• Registered: 2010-08-29
  • Posts: 98

Topic: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Hi everyone , i want to give my Epiphone Les Paul built in Korea in1989 those great pickups ,Burstbucker 2 & 3 ,  what do you think ,
did any have some info or know someone that change the original pickups.the accoustic of this Epiphone are great , thanks for any help , all the best /loic

Epiphone Les Paul 1989 with bridge & neck WCR DarkBurst set pickups , Burny Les Paul Custom från 80 ' late with bb2 & bb3 ,Fender Princeton Reverb 68 , Joe Bonamassa Face Fuzz Dunlop ,MXR Micro Flanger , Ts 808 tubescreamer reissue , Boss DD 3 made in Taiwan ,  MXR Dyna Comp , MXR Distortion +,MXR Joe Bonamassa Fet Driver
  • Registered: 2010-11-09
  • Posts: 23

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

I can't get as technical as some of the others here (hope they will provide more info) but I do have the Burstbuckers in my JB Epi and love them...I usually play the Epi through an Egnater Tweaker and love the sounds...I have also have and Epi LP Standard and there is no comparison..BB's much more defined....am looking to put an older set of Gibson HB's in the Standard....that would be a much better comparison of the Gibson pickups....

Please realize that I'm a strat/tele guy that is just getting back into the HB mode so I hope some of the others will add more...later.

cowboy

  • From: BC, CANADA
  • Registered: 2010-12-29
  • Posts: 121

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

roadcrew66 wrote:

Hi everyone , i want to give my Epiphone Les Paul built in Korea in1989 those great pickups ,Burstbucker 2 & 3 ,  what do you think ,
did any have some info or know someone that change the original pickups.the accoustic of this Epiphone are great , thanks for any help , all the best /loic

This subject has been discussed at length in a thread on the MyLesPaul forum and my take on it was that there was a greater benefit to changing pots and wiring it like a 50's Les Paul than changing pickups. With an RS Guitarworks or Retrospec kit you'll get more usable range with the volume and tone controls.

If you can afford to upgrade both the pickups and the pots/wiring though, you'd have a killer guitar. big_smile

RP

Guitars: 2002 Gibson R8, 2008 Gibson SG Standard, 1977 Fender Statocaster, 1979 el Degas Les Paul Custom, 2011 Epiphone JB Les Paul
Amps: 1982 Marshall 4010
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Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Mate, the single best thing to improve an Epi is to replace the pickups, the guitars themselves are pretty nice and really benefit from this, you should change the pots and switches too for the best results. The other guitarist in the band uses an old Epi with some dimarzios in it and it just sounded ten times better.

  • From: BC, CANADA
  • Registered: 2010-12-29
  • Posts: 121

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

roadcrew66 wrote:

Hi everyone , i want to give my Epiphone Les Paul built in Korea in1989 those great pickups ,Burstbucker 2 & 3 ,  what do you think ,
did any have some info or know someone that change the original pickups.the accoustic of this Epiphone are great , thanks for any help , all the best /loic

Here's some great info on making your Les Paul sound more like a 59...

http://www.singlecoil.com/docs/paula.pdf

RP

Guitars: 2002 Gibson R8, 2008 Gibson SG Standard, 1977 Fender Statocaster, 1979 el Degas Les Paul Custom, 2011 Epiphone JB Les Paul
Amps: 1982 Marshall 4010
  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

At one point I had a epiphone les paul studio which believe it or not was a very nice guitar by epiphone.  I was selling it to a friend who loved the guitar but part of the deal was he wanted emg 81, and 85 installed into it (Zakk Wyld kit) So to make a long story short EMG pickups were the first mods I ever did myself on a guitar, they make it too easy for you.  I almost kept the guitar after that because it sounded incredible.  That was the second guitar I ever owned and it sounded better then my SG Standard Gibson when it was stock, maybe better then my Les Paul Classic did.  They do not make bad guitar they just cut corners which is where you can find problems in them.  BB2 and a BB3 is a solid choice for your Les Paul and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

AD3THREE's Website

  • Registered: 2010-08-29
  • Posts: 98

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Thanks for your reply , all the best /loic

cowboy123 wrote:

I can't get as technical as some of the others here (hope they will provide more info) but I do have the Burstbuckers in my JB Epi and love them...I usually play the Epi through an Egnater Tweaker and love the sounds...I have also have and Epi LP Standard and there is no comparison..BB's much more defined....am looking to put an older set of Gibson HB's in the Standard....that would be a much better comparison of the Gibson pickups....

