Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Upgrading my Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Recently, I purchased a second hand Epi Les Paul for about 125 USD. The guitar arrived and it was in OK condition, but it was obviously a cheaply made guitar with sub-par parts.
I was of course aware it would be a cheaply made guitar with cheap and mediocre parts. This was partly the reason I bought the guitar. See I play live and I travel a lot for gigs. Guitars tend to get damaged during gigs. They fall, get bumped around etc. Stuff which would make you cry should they happen to your $5000 vintage original one of a kind guitar.

So I decided to upgrade the parts. Below are the pictures and the links to the parts I got (mostly from Stewmac - no affiliation).

The guitar details can be seen on many online retailers.

This was exactly how it was when I first got the guitar. Diecast hardware, stock humbuckers, nothing extra.

The body and neck are nothing fancy, but the neck is thick and is in good condition. The frets had little use. Always check the neck before spending any money on upgrading a guitar. IF the neck is messed up, don't bother with it. Either replace the neck, or work on a different guitar.

What I needed to replace were:

Tuning machines. The stock ones would go out of tune easily, can't really do pitch bends.
Bridge. The bridge saddles moved in a weird way and seemed like they'd lose their position easily, which will cause intonation issues.
Electronics. The stock electronics on these cheapos are usually pretty bad.
Pickups. Don't know if there was a problem or if they were operation normally - but there was a ringing noise in both pickups. Didn't care for the sound anyway.

So I bought the parts online, and took it to my good friend and luthier Ugur Kececioglu.

The guitar before the work starts. 



Crappy electronics. Tiny electronics cavity. 
As you see the electronics cavity is smaller than a usual Les Paul - as you might have noticed, the guitar is essentially a 2 HB 1 volume 1 tone electric guitar. Not the usual seperate volume & tone knobs for each humbucker. I actually prefer this design as the switch is close to the volume pot. The original Les Paul design has the switch above the neck humbucker which is awkward to switch sometimes - especially if you're also singing.

Humbuckers removed. Notice the conductive paint in the cavity. 

Headstock. (no shit Sherlock!)
The nut removed.

I had to get rid of the crappy plastic nut which came on the guitar. The one I got off Stewmac was this one. I actually had to get the one for Epiphones which is a bit higher than the Gibson one. So if you're ordering use item # 1873, not 1869 . We had to stick two sheets of plastic right under the nut so it was the proper height. The TUSQ nut has a lot more treble sound to it. When you drop the stock nut and the Tusq nut on a hard surface on the floor, you can hear the difference. My friend the luthier said that the sound of the nut will affect the tone of the guitar in the same way. So if it produces a low-mid kind of sound, it will influence the strings in that way. If it has a lot of top end, then that will also be reflected. I didn't know this and I'm still not sure this is true. But the main reason I got it was that TUSQ nuts are apparently more slippery and do not put extra tension on strings during bends. If it also influences the sound in a positive way, that's a bonus.

Knob holes. 

HB cavities covered with copper tape. 
Copper tape is a great way to minimize electrical noise. As a I gig a lot, and I usually have to stand next to stage lights, the amount of electrical noise we have to deal with sometimes is a pain. I have copper tape on all of my guitars. Strats usually get a full treatment, meaning the pickguard is covered with copper tape all over. Much better than conductive paint. This is what I got from Stewmac.

Copper tape, sitting next to the tuning machines. 
Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded set, bridge humbucker. 
I was leaning between an Alnico set or the tried and tested Hot Rodded set. I went with hot rodded. Details can be seen here (SD site) and here (Amazon).

Testing the HB fits ok. 
Both HBs in place
Routing the cables. 
Notice the copper tape in the electronics cavity.
The back plate is also covered all the way. 
Enlarging the holes for the new pots. 
I bought a premium wiring kit from Stewmac. Comes with 2 CTS pots, nice cables, switchcraft 3 way switch and a input jack. Details here.

