Epiphone LP Muse Pickups

[dhm75]

Hi,I own a new Epi LP Muse,a really great Guitar.
only one thing is,i fiind the Neck pickup to trebly...
what would be a replacement pickup ( Neck ) to get a warmer sound ?
thank you for any input !!
dhm75

 

[BGood]

1 - Adjust its height
2 - Use your guitar tone knob
3 - Use your amp tone knobs

And all will be fine.

If not, I'll take it.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Hi,I own a new Epi LP Muse,a really great Guitar.
only one thing is,i fiind the Neck pickup to trebly...
what would be a replacement pickup ( Neck ) to get a warmer sound ?
thank you for any input !!
dhm75

Hrmmm.. everything BGood said, but one other thing I'd check is if your push pull pot and three way switch are working correctly.
Stock neck pickups being "too" trebly is usually quite out of character. Just wanted to make sure we rule out the possibility that it's a bad connection and you're not getting the full pickup (which sometimes happens if your three way switch is faulty and/or the push pull pot is stalled).

But if you really do want something warm, you can start with anything Alnico V with slightly higher winds - almost any brand would do - if you have a budget range, please let us know. Typically the problem is the reverse - people not getting enough highs in the neck.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

If, after using your tone knob on your guitar and your amp, the tone is still too bright, you may consider changing the capacitor. You could try 0.33 or even 0.47 instead of 0.22.
By the way, a capacitor only costs a few dollars (about 2 to 25 dollars) so experimenting with them is cheap.

By the way, PRS has gone from 0.22 caps to 0.33 in the last years to get a better roll off on the tone knob for the bridge pickup.

Another thing you could try is changing the pots - not the capacitor - from 500K to 300K. Old Gibson guitars were often wired with 300K and that gave them a darker sound. This would be more expensive than changing the cap only.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

By the way, how much does your Muse weigh? I've noticed that lighter guitars can be brighter.
And what type of music do you play?

On what amp ? Small practice amps used at low volume often don't have as much bass as bigger amps played loud.

As said before, a faulty switch can mess up the sound from your pickup. Likewise, a partly desoldered output jack can worsen your connections and you might not get the full sound from your pickup.

 

[LP_SPC_1_P90]

"Vintage sound updated for today

The Muse takes you into the sonic wheelhouse of vintage Les Paul tone with the Alnico Classic PRO humbuckers. These traditional Alinco pickups have the tonal colorings of a vintage PAF but with a slightly higher output for a more modern sound. The Alnico-V magnets in these monsters drive the higher output and enhance the mids and highs while still letting plenty of low-end grit come through for when you really want to blow the doors open. And with 2 Volume controls with coil-splitting and treble bleed along with 2 Tone controls with phase switch, the tone-shaping world of these humbuckers is huge and a favorite here at..."

Epiphone Les Paul Muse Electric Guitar - Wanderlust Green Metallic

6-string Solidbody Electric with Okoume Body; Maple Cap; Okoume Neck; Laurel Fingerboard; and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Wanderlust Green Metallic

www.sweetwater.com

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Well there is a debate on Epiphone Talk on whether the Alnico Classic Pros truly contain Alnico V bar magnets or if they actually incorporate Alnico II instead because Epiphone has stated both. ;o)

They are supposed to sound close to Gibson Classic '57, so rather warm.

 

[Raiyn]

You could try 0.33 or even 0.47 instead of 0.22.
By the way, a capacitor only costs a few dollars (about 2 to 25 dollars) so experimenting with them is cheap.

Slow down there Mr. Rockefeller, if you're paying $25 for a capacitor you're getting robbed. I don't care if it's the margins of the Dead Sea scrolls in ambrosia sealed with Jimi Hendrix's pot resin, it ain't worth that much. Caps on eBay or sold individually are way overpriced already; no need to get into mojo and mythology.

As for the value... I'd start with the 0.033's, Fender / Squier shipped my humbucker equipped Contemporary Jag out with a 0.047μF cap and woof. It had a short usable zone and then it was straight Mudsville. I could see that they were attempting to lean into the split coil thing, but I didn't care for it.

I swapped in a 0.033μF and it's exactly what I wanted in all switched coil modes.

 

[BGood]

Isn't a cap effective only when you roll back the tone knob ? A change of pot for a lesser value would have the tone modified at any level.

 

[Raiyn]

Isn't a cap effective only when you roll back the tone knob ? A change of pot for a lesser value would have the tone modified at any level.

