deftonez

Hi, Im new to this forum and Im in a dilemma right now. I have a Epiphone Les Paul Special II, which is a pretty basic model. I have been playing for two years now and I consider myself an intermediate player. I love metal and rock music. Now Im not sure if I should step up and buy a new guitar, say Epiphone Les Paul standard or maybe Synyster Gates's Schecter, or if I should upgrade my pickups for better sound. Im not really sure if changing pickups would cause significant change in sound quality so I kinda need advice here.

Robbgnarly

Deff get a new guitar.
Deff stay away from the Syn-Gay Sig (yeah I did that on purpose ). It is not just because it is his model, but because it has a hefty price tag because of his name, not the quality of the build. If you really like thae shape, look at the Schecter Avenger.

The LP standard is a good solid guitar and if you go used, you can get them for cheap.

Another guitar to keep in mind are the PRS SE line. I'm not a big Tremonti fan, but his sig guitar is one of the cheapest PRS SE guitars and it has the LP styling (it is a good guitar also)

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Mephaphil

2 years and intermediate? You must be a fast learner.

Anyway. Upgrading pickups in that guitar will make the hardware more expensive than the guitar. There's no point.

You might as well get a new guitar like the Epiphone LP Standard, but even then it won't be worth upgrading your pickups. If you are interested in upgrades you might want to look at mid range guitars like the Gibson LP Studio Faded, not too much more than the Epi and can be gotten for a steal used and it's a massive upgrade. Or a lower end PRS, which are great.

What about your amp?

__________________

Robbgnarly

WTF?
Epiphone guitars (well ones like the G-400/LP standard are good instruments, and can be improved majorly with a pickup swap.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Mephaphil

They cost nearly as much as the pickups. Just seems like a false economy to me mate. £230 for the guitar, £150 for some decent pickups, like the 59 SD set and even more for EMGs.

Might as well get something that has a bit more to start with, and you might not need to swap anything. If you can get everything used then yeah, it's no biggie, but I'd rather spend that extra £150 and get a Gibson LP Faded used for £400 with Burstbucker Pros as standard, which are great for rock and certain types of metal.

That's all I mean. I agree, there's loads of great Epis

__________________

AJScott

Epiphones are good quality guitars, you will do well with an upgrade. Look at putting in some Seymour Duncans, like the Vintage Hot Rodded Humbucker set which has an SH4 and SH-2n pickups. If you want a hotter sound look at the Invaders (I believe Synynster gates uses those), or the SH6.

What amp are you using? Even the best sounding guitar can sound rubbish through a rubbish amp, but a rubbish guitar will sound amazing through the best amp.

Robbgnarly

I can see you point, But you don't have to but the pickups at the same time as the guitar. I have a G-400 faded that I bought new 4 yrs ago for $299. a few months later I bought a Duncan SH-4 for $72. I could not spend the extra at the time. Now that G-400 is my main guitar for my Prog-rock/metal band and it cost me $371. And normaly my main guitar is a PRS CE22 (but I was not going to change it)

I do think Epi pickups are crap, but they still work.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

GaryBillington

I agree with all this - I can understand why people would change the pickups in a quality guitar, but I can never see the point of doing it to something basic. I guess if it's something particularly unusual or has sentimental value you could justify it to yourself, but 90% of the time upgrading the whole guitar is the more sensible option.

I also give a big +1 to the Gibson LP Faded suggestion. I have one in brown & it's awesome - I actually prefer it to the Gibson LP standard I owned a few years ago.

__________________

leigh596

Id probably say just get an ibanez, for £420 (WEED) you can get an ibanez RG821 - a premium series ibanez - which has nice stock pickups and a new ibanez hardtail bridge system modeled to be like the evertune bridge. If youre wanting a floyd rose you could look at some of the other ibanez s/rg series guitars but licensed, which it is likely to be, is pretty crappy so id stay away from them if theyre not premium/prestige with tremolos

EDIT - I suppose it could be an ibanez built tremolo but even at that, alot of them are made from cheap materials and break easy

__________________
CURRENT GEAR
Fender Blacktop Stratocaster HH MN
Yamaha 12 string acoustic
Line 6 Spider IV 30
Boss ME50

IronMaiden76

Could you give us a video of that Epi in action?

__________________
Call me Chris

Ducks and guitars or fish and guitars. I lead a simple existence

Mephaphil

Putting them in at the same time you buy them or after is irrelevant. You're still spending the money. It seems different because you're staggering it, but you may have spent half the value of the guitar and it still wont sound as good as another guitar you could of got for a small amount of money on top.