Switchcraft toggle switch. 
Pots & knobs in place. 
Enlarging the tuning machine holes. 
Tuning machines installed. 
I got Gotoh 510 tuning machines. Really good quality, feels sturdy and looks shiny. Details here. 

Back to the electronics cavity. 
Notice that we added two bits of copper tape so that the back lid will also be touching the internal cavity.

Soldering the electronics. Dirty work. 
Everyting in place. Check to see if there is sound. 
Almost finished. 
The fret wire getting spa treatment. 
Hi-speed polishing. 
The neck and frets look all nice and shiny after the polish. 
Truss rod re-adjusted. Checking intonation. 
The bridge was a Gotoh tune-o-matic. It was a direct fit. No need for any trickery. Details here.

The bridge installed. Stop tail is the stock one. 


Everyting installed. I was planning to put stickers all over the front face, but the idiot I am, I ordered stickers that were transparent. So none of the stickers except one were visible on black background. Have to re-order and wait for them to arrive. Below is the guitar hanging on the wall at home.

Ready to go. 


There are two more parts I ordered. The neck mounting plate and the truss rod cover. The neck plate was installed but the truss rod cover I got didnt fit, so we installed the original. The "Special II" writing was erased with paint thinner.

Below is the Stewmac order:


Note that 0614 truss rod cover didnt fit, and 1869 TUSQ XL was not high enough so we had to add plastic below it. Get the correct one.

Add the $125 for the pickups, the total is around $325 for the parts. Add the cost of the workmanship (wherever you live).

For about $500-600 in total, you get a pretty good back up - or even main guitar. Not a bad deal.

Below is a sound clip of me playing the guitar.




28 comments:

  1. I have seen quite a few $4K-5K guitars with sub par parts. This way I am 100% certain that the hardware put in the guitar is good quality and I don't pay the "brand tax".

    Almost 1 year later building the guitar, I have played dozens of shows, countless hrs at home and it hasn't given me any problems and sounds great. I can't get a $600-700 guitar off the shelf that will play and sound this good.

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  2. are these gotoh tuners , locking tuners or do u suggest any other tuners so that i can avoid the drilling part...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are no decent drop in tuners for Epi L.P. Sp II' s. You have to drill or team out to 10mm.

      Delete
    2. There are no decent drop in tuners for Epi L.P. Sp II' s. You have to drill or team out to 10mm.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. He said the upgrades were $325 which brings the total to $500. An "off the shelf" guitar costing $500 would be inferior to this guitar because the parts he used are generally found on guitars costing in the $1000 range. Essentially, you end up with a guitar that sounds like $1000 while paying only $500. Does that make sense?

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  5. Did the Bridge make a sound difference in your upgrade?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't really tell - everything was replaced with new parts. To be able to notice the change in a single part I'd have to swap only that part and do A/B testing.

      I got a new bridge as I'm kind of nit picky on intonation. I like to be able to make small adjustments and a good bridge is needed for that.

      Delete
  6. Also, why didn't you choose a Nashville or ABR-1 bridge?

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  7. Thank you for detailing your mod to your Epi. I too have a special II I want to mod. They are low budget guitars to be sure, but isn't the point to make the guitar sound like YOU want it, and not just another clone? If one can improve tone and playability.....well that's part of the fun and adventure that is being a guitarist. At least IMHO.The Epi special II is a good looking guitar to start with, and for a few hundred bucks its worth tweaking. If anyone has doubts about modding a cheap guitar, consider Eddie Van Halen and his original Frankenstein. Not a Gibson or Epiphone to be sure, but he modded the guitar until he got the sound he heard in his head...And that sound is now legendary. Thank you again for your posting. I love my Epi and will post with my own mods when they are complete.

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  8. Because most of what you pay for in a $1000 guitar is a fancy logo and marketing costs. Gibson in particular has been dropping dramatically in quality and control recently. And who knows how good their "OEM" parts are these days if they're trying to save money.

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  9. I'm sure you don't respond to this blog anymore, but if you do, I was wondering what the purpose of the high speed fretboard polishing was, and what material you used. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi

      The luthier had a polishing rig and he basically waxed and cleaned the fretboard from the grime. It gave it a nice shine and it was sparkling clean after.

