What did you do to your Epiphone today?

[Space1999]

I picked up my Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Custom Plus from the luthiers.
I had him remove the Gibson pu’s and make up a set of scatter-wound humbuckers.

I took the chance to change out the tone caps to .001mF Zoso’s.
He also replaced the Gibson graphite nut with a Tusq plus.

I think that I now remember using .022uF caps instead of .001uF back when I was doing shoot outs. .001uF is very subtle. Maybe too subtle.

I don’t really mind though, because the stock sound is so good and it is rare I reach for a tone pot. I usually just blend the pickups for a different sound.

Pat

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I previously acquired a pair of used Burstbuckers that came off of an Epiphone with the quick connect still intact, and plugged them into one of my LPs. Quick connects are real fun to use *click* (like the Nintendo Switch commercials)!
Used Burstbuckers are also great cause I don't have to pot them myself.

 

[Darkness]

Out of curious I pulled the control cover from my koa custom to see if it fits my classic. Yup. Then I looked at the wiring on my custom, it has those plug connectors on the pickups... hmm. It has orange capacitors, not sure if they're official "orange drops" or just orange. Seems to say 22 on them, I assume .022uf.

I have a spare Switchcraft toggle that has a black tip and a white tip. Pulled the white tip off my custom to swap to black and realized the threads on it are smaller than all of my other guitars. Interesting, I guess they use a different switch for the gold hardware.

Shame that the rest of the parts will take a while to get here. It has been raining for 10 days, I don't have a lot to do after work lately. Could have been done assembling by now.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Nothing yet today - but last night, after She went to bed, I sparked up, picked up the Sheraton (unplugged), worked on learning "Desperado" until the buzz was no longer allowing new input, then played some "All Along The Watchtower" (working on getting the feel of the Michael Hedges version), and finally sank into a lloooooonnggg , swinging "Deal" (amazing how many different directions one can take a simple A-G-D chorus once one settles into it...........).

Tonight I think I might bring the action down a bit & reintonate.

 

[Raiyn]

Thanks for the tip @Raiyn

No worries.

Out of curious I pulled the control cover from my koa custom to see if it fits my classic. Yup. Then I looked at the wiring on my custom, it has those plug connectors on the pickups... hmm. It has orange capacitors, not sure if they're official "orange drops" or just orange. Seems to say 22 on them, I assume .022uf.

You're correct. .022μF However, caps are caps. The main considerations are value and tolerance to that value. I won't use anything with a tolerance greater than ±5% and I get tighter if so can get them. While I have brands I prefer, brand doesn't really matter as long as they're reputable - which doesn't automatically mean Mallory or Vishay as folks will gouge you for those brands. Even a ±5% Radio Shack chiclet is better than a ±10% or ±20% "Orange Drop" and usually much cheaper.

I prefer film types mainly for ease of use and stability and I can get them for pennies compared to "boutique" snake oil.

Having said that, a bit of vanity precludes me from using ceramic as it just looks cheap.

In truth, anything that goes through the cap is going to ground.

One other thing, voltage ratings in a guitar are meaningless. All It does is change the physical size of the cap. We're talking microvoltages here. A 50V cap will do the same job as a 400V or 600V in this setting. So unless you're compensating....

I have a spare Switchcraft toggle that has a black tip and a white tip. Pulled the white tip off my custom to swap to black and realized the threads on it are smaller than all of my other guitars. Interesting, I guess they use a different switch for the gold hardware.

Interesting, I've not encountered that. Then again my clientele tends not to use gold hardware.

Shame that the rest of the parts will take a while to get here. It has been raining for 10 days, I don't have a lot to do after work lately. Could have been done assembling by now.

That's almost the worst. You could have all the parts and be waiting for the guitar for months while you order still more crap for it.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

No worries.
You're correct. .022μF However, caps are caps. The main considerations are value and tolerance to that value. I won't use anything with a tolerance greater than ±5% and I get tighter if so can get them. While I have brands I prefer, brand doesn't really matter as long as they're reputable - which doesn't automatically mean Mallory or Vishay as folks will gouge you for those brands. Even a ±5% Radio Shack chiclet is better than a ±10% or ±20% "Orange Drop" and usually much cheaper.

This, this, 1000 time this! I've said it before and I'll say it again: a .022µF cap will sound like a .022µF cap, no matter if it's mylar, ceramic, paper-in-oil, or penguin-dust-in-unicorn-sweat! ( I do admit to popping for Sozo Vintage Mustard when I had to build a new harness for my Sheratron, but that was because I wanted to be able to go a tad warmer, and they were the onliest ones I found who made a .033µF one.....)

