Eliminator Man Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Hello to all. I'm an old guy in Minnesota still getting used to my new rig: a Les Paul Custom figured maple Heritage Cherry Sunburst running into a Mesa Boogie Mark V 35. My other electric is a Strat I've had for about 40 years. Also have a couple resos and an archtop and a couple Martins. This is my first Gibson, first Humbucker instrument, first tube amp. I love the way my LP sounds with this amp and would love to hear people's comments about the pairings of their amps and guitars: what sounds good, favorite settings and things like that. Glad to be here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Welcome Eliminator Man glad you got a Gibson and a nice one at that 4H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Glad you finally saw the light after playing that single coil for 40 years. Seriously though I like the sound of a Les Paul through a tube amplifier either clean or overdriven depending on the style of music. The LP is very versatile for clean jazz tones, bright country and pop, or heavier over driven rock or blues. I played a LP for about 25 years through a Fender Twin Reverb and did not find the need for any effects pedals using that rig. The Fender Twin got a little heavy to carry around so I went to a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (1 speaker instead of two) and starting using some effects to emulate the sound of the bigger amp. Right now I have 2 Les Pauls, and a semi hollow 356 and run through a Rivera Venus 6 tube amp. Plenty of head room for clean sound and plenty of grit if I want it. But often my band does not use amplifiers (drummer plays electronic drums) and we run everything through the PA. When doing that I use a multi-effect pedal to emulate different amplifiers. I've never been a huge fan of digital signals and solid state amps, but it's pretty amazing what they can do these days - and it can save moving a lot of equipment to gigs. Welcome to the Gibson family and I'm sure you will enjoy your Les Paul for many years to come, it is a beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Welcome to the forum and congratulations on a very nice Gibson. I have 2 Les Paul's plus other other brands. A Gretsch, a Jag. And some acoustic but I don't have a tube amp. I have a Fender Mustang ll and a Vox. I had a great tube amp as a teen I wish I still had and have thought often about getting another one. Congrats on your very nice Les Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Glad you finally saw the light after playing that single coil for 40 years. Seriously though I like the sound of a Les Paul through a tube amplifier either clean or overdriven depending on the style of music. The LP is very versatile for clean jazz tones, bright country and pop, or heavier over driven rock or blues. I played a LP for about 25 years through a Fender Twin Reverb and did not find the need for any effects pedals using that rig. The Fender Twin got a little heavy to carry around so I went to a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (1 speaker instead of two) and starting using some effects to emulate the sound of the bigger amp. Right now I have 2 Les Pauls, and a semi hollow 356 and run through a Rivera Venus 6 tube amp. Plenty of head room for clean sound and plenty of grit if I want it. But often my band does not use amplifiers (drummer plays electronic drums) and we run everything through the PA. When doing that I use a multi-effect pedal to emulate different amplifiers. I've never been a huge fan of digital signals and solid state amps, but it's pretty amazing what they can do these days - and it can save moving a lot of equipment to gigs. Welcome to the Gibson family and I'm sure you will enjoy your Les Paul for many years to come, it is a beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 OK, I don't know what I'm doing here. I try to reply but just see your messages. Need to read up on that. Sorry if I just reposted one of your replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 There's a big blue button at the bottom that says Add Reply. Those are direct replies. The other smaller Reply at the bottom of a particular post is quoting the person that you are replying to. Welcome to the Gibson forums. I love your guitar. What year is it? And, we like pictures and here is a link on how to post more photos: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/11005-sticky-how-to-post-photos/ As far as my setup goes, I played a Gibson Flying V through a Randall stack for years. I've added another Flying V, two Les Pauls, downgraded the Randall to a half stack and tube model, added a Marshall combo and a Fender Mustang I amp. My favorite combination is the Les Paul through the 100 watt Marshall combo and the combo plugged into my 4x12 Randall cabinet. For me it has that perfect tone. The Randall amp is a monster with a lot of power and overdrive and really screams but it's way too big for most of the things I play but it has that loudness and crunch if I feel like playing loud thrash or heavy metal. The little Fender Mustang I is perfect for regular practicing around the house. The Marshall has a heavy overdrive, regular overdrive and clean. It's very versatile. Back in the day I had a Fender Twin Reverb and absolutely loved it. I still remember the smell of that amp as it started up and the tubes heated up. Very loud sound, very full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thanks. I seem to have a problem with my new guitar. I haven't used the middle position on the pickup selector much in the last few weeks but