epiphone dot china.opinions and mods . please ?

marktheharp

as above. just acquired one in cherry.been gigged but not bad condition! plays and sounds pretty good. has a bareknuckle bucker in bridge and seymour Duncan in neck.
is it worth an upgrade of wiring loom and pots,switches etc. ?
as has a bit of buzz on clean channel?
on dirt its a monster. will see how I get on with current pickups.
any ideas on humbuckers size p90 in neck and not quite in your face bunker at bridge? on a budget;-)
thanks in advance.....
cheers Mark.

OilCityPickups

I would do the pots and caps as a bare minimum, assuming the person fitting the replacement pickups didn't. I can thoroughly recommend Bourns pots over CTS or any other for that matter, a little more pricey ... but worth it. I have a P90 sized humbucker in the neck of my Ibanez semi, and love that rounder but still cutting sound. There are loads of HB P90s at reasonable prices to chose from on the market (including mine - shy smile) Mojo, Tonerider (I believe) Irongear etc etc... the only ones I have found a bit 'meh' are GFS.

ThePrettyDamned

Why would the caps need sorting?  Or is it just convenience ie they're cheap and if you're doing the pots anyway...

Going to be redoing my LTD soon so could be useful info.

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I would do the pots and caps as a bare minimum, assuming the person fitting the replacement pickups didn't. I can thoroughly recommend Bourns pots over CTS or any other for that matter, a little more pricey ... but worth it. I have a P90 sized humbucker in the neck of my Ibanez semi, and love that rounder but still cutting sound. There are loads of HB P90s at reasonable prices to chose from on the market (including mine - shy smile) Mojo, Tonerider (I believe) Irongear etc etc... the only ones I have found a bit 'meh' are GFS.

Fretwired

I bought a Dot and replaced everything bar the tuners - Gibson '57 pickups, TonePros bridge, new wiring loom from shugz of this forum, and a brass nut all professionally fitted. It cost about £500 including the guitar .. the Epi Dot is a well made guitar that's let down by the dodgy wiring and poor pickups.

guitarcookie1

I got mine with a broken neck, now fixed, & it plays really well.

I dropped Irongear 'bucker-sized P90's in it and recently stuck a trapese tailpiece on it (seems to open up the tone & add a bit of 'reverb').

Also replaced the pots/caps with a kit from Axesrus - don't do what I did and wire up the tones so they work backwards and then not realise until I'd put it all back together again...

marktheharp

interesting comments, thanks to you all:-)
guitarcookie -
strangely mine has holes on body where a trapeze has been ! which wiring kit did you get from axerus ?
Also quick question ,will a dot fit in a jumbo acoustic padded soft case,like ritter type jobby ?
at moment its in old 12 string padded soft case,but is a bit roomy !
or if anyone has a suitable type case 'hard or soft', I have a generic black abs. no name, rectangle hard case (fits strats and Tele) bit battered ,but does the job ,can trade? based in Leeds
cheers Mark.

guitarcookie1

The cts & orange cap one.

OilCityPickups

Re caps: I just junk the cheap ones as a matter of course ... I put in Sprague Orange Drops ... still cheap as chips, but better than the Chinese ones fitted. Pots I'd get here http://crimsonguitars.com/shop/electronics as I said Bourns pots blow CTS into next week thesedays ... you might as well use cheaper Alpha pots if you don't want to fork for Bourns as far as I'm concerned ... they are still miles better than Epi standard ones.

marktheharp

thanks guys:-)

GuitarMonkey

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Pots I'd get here http://crimsonguitars.com/shop/electronics a

And not RS Components for a third of the price?

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/potentiometers/7703080P/

Vishay Orange polyester caps are 13p each too.

marktheharp

played the epi dot at open Mic. last night.performed very well!
will have to see if the high output pickups grow on me?
the neck pickup is hotter than bridge:-(
which is unusual,for me anyway !
will see how I go. prob go for a humbucker size P90?
cheers Mark.

ThePrettyDamned

TheGuitarWeasel;81360" said:

Re caps: I just junk the cheap ones as a matter of course ... I put in Sprague Orange Drops ... still cheap as chips, but better than the Chinese ones fitted. Pots I'd get here http://crimsonguitars.com/shop/electronics as I said Bourns pots blow CTS into next week thesedays ... you might as well use cheaper Alpha pots if you don't want to fork for Bourns as far as I'm concerned ... they are still miles better than Epi standard ones.

Neat, duly noted. Cheers mate!

OilCityPickups

GuitarMonkey said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Pots I'd get here http://crimsonguitars.com/shop/electronics a

And not RS Components for a third of the price?

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/potentiometers/7703080P/

Vishay Orange polyester caps are 13p each too.

Personally I'd go to RS ... but then I buy in quantity cos it's my job. Crimson seem to package up small quantities and make it clear what applications they are for ... so it's a little clearer for the experience challenged. RS are somewhat confusing for the uninitiated to order from plus you pay a penalty fee for orders under £20 from RS so it's not really a third the price if you buy a couple.

fretfinder

@marktheharp I just bought a Ritter dreadnought gigbag off here and the seller said he'd used it for a 335. Re the tuners, I thought they were one of the worst bits on an Epi?!

marktheharp

thanks fretfinder .