upgrading

[dolecek]

So....I picked me up a epi les paul standard. It played good. Just this week I got seymore duncan pickups installed and omg it sounds so awesome now now I want to upgrade the tuners to locking tuners and also the bridge and I would like suggestions on what to get also after I put on the bridge will I have to have my guitar setup again? Or is it something simple that I can do? Thank you in advance!

 

[moogolfer]

You can absolutely do it yourself. But remember, not everything is an upgrade; sometimes they're just changes.

 

[Curmudgeon]

If you have a tuner you can intonate the bridge quite easily. And since you can get a tuner for under $10 there's no reason not to have one. If you plan on using a Gotoh or Tone Pros bridge they just drop right on to the posts. Just watch that you don't move the height adjustment thumbwheels and you'll be pretty much good to go.

 

[dolecek]

What is the best bridge I cab buy? There are so many nut sure which is the best

 

[dolecek]

how can i get a set of locking tuners and feel comfortable know that I wont have to do any drilling installing them?

 

[harrisxr650]

Get a gotoh bridge its same as tonepross without the locking screws and 30€ less.
I think your guitar has grover tuners which are pretty good and hold tuning fine if the but is cut as it should be. I had the same tuners on my Korean epi LP and with really hard picking I didnt had to tune more than 1 time during a gig or rrehearsal. For start I would replace only the nut with a tusq and pickups along with wiring and pots. these will make the most difference towards better. And hngd!

 

[claven2]

What is the best bridge I cab buy? There are so many nut sure which is the best

The "best", IMHO, Is the Faber locking bridge. Whether you "need" it is not something anyone but you can answer. It WILL tend to brigten the guitar a bit over the stock bridge and is better made. If you like brighter, you can also look at aluminum tailpieces.

If you really DO want to change something that will be more noticeable and guaranteed to be hear-able, consider upgrading the pots, caps, switches and wiring to better quality parts and consider 50's wiring.

 

[KP]

I have had great luck with this one.

XGP SOLID BRASS Nickel locking Tuneomatic bridge, locking Saddles-

 

[dolecek]

I don't feel confortable drilling and I have heard some bridges require it, how can i find a bridge that i know for a fact that it will fit perfectly in my 2008 epi les paul standard?

 

[kevinpaul]

It plays great! Don't screw it up. Why turners and why replace the bridge? You may be very unhappy with the results.

 

[dolecek]

i want more stability staying in gune and i hate the chrom hardware, i want it all black

 

[Dolebludger]

I have never liked stock Epi bridges. The saddles seem to fit too loosely in the body and "suck tone". Any of the above suggestions for drop-in replacement bridges are good. Personally, I use a Gotoh.

Also, drop-in replacement of the tailpiece can help. Not as much as replacing the bridge, but I can hear the difference with a milled aluminum or brass TP over the stock cast zinc TP.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Also, drop-in replacement of the tailpiece can help. Not as much as replacing the bridge, but I can hear the difference with a milled aluminum or brass TP over the stock cast zinc TP.

I found the tailpiece to make more of a difference than the bridge on my '56GT, but both pieces will improve tone.

 

[Dolebludger]

Curmudgeon,

Interesting! I too have a '56 GT. I installed the Gotoh bridge on it first, then the improved TP. Never tried the new TP with the old bridge, because the stock bridge was just junk. Actually, I have two upgrade TPs for that guitar -- milled aluminum and milled brass. The first for classic rock and the second for more mellow stuff.

 

[pippin65]

Do the bridge notches on the gotoh and tonepros have to be deepened or do they work out of the box? do all the gotoh's and tonepro's come notched? Are we looking at a tonepro's t3bt or gotoh 1511 as "drop-in's" for the epi les paul? thabnks

 

[claven2]

SOMETIMES they have to be deepened - it depends if the strings re slipping off the saddles to not. If the do, it's usually the low E and A strings.

 

[LPofBorg]

For a drop in upgrade, hard to beat Gotoh for the price. The only rub is still having the tone robbing pot metal bushings under a good bridge. It's more money and work, but I went with Faber Eserts and a ABRM bridge. The connection between wood and bridge is much more solid and really transformed the instrument.

 

[Curmudgeon]

For a drop in upgrade, hard to beat Gotoh for the price. The only rub is still having the tone robbing pot metal bushings under a good bridge. It's more money and work, but I went with Faber Eserts and a ABRM bridge. The connection between wood and bridge is much more solid and really transformed the instrument.

I'm just curious if you had any problems getting the bushings in.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Do the bridge notches on the gotoh and tonepros have to be deepened or do they work out of the box? do all the gotoh's and tonepro's come notched? Are we looking at a tonepro's t3bt or gotoh 1511 as "drop-in's" for the epi les paul? thabnks

The Gotoh 1511 is a drop-in. And yeah, as was said, the E and A would probably need to be opened up a little, which only takes a few strokes of a jeweler's file.

 

[Dolebludger]

And with the Gotoh, the string slots that need to be enlarged might differ with the guitar. On my Epi 56 GT, I had to slightly enlarge the high and low E string slots to stop string slippage to the side. But I recommend that any enlarging be kept to a minimum to accomplish this. I think the small slots in the saddles are one of the things that causes the Gotoh to improve tone.