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Sabredog

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  1. I can actually agree with that, all you have to do is leave enough space maybe 1 mm extra metal, I actually have seen some less Paul's with binding nibs that actually have enough fret before the binding, so I probably got one that was very low on the quality control scale. frets 5 through 13, the high E string came off the Fret 60% of the time. I've owned about 50 different guitars from all 20 different guitar manufacturers not a single one of these excellent machines, did I have the high E fall off the board, So I know i do not need practice, I can blame it on the guitar. all of these other well thought out excellent highly engineered guitars would not consider using Nibs. no manufacturer in the world in the modern day would consider introducing a guitar with 20% of a fret being plastic and 80% being metal. I never experienced the problem until I played the Les Paul with nibs. I'm not saying that type of design especially at the time period, is not a good guitar, clearly it's a very good guitar with some minor minor flaws, as you say because many people used it to make good music , but just because something can be made to work does not mean that it can't be improved. It has a lot of parallels to golf clubs. the equipment improves a players playing. no golfer of the 60s could hit a 300 yard drive now 90% of the players can hit the 300 yard drive. it's all related to improved equipment. I'm just saying the HP version is an improved version to an already very good guitar, not disrespecting the 60s. but engineers do learn how to make things better. if you are regularly hitting 280 yard drive with a driver today, and someone gives you a persimmons wood and it's not much bigger than a golf ball itself, and you only hit it 180 yards, and your friends tell you you just need more practice, you actually say no I just need modern equipment. absolutely from an engineering perspective there are multiple approaches to correct this design flaw or quality control flaw of a string too close to a rounded fret edge, combining the approaches would probably be best. 1. optimize the string spacing give the outer edge strings a little more freedom to operate. i.e different string spacing in the nut cut, 2 extend the fret somehow. 3. extend the fret by extending or widening the fret board relative to the nut cut string spacing.
  2. that's a reasonable explanation. feel as you said is subjective, but certainly important, so that design probably does have a very nice feel to your style, but engineers learn how to break that feel down into measurable quantitative elements that can show improved performance, measurable performance increase, that 95 out of 100 players can achieve the intended target note, or accuracy of fretting, or accuracy the desired result, or 10 vibrato movements obtained in one second can consistently be obtained and errors are reduced. Where as the other model has increased error rate, when the string is not hit perfectly an actual error occurs like accidentally fretted on plastic surface. we can also 3D model a steel fret into a binding as a three-dimensional model, with identical geometry to an nib model, when players are blinded, the player would pick the fret over binding model as the superior feeling instrument equal number of times, and prove in a blind test that it's a placebo effect. When I see a nib it feels better, and plays better. which no doubt many corporations and many successful businesses many successful products are built on easily convincing people the placebo effect is real, I'm sure Gibson says they want the nibs certainly were going to sell it to them. when somebody's put under pressure to perform and play it identically every time the number of errors prove out the facts, player error 10% instrument error 10%, if you reduce the instrument error with a better tool you have improved performance. a 60-year-old airplane versus a modern airplane will have a lower performance.it's measurable. an engineer figured out if you put a magnet underneath a vibrating steel string you can generate a voltage which can be amplified into awesome sounds. From the engineers at gibson:\ Undercut, fret over bindingWith this design the frets don’t begin to taper until they’re on top of the binding, which allows for a wider playing area on the frets themselves. Also with traditional binding, sometimes strings would get caught in the space between the fret and the nib due to fret wear. This is no longer possible. Not only is there more fret area—because the frets are cryogenically treated, fret wear is simply not a factor. So, the additional fret width will remain useful because the height of the ends won’t change. While it’s true that undercut, fret over binding is more work and somewhat more costly, most players find the additional useable fret surface area a welcome addition that makes a fingerboard just that much more playable. Website link http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Undercut-Fret-Over-Binding.aspx
  3. 70s 80s classic rock, Santana Arrowsmith Pink Floyd Led Zeppelin guns and roses cream Hendrix Van Halen, ozzy .......... on and on and on. any song that sounds good, black keys. white stripes.
