Fret not
After an attack of conscience (and the realization we may have a lot of medical bills still forthcoming), I decided NOT to blow a good chunk of our tax refund on a guitar. I had been looking at either a Gibson SG standard or an ESP EC-1000 to replace my existing Epiphone Les Paul so I could have a good dual-humbucker guitar for the heavy stuff onstage. But plopping down $1000 (give or take $200) right now just doesn't seem intelligent at all.
I loved the Epiphone when I got it, but since then (1999), I've come to the realization that you get what you pay for. Though I loved the guitar in the beginning, I'm now more experienced and better acquainted with better-grade instruments, so I just can't continue tolerating the Epiphone's crappy tone, bad action on the neck, bad intonation, and - above all - the fact that it simply will NOT stay in tune. I don't think my band can tolerate it, either.
So I've been shopping. Came so close numerous times to just clicking the "Add to Cart" button, especially for the ESP, believe it or not. Beautiful guitar, very high reviews, Les Paul-like design...good value...
But in the end, I've decided to "Frankenstein" my existing Les Paul. Overall, the body is well made, the frets are good, and the paint job (red, quilted maple top) is still beautiful and undamaged.
Yesterday, I ordered a pair of Seymour Duncan humbuckers...going to put a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. If that's Greek to you, this is the setup recommended by all kinds of guitarists who have upgraded their guitars (some guitars far more expensive than mine)... it's also the setup on one of the ESP's I liked so much. Hopefully, this will fix the lousy tone problem...
Also ordered a set of black Gibson (made by Grover) tuning keys so I can hopefully fix that little "stay in tune" problem. Jack's got these tuners on his Gibson Les Paul, and he swears they've made all the difference in the world. (Heck, the Grovers work great on my Taylor).
Now that I'm on a guitar "re-animation" streak, I even found use for the Univox electric and the busted Guild acoustic (oh, so sad) in the garage. I'm taking the perfectly good Grover tuners off the broken neck of the Guild and putting them on the Univox, whose tuners feel like 'toys' (guitar had more 'tune' issues than the Epiphone). Sure, I could've put these Grovers on the Epiphone and saved even more, but I'm trying to restore the color of the hardware on the Epi to the original black.
I've already worked on the intonation of both guitars, but being an amateur in doing such a thing, I'm going to head up to Jack's sometime and trade off some help... I'll help him get an old PC back up and running, and he'll help me with all things guitar-related.
In the end, I'm spending under $200 to revitalize a guitar. Being an Epiphone, it'll never have the high-end resale value of the real Gibsons...but...it will hopefully once again be something I love playing once again. And if that's the case, why would I want to sell it, anyway?
I loved the Epiphone when I got it, but since then (1999), I've come to the realization that you get what you pay for. Though I loved the guitar in the beginning, I'm now more experienced and better acquainted with better-grade instruments, so I just can't continue tolerating the Epiphone's crappy tone, bad action on the neck, bad intonation, and - above all - the fact that it simply will NOT stay in tune. I don't think my band can tolerate it, either.
So I've been shopping. Came so close numerous times to just clicking the "Add to Cart" button, especially for the ESP, believe it or not. Beautiful guitar, very high reviews, Les Paul-like design...good value...
But in the end, I've decided to "Frankenstein" my existing Les Paul. Overall, the body is well made, the frets are good, and the paint job (red, quilted maple top) is still beautiful and undamaged.
Yesterday, I ordered a pair of Seymour Duncan humbuckers...going to put a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. If that's Greek to you, this is the setup recommended by all kinds of guitarists who have upgraded their guitars (some guitars far more expensive than mine)... it's also the setup on one of the ESP's I liked so much. Hopefully, this will fix the lousy tone problem...
Also ordered a set of black Gibson (made by Grover) tuning keys so I can hopefully fix that little "stay in tune" problem. Jack's got these tuners on his Gibson Les Paul, and he swears they've made all the difference in the world. (Heck, the Grovers work great on my Taylor).
Now that I'm on a guitar "re-animation" streak, I even found use for the Univox electric and the busted Guild acoustic (oh, so sad) in the garage. I'm taking the perfectly good Grover tuners off the broken neck of the Guild and putting them on the Univox, whose tuners feel like 'toys' (guitar had more 'tune' issues than the Epiphone). Sure, I could've put these Grovers on the Epiphone and saved even more, but I'm trying to restore the color of the hardware on the Epi to the original black.
I've already worked on the intonation of both guitars, but being an amateur in doing such a thing, I'm going to head up to Jack's sometime and trade off some help... I'll help him get an old PC back up and running, and he'll help me with all things guitar-related.
In the end, I'm spending under $200 to revitalize a guitar. Being an Epiphone, it'll never have the high-end resale value of the real Gibsons...but...it will hopefully once again be something I love playing once again. And if that's the case, why would I want to sell it, anyway?
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home