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Talk to Me About the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess!


KingLoudness

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Hey guys,

 

My name is Will, I'm an 18 year old guitarist from Eastern Canada. I love Gibson guitars and I'm very happy to be part of this forum!

 

I am looking at purchasing a used Les Paul Axcess Lifeson signature model. I love the features that the guitar comes with stock, but I've heard numerous horror stories about the electronics. Symptoms include...

 

- Volume dropouts

- Intermittent piezo sound (likely caused by the piezo wires)

- Issues with piezo bleed

 

The model I'm looking at is one of the first 100 guitars built, so it lacks the piezo push pull pot to "kill" the piezo signal (though from my reading it seems as though even that mod isn't particularly helpful). Has anyone here done any mods to theirs to improve reliability? I have read about the so-called "McDLT" modification which routes the magnetic signal through one jack and the piezo through the other. This does not interest me as I wouldn't mind having the blend option available (I do not use a stereo amp setup). I was considering having it wired so that one jack is the standard blend, and one jack is magnetic only (as opposed to piezo only). Has anyone here tried such a thing?

 

Is there anything else I should know about the guitar before pulling the trigger? I am looking to have a very versatile guitar that ultimately has its home base in the Les Paul platform that I love. Pics of your ALs are cool too!

 

Thanks,

 

- Will.

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Hello Will,

 

piezo bleed never has been a trouble on my AL792. The intermittent sound problem is common among electronically switched, active stereo/mono guitars and is due to insufficiently charged coupling capacitors when connecting the output to a hi Z input where it may take even minutes until the output cap reaches its operating voltage. There are no bleeder resistors in all the Graph Tech and Fishman outputs of my piezo equipped solidbodies.

 

Since I'm at work here I will post more about it later today.

 

Cheers,

capmaster

 

Adds about 14 hours later:

 

Hello Will,

 

since I never had in mind to change the blend/magnetic (Regular) and unused/piezo (Life-O-Sound) option, I can't tell anything about it. I don't know if there were any changes after the first hundred AL guitars, but the manual didn't say that the Regular jack puts out a blended signal when the Life-O-Sound jack is not in use. I already had bought an adaptor cable but found out by trying that I can play the AL through the same stereo cable as my SG Supra, my Fender Nashville Power Telecasters and my customized Fender FR Strats using the Graph Tech system, too. Since the cable capacitance matches the value of typical mono guitar cables, I play all my passive mono "magnetic only" guitars through this stereo cable, too with the piezo volume pedal pulled down to minus infinity to avoid the audible capacitive crosstalk.

 

The quality of the piezo signal is awesome. I blow it through a dedicated acoustic guitar amp with true HiFi qualities, and I never miss an acoustic guitar. There is some more noise transduced caused by the player's hands compared to the hardtail piezo systems of my SG Supra which by the way sounds most acoustical, and the Fender Nashville Power Teles, but this is the price I pay for the FR vibrato of the AL and my piezo-equipped Fender Strats.

 

As for the first hundred ALs, I don't know for sure and could have misunderstood, but I thought they just changed from pulled on/pushed off to pushed on/pulled off settings of the piezo volume pot switch. I never heard that there was none among the first hundred ALs. But whatever, the Graph Tech circuitry should provide the connectivity for adding switching options since the Acousti-Phonic board wasn't modified I believe.

 

The current draw of the active electronics is very reasonable, and one battery should be able to feed it for 300 to 400 hours. There is a small idling current permanently flowing that would eat up the battery power within 10 to 12 years but I would change it every three years in any case to prevent damage to the fine mahogany due to leakage, and in order to always have a nice and undistorted sounding guitar.

 

Last but not least I have to say that reaction and resonance of the AL LP Axcess are very fine. They come close to that of my LP Traditional 2013 which is my best LP in these respects. They don't have a single dull note - all my other guitars except the FZ Roxy SGs do have one -, and the AL's sustain can keep up with that of the Trad 2013, too.

 

I hope these reports and comments are a bit helpful.

 

With best regards,

 

capmaster

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First of all, there are a few different issues, and it is easy to get them confused. I'll try to clarify.

 

Issue 1: "Piezo Bleed"

 

This issue was first reported on these forums by one of the earliest recipients of the guitar when it started shipping. Essentially, the problem is that when you turn the piezo volume knob all the way down to 0, you can still hear some of the piezo pickup sound coming through. Gibson acknowledged this and added the pop-up volume knob switch to completely kill the piezo pickup. All guitars after AL 100 came like this from the factory. All earlier guitars were offered a free upgrade (basically it was a recall), you just had to bring your guitar to an authorized service center. So, if you buy this early guitar you may be able to get the free fix. Call an authorized service center in advance to find out.

 

Issue 2: Volume drops, buzzing, cut outs, etc.

 

These issues have been reported by a number of people, but others report no issues at all. I have no idea what the % of guitars with the problems are, but it appears to have nothing to do with when the guitar was made. Some have reported poor grounding. Also, unlike some competitive guitars, the guitar does not have any electromagnetic shielding in the wiring cavities. Your amp and effects rig and their natural level of noise will likely add or subtract to noise related problems if your guitar has them. You can likely fix these problems with the McDLT mod or by having the guitar's wiring modified to improve the ground and add shielding. There is no clear answer as the source does not appear to be consistent or with every guitar. These issues have the most potential to be frustrating for sure, but they have nothing to do with the piezo bleed issue or the kill switch that was added to rectify piezo bleed.

 

Issue 3: Mag pickups affected by state of the piezo battery.