      Delete
  10. Because most of what you pay for in a $1000 guitar is a fancy logo and marketing costs. Gibson in particular has been dropping dramatically in quality and control recently. And who knows how good their "OEM" parts are these days if they're trying to save money.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Emrah,great set of pics/ info on
    your conversion.I'm waiting on my spec-ll from amazon(couldn't get the piano blk) got the v.sunburst instead,
    anyhow how come there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice for epi's hardware
    is there nothing that would drop-in say like tuners,nut,etc; I've not had
    much hands on with epi style guitars,
    being a fender squier strat noodler &
    modder,I don't really like the idea of
    reaming out the h/stock,what are they?
    8mm or about,so why don't they make the thru posts the same? also is the
    tune-o-matic set up string locking?
    thanks bud!

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  12. Hey awesome guide!
    I was wondering how much you needed to expanded the pots since I'm using the same wiring kit on my epi. Thanks!

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. Hi, I too have an epi 2 spec.(V.burst) from new & thought it was
    a bargain at UK £129:00 & decided to
    swap out the nut (nasty plastic)for
    a tusq black graphite replacement that would'would drop in', btw I have no prior knowledge or expertise
    in guitar related mods,to my horror
    the guitar played worse than ever, (the replacement nut was lower than
    the original) resulting in the b &E
    strings totally dead/touching/buzzing up the first three frets,so back to the drawing board,I didn't have anything to use
    until I spotted a collar stiffener
    on the table (bendy type plastic )
    so I glued that into the nut slot,
    (not the nut itself) 'cause it was
    a snug fit,& hey presto perfect rise
    on the strings in question. so the
    moral of this tale is "go out & buy
    yourself a shirt".

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  15. I got this guitar for free and I was wondering what I should buy with 1550-200$ to make the guitar sound better

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  16. On my Special II I replaced the stock pickups with Epiphone Probuckers and also replaced the tail piece with an aluminum one and used the stock bridge with titanium saddles and of course I replaces the pots with new ones (my pots are the switch kind) and I think it sound amazing. Ive got a lot of compliments on the sound. I also did 50 wiring.

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  17. I have a 2007 my daughter found in a thrift store for $15 without the bridge, nut and one of the knobs. Now I have a really cool third guitar with a total cost of $45.

    I was thinking of playing around and swapping out the electronics for some better parts. Half the fun of cheap guitars is modding them.

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  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. I just checked your link for the bridge replacement. Did you get the one with studs and bushings or the one with standard posts. Thanks!

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  20. I play an Epiphone Special II, also. I've never changed the stock tuners, and they work just fine (I am a jazz player, and don't bend strings much.) The stock ceramic pickups are not bad at all. I wanted a slight bit more clarity, so I ordered some cheap "Powered By Lace" Chinese alnico pickups ($30 for both.) Since I bought the guitar for around $160, with the pickups added, I'm around $200 into it. The guitar sounds great. I've used it on lots of gigs. Unless you're doing a lot of string bending, the stock tuners will work just fine. I don't use distortion, so I can't comment on the guitar's use for this. It has a pleasing clean tone. For not much money, you play it as it is, or change the pickups, and you'll have an inexpensive playing guitar. These guitars are a great value.

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  21. I enjoyed your playing. You played in a simple, accurate, country rock/blues style. Well done.

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  22. I've moded my Special-II. I replaced the pots with "dual-concentric" (giving individual tone/vol for each pickup). I converted the pickups to 4-conductor. And, installed 3 toggle switches for tone wiring choices. I documented all those mods. It can be found googling for "Epiphone Special-II LTD mod: 2-vol, 2-tone, dual-concentric pots". (It starts there. That one links to the two other mods).

    I think it's an amazing guitar. The dual-concentric mod made the most difference in sound/tone improvement. It became clearer, more spatial. Definitely more tonal range to choose from.

    ReplyDelete
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