I prefer film types mainly for ease of use and stability and I can get them for pennies compared to "boutique" snake oil.

Snake oil? What?? Surely you don't mean that the "bumblebee caps" used & sold (for about $50 per last I looked) by the parent company of one of our favorite brands, but are really modern mylar caps encased in clay that's shaped & painted to look like actual '50s bumblebees, won't make me play like Joe Walsh??????

Having said that, a bit of vanity precludes me from using ceramic as it just looks cheap.

I avoid them because they look like boogers.

Interesting, I've not encountered that. Then again my clientele tends not to use gold hardware.

And 66.666666666% of my electric guitars use gold. Yeah, I'm down with blingy guitars!

That's almost the worst. You could have all the parts and be waiting for the guitar for months while you order still more crap for it.

Or, conversely, you could have waited for the ±8% CTS pots to arrive, built them into your new harness - then discovered that they will not fit through your particular year of ƒ-hole, so you have to wait again, for the mini version to arrive..............

 

[Raiyn]

( I do admit to popping for Sozo Vintage Mustard when I had to build a new harness for my Sheratron, but that was because I wanted to be able to go a tad warmer, and they were the onliest ones I found who made a .033µF one.....)

What? I've got bags of .033μF in two or three brands, it's my go-to Strat bridge tone cap as I default to a two cap mod.

Snake oil? What?? Surely you don't mean that the "bumblebee caps" used & sold (for about $50 per last I looked) by the parent company of one of our favorite brands, but are really modern mylar caps encased in clay that's shaped & painted to look like actual '50s bumblebees, won't make me play like Joe Walsh??????

Correcto tomato, my guy.

I avoid them because they look like boogers.

I was being "diplomatic".
I don't even like using them in pedal kits, but I can't stock every value cap under the sun. I don't think I have anything more than a random ceramic or two.

Having said that, I do have quite the selection of 1/4W resistors, a few diodes, and a fair few electrolytic caps to replace the odd missing part in my kits.

And 66.666666666% of my electric guitars use gold. Yeah, I'm down with blingy guitars!

Someone has to buy them
Having said that, I did find one I like

Iffn' yer going Gold, you might as well go all out with gold frets and a rose gold chameleon paint job.

Or, conversely, you could have waited for the ±8% CTS pots to arrive, built them into your new harness - then discovered that they will not fit through your particular year of ƒ-hole, so you have to wait again, for the mini version to arrive............

Is that conversely, or just not checking before soldering.
No, I've been there. I had a situation where I was using an aftermarket Tele control plate on a T-style (read non-Fender affiliated) and I couldn't get a full size tone pot to sit in there. It was my fault, I should have mocked it up,. Tele is Tele is Tele, except when its not. I had to go order both a Bourns and a CTS (timing issues)

Also ±8%? Are they splitting it that fine to make a market? I'll cop to favoring AoT 525K ±5% (500-550K actual values) for my 500's, and I generally buy 300K's instead of 250's, but why 8%? That's a mouse fart from a ±10%.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

What? I've got bags of .033μF in two or three brands, it's my go-to Strat bridge tone cap as I default to a two cap mod.

What can I say? I've done a bazillion set-ups and a fair amount of repairs over the decades, for both fun & profit, but on this job I was just a hobbyist doing his first full harness; they were they onliest ones I found. And I'll need to look into this 2-cap mod of which you speak; I put the jumper in my STart to make the 2nd tone work on the bridge, too, thus rendering it usable, but still only 1 cap.

Someone has to buy them
Having said that, I did find one I like

Iffn' yer going Gold, you might as well go all out with gold frets and a rose gold chameleon paint job.

Well, that one's not to my taste - but you're going with the gold frets, you gots to run the Optima gold-plated strings, too!

Is that conversely, or just not checking before soldering.

Did you miss the part where I'm a dude???
Besides, the old ones came out OK, so it must be good, right? Right?

No, I've been there. I had a situation where I was using an aftermarket Tele control plate on a T-style (read non-Fender affiliated) and I couldn't get a full size tone pot to sit in there. It was my fault, I should have mocked it up,. Tele is Tele is Tele, except when its not. I had to go order both a Bourns and a CTS (timing issues)

Bought a MII Squire Tele with dead guts at a garage sale. Ordered up full-sized CTS pots. Took a chisel to the cavity.......... (and bored out the holes on the control plate, of course).

