What did you do to your Epiphone today?

[Telechamp]

Went from 9.5-44 to 10-52 string gauge on my Casino Coupe.
It sounds glorious, but it's kinda killing my fingers.
Has anybody got an exercise to build up fingers' muscle strength, please?

I had 11's on my Casino for the longest time, but last string change I decided to go with 10's, and the 10's are staying now. The 10's make it so much easier to play, coming from 11's..

 

[Darkness]

Finished my gold top.

Ran 50s style on the Bourns 500k pots using some fancy green caps (Paper In Oil K42Y-2 .033uf for bridge and .015uf for neck). Switchcraft switch and jack. Gibson Burstbucker 2/3 out of a '59 Epiphone. Oiled the board and wiped, graphite on the nut, new SIT nickel 10-46 strings. Intonation checked, neck checked, action good 'nuff. Also removed the guard. With the zebra pickups the guard looked deluxe, but with nickel pickups I like no guard. I need a cream or maybe orange switch, the black is out of place.

Then realized wife is asleep. I played with headphones on and was happy. Tomorrow is Friday and I'll crank the amp to hear the new soul in this thing. I'm already liking it a lot.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I had 11's on my Casino for the longest time, but last string change I decided to go with 10's, and the 10's are staying now. The 10's make it so much easier to play, coming from 11's..

I'm seriously considering going back to 10-48 (possibly going to try GHS Boomer's David Gilmour strings as they are locally available).

 

[3bolt79]

I'm seriously considering going back to 10-48 (possibly going to try GHS Boomer's David Gilmour strings as they are locally available).

I recently got a bulk deal for 18 packs of GHS Boomers from Sweetwater. If you buy in bulk, the six packs are cheaper per Set than the 12 packs. I don’t know what is different about the DG sets, unless it’s just the gauges. Can you tell me what is different about the DG sets?

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I have no idea. I can imagine that Gilmour uses this slightly unusual 10-48 gauge range and I hope these strings are easy to bend. I currently have a set of Ernie Ball's 10-52 which are too hard on my fingers and really hard to bend.

 

[spupilup]

I didn’t physically do anything to my recently acquired Les Paul Special ( a demo I proudly snagged for just $359 from one of the big online retailers). I did buy a new Faber wrap around nickel bridge and studs. They’re running a 20% off sale today so I got the parts reasonably cheap. I can’t wait to install the new bridge and hardware which will be around three ounces lighter than the originals.

 

[richey88]

Picked it up on Reverb a while back.
Right now it's $90 on Amazon It's the String Swing CC29.

It folds flat for those times when I need to reconfigure the room.

My pleasure, of course. It piqued my curiosity.

I don't know why you want to work so hard.
I've got D'Addario Balanced Tension EXL110BT 10-46 on everything but my Strat.
10_13.5_17_25_34_46

Nobody here is going to say Billy Gibbons doesn't have a PHAT tone - he runs 7-38

You wanna develop finger strength? Play more, strength is nice, but dexterity is key.

I put a set of Willy G’s on my SG (the heavy ones.008-.040!). They sound great! Color me surprised. Different playing experience but wow! I did raise the P90’s as far as they would go, but it’s a different guitar now, muy expressive!

 

[syco]

I have no idea. I can imagine that Gilmour uses this slightly unusual 10-48 gauge range and I hope these strings are easy to bend. I currently have a set of Ernie Ball's 10-52 which are too hard on my fingers and really hard to bend.

Depending on the set .... The DG's are 10-48 or 10.5 - 50 .

 

[Raiyn]

For years the joke acronym for GHS was
Get
Home
Soon

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Depending on the set .... The DG's are 10-48 or 10.5 - 50 .

I didn't realize that ! Perhaps I should have got (or gotten?) 10.5-50 for a 24.75 " scale, then?
Have you ever tried that gauge, please?

 

[BlueSquirrel]

For years the joke acronym for GHS was
Get
Home
Soon

Lol, that's funny!
Were those strings that bad, though?!
I'm intrigued!

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I put a set of Willy G’s on my SG (the heavy ones.008-.040!). They sound great! Color me surprised. Different playing experience but wow! I did raise the P90’s as far as they would go, but it’s a different guitar now, muy expressive!

I suppose it must feel much easier to play in an expressive way!

