2007 GIBSON EPIPHONE DOT 355 STUDIO

[janglerocker]

I bout a used epi Dot last month (ca 2001) with the VB finish. Previous owner had upgraded to PAF pickups. I don't know much else about them but they sound great! A real fun guitar to own for cheap money. I found upgraded electronics at http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/ that I think I'l be doing this winter some time....and the Bigsby too. To hell with worrying about holes where the old bridge goes.

Hey John... That's an awesome PIL T. Just added "Rise" and "This is what you want" to the iPod last weekend.

May the road rise with you.

[charlyg]

Got started tonight on changing the pups(GFS FAT PAF), pots and jack. I was going to leave the original switch in, but it looks kinda cheezy so I will run out to Sam Ash tomorrow and grab a good one. I took a break to write this, but I will now start on the Bigsby install. It looks fairly straight forward.

Oh, and I have Dental floss hanging out the holes in the Dot!! Worked pretty good for fishing stuff in and out. I hope to have it done by the time the Traynor YCV-80 gets here. I have the little Rickenbacker TR-7 or whatever it is, so I can at least run it through some paces. The Rick amp has an issue with the distortion, it's all or nothing. The Tremelo section seems ok.

[charlyg]

Again, I am horrible at pix but here is the Bigsby and the GFS pups installed. Very nice, but I am having an issue with hum! These are humbuckers! In my P/J, I left the shielding unattached as it was noisier with it. I have a feeling I may have to ground the shield. If anyone happens by, what is your method with humbuckers? Just the two outside leads(one of which goes to ground), or ground the shield also? Other than that the installation/upgrade went fine, and it rocks!!!! I may opt for the dual concentrics on this one too, I just like that configuration!! Ps, the tung oil is still wet in places......

[charlyg]

I also should mention,I had to lower the neck pup as low as it could go, and raise the bridge as high as it would go to equalize the outputs. This is after I adjusted the bridge height to my liking. And yes, those are Dr Black Beauties on it. I had to keep with the theme!

[charlyg]

I still have the hum and no one seems to want to respond.... I am now trying to find a guitar forum that may answer tonight. I took it apart and it all looks good, and I attached the black wires to ground, so why does it hum when I touch it? I am testing before I put it back in. I will say it is quieter when installed, but these are humbuckers, I should have NO hum? It is acting like I need to reverse a winding, but they are identical pups other than neck vs bridge, so if I wire the red and white together on both,and use green for hot, they should be in phase....There is a choice whether to use the green or black for hot, but per GFS, they work either way. SD method is for black to be ground, GFS is green to ground. I used the SD method. It has been thirty years since I had a pup on while the electronics were on the bench, but I don't recall this kind of hum. I don't see anywhere that says the two should be out of phase?

[charlyg]

I think I found the issue but won't know for sure until tonight after work. I think I inadvertently reversed the wires on the jack. Of course, it's the hardest part to thread through the f holes!!!

[janglerocker]

Charlie, check out this wiring diagram for twin humbucker Gibsons. Hope it helps.

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/images ... iagram.pdf

[charlyg]

Thanks, but I have the Studio , which is just one vol and one tone. I did find a diagram online and have now solved the issue. I just screwed up the soldereing, even after checking twice.

[charlyg]

I brought it to work today and already have one fellow who is going to get one! It sounds delicious with the Fat Pafs! I picked up a litlle frontman 25R for a practice amp, as the Rickenbacker one has an issue or two.The Bigsby works like a champ, and now only waiting for the locking,trimming Planet Waves tuners. Then I need to figure out how to take some decent photos!!

[charlyg]

Another update. The jazz guy at work came by at lunch and played it for a solid hour. He said it was setup perfectly (yay me, first attempt!) He solos the neck pup and plays a lot of bass lines with his finger picking. I happened to pick the same gauge string he likes too! He plays the jumbo Gibsons, and was amazed how far he could go up the neck with this one! The only thing he said that was negative in any way, he thought the strings were a little slippery. They are the DR Black Beauties. Maybe someone else can give an opinion. It may be just a tad too much lemon oil on the fretboard too.....


So, in conclusion, my Epi is capable of beautiful music, and he said it felt better than his regular. He jokingly said, and now you wanna sell it to me for a grand!

Here's my total

$225 for Dot Studio
$70 for Epi case
$60 GFS Fat Paf pups
$10 CTS 500k pots
$100 B700 Bigsby
$15 Vintage Epi E TRC
$50 Planet Waves locking tuners

I have a very nice $500 guitar, done to MY specs! Still waitng for tuners and TRC, then pix.

[charlyg]

For anyone who is interested in putting a Bigsby on a semi hollow, here's some detailed directions..... If an admoin happens by, could you please drop the 355 from the title? It is misleading. I just grabbed it from the ebay auction I won.

[firstbassman]

Cool video.
Not I got the jones for a Bigsby to put on my Dot Studio.

[paologregorio]

Dump the black hardware and that guitar will look great!

My Epiphone 335 Dot (changed pickups + added Bigsby B7):

I like the PIL shirt. That was my first concert ever.

[paologregorio]

On another note, is it possible to put a Bigsby on that thing? It seems to me you will leave the old bridge "tracks".

It will indeed leave the old holes. They don't bother me none!

I saw an old phot once where the owner had threaded caps that went covered the holes. It looked pretty cool and was a nice touch

[charlyg]

I got the Planet Waves Locking tuners, but the anchor screw is not in the same location, and I need to drill out the tuner holes a tad. This was not mentioned in the literature, but it may be due to the fact the original tuners are made in Korea. I hope to work on it a bit tomorrow, but it plays perfectly so it's hard to "take it down" again!!! I still promise pix once the tuners are in.