True, but caps •should• be the cheaper, perhaps less invasive, option. Cheap enough to try second anyway. Obviously actually using the tone knob is the first option.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Slow down there Mr. Rockefeller, if you're paying $25 for a capacitor you're getting robbed. I don't care if it's the margins of the Dead Sea scrolls in ambrosia sealed with Jimi Hendrix's pot resin, it ain't worth that much. Caps on eBay or sold individually are way overpriced already; no need to get into mojo and mythology.

As for the value... I'd start with the 0.033's, Fender / Squier shipped my humbucker equipped Contemporary Jag out with a 0.047μF cap and woof. It had a short usable zone and then it was straight Mudsville. I could see that they were attempting to lean into the split coil thing, but I didn't care for it.

I swapped in a 0.033μF and it's exactly what I wanted in all switched coil modes.

Right!
Which type / brand of caps do you recommend?

 

[dhm75]

If, after using your tone knob on your guitar and your amp, the tone is still too bright, you may consider changing the capacitor. You could try 0.33 or even 0.47 instead of 0.22.
By the way, a capacitor only costs a few dollars (about 2 to 25 dollars) so experimenting with them is cheap.

By the way, PRS has gone from 0.22 caps to 0.33 in the last years to get a better roll off on the tone knob for the bridge pickup.

Another thing you could try is changing the pots - not the capacitor - from 500K to 300K. Old Gibson guitars were often wired with 300K and that gave them a darker sound. This would be more expensive than changing the cap only.

Thnak you for your reply but i don't to get into capacitors....!

 

[dhm75]

By the way, how much does your Muse weigh? I've noticed that lighter guitars can be brighter.
And what type of music do you play?

On what amp ? Small practice amps used at low volume often don't have as much bass as bigger amps played loud.

As said before, a faulty switch can mess up the sound from your pickup. Likewise, a partly desoldered output jack can worsen your connections and you might not get the full sound from your pickup.

My Muse is about 9 lbs,using a Fender Champion 50 XL.
As for styles of Music....continental style ,a little bit of everything( Polka Wals/Latin/Standards/60's R/B,a play mainly rhythm and same solos...

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Do you have a specific budget and are you particular about brands?

 

[Raiyn]

Right!
Which type / brand of caps do you recommend?

I have a few brands that I like, (recognizable names that aren't "guitar specific") but I stick to film caps. The brand itself is inconsequential, the important thing is the stated value and the tolerance to that stated value. The ±%

It's usually easy enough to find the ±5% tolerance that I set as my standard, after that it's all form factor. Do you want radial or axial legs, is there a space consideration, etc.

In something like a SG or a LP, I'm going for something that looks the part so an axial leg cap works in that application. I •might• even go for a larger voltage (read bigger physical size) especially if the client is a "check this out" guy.

On the other hand, in a Fender-y product with a pickguard or a control plate I prefer a low voltage radial cap because it'll fit better.

Everything that goes through the cap goes to ground. It doesn't add anything. It literally can't add anything - that's not how a passive circuit works.

Thnak you for your reply but i don't to get into capacitors....!

Dude is willing to swap a $$ - $$$ pickup, but doesn't want to try a $ cap first.

My brain hurts.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

My Muse is about 9 lbs,using a Fender Champion 50 XL.
As for styles of Music....continental style ,a little bit of everything( Polka Wals/Latin/Standards/60's R/B,a play mainly rhythm and same solos...

Wow! It is pretty heavy for a chambered guitar.

Thnak you for your reply but i don't to get into capacitors....!

OK, in that case, you could try a P90 in a humbucker size (also called P94). They are not really humbuckers (more like big single coils), but they sound close to P90s. Guitar Fetish has some interesting ones.
If you have a bigger budget, you could look at Kent Armstrong's or even Gibson's, Seymour Duncan's (called Phat Cat) or Lollar's.
You could listen to online demos.

 

[The Robot Devil]

Dude is willing to swap a $$ - $$$ pickup, but doesn't want to try a $ cap first.

Not even $, so long as you're not going orange drops or fancier, you're talking about literal pennies.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

True. Even Orange Drop caps are not that expensive compared to pickups.

They cost between 4 to 7 euros in my country where everything is notoriously expensive (which I translated to 4 to 7 dollars, but they may even be cheaper in the USA?)..

When I wrote "25 dollars", I was thinking about "new old stock" vintage paper in oil caps (in other words, the "snake oil" variety). ;o)

 

[BGood]

True. Even Orange Drop caps are not that expensive compared to pickups.

They cost between 4 to 7 euros in my country where everything is notoriously expensive (which I translated to 4 to 7 dollars, but they may even be cheaper in the USA?)..

Still about 100 times more expensive that the cheap ones that will do the exact 100% same job.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

How about potentiometers? Will every brand of 300K potentiometers perform the same?