when I do both pickups are usually on so I noticed nothing amiss. But tonight I went there with the neck pickup off and got no sound because there is no output from the bridge pickup when the switch is in the middle position. I took the cover off the switch pocket and pulled it out but the connections seem OK. I'm not pleased. I had a huge nightmare with the Mesa boogie that had a weird switching problem that was there when I received the amp and they wound up having to replace the chassis so I'm especially not happy that the guitar has a problem and probably always did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thanks. I seem to have a problem with my new guitar. I haven't used the middle position on the pickup selector much in the last few weeks but when I do both pickups are usually on so I noticed nothing amiss. But tonight I went there with the neck pickup off and got no sound because there is no output from the bridge pickup when the switch is in the middle position. I took the cover off the switch pocket and pulled it out but the connections seem OK. I'm not pleased. I had a huge nightmare with the Mesa boogie that had a weird switching problem that was there when I received the amp and they wound up having to replace the chassis so I'm especially not happy that the guitar has a problem and probably always did. Edited 9:16 AM - I edited my post because after looking at the picture, I can see yours is a Custom. I don't know if yours has the PCB or push/pull pots so I'm leaving my original post as well. If the guitar is new and registered to you, you could call Gibson and they can advise you. Here's a silly question though. Is the volume turned up all the way on your neck pickup? I'm not assuming or implying anything, just asking. :) If so, it could be a bad pot or connection to the pot and pickup. - End Edited post Is yours a 2017 Standard with the push pull pots? The reason I'm asking is that I had a similar situation with my 2017 Standard. There was an issue with the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and I had to get it fixed through Warranty Support. I had to take it to Guitar Center and they finally got around to submitting a warranty request. Gibson sent them a new one and they replaced it at no charge. Here is the situation I would have: 1. Pull up on volume controls for each pickup for coil split and had no issue with either. 2. Pull up on tone control for neck pickup for out of phase and had no issue. 3. Occasionally when I pulled up on the tone knob for the bridge pickup for full bypass, it would work fine but when pushing the knob back down, I would lose sound out of my bridge pickup. It didn't happen every single time but happened occasionally and too often for my liking. What I did to fix it was pull up and push back the tone control on the bridge pickup a few times and it would re-engage the bridge pickup again. If I never used the bypass, it worked fine all the time but I wanted it fixed because it was brand new. The good news is that it should be a warranty issue if you bought it new and you have the warranty card and sent it to Gibson or enrolled online. It's about a 10-15 minute fix for them to do. Or you can do it yourself if you feel comfortable. It's pretty easy to do but if it's new and under warranty, why not make them do it? If you didn't buy it new and it's not under the original warranty, I think the PCB is around $100.00 or so. Let me know if you have any luck. I had the same thing happen with mine and after replacing the PCB, it works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Seems like the switch has to be dirty or corroded. I don't see anything in the wiring diagram that could cause this. The switch has two paddles that it moves. At the outer positions there is more force causing the contact. In the middle position there is less push on each paddle so it seems that in the middle position less push on the bridge pickup contact could be affected by a dirty contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thanks Michael. The custom doesn't have the push pull pots. The wiring is very simple and from looking at schematics I see nothing other than the switch that could cause the problem. The bridge pickup volume pot works fine and I'm almost always playing at not full volume. I think it has to be the switch. I looked at the switch. It has two paddles similar to what you would see in a mechanical relay. When in an outside position one paddle loses contact and max pressure is put on the other paddle. In the middle position both paddles fall in to make contact but I think the contact pressure is not as great. I see three possible causes: dirty contact, deformed paddle, loose connection paddle to body of switch. I sent emails to Sweetwater where I bought it and to Gibson support. So far Gibson hasn't responded. Sweetwater referred it to their tech support and I'm waiting for a follow up. I have no doubt the switch needs to be replaced in my nearly brand new, month old, Les Paul Custom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Man Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Well, my problem was solved thanks to a Gibson customer service rep during a phone call. In the middle switch position if either volume control is off it acts as a master volume and kills the sound regardless of the level of the other volume control. Live and learn. Yippee. I'm relieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 So glad you got that solved. Now enjoy playing your beautiful guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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