N(F)GD: Grandpa Edition

[Iron1]

Thanks to some great advice from Mike and JP, I worked a deal with a local guy to pick this up, with a nice SKB OHC. Never owned a Les Paul before, which is funny as this is what got me into wanting to play guitar:



So, when this thing popped up on the local FB market, it got my attention.

2003 Epiphone Les Paul Custom




Got it home and plugged it into my HX Stomp for a ride around the block. FWIW, the Fishman Open Cores in my Jackson utterly destroy this EMG... but, I didn't take any real time to tweak any presets, so maybe today I can discover the glory of the EMG 81... or maybe I'll continue thinking they're not my cup of tea...





It's pretty clean - has some swirl marks and some of the gold finish is wearing in places from playing, but overall it's in really good shape - no chips, dings, dents or any of that.

Dude was asking $350 and I got him down to $275. Going to buy a stock bridge pickup, yank the EMG and sell it, then sell the guitar w/case. But, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy pretending I'm Ace Frehley again for a bit - except now I'm not 8 years old dancing around in my parents living room with a tennis rack pretending it's a guitar.

Now to go hunt down an Epiphone bridge pickup.

[Chris]

[jacksonplayer]

Consider that you probably have to replace a bunch of the wiring if you're going to go back to a passive bridge PU. If it were me, I'd probably take the lazy route and stick it right up on eBay and/or Reverb as-is. You have to weigh the cost of replacing the 81 against how much extra you'd get with it returned to stock.

Nice score, though!

[Iron1]

Consider that you probably have to replace a bunch of the wiring if you're going to go back to a passive bridge PU. If it were me, I'd probably take the lazy route and stick it right up on eBay and/or Reverb as-is. You have to weigh the cost of replacing the 81 against how much extra you'd get with it returned to stock.

Nice score, though!

I have pots, jacks, etc. out the ears, so pulling the EMG is no big thing. I’d think selling it with it would shrink my buyer pool.

[d8200]

Nice score. I have an Epiphone Explorer that I modded the hell out of. Their stuff in the $500 and up range can be of great quality. Plus, at that price point you can mod the pickups and hardware and improve it further...something most people wouldn't (or shouldn't have to) do with a $2000 Gibson.

[MetalJim]

Good deal I Wouldn't mind picking up an LPC sometime.

[Jeff]

You’re not imagining things, EMG’s really are better pulled out of every guitar possible.

[Iron1]

Good deal I Wouldn't mind picking up an LPC sometime.

Well, this one will be for sale soon.

[playstopause]

Already?

[bigdave]

Well, this one will be for sale soon.

[Mike]

$275 is a good price with a case. I'll bet it's old enough to actually sound good now, too.

[Iron1]

Thanks for the advice to buy this one, Mike & JP. And, thanks to JJ for the help getting the pickups wired right. Sold it yesterday and made enough to pay off the last little bit of the Axe FX.

Time to find another guitar to flip.

[Megametal7]

nice new addition

[playstopause]

^

As he wrote on the post above yours, he just sold it.

[Megametal7]

^

As he wrote on the post above yours, he just sold it.

I missed that part :o

[spilla]

Sweet! IMO, its the only guitar that looks good with gold hardware

[Iron1]

Sweet! IMO, its the only guitar that looks good with gold hardware

Agreed. I normally can't stand gold anything. But it looks good against polished black.