Please realize that I'm a strat/tele guy that is just getting back into the HB mode so I hope some of the others will add more...later.

cowboy

Epiphone Les Paul 1989 with bridge & neck WCR DarkBurst set pickups , Burny Les Paul Custom från 80 ' late with bb2 & bb3 ,Fender Princeton Reverb 68 , Joe Bonamassa Face Fuzz Dunlop ,MXR Micro Flanger , Ts 808 tubescreamer reissue , Boss DD 3 made in Taiwan ,  MXR Dyna Comp , MXR Distortion +,MXR Joe Bonamassa Fet Driver
  • Registered: 2010-08-29
  • Posts: 98

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Very much thanks for the tips with Retrospec kit & Co , i think i will get one , keep rocking / loic

rythmplaya wrote:
roadcrew66 wrote:

Hi everyone , i want to give my Epiphone Les Paul built in Korea in1989 those great pickups ,Burstbucker 2 & 3 ,  what do you think ,
did any have some info or know someone that change the original pickups.the accoustic of this Epiphone are great , thanks for any help , all the best /loic

This subject has been discussed at length in a thread on the MyLesPaul forum and my take on it was that there was a greater benefit to changing pots and wiring it like a 50's Les Paul than changing pickups. With an RS Guitarworks or Retrospec kit you'll get more usable range with the volume and tone controls.

If you can afford to upgrade both the pickups and the pots/wiring though, you'd have a killer guitar. big_smile

RP

Epiphone Les Paul 1989 with bridge & neck WCR DarkBurst set pickups , Burny Les Paul Custom från 80 ' late with bb2 & bb3 ,Fender Princeton Reverb 68 , Joe Bonamassa Face Fuzz Dunlop ,MXR Micro Flanger , Ts 808 tubescreamer reissue , Boss DD 3 made in Taiwan ,  MXR Dyna Comp , MXR Distortion +,MXR Joe Bonamassa Fet Driver
  • Registered: 2010-08-29
  • Posts: 98

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Thanks a lot for your reply / loic

cowboy123 wrote:

I can't get as technical as some of the others here (hope they will provide more info) but I do have the Burstbuckers in my JB Epi and love them...I usually play the Epi through an Egnater Tweaker and love the sounds...I have also have and Epi LP Standard and there is no comparison..BB's much more defined....am looking to put an older set of Gibson HB's in the Standard....that would be a much better comparison of the Gibson pickups....

Please realize that I'm a strat/tele guy that is just getting back into the HB mode so I hope some of the others will add more...later.

cowboy

Epiphone Les Paul 1989 with bridge & neck WCR DarkBurst set pickups , Burny Les Paul Custom från 80 ' late with bb2 & bb3 ,Fender Princeton Reverb 68 , Joe Bonamassa Face Fuzz Dunlop ,MXR Micro Flanger , Ts 808 tubescreamer reissue , Boss DD 3 made in Taiwan ,  MXR Dyna Comp , MXR Distortion +,MXR Joe Bonamassa Fet Driver
  • Registered: 2010-08-29
  • Posts: 98

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

Thanks mate , keep rocking with BB2 & BB3 /loic

AD3THREE wrote:

At one point I had a epiphone les paul studio which believe it or not was a very nice guitar by epiphone.  I was selling it to a friend who loved the guitar but part of the deal was he wanted emg 81, and 85 installed into it (Zakk Wyld kit) So to make a long story short EMG pickups were the first mods I ever did myself on a guitar, they make it too easy for you.  I almost kept the guitar after that because it sounded incredible.  That was the second guitar I ever owned and it sounded better then my SG Standard Gibson when it was stock, maybe better then my Les Paul Classic did.  They do not make bad guitar they just cut corners which is where you can find problems in them.  BB2 and a BB3 is a solid choice for your Les Paul and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Epiphone Les Paul 1989 with bridge & neck WCR DarkBurst set pickups , Burny Les Paul Custom från 80 ' late with bb2 & bb3 ,Fender Princeton Reverb 68 , Joe Bonamassa Face Fuzz Dunlop ,MXR Micro Flanger , Ts 808 tubescreamer reissue , Boss DD 3 made in Taiwan ,  MXR Dyna Comp , MXR Distortion +,MXR Joe Bonamassa Fet Driver
  • From: Ridgeland, MS
  • Registered: 2009-08-12
  • Posts: 1,248

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

+1 on changing to 50's wiring (very easy to do). Get some nice Russian .022µf PIO caps (inexpensive) for it too.

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: Burstbucker 2 & 3

I just got some american Vitiman Q's that dated back to january 1956 military grad Caps for my strat.  I chose a .010uF cap because they are the rage in Nashville right now from what I've been reading.  They are Paper and Oil.  I have a Jensen RS Guitarworks paper and oil cap as well that I just took out of my strat, it looks no where near the quality of this old cap I just got plus they cost about $20 from them.  I got my new old stock cap for $14, measured it and it was dead on .010uF after what 54 years in a non static paper bag!  I was blown away, thank you Ebay!

AD3THREE's Website