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Isn't that Special?


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I have one of the Epiphone Les Paul Special reissues, and it sounds amazing. But it has to have high action or the strings string grazing the frets and making that electric sitar sort of sound. It's got the single tailpiece and no Tune-O-Matic. I've got the tailpiece down as far as it will go without touching the frets, and it's still too high.

 

My thought is perhaps the neck is too straight, and maybe a shade more relief would allow me to lower the strings a bit.

 

Any advice, guys?

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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They sound good don"t they. I just bought a Epi SG Special. It has one of those porous natural finishes in a dark green color. Hoping it makes a good outdoor summer gig guitar. My necks get sticky.

 

Trogly has had about the entire line and he had problems with them coming in needing fret work. Some of the frets weren"t fully seated. A fret hammer fixed most of them. A couple needed a dress.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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If the strings are too high with the tailpiece all the way down then loosening the truss rod will make them even higher.

 

To check relief, fret at the 1st fret and the 12th fret. Look at the neck/string at the 5th and 6th fret, there should be a tiny gap there between the strings and the frets. It the gap is bigger that the thickness of a matchbook cover, tighten the truss rod until it isn't. If there is no gap, loosen the truss rod until there is a gap.

 

This assumes all the frets are level. A sitar like sound is often the bridge. It could be that the bevel on the top of your tailpiece is a little too flat so it gets that sitar buzz tone. Kinda cool unless you don't like it. Lots of options for tailpieces, you may want to find one that is "rounder" or even semi compensated. I've got a Yamaha guitar that was not expensive and it came from the factory with a really nice tailpiece bridge unit that can be compensated to some degree.

 

To get lower action, loosen the strings, unscrew the neck and stack a couple of pieces of heavy cardstock, matchbook cover or even a slice of old credit card flat on the bottom of the neck route and as close towards the pickup as it will go - in other words - at the end of the route that is farthest into the body. Press the neck in place with the body flat on the bench to hold the shim in place and screw the neck back on. That should lower the action. if the action is too low, raise the bridge up until you like it.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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+1 on Kuru's advice above. Also if you do not have a neck straight edge, use the strings by pressing down on the 1st fret and the last fret on both the first string and separately the 6th string and assess the situation like that.
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Kuru, it's an Epiphone Les Paul Special with just the tail piece, no tune-o-matic.THIS guy. It has a set neck, so there is no way to shim between the neck and body. And the tailpiece/bridge is NOT all the way down to the body. THe sitar sound goes away as I go up the neck which makes me think it's grazing a fret, not the bridge. My thought was if the neck is too straight, some relief would remedy the problem.

 

I figured there were folks here who have worked with that sort of guitar who might know. Is there somebody here who knows about old Les Paul Jr.s and/or other Gibson style guitars that had the same sort of set up?

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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I original posted to the wrong thread but ....

 

Trogly has reviewed most if not all the 2020 Epis

 

Here he unboxed five of them and #2 and #4 had high frets

[video:youtube]

 

Here he reviews the same model as Greenie Weenie and it had fret issues.

[video:youtube]

 

So all Greenie Weenie needed was frets polished. They felt a little rough on bends must so far it looks like I got a good one. If your special is new I would send it back and get them to make it right. There have been systemic problems with the early runs of these 2020s.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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