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Some of the noise is back in my Casino Coupe's bridge (it's the saddles that "rattle" a bit). I had stuck dome little bits of paper under them and they were quiet, but when I played the guitar some of the paper was "disturbed" by the guitar's vibration. It's a Gotoh bridge so it doesn't rattle as bad as the original Epiphone saddles with the retainer wire, however some of the saddles still make a faint clicking noise. I would love to stick foam under them but I can't get them off!!
Does anybody know of a brand that would offer a compatible bridge with detachable saddles so I could dampen them with foam, please?

Or is that why the Beatles had nylon saddles on their Casinos ? And if so, where could I find a metric iteration? I can only find either one with M8 threads (I'm pretty sure I need M4) or one that is built to imperial measurements for vintage Casinos or ES-330...

 

[SouthPaul71]

Some of the noise is back in my Casino Coupe's bridge (it's the saddles that "rattle" a bit). I had stuck dome little bits of paper under them and they were quiet, but when I played the guitar some of the paper was "disturbed" by the guitar's vibration. It's a Gotoh bridge so it doesn't rattle as bad as the original Epiphone saddles with the retainer wire, however some of the saddles still make a faint clicking noise. I would love to stick foam under them but I can't get them off!!
Does anybody know of a brand that would offer a compatible bridge with detachable saddles so I could dampen them with foam, please?

Or is that why the Beatles had nylon saddles on their Casinos ? And if so, where could I find a metric iteration? I can only find either one with M8 threads (I'm pretty sure I need M4) or one that is built to imperial measurements for vintage Casinos or ES-330...

After I replaced my Casino (not coupe) bridge by a Gotoh, some of the noise went away, but some of it remained. Took it to a tech for advice, he replaced the Gotoh by a Schaller bridge (no retainer wire). From then on all buzzing and rattling has disappeared.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Thank you very much ! I'm going to try that !
You wouldn"t have its exact reference number by any chance?

 

[Raiyn]

Lol, that's funny!
Were those strings that bad, though?!
I'm intrigued!

Guitar players talk
It's why what works for one guy is viewed as trash by another.

Thank you very much ! I'm going to try that !
You wouldn"t have its exact reference number by any chance?

TonePros would work too. I'm enamored with their roller bridges and use them in place of standard TOMs even on hardtails, the regular one should be fine also. I agree that the wire retained bridge is trash thougn.

You don't need a reference number really, all you need to do is look for a metric bridge in the color and brand you want.

 

[Darkness]

On my Casino I swapped the bridge with a Gotoh (no wire) but after a few days that developed a rattle as well. I pulled it when it was time for different strings and messed with the original one, I got it to work rattle free. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[syco]

I didn't realize that ! Perhaps I should have got (or gotten?) 10.5-50 for a 24.75 " scale, then?
Have you ever tried that gauge, please?

GB-DGG ( Red Set ) 10.5 , 13 ,17 , 30 ,40 , 50 . I used them mainly until they became hard to find due to pandemic . Switched to EB 10-52 because they were available locally at the time . IMHO the DG are a bit more "pliable " than the EB's . Never had a problem with breakage or getting rusty .

 

[Raiyn]

TonePros TPFP in chrome. No wire, has starter notches, so you'll need files or a tech.

TonePros TPFR in chrome. The rollers need no further refinement / adjustment.

Colors are noted by a -C, -G, etc. after the 4 letter model.

 

[RadioFM74]

Gave 'er her first set-up.

Truss rod was way too loose – and it's always a relief (no pun intended) when you first adjust it and find that everything works ok. It went from .35/.40mm to .25mm and it makes a big difference in playability. I've set the action at ≈ 2mm and adjusted intonation, which was also WAY off. I've kept 10s this time around but plan to move to 11s and my one concern is that the G string saddle is already all the way back. Will flipping it suffice? We'll see. The good surprise of the evening was not having to do anything on the nut. Before checking relief I had assumed I'd have to file the slots down a little, but that's not the case – nut action is perfect and no sharp notes at 1st fret, nor any buzz. Last little touch, I put some contact cleaner on the ball of the selector switch to make it smoother, and I'd say it worked pretty well.

I've also checked whether there were any proud frets and there are indeed a couple that are slightly higher than the rest. Still, zero buzz, dead spots or wolf notes with my set-up.

It's amazing what a little set-up can do to a guitar. Playability has gone through the roof with just a couple patient tweaks!