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Why so much love for the Vintage L6-S?


L8_4thesh0w

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... they are awesome! If you ever get the chance to play one, don't take a pass. Blues, Country, Funk, Jazz, Metal: the capabilities of these beauties are suited to all styles of music.

 

There were three versions produced between 1973-1980. The L6-S or L6-S "Custom" is the one with the six-position chicken-head knob and the special series/parallel & in/out of phase wiring.

It came mostly in Black with an Ebony fingerboard and Natural with Maple fingerboard. There were also some in Cherry, Wine Red, Tobacco Burst & Silver Burst. Total production was upwards of 12,000.

 

Here's a couple for instances. These demos are pretty decent for explaining the pups and controls but he doesn't quite do it justice.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDWWSY6XTk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOeu1PJslI

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In my opinion, the 1970's L6-S, called L6-S Custom during her later years, is one of the most underrated guitars ever. When looking at some of them for sale, one may find that obviously lots of their stock pickups were not only replaced but also discarded - what an evil disgrace.

 

There never has been any other guitar of her kind, and the 2011 limited remakes came with the "usual" Gibson pickups and a different circuitry. Owning both models, I know they are fine and very versatile, too, but there's no pickup on Earth reflecting the originals' tone. Bill Lawrence's unique design with coils put flat over a ceramic magnet remained unique until today. I would love to see reissues of them, perhaps with a four-conductor wiring added to them.

 

By the way, albeit a bit out of topic, Fender discontinued both the parchment and black the Strat SCN (Samarium Cobalt Noiseless) pickup sets, one of the greatest Bill Lawrence designs ever. In my opinion, they are the most versatile pickups for Strats. I guess the were very expensive in manufacturing due to their weird build for retaining the typical single coil tone despite of perfect hum canceling. Furthermore, other than all Start pickups I know of, the SCNs have three dedicated pole piece spacings matching the string spacings nicely. So they had to use three different bobbins, wires, and covers for each set. I guess that's why their tone can be described as "more of everything" when about bass, middle, and treble. They came stock on American Deluxe Strats from circa 2003 to 2011, now replaced by the N3 Noiseless pickups. They are fine, too, but have a very different tone, different from both real single coils and the SCNs.

 

I'm lucky and very happy owner of an all-original Gibson L6-S and of two Fender Strats retrofitted with Fender SCN pickups. So I know what I'm talking about, and sadly many others won't ever get to know. As a sad pun to the Fender slogan: They made them history... :(

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Thank you, capmaster. I've been looking all over the place for info on these (saw a post of yours from a few years back) and as you mentioned, many have been completely re-done, much to the discredit of their owners.

They have been made to sound like the L6-S Deluxe and L6-S Midnight Special models with a smaller spectrum. I too consider myself lucky to own an un-modded '75.

 

Thanks for the info on the Fender pups. Bill Lawrence was a pickup wizard and his contributions were monumental to the quest for tone! Oh, and more vids...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXB2-iaixs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TowMobYuQV8

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Just pulled out my all-maple 1973 L6-S and realized something very special. By accident, just inspired by tone, I found out position 4 with all controls open allows for perfectly nailing the guitar tone of Don Henley's Boys Of Summer. I guess it's not that unlikely - Mike Campbell is a very discerning player.

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Hello!

 

There was no love for the Reissues, though...

 

...to my fortune! I bought this brand-new one, for the price of a LP Tribute! It was a left on stock item.

 

HPIM4526_zpse0030c16.jpg

 

Different from the vintage L6-S', but an excellent guitar with versatile tones.

 

Cheers... Bence

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Can confirm that as you already know, Bence. I have one in Antique Natural without volute and one with Silverburst finish featuring it. They have different tones, too.

 

I would love to own a vintage L6-S with ebony board, too. I guess her tone would be different, too, compared to the all-maple construction.

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Hello Capmaster!

 

At around 2009, before I bought any of my current guitars, I was looking at an ad of a 1976 black, ebony-boarded L6-S Midnight Special*.

 

It was on sale for 160.000 Hungarian Forints. Basically, a steal for any Gibson guitar (price of the recent Melody Makers). It was advertised for a year, maybe? I really regret that I have been hesitating for so long that it finally went...

 

Surprisingly, the L6-S is the most common vintage guitar for sale here in Hungary. They are around 1000 EURs these days.

 

Cheers... Bence

 

P.S.: Sorry, it was a Custom, not a M-S.

Edited by btoth76
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Love the L6-S..... [thumbup]

 

Got my silver-burst last year

 

It makes a welcome change from all those pesky Les Pauls everybody eulogises over... :blink:

 

For moi, the Santana cache probably swings it

 

I shall look at some YouTube clips of other big name players for affirmation... [thumbup]

 

V

 

:-({|=

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Thank you, capmaster. I've been looking all over the place for info on these (saw a post of yours from a few years back) and as you mentioned, many have been completely re-done, much to the discredit of their owners.

They have been made to sound like the L6-S Deluxe and L6-S Midnight Special models with a smaller spectrum. I too consider myself lucky to own an un-modded '75.

