When people put a new PU into a Epiphone...

[malymal86]

I'm probably the only cat here that digs my set up, Epi LP standard with SD jb in bridge and a Gibson 490r neck I'm pretty happy with it, might change the neck someday.

[Sanford]

Stay happy. Second-guessing leads to frustration.

[Aceman]

There is a sporty epiphone on the trading post at the moment with a PG/CC combo (hint hint).

A new set of pups will do wonders for the old Epi LP. I have dug one out of the wax hell it was buried in before. Yuck. The pups originally in my classic were "ok." Loud enough, but just no personality. Add a PG to the neck and HELLO awesomeness. The CC in the bridge is all kinds of cool (but not SuperDistortion kind of cool).

A SuperD is just such an awesome pickup period...yes it is spot on if KISS ALIVE or Number of The Beast is your thing. But it can do all sorts of stuff. Way more flexible than people think.

[Jessie's ghost]

A fortuitous pickup change can elevate an Epi into a great-sounding player. Two case studies from chez Sammler:

1.) Epi LP Custom, the one that would eventually undergo the de-finishing experience:
Though I thought it sounded great at first, the more I played it and listened to those classic rock songs that typified the Les Paul sound to me, the more I came to realize that something pretty major was missing. I lucked into a set of Gibson Burstbuckers, Type 2 and 3, and I instantly knew it was exactly what I wanted. Boom. Done.

2.) Ep LP-100, the cheap carved-top bolt-on LP copy with the thin body that's mostly alder (I think). Anywho, fast-forward one bone nut, and it's a good little player. Probably had the same pickups as the Custom, but with no covers, thinner body, bolt-on neck (okay, I glued it in after owning it for a month), it sounds clearer, snappier, crunchier, with more bite and character. It sounds so good that I don't seriously consider replacement pickups for a number of years; I'm busy with other guitars that need attention more desperately. One day I buy a zebra '59 neck model, just because it's sitting around my favorite local shop. I kind of wish it were an A2Pro, because I like to play GNR tunes on the guitar. So I get the idea to put Seymours in it and go for the Slash sound. I order a zebra A2Pro bridge, put both pickups in, and it's close. The bridge pickup is exactly what I wanted. The neck, not really. Then I read about magnet swapping, do some research, and it becomes obvious that the '59 neck needs an A2 magnet. Done. The guitar is now close enough to GNR for my purposes.

[eschoendorff]

I've put SD pups in my Epi LP studio and Flying V with great results. If you can solder, you can have a LOT of fun buying pickups and becoking poorer. LOL!