  4. except I don't have to learn different techniques for every string when I have a beautiful modern guitar, my PRS, my Fender Stratocaster, my Ibanez, are all high tech specifically engineered to make the guitar easy to play, transparent so that you can focus on music, instead of fighting with technique. and they all run the frets completely to the edge of the fretboard, none of the non-bankrupt companies offer this feature. Paul Reed Smith has stated it He designed the guitar so it disappears in the players hand, they're doing nothing but playing music, without having to think about the guitar limitations. The increased playable area of the frets on my HP, finally brings Gibson in line with the best guitars in the world for modern musicians, playability wise. the traditional LP slows you down especially after you've played fast and smoothly on really good guitars. on the Trad you have to be very careful to delicately and precisely play the E string. that's why I took the one back after three weeks, I had a PRS at the time, played the two guitars side-by-side for 20 days in a row, it was a shock, to see how superior the fret over binding was playing so effortlessly in a head-to-head competition. I have heard Slash, say that he likes fighting with the Les Paul that it makes him focus, that you have to be very careful precise fretting and twisting your body to play up high on the neck, and it makes him focus and work really hard and makes him satisfied to get the notes of the guitar. but he plays guitar 24 hours a day seven days a week. I do not like fighting with my guitar. I certainly do not begrudge someone seems to find the nibs such a critical part of the guitar experience. but I've never heard a rational well thought out, well written description of how and why they bring so much pleasure, I remember the first time I saw them in the guitar Center I thought they were not pretty and were unfinished looking, So the old veteran guitar center guy told me it was decorative and those guitars were for collectors and not for playing, if you wanted a guitar to play music on he recommended the Les Paul studio version. so maybe I got poisoned that day. but I am an engineer and highly functional designs actually are the most beautiful looking things.
  5. yes that one looks finished extremely well, but you can also see the playable area on the fret will not allow any downward bending or downward movement on that E string, it will fall of the board Im sure BB was careful to not do vibrato on the e strings. only the middle strings. vibrato on the E string is not allowed by that design limitation. whereas on my HP you have about 10 string diameters more playing area, instead of 2 string diameters, Same look with binding but much more playable. it is how all new guitars should be made. I am all about performance and flexibility of the guitar, looks are subjective to tone, I guess I'm learning a lot of people buy guitars mainly for their looks and it only has to meet some bare minimum requirement for playability.
  6. it just seemed like every guitar he owned was 40 years old, and as many have pointed out we can only afford $900 guitars, I assumed he was done buying new guitars. so of course it was an assumption, I did ask are you going to buy a new guitar well any other guitar manufacturer, has figured out not to use any sort of nib and extend the fret naturally to the edge. every single guitar I ever bought was nib free, except for one special manufacturer. technology and design moves forward because it's efficient and make sense its functional and rational, and real musicians demand it, therefore only one maybe 2 manufacturer in the world makes this low performance feature of nibs. it's funny to watch people defend it. I have no fear nibs are dying, and will be eliminated from the face of the earth. long live nibs. once the older generation phases out, there will be zero demand for this feature. or can be satisfied with the existing antiques. do we actually think you can buy a Gibson ever again after next year.
  7. the tuners are easily replaceable, I think they're making that much more optional this year, instead of jamming the robot down your throat as a mandatory feature. I am considering throwing some nice locking tuners on their, but but the robots are mostly transparent to me, they work pretty well, and they have yet to really bother me, I'm waiting for them to bother me, if the G string is to sharp, I seem to be able to tune it just like a regular guitar, but if I don't play it for a day or two I pick it up and push the button and it's magically in tune. pretty damn cool. but I agree determine your need, if you don't play much past the 12th fret, and you have a very strong back and a good shoulder, the more traditional Les Paul is still very satisfying. my 13 pound monster was pretty satisfying to play, sometimes it's hard to see the benefits until you bond with the guitar. the 8.0 pounds, and the axcess neck, the extended frets, were very surprising to me, I did not expect to like the guitar as much as I do.
