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A Question


RelentlessOblivion

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I've decided to put some money into the Epiphone Les Paul so I want to upgrade the pickups (any recommendations, ones to avoid, etc would be appreciated) and any other stuff I can do. Already know from previous experience it can't take thick strings (can't get enough tension to tune the thicker strings) so I'll have to get creative if I want a heavier tone out of it.

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I don't know what you mean when you say you "can't get enough tension to tune the thicker strings". What tuning do you want to play in? What gauges have you tried? Please clarify that for me. The neck should have no problem with string tension, though you might have to adjust the truss rod. You may want to upgrade the tuners (Grovers are great), and the nut and bridge. I use a graphite nut and a Graphtech "Resomax" bridge. TonePros and Gotoh make good bridge upgrades for less money than Graphtech. A good bridge set up will really improve your playing experience.

People always recommend Bareknuckle pickups, and I love the "Cold Sweat" that I have in my Explorer, but I would stay away from the super high output pickups they offer, because I've found that they crush the signal going into the amp and make it harder to achieve good clarity. They're not cheap, either. For less cash, I like my Seymour Duncan "Invader", and know guitarists who love their other pickups. I'm also fond of Gibson's pickups - consider a 498T or 500T for the bridge position.

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12-52 guage strings and tuning to E standard meant the A and E strings just wouldn't tune properly. My guitar teacher at the time said he could set it up to take thicker strings but it would trash the body. Maybe that was crap, dude wasn't a great teacher, but I didn't want to damage a guitar justt to put thicker strings on it.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

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12-52 is really heavy for E standard tuning, I think they used that in the stone age, or Jurassic or whatever. That's the sort of strings I'd use for C tuning.
 Of course it's partly personal preference, but after trying with different strings strengths, I'd never go beyond 10-46 (which I use for D tuning on the most common Fendery 25.5" scale, and as standard on 24.75" Gibson/Epiphone).

As for pickups, it really depends on the music you want to play. Hendrix? Sabbath? Slayer?

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Iommi actually tuned down to lower his string tension after he cut the tips of his fingers off, from what I heard. Meshuggah apparently uses relatively thin strings too. It's all in how you play them, isn't it... I wind up going heavier naturally, the more frequently I play, as my muscles get more used to digging in. I think I've finally zeroed in on a good set for my current tuning, though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The intention would be to tune down, I wasn't really sure if that problem would follow though to lower tunings which is why I mentioned it, I'm a huge doom metal fan and that's really what I want to play in the end. I settled on the Epiphone as the one to upgrade because it's the easiest to fiddle around with - no stupid floyd rose bridge, no apprehensions messing with it because it's the older and "cheaper" of my guitars. All three need work done really though the ML needs those EMG 83/85 active pickups taken out and some minor repair work done to the bridge, the Razorback needs to have the DMT "DimeTime"/Duncan Dimebucker pickups replaced - totally ruin what is otherwise a well setup guitar by giving it a flat, lifeless, tone.

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Pick a tuning, get strings that will give you the tension you want in that tuning, and then tune up and set your intonation according to the strings. Intonation will be different for each string, and it'll change if you change string gauges or tunings. 

On an Epiphone, I'd say 12-52 would be OK for D standard, but you'll probably find the low strings to be a little loose and the high strings to be a little tight. C# is probably the lowest you can tune with good intonation, maybe C depending on your bridge and strings. You can definitely tune lower, but chords higher up the neck will sound a bit out of tune. 

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I'm thinking 12s is a little much anyway. I was very naive at the time - said I needed a new set of strings, guy asked what I liked to play/listen to and I said thrash so he gave me those strings, I think 11-50 would be better suited for me, just a little thicker then what I already have, obviously a lot of the real upgrading is months away (quite a bit of remoulding the player beforehand) this thread is more a sounding board for me to get pointers since I'm very new to the process of actually upgrading hardware, fiddling with bridge positions etc, when I'm less under the weather I'll need to have a good play around with different tunings on the Les Paul to find one I like.

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My advice would be to buy a set of Grover tuners, a TonePros tune-o-matic bridge (make sure it's for Epiphone replacement, not Gibson - different measurements), and a Gibson 500-T bridge pickup, and get a professional to install them for you and set up the guitar for whatever tuning you choose. It's a lot of soldering, fiddling with little screws, etc.

I don't know how prices run there. You may be able to find a deal on parts on ebay, but the work will cost you. If it was here in the USA, you'd be looking at a ballpark $500 for everything. Up to you to decide if it's worth that. I don't regret any of the upgrades or modifications I've made to my instruments,  FWIW.

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It's certainly worth the investment, I really don't want to do too much with the Razorback because it'd be such a shame to damage the paintwork, and the ML could use the work but it's so goddamn heavy I damn near put my back out whenever I play it. The Les Paul is comfortable and easy to play like the Razorback but without all the pointiness and skulls making it the perfect upgrade target.

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