Need 2nd Guitar Recommendations (LPs, SG, and the ilk)

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:36 pm

Of late I've become desirous of the humbucker tone. I'm thinking of buying something cheap (fake SG, fake LP, Ibanez Jet King thing). Any recommendations? Has anyone tried the Agile SG/LP knock-offs (www.rondomusic.net)? Muy cheapo. I've played a cheapie Epiphone SG, didn't much like. My only electric is a very nice non-Fender strat and it does all the strat stuff well. I'm just looking for something different and less than 300 clams.

Related question: for recording I mostly use a Peavey Classic 20, will that play nice with an LP style guitar? It sounds great with the strat... Just curious.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:49 pm

I love, love, love my 2 US made Gibson's. No need to replace the stock pickups on either. I have the SG Standard and a Faded V. They are the best guitars I've ever owned. Get the real thing.

Knights Who Say Neve · Post by **Knights Who Say Neve** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:08 pm

G&L Invader XL Tribute.

mingus2112 · Post by **mingus2112** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:08 pm

for around the same price, try looking for a korean made Tokai. They're not as super nice as the Japanese ones (i've got a Jap Love Rock Gold Top), but they're plenty nice and come stock with some pretty decent pickups!

-James

Huntlabs · Post by **Huntlabs** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:35 pm

Here is a way to have both and spend no money, well not much. You can wire the back two pickups in your strat to be switchable to humbuckers. It is a simple mod. Add one micro switch and a new switch and you'll have the ability to make humbucking sounds with your strat.

If you need info let me know and I'll try to find some links for you.

Artifex · Post by **Artifex** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:28 pm

Huntlabs, I'm not quite sure what your saying. You have a link that explains it better? Are you talking about wiring the pickups in series for more output?

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:37 pm

the middle pickup would have to be reverse wound coils with reverse polarity magnets for that to work.

ashcat_lt · Post by **ashcat_lt** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:40 pm

i think huntlabs is talking about re-wiring your strat to add a switch to put two of the pickups into series wiring rather than parallel. This might work, but due to the distance between the pups, it won't sound anything like an LP.

I was going to suggest getting some gfs lil lillers, a set for $60. Drop those into your strat, and rewire just a little and you can get humbucker sounds and strat sounds from the same axe.

It won't sound like an LP or SG, but they're great sounding in both hb and single-coil mode.

the guitarnuts forum is great all questions re: guitar wiring.

Keep in mind that part of the cool thing about those gibsons is the neck-through design. You won't get that in a cheap knock-off.

mcsquishytooshy · Post by **mcsquishytooshy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:51 pm

cheap?
I'd replace the pickups in a cheapo epi les paul.

ledogboy · Post by **ledogboy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:27 pm

Another option-
Check out a Gibson L6-S. I've owned three over the years, and they were great guitars. Kinda like a cross between a Les Paul and an SG, with a shape closer to the LP, and a feel closer to an SG. The weight is somewhere in between the two. You can get them in two flavors, the standard, which has a two humbuckers, a funky five position tone selector and your standard tone and volume, or the Custom which is two HB's, with a standard three way bridge-neck toggle. Oh yeah, the custom also has the strings come through the body. You can find these guitars in the $350-700 range, they are real gibsons, and I think they are quite nice. They were my main geeters for years, until I became addicted to hollowbodies. My 2 cents...
Ryan

Ethan Holdtrue · Post by **Ethan Holdtrue** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:50 pm

getreel wrote:I love, love, love my 2 US made Gibson's. No need to replace the stock pickups on either. I have the SG Standard and a Faded V. They are the best guitars I've ever owned. Get the real thing.

Indeed. I too have a stock SG and it's pretty allround awesome. The only thing is it's not a screamer like an ESP or something, so if your looking to play Dragonforce covers you might want something else.

GooberNumber9 · Post by **GooberNumber9** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:58 am

+2 on the real Gibsons. Maybe look on e-Bay for a used Les Paul Studio. It's a lot less than a Standard but has almost all of the tone.

If you put humbuckers in a Strat or Tele it still doesn't sound like an LP or SG. The wood and the way the pickups are mounted make a big difference. Also the scale length makes a difference.