 

Thanks for the info on the Fender pups. Bill Lawrence was a pickup wizard and his contributions were monumental to the quest for tone! Oh, and more vids...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXB2-iaixs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TowMobYuQV8

Thank you for sharing these videos here, too. This guy makes me jealous of his playing skills... [rolleyes]

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...

I shall look at some YouTube clips of other big name players for affirmation... [thumbup]

 

V

 

:-({|=

 

Hello!

 

Al Di Meola, Carlos Santana, Pat Martino, John McLaughlin, Keith Richards, Paul Stanley, Mike Oldfield, Rich Williams

of Kansas. (From Wikipedia)

 

Cheers... Bence

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This kid appears to have a bright future ahead of him. I find it interesting he didn't use the Gold-top on this one.

Well, perhaps he's a discerning player, too. [rolleyes]

 

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, pals of mine reported of rumours that Carlos Santana still used his Gibson L6-S for studio recordings while playing Yamaha SGs live due to an endorsement deal.

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...

Thanks for the info on the Fender pups. Bill Lawrence was a pickup wizard and his contributions were monumental to the quest for tone! ...

Here's some first-hand web info on the SCNs: http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/SCNHistory.htm

 

How does the new neck compare to the old one? I read somewhere that the taper was different but it looks pretty close to the same to me.

The necks feel quite the same. The very difference I guess is that the vintage ones are three-piece. Mine seems to react significantly more to attack than the modern one-piece constructions. Replacement of the vintage aluminum (!) tailpiece with a TP-6 finetuning one called for increased action, stiffer than on any other of my Gibsons.

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Obviously, I can`t talk about the originals, but the neck of the Reissue is interesting.

 

It`s said to be "Slim Taper", just like the neck of my Les Paul Classic Custom. Still, they are worlds apart!

 

The L6S's neck profile is exactly the same as on my 1978 Les Paul Recording: thin after the volute, and gets gradually thicker towards the heel. In my opinion, it's the best Gibson neck profile. Also, the Reissue's fingerboard is wider than on a Les Paul.

 

Interestingly, the Les Paul Classic Custom neck profile, - which is also said to be "Slim Taper" - has the same dimensions all along it's lenght, and it's very thin.

 

I really don't know whether this photo shows the difference (I can see it). The LPR in the middle has the same profile as the L6S, the one upper is the Classic Custom.

 

HPIM3393_zps21b22348.jpg

 

Cheers... Bence

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Apart from lots of reports here, all of my Slim Taper neck shapes are the very same, on vintage L6-S, 2011 L6Ses except for the volute, and three of my Gibson Les Paul guitars. I also never found any of the mentioned tolerances at guitar stores.

 

There are pretty different neck shapes like the rather slim early 60s on some SGs of mine, the too very slim but different Explorer neck shape, the late 50s shape on my Traditional LP, and the Axcess shape with more flesh at nut and first frets, but all of them seem pretty close as specified by Gibson.

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That's interesting.

 

I wouldn't expect such a huge difference either, but still the two "Slim Taper" necks are very different. I know, that all necks are slightly different, but these two differ beyond the built tolerances.

 

Anyways, here I don't have the opportunity to try 5-6 guitars before purchasing...would be nice to check out other L6S'.

 

Cheers... Bence

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That's interesting.

 

I wouldn't expect such a huge difference either, but still the two "Slim Taper" necks are very different. I know, that all necks are slightly different, but these two differ beyond the built tolerances.

 

Anyways, here I don't have the opportunity to try 5-6 guitars before purchasing...would be nice to check out other L6S'.

 

Cheers... Bence

Well, I got to know half a dozen 2011 L6Ses, four Antique Naturals and two Silverbursts. There were lots of tolerances, in particular in finishes of the Antique Naturals' fretboards and on the tops around the neck joints, but no differences in neck shape.

 

When about Les Paul guitars, to my experiences the neck angles are varying much more than neck shapes, probably due to varying body top shapes. Among mine, my Standard 2012 clearly has a neck angle close to the lower limit - the bridge posts would touch the bushings' heels before the strings lay flat on the fretboard -, and my limited Standard 2011 Quilt at the upper limit with lots of bridge clearance.

 

Anyway, the necks may feel different due to the difference in angle, but their shapes are as close as can be. Among dozens of LPs I played at Thomann I couldn't find any remarkable deviations. But however, I can say the same about lots of MIM Fender Strats and Teles each.

 

On the other hand, the 60s D shaped neck of my Epiphone LP is definitely different, to view and feel as well, but that's clearly as expected, too. And my only asymmetrical Slim Taper Gibson neck feels just like that - asymmetrical... [biggrin]

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...

 

When about Les Paul guitars, to my experiences the neck angles are varying much more than neck shapes, probably due to varying body top shapes. Among mine, my Standard 2012 clearly has a neck angle close to the lower limit - the bridge posts would touch the bushings' heels before the strings lay flat on the fretboard -, and my limited Standard 2011 Quilt at the upper limit with lots of bridge clearance.

 

...

 

Yes, I noticed that too. Especially on the Classic Custom. The posts are close to bottoming out, when the action is just right. That's, - as You said - is a neck angle thing.

 

Cheers... Bence

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