Members ehedwr Posted August 6, 2009 Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 Today a mate of mine took delivery of his brand new Epiphone Les Paul Studio Deluxe. A rather fine looking replica of the Gibson Studio in translucent wine, trapezoid inlays included. Expecting the pickups to be a bag 'o' crap he also bought a pair of Iron Gear Hot Slag high output zebra humbuckers ready to drop straight in. My guitar is a Burny Super Grade RLG50Z kitted with stock VH-500 high output pickups. It's a Les Paul Standard replica, honeyburst and zebra pups. First thing we did was to plug in the Epiphone and see what it sounded like. Quite dull actually, much as expected. Next I plugged in the Burny and room came alive, the lows are deeper, the mids more pronounced and the high bite like a ferret has just latched himself onto your old boy. Time for a pickup change. We dropped in the Iron Gear pups and did the same again. This time the Epiphone was much improved and starting to sound like a Les Paul should. Definately more presence, the lows were better and the highs had much more crisp. But it didn't grab you buy the balls, it still didn't have that bite. I would love to get his Epiphone sounding as good old Burny here. I know the studio is a little slimmer. The maple cap is definately thinner. How much would this affect overall tone? Can anyone recommend a good hot pickup combo for his Epiphone. The Vh-500 pups in my guitar aren't available seperately, they measure 8.5k and are just as loud as his 15k pups. We're not looking for outright metalhead pups here, just something with some extra snarl and bite for a damn good rock machine. Maybe next we'll do a pickup swap and see which guitar sounds best in round two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oaksong Posted August 6, 2009 Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 I have gibson burstbucker pros in my (admittedly gibson) studio. They sound phenomenal. Also, I should point out that sometimes pickups are better matched to one amp vs another amp. For instance, I loved my BB pros through my amp, but played through a friend's fender and they sounded even better. My jackson, however, sounded the opposite. Now, both guitars sounded great through both amps, but each guitar was better suited to one of the amps. The exception was through an Old, soldano modded JMP. They both sounded balls-out awesome through that, but that was mainly the amp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ehedwr Posted August 6, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 The amp is a Blackstar Ht-5 head and cab. Gonna try the pickups out of my PRS Santana SE tomorrow. See how he likes em, a bit milder but pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Annoying Twit Posted August 6, 2009 Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 Time for a pickup change. We dropped in the Iron Gear pups and did the same again. This time the Epiphone was much improved and starting to sound like a Les Paul should. Definately more presence, the lows were better and the highs had much more crisp. But it didn't grab you buy the balls, it still didn't have that bite. Which Irongear pickups did you put in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted August 6, 2009 Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 I'm pretty sure those Epi's don't have a maple cap. Also some people are highly suggesting swapping out the pots on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Annoying Twit Posted August 6, 2009 Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 I'm pretty sure those Epi's don't have a maple cap. Also some people are highly suggesting swapping out the pots on those. Just says "carved mahogany body" here. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Limited-Edition-Les-Paul-Studio-Deluxe-Electric-Guitar?sku=581254 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ehedwr Posted August 6, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 6, 2009 The pups are Iron Gear Hot Slags. It does have a Maple top. Though not as thick as mine. It's a limited edition Studio Deluxe, basically a carbon copy of a wine Gibbo Studio except for the Epi headstock. As for the pots? They're Alpha 500k A and B types, which I didn't expect to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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