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Epiphone pickup question.

H

Houston

Oct 28, 2004
55
0
#1
I have an Epi Explorer that I've made my main bass, replacing my 4001 Rick, believe it or not.
I have a nice, fat tone across all four strings, and plenty of tonal possibilities depending on where I pick/pluck the string. But what's weird is the tone I'm getting on the E string, mainly between the 4th and 7th frets. It has a hollow, "plunky" sound (it's hard to describe). Below the 4th fret, and above the 7th, every thing seems fine, although admittedly I don't play much on the E string above the 7th fret.
Any ideas or suggestions? I'm not opposed to installing a new neck pickup (the bridge pickup doesn't seem to have the same problem).

Thanks in advance,
Joey
 
#2
Kill me if you don't like the tone of your Epi Explorer after installing these:

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Install both. Since you could afford the Rick (not bashing you, I wish I had one too!) I assure you these will transform your Explorer. They are compatible. I have the Epi V, although one from 1998. After the upgrade, it's just a tone monster. Pardon the cliches, but these Lollar pickups are all that we Epiphone owners with TB plus pickups need. I paid the price, and do not regret it in the least.
 
#3
Houston said:
But what's weird is the tone I'm getting on the E string, mainly between the 4th and 7th frets. It has a hollow, "plunky" sound (it's hard to describe). Below the 4th fret, and above the 7th, every thing seems fine, although admittedly I don't play much on the E string above the 7th fret.
Click to expand...

Have you tried changing the strings? Does the bass have two pickups? Does it sound like this with one soloed?
 
#4
These are a pretty new set of GHS Boomers. I've had them on about a month or so.
The bridge pickup isn't too boomy in the first place, so it isn't a problem; it's nice and bright.
It still has the problem whether it is soloed (neck only) or with both pickups.

Thanks for the suggestion, thrashingbass. I've only replaced pups once on a MIM Jazz I used to own (didn't help), I'll take a look at the Lollars.
 
#6
Good point. I've never had this problem before (playing bass since 1977). A set of strings is easier (and cheaper) to replace than a pickup. I'd hoped to get another month or so out of this set, but I'll change them this week. We've got a gig this weekend; I'll get back and let you what happens.
 
#8
Houston said:
Good point. I've never had this problem before (playing bass since 1977). A set of strings is easier (and cheaper) to replace than a pickup. I'd hoped to get another month or so out of this set, but I'll change them this week. We've got a gig this weekend; I'll get back and let you what happens.
Click to expand...

I had a dead D string on a new set of D'Addario strings. I emailed them and they sent me a new one. It was behaving similarly to your E string.

If you can't get a replacement from GHS, most music stores sell single strings.

I've had this happen a few times over the last 40 years, but just a few.
 

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