New Guitar Day

Hey, man... I really love that Les Paul... so sexy!

screamingdaisy said:

YellowJacket said:

So the custom shop Les Pauls are the real deal???

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Yes. I have two now and both are excellent, both in sound and fit/finish.

My Standard (Premium Plus) had a huge booming problem with the neck pickup, particularly with the Dual Rectifier, but also with an Electra Dyne. The Bridge Pickup, by comparison, was really thin and tinny. It had the Burstbucker Vs in it stock.

Only when I switched to Bare Knuckles and changed the pots and caps did the sound open up and become really clear. It sounds fine now and the pickups are far more balanced.
Acoustically, my Les Paul sounds fine with plenty of midrange so one would think it is a good instrument but ya, it was still plagued with all these problems. (The orange peel around the neck pocket and the shoddy non working electronics notwithstanding. Lets just say it had some problems before I bought it)
Apparently the mahogany that is being used in 'lower end' Les Pauls is far denser than it used to be so the ball of mud tone is caused by overly heavy solid body electric guitars. So now Gibson is chambering the Les Pauls to keep the weight down, something that gives them a decidedly different timbre.

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I have a '69 Les Paul with a similar tonal issues. It's has a sort of scooped sound that gives it a boomy bottom end and tinny top end. I've tried an assortment of brands and styles of pickups and never been 100% happy with the sound.

Oh, I wonder if it would be worth it to have a super skilled Luthier give my guitars a fret dress. I'm always afraid I'll give the thing to a hack and then the guitars will be worse than when I brought them there. I just wouldn't have a clue where to go in Toronto...

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I'm in the same boat with the '69. It's in desperate need of a refret but I have no idea who to take it to.

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I've got a 68 black custom that has the same problem..It was a fretless wonder to begin with and I'm worried that if somebody dresses the frets it'll be down to the ebony.I've gone to playing my 68 goldtop because of it.I bought a new studio 60,s tribute to give them a break,and the only thing I like about it is the case.Theres nothing really wrong with it but its a thousand dollars worth of nothin..A wall decoration.I've got it hanging next to a luthier built "strat"with top of the heap rosewood and it does'nt look like real rosewood.Yellow streaks and pores,maybe it's that Imbruglia or whatever it is I've heard guys talking about.Then I see something like the one in this post and I think there's still hope.This one looks like a real sunrise,like its got a fire in it.My black custom sounds that way.Theres so much nitro in the paint it still feels like a plastic guitar,Then you plug it in and its like getting hit by a train.After forty some years I still can't believe that much sound comes outta something you can barely hear when its unplugged.

94Tremoverb said:

I think that might be the nicest Les Paul I've ever seen.

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Yeah,it's in that neighborhood,aint it?I'm really glad it sounds as good as it looks!!!!Maybe they're shipping the good ones to Canada...Hell of a Christmas present to yourself.

taylor51 said:

Yeah,it's in that neighborhood,aint it?I'm really glad it sounds as good as it looks!!!!Maybe they're shipping the good ones to Canada...Hell of a Christmas present to yourself.

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The store I got it from is a high end kind of place. Word is he has some sort of deal where he gets to pick which guitars he wants.