Another thing to look at is the PRS SE series. They might be crap, but they might be good, I've never played one.

Todd Wilcox

Huntlabs · Post by **Huntlabs** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:56 am

The add a switch trick that I posted does sound very humbucking even though the coils are seperated. You'll be amazed. Lots more output and a strong humbucker sound. Your middle pickup should be RWRP. If you have a pickup set that isn't RWRP in the middle you might not want to do this.

Took me a long time to find this. So here it is:

You'll need a small DPDT switch. I also reccomend a Megaswitch E-Model from Stewart MacDonald. This switch gives you neck / bridge pup in the middle position, a cool mod in it self. Also with a regular 5 way switch there are dead spots when adding a humbucking switch, no dead spots with the megaswitch.

So you add one small DPDT and the Mega switch. It gives humbucking in the back two positions. It's my favorite strat mod.

Info from: http://www.1728.com/guitar.htm

Phase Reversal Switch

http://www.1728.com/phase.gif

For single coils OR humbuckers.

Another tone option for a guitarist is to put a pickup out of phase with another pickup, producing a thin "inside-out" squawky kind of sound. When 2 pickups are in phase, they work together and reinforce each other. When they are out of phase the 2 pickups are working against one another and the resulting sound is the "leftovers" from these cancellations. The closer the 2 pickups are, the greater the cancellations, the thinner the sound and the lesser the volume. Therefore, the neck and bridge pickups out of phase is the best choice for this type of sound.
In order to achieve this sound (and to go back to a regular sound), we use a phase reversal switch (see above diagram). (For an explanation of how this switch works, go to Basic Electricity and scroll down to the 'Double Pole Double Throw' section).
It is important to state that you do not have to use 2 phase switches because reversing the leads of both pickups would put them back in phase!!
Wiring the phase switch is fairly simple. Solder 2 wires in the criss-cross manner shown in the diagram. In the guitar cavity, unsolder the 2 bridge pickup leads; solder the phase switch "Out" leads to the exact same spot where the pickup leads were; solder the bridge pickup leads to the "From Pickup" terminals on the phase switch. Mount the switch, close up the guitar and start enjoying the new sound you just created!

Megaswitch M use the 3 pup wiring

douglas baldwin · Post by **douglas baldwin** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:10 pm

I beg to differ with Huntlabs on his Strat mod. The two-pickups-in-series mad does indeed add some heft to a Strat's tone (it has a nice throaty, boxy quality) but the fundamental character of the vertical polepieces remains: chime-like attack and a tight bottom. Also keep in mind the scale length remains longer than a Gibson.

For under $500, I would recommend going to your local big music store and playing a couple dozen Gibson clones through a reliable amp on a slow Tuesday morning. There are many gems to be had from the Korean/Chinese factories. In addition to a lovely Les Paul Special (and a jillion other guitars I own), I get very good Gibson P90 sounds from a Hamer Sunburst P90 gold top (Korean, about $300) and thick humbucking slide sounds with a Malden Karma (about $600). I recall the Parker Fly imports as having great humbucking tone that can be switched to single coil.

Some of those Epiphone LP and SG models can stand up to the Gibsons. Consider a pickup swap if you must, consider Huntlabs's mod for a wider-ranging Strat, but for $300-500, why not get a good import?
dB

Huntlabs · Post by **Huntlabs** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:29 pm

douglas baldwin wrote:I beg to differ with Huntlabs on his Strat mod. The two-pickups-in-series mad does indeed add some heft to a Strat's tone (it has a nice throaty, boxy quality) but the fundamental character of the vertical polepieces remains: chime-like attack and a tight bottom. Also keep in mind the scale length remains longer than a Gibson.

It really sounds like a humbucker with this mod because it is a humbucker. This mod wires the rear pups like a humbucker. The plole pieces don't mess up the humbucker sound. Now the strat pickups might not be as hot as a hot humbucker but then again not all humbuckers sound the same either.

It is a cool mod. I have it on a Fender Standard strat and it is my main guitar. Just thought I'd offer it up and for cheap you'd have a humbucker sound.

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Need 2nd Guitar Recommendations (LPs, SG, and the ilk)

Need 2nd Guitar Recommendations (LPs, SG, and the ilk)

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