?I realize there are a lot of players out there that own Epiphone guitars. I own several myself and use these mods to really make these guitars be the best they can be. The tones woods they use are of very decent quality maybe not as good as a U.S.A. made Gibson but not too far off.The biggest savings cost they have is foreign labor construction?and the electronics and hardware are of a little less quality than you'd find on the U.S. made Gibson line. Here's the four changes I make and these are fairly cheap, normally?under $250.00 bucks and you can have a really happening guitar. I recently did this to a 335 "Dot" from Epi and it compared VERY?favorably against a freind of mines "63 Gibson ES-345 for?THOUSANDS of dollars less.

1.?Upgrade the tuners: Grover Rotomatics?work great, for?the last couple of years these have been standard on most of the Epi stuff so you may not have to change those. $40 from Stew-Mac

2.Upgrade pickups: I normally do this first with a killer set of Duncans, The?59' is my favortie set because these are very very?close to the real deal pickups from the?59-60's era of Gibson guitars. Go for the Duncan Alnico 2's for the earlier P.A.F. sound, warmer, smoother and softer. If you want to go all out spend some extra for Fralins and you'll love them but this is only for the boutique, high end guys out there.?A set of Duncans can be had?new for around $150, Fralins around?$250

3. Upgrade the bridge to a Gotoh tune-o-matic. You can get these from Stew-Mac for $18 bucks and they sound?much?better and have finer adjustment screws for a more accurate intonation.?The stock Epi bridges are very cheap, this?upgrade really makes a difference in allowing the tone to come through. More highs,lows, and mids and a more "Open" sound.?Remember that most of the import Epi's?hardware are metric sized.

4.?Final?upgrade:?Also from Gotoh grab the Aluminum Stop tailpiece that?they are currently making. This is?a MUST have, for $30 bucks these really make your guitar open up?in tone and increase the clarity and the overtones of the guitar.?Aluminum stop tails?are what came on those?old vintage Gibsons that everybody wants and they make a great upgrade.?Again from Stew-Mac and available in metric also.?I have a earlier article on the whole aluminum stop tail saga.

?So there you have it?for around $250 bucks, unless you buy the Fralins, ?you have changed out the hardware that matters most?and really made a happening guitar. You can do better picking up used?stuff on E-bay and you can always sell the original parts to?help offset the costs of the upgrades!!

Guitar Guru
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