I'm not saying it's wrong, I just don't think it's a worth it as such. If you can get a Epi LP for £150 and some pickups for £50, yea definitely. But new? No way, it's a false economy.

I'm sure your guitar sounds great.



I had a wine red one and the neck just felt amazing. Baked Maple on a Gibson just felt so right, and the back of the neck was just something else.

However, my LP Traditional is just a different league really.

__________________

Clarkinator

Doesn't look like you are considering Fenders, but for what its worth, there are a TON of used Strats and Teles all over the place, and sometimes you can get one for downright highway robbery. Here in the states, every day I see something like a used American Strat for $400 or a Mexican Strat for even less. You could swap out the bridge pickup for $60 or so (Duncan, Fender Custom Shop, etc) and have yourself a really, really bitching guitar.

A buddy of mine picked up a Mexican Strat for like $250, threw in a Duncan SH-5 in the bridge, and his strat now sounds pretty much as good as my American Standard. Total cost to him was $300.

Fender is a big name, and all the time someone springs for one, never really plays it, then realizes a few years later they just need to get rid of it as its collecting dust.

I'll also agree with the people above who mentioned the Les Paul Studios. My main guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe, and I absolutely love it. You could probably find a used one at a good deal.

I would search ebay like crazy with a set price range. Search for electric guitars with a range of 300 - 500 and see what you find. You can always do more research on the guitar if you see something that looks like a good deal.

Robbgnarly

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRUqgWFvIM

her you go mot the best sound, but not the worst either I'm the one on the far right

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

leigh596

Rob, your band is badass as ****. Your guitar sounds pretty good for the price youve put it all together for!

__________________
CURRENT GEAR
Fender Blacktop Stratocaster HH MN
Yamaha 12 string acoustic
Line 6 Spider IV 30
Boss ME50

Robbgnarly

Thanks man
We have been really lucky since we started playing in July 2012. We have played with ASG, Nonpoint, Guttermouth and Authority Zero to name a few. We are waiting to see if we can get on a few shows with Mastadon (our lead guitarist know Bret) so I'll keep my fingers crossed)

Also in that video I was using my old Line 6 spider valve on the plexi setting

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

guitarguydm123

Trust people when they say dont go for the Syn guitar (My sig is wrong, i got rid of it yesterday, im just not going to change it until my new hellraiser comes in the mail) its an ok guitar, but you do pay a lot for the name, the stripes and may look cool now but they def get old fast.

__________________
Guitars-
Schecter Hellraiser Solo 6 "Nikki"

Amp-
Micro Orange Terror W/PPC108 Cab

Pedals-
Digitech Metal Masters

dannyalcatraz

I'll echo the others soemwhat and say that, with few exceptions, sig model guitars are overpriced. Typically, you can find comperable guitars for hundreds less, either within the brand or in the product lines of other companies.

Given what you've said, you might consider a DBZ, Dean, Malden or Fernandes:
http://www.dbzguitars.com/guitars/e...guitar/imperial
http://www.dbzguitars.com/guitars/e...c-guitar/royale
http://www.dbzguitars.com/guitars/e...c-guitar/bolero
http://www.dbzguitars.com/guitars/e...uitar/barchetta
http://www.deanguitars.com/cadi_series.php
http://www.maldenguitars.com/badkarma.htm
http://www.fernandesguitars.com/pro...rs/ravelle.html
http://www.fernandesguitars.com/pro...s/revolver.html
http://www.fernandesguitars.com/pro.../dragonfly.html


Or, if you really like the feel of the guitar you own, and just want to upgrade pickups, look at Tesla or Bareknuckle pickups.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/
http://www.teslapickups.com/

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

IronMaiden76

I always thought the stripes looked tacky as ****

__________________
Call me Chris

Ducks and guitars or fish and guitars. I lead a simple existence

Boonnoo666

If you really like Metal and Hard Rock you wouldn't be considering a Synster Gates model.
Have a look at Schecter Hellraisers, they're very appropriate for Metal with the EMGs in them.
Just have a look at good spec guitars. E.G if they have Dimarzio/Seymour Duncan/EMG pickups.
Read reviews and look around a bit. Try Thomann's GuitarLab.

__________________


Schecter Damien FR
Kramer Imperial
Peavey Valveking Head
Marshall 1936 JCM900 lead cab