  8. my first question is: Do you have any intention of buying a new Gibson guitar? I think we can see the answer is absolutely not. I understand the collecting of antiques, I just don't think there's any room to argue the nibs are a well performing feature. they might be cute, and if you play very simple music with no hammer-ons and no vibrato and no fast grabbing of a barre chords, you can make the instrument work. It is like buying a 1959 Bel Air it is very cool it's fun to drive once or twice per year, but most of the modern cars give considerably more driving pleasure in every aspect, it certainly gives a flavor of a specific driving era. I only by cars that are extremely overweight heavy, have a high coefficient of drag extremely noisy, underpowered poor gas mileage, and have poor handling and poor suspension, because they're interesting to drive and pretty at 35 mph only. I certainly don't think anyone can say the nibs add to a person's playing skill and tone, it has a certain vintage look and feel. I think that's one of Gibson's problems trying to satisfy people that will never buy a new Gibson guitar anyway, "I had a 1974 Gibson Les Paul and it works extremely well for playing a five note blues scales I would never consider buying another guitar that wasn't exactly like it." that's why I say they can make the dinosaur models to satisfy all of the older people, who miss the 59 Bel Air of their youth, let me tell you young whippersnappers a car is not a car without three-foot tall tailfins", They should make 100 replicas of the 1959 per year but it should be a very small niche not their core line, they should move on, More HP models, which I think they are, but they don't want to offend those 100 players who will never buy another Gibson guitar anyway. Nibs are such a high performance feature. sorry I found the guitar to be almost unplayable. there's no margin for error no forgiveness, both the E strings, fall off the board or into the nib. if I'm very careful and I play the guitar in a low performance mode I can make these fantastic nibs work, I might keep the string on the fretboard and make a note.I still don't understand somebody tell me why you love this feature.
  9. I've had the 2016 Les Paul high-performance for a year and a half now. I really like everything about the instrument. it's one of the first guitars I've had where I don't want to change anything. I have owned five of the Les Pauls of the traditional type, I buy one every ~ three years and sell it immediately, and each one of them has had their own particular problem, which led them each to be liquidated. the first one I had I only kept it for less than 30 days and returned it to guitar Center, it was a 2010 expensive $2500 quilt top gorgeous, I played it for several hours in the guitar Center, the tone was perfect. but when I got it home and played it for the next few days the ugly issue raised its head, the frets/binding were poorly done, extremely poor quality control of the binding. the binding was coming away from the fret ends, the guitar became almost unplayable overly rounded fret binding, the low E string and the high E string would simply not stay on the board super frustrating. that's the stupidest traditional feature I've ever seen ending the frets early and extending them with plastic binding, plastic frets. I took it back after about 3 1/2 weeks and swore I would never get a guitar where the frets did not go over the top of the binding. the second one I had was much better great fretboard playability and tone, it lasted about 11 to 12 months, because it was 13.5 pounds, basically that guitar cost me a lumbar disc, one day I could not pick it up, I have a guitar that I cannot pick up and play. that one was liquidated. as I got to be a better player I revisited the Les Paul lineup, I got a nice Epiphone Les Paul mostly everything nice about it good tone reasonable weight, good fretboard, but then that gigantic bulky heel joint started infringing on my play I have learned to play high up on the neck, as I had several guitars where access to the 22nd fret was very well-designed. so the lack of flexibility of playing all the way up the fret board really upset me, and a rather boring finish, forced that guitar to be liquidated. finally 2016 rolls around and the Les Paul high-performance models come in the shop, seem to address all of the fatal flaws finally after 10 years. I have to say this is one of the best guitars I've ever played. love the following features. 1. The guitar is 8.0 pounds phenomenally light, the modern weight relief chambered body seems to add tone sounds better than the 13 pounder, I'm so happy with the resonant nature of the guitar, amazing tone. 2. the axcess neck is genius, such fantastic playability completely up-and-down anywhere I want to put my fingers super easy access. 3. the cryogenically treated frets that go completely to the edge of the fretboard totally allow me to be expressive with vibrato or hard hammer ons without falling off the fretboard absolute superior playability on the fretboard compared to a traditional. 