Also ±8%? Are they splitting it that fine to make a market? I'll cop to favoring AoT 525K ±5% (500-550K actual values) for my 500's, and I generally buy 300K's instead of 250's, but why 8%? That's a mouse fart from a ±10%.

As I said - my first one; I took the advise of a trusted friend (and didn't know where to shop except Stew-Mac, All-Parts, etc). And I figure a mouse fart better is worth another $1 a throw.

 

[Darkness]

Pickup rings, check
Tuners, check
Adapters for bridge, check

It's fun coming home from a long day at work to find a few neatly stacked boxes of goodies on my porch.

 

[Raiyn]

And I'll need to look into this 2-cap mod of which you speak; I put the jumper in my STart to make the 2nd tone work on the bridge, too, thus rendering it usable, but still only 1 cap.

That's my wiring diagram for Killer Frost and her sibling.
I used .033μF caps on both of my tones as it works for those pickups, but on the one I built for my buddy I used a .047μF for the combined Neck and Middle tone (as that's what he was used to and liked) and a .033μF on the bridge. Leo never intended to have a tone control on the bridge, so rather than choke it off completely, I chose to add a bit of restraint instead.
Greens and blacks = ground in case it's not clear for some folks so it's easy to omit the push pull switch. You'd just ground them to the pot (or ground buss wire if you're like me) You'd also skip the yellow from the 5 way to the push pull.

Well, that one's not to my taste - but you're going with the gold frets, you gots to run the Optima gold-plated strings, too!

Naw, I like having tone.

Skip to 1:00 to skip the excessively yelly intro he was doing at the time.
NSFW language.

Bought a MII Squire Tele with dead guts at a garage sale. Ordered up full-sized CTS pots. Took a chisel to the cavity.......... (and bored out the holes on the control plate, of course).

I had my reasons to do it the other way.

As I said - my first one; I took the advise of a trusted friend (and didn't know where to shop except Stew-Mac, All-Parts, etc). And I figure a mouse fart better is worth another $1 a throw.

Eh, I went searching for tight tolerances from the hop. I was seeing ±10's and 20's and knew those were gonna be so I looked for ±5 and under and found AoT to be reasonable and they had some other stuff I needed. I don't deal with them exclusively, but when I need 500KΩ that's my first stop.

I haven't bought anything directly from the Erlewine Collection, though I have bought items via their Amazon store - for the same total price.

 

[Equalphone]

Leo used ceramic disks. Gibson used chiclets. I can't get too concerned about the type.

I do like to pick up some low tolerance ones when I'm near the surplus store, but mostly because then I know what the value is, not because I know what value I really need. One of these days I'll break down and pay for a meter that measures caps and then I won't care as much.

I find .033 is a nice run up the middle for most guitars, although I have a guitar with singles that needs a bigger whack. Icepick time on that one. But all it really affects is how the tone control works. They all get dark enough to find mud.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

That's my wiring diagram for Killer Frost and her sibling.
I used .033μF caps on both of my tones as it works for those pickups, but on the one I built for my buddy I used a .047μF for the combined Neck and Middle tone (as that's what he was used to and liked) and a .033μF on the bridge. Leo never intended to have a tone control on the bridge, so rather than choke it off completely, I chose to add a bit of restraint instead.
Greens and blacks = ground in case it's not clear for some folks so it's easy to omit the push pull switch. You'd just ground them to the pot (or ground buss wire if you're like me) You'd also skip the yellow from the 5 way to the push pull.

Thanks! To my mind, Leo made 3 major mistakes on the original Strat; maple 'boards, truss rod [non]access at the wrong end, and a bridge p/up that only did ice-pick-in-the-ear. They have since remedied 2 of those..........

Naw, I like having tone.

In October, I sat on a friend's couch for maybe 45 minutes (though She insists it was over 3 hours........) while he put superb guitar after killer ax (I mean, his wonderful '62 Strat was the dog of the bunch!), saying "Here, now play this!" Several of them had Optima Golds on them, and they all sounded wonderful.
Of course, I have no way of telling what the guitars would have sounded like with different strings - but we have no way of knowing what the Optima's sounded like on that guy's guitar, as all we're hearing is his dirt box. Someone needs to tell all these YouTube "experts" that if they want to demo a guitar, an amp, strings - anything except a distortion pedal - they need to let us hear what it is they say they're demoing, not their distortion pedal.

