Pickup Upgrade for Epi Jazz Box

[2twang2]

Greetings. I have an Epiphone Emperor Regent (not vintage) I'm quite happy with, but I'm curious if upgrading the stock floating mini humbucker with a Kent Armstrong pup (production, not a hand made) would yield an improvement that would make it worth the effort.

It looks like the screw spacing on the Kent Armstrong mounting tabs would require drilling four new holes in the edges of the fretboard, unless I got really lucky and could drill the mounting tabs to match the existing holes.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[G._Hoffman]

My general rule of thumb is that cheap pickups are seldom an upgrade, and if it's not an upgrade what bother?


Gabriel

[2twang2]

Thanks for the reply, Gabriel. So does that mean I'd need to go with a handmade for it to be worth the effort? The production KA is $112. I'm sure a handmade pup would be out of my price range and probably not make sense for this guitar.

[tubesornothing]

Stock pickups are usually junk, especially in Epis.  I put a Kent Armstrong production pickup on and old SS Stewart I had - sounds just great.  Although pickups sound different in every guitar out there, see if you can find one already in a guitar and try it through your favorite amp.  It'll give you a better idea.

[2twang2]

Thanks, TON. I've read positive reviews of the KA pups, so I would like to explore this. The Epi sounds pretty nice when played acoustically, but the stock pup can only be described as, well, modest. Also really noisy. I'm hoping I could improve the shielding with a rewire.

[G._Hoffman]

Thanks for the reply, Gabriel. So does that mean I'd need to go with a handmade for it to be worth the effort?

No, just don't try to find a "bargain" after-market pickup.  Most of the after market pickup manufacturers do good work (Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, et. al.)  I'm very fond of some of Seymour Duncan's pickups, and Dimarzio makes some really great bass pickups.  But look at the price range of those kinds of manufacturers, and figure that you are going to have to spend at least that much. I sell most of Seymour Duncan's humbuckers for $85 bucks (with no covers).  I'm sure you can find them cheaper, but that is the general price range I would suggest you stick with.  A $25 pickup is not going to be worth the effort.


Gabriel

[2twang2]

Thanks for the help, Gabriel. I've found a few neck mount pickups, some quite expensive. The Kent Armstrong I'm looking at is available for about $85, so that fits your guide line quite nicely.