My Own Personal Ultimate AL

So the factory stock AL-HH is a fabulous instrument. No question about it. The GC / MF specials with coil splits offer even more versatility and awesomeness on top of that.

Out of all the guitars we own and have played, the AL chassis has become my very favorite due to the neck shape, balance and ergonomics. That’s why I’ve collected and personalized so many of them. And as fabulous as the HH models are, I still had 2 little niggles with them. I don’t like how the volume pot turns to mud so fast, and the overall tone of the buckers always seemed to be missing a little… something. Keep in mind, this is just my personal taste and playing style I’m talking about.
I bought this gorgeous used Turquoise Pearl AL a few years ago. It had been played quite a bit and the controls were pretty worn out, but still worked OK. This guitar has a certain mojo about it and became one of my favorites. I named him Turkish (“ya like dags?”). 😉
I purchased new controls from EBMM awhile back to rebuild it someday. It came stock with a vintage white pearl pick guard and was a great looking guitar!

Mrs. Bebop has collected a number of used Epi Les Pauls over the years, and we’ve modified a few of them to resemble famous signature guitars. For the last one we did, it needed white pick ups, and I found a very good deal on a set of SD Pearly Gates pups, along with some fancy wiring. When it was all done, I was shocked at how good it sounded! I’ve had a PG in the bridge of one of my LP’s for awhile, but it never impressed me as much as I had hoped. Now this little Epi sounds way better than it has any right to! So that got me to thinking, and I ordered another set for Turkish.
I finally got time a while back to replace all his guts… new super switch, PP tone pot, new output jack, the white PG pups, and a linear volume pot. *I’ve used linear volume pots a number of times before, and they work better for my needs… smoother response and less treble loss.
Got him all done and set up, plugged in and started testing & playing, and was floored! The new tones and voicings are way above and beyond what I was hoping for… freekin’ amazing to my ears!!! These pups sound so good to me in the normal 5-way positions, I –almost- don’t even need the coil splits anymore. The splits are still nice for even more possibilities though. Since it worked out so well, I went ahead and ordered a bright white pearl pick guard and pearl buttons to complete the package.
I’m not saying that there are any shortcomings in the stock set up, and I know it’s perfect for a lot of people. I’m just sharing my little adventure here, and how thrilled I am with the results!

:D:D:D