BKP for les paul jr

[garethofmiyazaki]

i think i may invest in an epiphone les paul jr soon. they're so dirt cheap at the moment, i can't resist. however, i really want to stick a BKP in instead of the horrible humbucker they will no doubt supply with it. trouble is i have very little experience, i was wondering if any of you lovely people would care to share your thoughts on what BKP make to go with?

i'm going to be using it through a 50w marshall JMP + 4x12 if that helps. i'd ideally want something to balance out the brightness of the amp.

if you think i should not waste money on putting such a nice pickup in such a cheap guitar, do also please tell me. i just figured, if it plays and feels nice to me, then a decent pick-up should make it a tonne better...no?

grateful for your advice all!

[ericsabbath]

warpig

[ericsabbath]

I'd save for a better guitar, anyway
the epi jr is made of laminated plywood
there are so many cheap options today of real wood guitars
I bought a really nice PRS SE Custom 22 in flawless condition right here in this forum for £180

[HTH AMPS]

one of these?



I'd say run a mile, thats such a POS it'll never play nice.

[Miracle Man]

I'd save for a better guitar, anyway
the epi jr is made of laminated plywood
there are so many cheap options today of real wood guitars
I bought a really nice PRS SE Custom 22 in flawless condition right here in this forum for £180

I agree. A Warpig or any other BKP for that matter will probably make it sound a lot better, but you will not be able to reach the full potential of a BKP. In the end, a cheap guitar is a cheap guitar and you get what you pay for it. However, If you're set on buying one just for the heck of it, maybe you should check the 2nd hand market for a BKP/other aftermarket pickup (which should still sound better than the stock one).

My advice: Take Eric's advice ( :lol:), save some money and buy a PRS SE or something similar that will be worthy of BKP's. You'll end up with a much nicer guitar, I'm sure!

[Telerocker]

I agree with the other comments. You can't make plywood sound sophisticated, no matter how much you spend on upgrades.

[FredD]

I'd save for a better guitar, anyway
the epi jr is made of laminated plywood
there are so many cheap options today of real wood guitars
I bought a really nice PRS SE Custom 22 in flawless condition right here in this forum for £180

What makes you think/say it is made from plywood ?

[ericsabbath]

well, they are
they're not like real les paul jrs
they are just single buckered epi specials

[FredD]

The specifications on the Epiphone site say that the body and neck are Mahogany, with a rosewood fretboard  :?
If that is the case, then perhaps change the epi 'bucker for a Nantucket or a Blue Note P90.

[ericsabbath]

epiphone site said specials were solid alder, then basswood
they were always plywood
and I've seen many other higher end models made of cr@p
my friend had a full plywood body 1967 flying v, another friend had a 11 piece basswood/alder bodied les paul custom...
even in the natural ones, they put a lot of cr@p in and cover with laminates
a US$100 guitar can't be made of mahogany, or even a solid piece of some asian replacement (lauan, nato...)
even a chinese copycr@p costs more than that

[garethofmiyazaki]

thanks for all the replies guys! very helpful.

so yeah, i see on the epiphone site it says it's mahogany...but are we thinking they might be bending the truth?

i'm not keen on PRSs myself, but maybe i'll look into getting a melody maker reissue or gordon smith equivalent of the jr...whatever comes up first on ebay!

[FredD]

Don't know what country you are in, but if the UK, this guy does a nice dble cutaway 'Junior' in Alder with Rosewood FB, at a very reasonable price :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hodson-DC-Junior-Trans-White-Double-cutaway-Set-Neck-Les-Paul-Electric-guitar-/140615267603?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item20bd52b513

[richard]

Just looked at the Hodson website.  They import their guitars - I wonder who makes them.  Headstocks are even uglier than Epiphone but I'm curious. Anyone played one ?

[FredD]

The guy that imports them is Darren Hodson, who lives in my village in Hampshire UK.  He chose the manufacturer (in China) after an exhaustive search of potential suppliers, and a visit to China. The Company that makes them for him was chosen on there ability to supply consistant quality, which they do.

I have played a couple and own one, a PRS 'like' solid.  Back in the day, when PRS (USA) first started supplying the European market, I bought a white Custom 22 (I was younger, fitter and richer then  8). It was very accurate and well made, so I have a bench mark to judge the quality of my Hodson Chinese copy by. The quality is excellent on all of Darrens imports that I have seen !

Whilst I haven't seen the Dble cutaway 'Junior' that he is advertising, I have no reason to beleive it is not up to his usual standard, ie, very good indeed !  :)

Darren is a player (of some note) and not just a busines man, and whilst I am in no way involved in his business, I would have no hesitation in recommending his budget line of guitars as being excellent 'bang for buck'.

[ericsabbath]

you could check tc ellis too
he's a forum member and sells some fancy guitars for quite cheap
maybe he has a simple and even cheaper lp jr-like model
motorhead's phil campbell has a tc ellis les paul with warpigs and it's one of his favorite live guitars in the last couple years
he also has a tc ellis strat with emgs