 

This affects every guitar. The sound of the mag pickups will deteriorate when the battery is low. The McDLT mod will fix this. Or, making sure your battery is always good will fix it. The battery lasts a long time if you unplug the guitar when not playing.

 

Issue 4: Bridge/neck pickup switch problems.

 

This has just been reported recently. Apparently Gibson uses a different switch for the Axcess guitars (including the Lifeson version) because the body is thinner. My Lifeson switch has worked fine since I received the guitar over two years ago. My Gibson USA LP Studio (which should have the normal switch) has had switch issues. Go figure.

 

Issue 5: Piezo pickup cutting out when tremelo is pushed down.

 

Some users have reported here that the piezo pickups will stop sending signal when the trem is pushed down a significant amount. My guitar only does this if I've got it down so far that the strings are in full flop mode, so I don't consider it an issue. Personally I don't do deep acoustic dive bombs, and when the trem begins to return to the normal position the pickups begin functioning again. Some posters have said this issue is due to the length of the piezo wires being too short.

 

I have not heard anyone propose your idea of having the wiring done with blended on one jack and just mags on the other. It's basically a variation of the McDLT mod and should work, but I'm not aware of anyone having tried it so you'll want to talk to a wiring expert (e.g. not me).

 

Most people report that after spending a little bit of money to fix whatever problem they are having that they love the guitar. It truly is a unique instrument, and, unlike most signature models, is both a functional and a cosmetic upgrade from the base model Axcess (solid body, piezo, pickup covers, different colors, strap locks). I love mine. It's definitely my favorite axe.

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.... Some users have reported here that the piezo pickups will stop sending signal when the trem is pushed down a significant amount. My guitar only does this if I've got it down so far that the strings are in full flop mode, so I don't consider it an issue. Personally I don't do deep acoustic dive bombs, and when the trem begins to return to the normal position the pickups begin functioning again. Some posters have said this issue is due to the length of the piezo wires being too short. ...

This is a matter of course since transducing sound through the piezo elements requires the pressure caused by string tension and brought onto the saddle surface where the string is bent. If there is no more downforce caused by the string, i. e. the string is floating freely above the piezo saddle without any contact, the latter will transduce no sound at all.

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On the McDLT Mod variation -- blended in one jack, mags only in another: I am also not a wiring expert, but this could be a little complicated based upon the use of the circuit board in the AL. While it would be easy to split the mag pickup wires and run them to the piezo jack directly, I am not sure how you would integrate the tone knob which does not affect the piezo pickups. You'll have to consult a luthier but make sure it is one who knows his or her electronics very well.

 

I have to say, since I did the McDLT mod to my AL, I haven't missed the blending ability one bit. I picked up a PRS P24 which has the same 2-jack piezo system with blending ability (not surprisingly, PRS did a MUCH better job with the electronics on that one out of the box). But even with that guitar, I rarely want to mess around with blending. It just doesn't sound that good blending or switching to the piezo because the peizo signal is not optimized going through a standard amp setup. And in case you are curious, the sound quality of the piezo on my AL is clearly better than that on the PRS piezo.

 

For those times at home when I'm using my modded AL with one cable, if I get the inkling to play a piezo sound, I just switch the cable to the life-o-sound jack and get it out of my system. In factory condition, plugging a lone cable into the life-o-sound jack will result in no sound. After the McDLT mod, you can use just the LOS jack if you want to get the acoustic sound. For any live performance, IMHO you're crazy if you don't go with two cables. At home when I'm too lazy to set up for two cables, it is no big deal to move the cable over to play an "acoustic" song or two.

 

In the end, make the AL the guitar you want. Two mods later, they would have to pry mine from my cold-dead fingers!

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  • 4 weeks later...

As mentioned earlier, implementing a mod as you specified may be problematic because you would need to have the mag output connected to both the circuit board and the mag-only jack at the same time. You may run into impedance issues when there is a plug in the mag-only jack and/or signal shorting when there is no plug in the mag-only jack. I'm sure it could be worked out, but you may have to add a switch.

 

The McDLT mod is more straight-forward, but of course you lose blending at the guitar. Personally, I McDLTed mine and usually run the piezo through a Fishman Aura Spectrum and a Digitech RP-50 into a separate colorless stereo SS amp and it sounds AWESOME. I also have a footswitch that routes the piezo signal to the aux input of my HD500, so I can blend via a volume pedal on the piezo path. Doing the McDLT mod solved every issue I was having with the electronics, which were substantial.

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Don't know if there was a design change, but although not specified by Gibson and not written on the manual card, my Regular output is a stereo jack. I found it out by trying if I was able to use the same TRS > 2 TS cable for all my Gibson, Fender, and Graph Tech modded Fender hybrids without a 2 TS > TRS f adapter cable, and it works.

 

The options on my # AL 792 are the following:

- If the Regular jack is used with a mono (TS) plug, there is a blend signal provided. In case you connect an additional mono (TS) cable to the Life-O-Sound jack, this will deliver the piezo signal separately, and the Regular jack puts out the magnet signal only.

- If the Regular jack is used with a stereo (TRS) plug, the magnet signal is fed to the tip, the piezo signal to the ring. Another mono (TS) cable connected to the Life-O-Sound jack provides the piezo signal separately, and the Regular jack puts out the magnet signal only at the tip while the ring is muted.

 

In case there was a design change, this would be an explanation for having omitted the Regular stereo option in the manual although it is provided in the newer Alex Lifeson guitars.

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