Howdy all,
I've had a troublesome past with Les Pauls. A studio, a 90's standard, a '58 reissue and a 2016 standard have all come and gone and I've never really bonded with any of them. Today I picked up a lovely 2017 Traditional in heritage cherry at a really good deal and I am very happy with it (so far!). I love the neck, the playability is great and crucially to me, it's 8.5lbs, which for a non-weight relieved Trad is bloody brilliant.
So why do I wanna change it? Well currently I don't, or am not in any great rush to but I know down the line I will probably wanna do things like change out the electronics, hardware and PUPs for something more in line with the historic range and I feel this will help me make MY perfect Lester and stop the chopping and changing. So with that in mind, where should I start? I'd really like some good suggestions on the most vintage correct gear at decent prices - for instance I'm probably not gonna chuck some £500 Throbaks on it but I could stick some OX4's in.
Cheers!
Comments
I have a 2013 traditional that I love. The only thing I'd consider changing are the speed knobs and truss cover so it looks more authentic.
http://www.amberguitar.com/home/126-gibson-style-blank-truss-rod-cover.html
http://www.amberguitar.com/screws-jackplates-nuts/49-knob-pointers.html
http://www.amberguitar.com/knobs/26-premium-top-hat-bell-knob-gold-x4.html
http://www.amberguitar.com/abr-bridges/81-abrn-59-nickel-gloss.html
http://www.amberguitar.com/home/16-lightweight-aluminium-59-stop-tailpiece-nickel.html
And I can do you a 50's wiring harness with these:
http://www.amberguitar.com/wiring-for-gibson/189-cts-tvt-500k-potentiometer-long-shaft.html
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I've modded all of my guitars to make them sound more like the guitars from the '50s and '60s. For me the biggest tonal difference is due to the materials used for the hardware. Your LP Traditional does have zinc hardware, the hardware on the originals were made of steel (and an alumnium bridge).
Steel will make your guitar much more resonant and the guitar will get more open and brighter too. So a swap to more 'vintage-correct' hardware is where I'd start. Pickups, pots etc are more like the icing on the cake for me.
For reference my amps are -
Bogner Shiva 20th head and cab
friedman Pink Taco
Fender Deluxe reverb
so a good mix
Back when I was paying attention to this stuff the LPs had the right depth holes drilled in the wood but the inserts and bolts didn't go as deep. Worth checking out.
I even went mad on a limba special style build with 1 1/4 inch bushings
Current historic versions are 7/8 or something like that, don't hold me to that as I barely remember what day of the week it is
I know you have to drill deeper to fit vintage bushings though
(formerly customkits)
I have one of @photek's old guitars which was upgraded with Faber hardware and it's killer. Played it for 4 hours last night.
This guitar also has "Vintage" PAFs from Mojo Pickups, which I really like. I don't know how they compare to OX4's, but I like them for what they are. At the very least they're a great combination with my amp.
Interestingly, looking at the Gibson Spec sheet for the 2017 traditional, it seems on the face of it that it has some of these features already - "handwired the way it was in the 50's" is quite a vague statement though so I wonder if anyone could have a look for me and get through he Gibson marketing gumpf.
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2017/USA/Les-Paul-Traditional.aspx
Cheers
http://www.harmonycentral.com/articles/what-makes-a-les-paul-traditional-guitar-traditional
Maybe they're just referring to the caps being used. I take any Gibson marketing gumpf with a liberal pinch of salt.
There's also a school of thought about not messing with something which isn't broken, mind you. For example, I bought a lovely '05 Standard Faded from a forum member not long ago, and it's all stock. It plays and sounds great and while I bought it with the preconception of I'm going to have to upgrade pickups, hardware, and electronics, it's so nice that I've not done that in case I spoil it in some unforeseen way.
The reason being that I also have a 2011 Les Paul Traditional, which I upgraded when I got it, and it was my favourite guitar for a long time. Then I recently kind of re-upgraded it and sent it in for a setup. When it came back, the magic was a little bit gone - I'm still tweaking away at it to try and get it back to the way it was. I should have just left it alone.