Eh, I went searching for tight tolerances from the hop. I was seeing ±10's and 20's and knew those were gonna be so I looked for ±5 and under and found AoT to be reasonable and they had some other stuff I needed. I don't deal with them exclusively, but when I need 500KΩ that's my first stop.

I haven't bought anything directly from the Erlewine Collection, though I have bought items via their Amazon store - for the same total price.

Like I said, my first attempt at anything beyond soldering bad connections, so I asked a friend (50+ year pro player, electronics degree, former builder for Victoria amps) what he recommended; he said no bigger than ±8%, I saw ±8%, I looked no further. And that, my friend is why I frequent guitar-oriented internet fora - to learn stuff like this. Again, thanks!
I have bought a number of parts, tools, & supplies from Stew-Mac; I have learned that 1) They, um.......how to put this.......assure themselves of a healthy profit margin, so I look elsewhere for everything as well, and 2) there are a fair number of things that I have not been to find anywhere else, so if I want them, S-M is my only option.
They do have fast & excellent service, and a metric shitload of free info; wiring diagrams, tech videos, etc.

 

[Darkness]

Went to my brothers house to replace a toilet and snake his kitchen drain. When I was done I remembered he had an acoustic in one room. I went to check it out, its an Epi!

The wood and finish is really nice. The color on the back almost looked like rosewood but it can't be. Too bad the action is sky high.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Went to my brothers house to replace a toilet and snake his kitchen drain. When I was done I remembered he had an acoustic in one room. I went to check it out, its an Epi!

The wood and finish is really nice. The color on the back almost looked like rosewood but it can't be. Too bad the action is sky high.

View attachment 19776

1) Why can't it be rosewood?

2) High action is easily curable!

 

[Darkness]

1) Why can't it be rosewood?

2) High action is easily curable!

Well, I think this is one of those low end ones. I'm not very familiar with the acoustics.

The bridge is pretty high and has room to be sanded down. Neck also could use adjustment. It's his though, I don't want to tinker with it. Strings on it felt 20 years old haha, I got nervous hearing them pop when I tightened the high E.

 

[JamesStrawberry]

sg: pickups & pickgaurd no longer installed + annoying time resoldering new pickups + new string up = great rockout session

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Well, I think this is one of those low end ones. I'm not very familiar with the acoustics.

The bridge is pretty high and has room to be sanded down. Neck also could use adjustment. It's his though, I don't want to tinker with it. Strings on it felt 20 years old haha, I got nervous hearing them pop when I tightened the high E.

Sure looks like rosewood in that shot; laminted, probably, but rosewood none the less.

 

[Raiyn]

Thanks! To my mind, Leo made 3 major mistakes on the original Strat; maple 'boards, truss rod [non]access at the wrong end, and a bridge p/up that only did ice-pick-in-the-ear. They have since remedied 2 of those..........

I have no real opinion on maple boards, but the other two yeah. Suffice to say, if you have it at the "wrong" end, at least put a spoke wheel adjuster on it. The other, I fix.

Of course, I have no way of telling what the guitars would have sounded like with different strings - but we have no way of knowing what the Optima's sounded like on that guy's guitar, as all we're hearing is his dirt box. Someone needs to tell all these YouTube "experts" that if they want to demo a guitar, an amp, strings -

It's a metal channel?. You can certainly hear a difference in top end in the clips - everything was set the same other than the strings. Also, he did play them clean - jump to around 12:15.

2) there are a fair number of things that I have not been to find anywhere else, so if I want them, S-M is my only option.

I have ...two(?) things from StewMac... I think. As mentioned, I have their pickup height gauge that I bought on Amazon - which initially looks like it'd be more expensive until you realize that unless you're a StewMax (or whatever) member you're gonna get dinged for the mandatory FedEx shipping. At that point, it's the same price. The other thing I can think of is a neck shim. I found a guy who breaks packs on Reverb and sells singletons for "cheap" - though he's since raised his prices.
There's nearly always another option, it's just how much work you want to put into looking for it. Hosco is a good brand for example.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

It's a metal channel?. You can certainly hear a difference in top end in the clips - everything was set the same other than the strings. Also, he did play them clean - jump to around 12:15.

Yeah...I can't take that much metal, so i bailed long before 12:00 (last metal I found at all interesting was Alice Cooper - back when the name applied to the whole band, not just Vince).

 

[jamdogg]

Dr Epiphone sent me a replacement TRC (and screws) as a courtesy.