock. The guitar stays in tune now, and it improved the appearance some what too!

I wish there was a section on this forum to discuss lower priced guitars.

So why can't somebody start a new Sub-Forum dedicated to Epiphone Les Paul Specials & Juniors? Anybody else like that idea? After all, Flat bodies need love too!

 

[Ishmann]

I must be lucky. So far I haven't had any problems with mine going out of tune.

 

[ScottMarlowe]

I must be lucky. So far I haven't had any problems with mine going out of tune.

Most tuning problems are improper stringing, a binding nut, failing strings (bad wrap at the tailpiece end), or a failing tuner.

If ALL the strings keep going out of tune it's almost always improper stringing. Using the "locking" method on non-locking tuners makes a HUGE difference if that's the case.

 

[DrBGood]

Seen one you seen them all

If I had nothing to say, I could say that of all Les Pauls. But I won't ...

 

[Ishmann]

Hello,
I have two of them, one straight stock, and one highly modded. I wish there was a section on this forum to discuss lower priced guitars. It makes little sense to buy a lower priced guitar and immediately throw 2 or 300 dollars at it.

What kind of mods did you do to it?

 

[dmvksv]

I have a Special ll that was one of my first guitars. I've done a few mods to it over time. It now has a Tusq but, Grover tuners, a Set of GFS Fat Pats , a PIO cap, and strap locks. It wasn't getting enough play time but it sounds and plays too good to sell it for what I would get. I put it in drop d tuning and now it is my designated guitar for when I want to play heavier style riffs.

 

[A1Coyote]

How do the Fat Pats sound on the Special II?

Would you do that mod again?

Was looking at them myself for a Special II.

 

[Will de Beast]

I've got a Fat Pat in my Junior that I feel is perfect... big, beefy, complex, and fat.

There is a good youtube video that does a blind comparison between a Fat Pat, Gibson 57, and a Duncan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UdR5dXe2CM.

Guess who wins?

In my Special 2, I have GFS Vintage '59s.

For me, I prefer the 59s over the Fat PATs, if that were my only choice

 

[A1Coyote]

Thanks for the input Will. Now I remember who had the Fat Pat! I also remember the photo of your Special II with the chrome pick-up covers with the Vintage Burst, that is a very cool look.

Good Shootout, thanks for posting the link. For the money, GFS Fat Pats sounded best to me too from that video.

I checked out some other videos with the GFS Vintage 59's. They sound pretty darn good too. Would have liked to hear a comparison between both the GFS Fat Pats and the GFS Vintage 59's.

 

[A1Coyote]

One thing I have noticed from the GFS website is that both the Fat Pats & Vintage 59's have Alnico V magnets in common.

The stock Special II pups are 650R/700T Humbuckers with ceramic magnets.
(Neck: 12.1K - 12.8K ohms / Bridge: 16.9K - 17.4K ohms)

Either GFS set could be a good candidate for my son's Special II in the future.

Anybody else have GFS pick-ups that they upgraded a Special II with?

 

[ScottMarlowe]

Anybody else have GFS pick-ups that they upgraded a Special II with?

Not a Special II, but I have Vintage 59s in my HH strat and love the sound in there. I also have Memphis full size humbucker Retrotrons in an Epi SG. Also excellent pickups.

I really like the Vintage 59s. I don't love my strat (don't hate it, just not a huge strat fan) so they may some day get put into something else.

 

[A1Coyote]

Thanks for your response ScottMarlowe! I appreciate your feedback.

Like I said, I am considering to find decent replacement pick-ups for my son's Special II. From the little I have heard, GFS pick-ups are pretty good without paying a premium price.

So far, hearing good things about both the Fat Pats & the Vintage 59s.

 

[SpareRibs]

Thanks for your response ScottMarlowe! I appreciate your feedback.
Like I said, I am considering to find decent replacement pick-ups for my son's Special II. From the little I have heard, GFS pick-ups are pretty good without paying a premium price.
So far, hearing good things about both the Fat Pats & the Vintage 59s.

Hello,
Just came back to this post because I have two of the special II's. I don't think you are going to get better pickups from GFS or any where else that are going to be better than the pickups that are currently in the guitar.
Try adjusting the height of the pickups. Also a capacitor change to .1 would make the pickups have a richer tone.

 

[A1Coyote]

Thanks for your feedback SpareRibs!

I have definitely been giving that some thought. I started a separate discussion regarding GFS Humbuckers here.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/epiphone-les-pauls/348471-gfs-humbuckers.html

Forum member Will De Beast (Thanks Again Will!) suggested "The only way to really evaluate a pickup is to put it in your own guitar, adjust it (height, angle, pole piece stagger) and then decide if it is doing it for you."

Haven't had a chance to track down how to properly do that yet with the stock pick-ups, but it is my next step before I do anything else.

 

[A1Coyote]

Hello,
Just came back to this post because I have two of the special II's. I don't think you are going to get better pickups from GFS or any where else that are going to be better than the pickups that are currently in the guitar.
Try adjusting the height of the pickups. Also a capacitor change to .1 would make the pickups have a richer tone.

One thing I have been wondering about for a while is the use of a larger cap on a Special II, as the .022uF is actually handling two pick-ups instead of one pick-up on the single tone control. I had been pondering using a .047uF as it is close to double a .022uF. Just out of curiosity, why did you go with the .100uF? How dramatic is the difference in the tone control?