4. the four push pull pots are Jimmy page dream come true the amazing tonal flexibility does not allow you to put the guitar down every musical genre seems to be playable. 5. the zero fret, is also greatly appreciated flexibility, the ability to completely set up any action for string height you desire between the titanium nut to the titanium saddle, the string attack and tone is beautiful. 6. the absolute premium high quality finish of the 2016 shows expert guitar luthier built my guitar, absolute top quality AAAA flame maple top, absolutely top-of-the-line mahogany neck and striped mahogany body, the premium woods used on this guitar explain the masterpiece playability and tonality. and gorgeous looking. 7. the automatic tuners work pretty well I don't love them or hate them I'm neutral. I find them fun and interesting, and I appreciate the Star Trek scientific nature of trying to make tuning a thing of the past it's a nice concept. push a button your guitars in tune, the end I expect the robot tuners will get better and better and better every year. it's forward thinking I wish player pundits would stop thinking backwards so many players want them to make guitars like they made them in the 1920s. nonsense. it really is like asking to go back to rotary phones, I guess the only thing left to change is the headstock angle of 17° maybe they'll fix that someday. hasn't bothered me quite yet except for minor tuning stability. the guitar is so flexible so well designed so well thought out addressing all of my problems, I just can't believe why more people are not raving about how good of a guitar it is. I'm just not sure why you would buy a traditional the HP tone is the same or better, but without the Myriad of problems. anyway I'm curious about the next level HP who loves their 2018 or 2017 Les Paul high-performance, why do you like it? and or what features do not seem to be working for you. I'm curious about the body mounted pickups, and how does that affect the tone. I think Gibson should continue to offer the old dinosaur models the traditional, but the future has to be high-tech guitars that offer fantastic playability, flexibility along with the remarkable Les Paul tone, that is the future, cheers there is no substitute for a Les Paul F# power chord. BOOM!
  10. on the Les Paul you also bonus get out of phase when you use the push pull TONE and you can switch the dominant (inner - outer) coil when split, when you use the push pull TONE these functions are actually on the tone pots, to help avoid confusion, coil splitting is on the volume pots cheers
  11. it's actually extremely nice, I have the 2016 HP Les Paul. all you have to do is ask yourself 4 questions. and Gibson's intention is to make your guitar have features that you like when you activate the push pull pot. then you can change it back if you dont like it. 1. do you like a complete single coil bridge or do you like it as coil tap maintaining a little bit of a humbucker tone. I choose complete single coil, slide the switch. 2. do you want a treble bleed on the bridge to maintain treble during volume rolloff, I chose yes slide the switch. 3 do you like a complete single coil Neck or do you like it coil tap maintaining a little bit of a humbucker tone. I choose complete single coil, slide the switch. 4. do you want a treble bleed on the neck to maintain treble during volume rolloff, I chose yes slide the switch. transient suppresion is useless no choice required off unless you are recording artist on the Les Paul you also bonus get out of phase when you use the push pull vol and you can switch the dominant (inner - outer) coil when split, when you use the push pull volume really quite fun and easy
  12. for the SG much less control. no out of phase, no choice of the active coil. the switches turn off and on a treble bleed for each pick up on vol pot. or simple switch the type of coil split. or tap. Les Paul gives you twice the control because of the 4 push Pull pots just take a back plate off follow the directions on the plate off position = a function on postion = a different function
  13. Really, you would have to add a LOT of weight to the guitar to change it fundamentally, and you can't add enough weight to the headstock to effect it enough to change it to get that perceived sustain. But dialing in that little bit to go a direction you like when you can hear it, it does tend to make one hear a good guitar as better. Okay so I got my fathead fat finger I have a very nice poly-tune which actually senses the string vibration nicely. So I used that to measure the sustain. I put it on what I thought was a medium light Les Paul Epiphone boneyard. The fat finger works perfectly to kill your sustain, but as we all suspected it is barely measurable. Or statistically not significant. I did with and without the mass attached 10 times each.To normalize light or heavy string attack, but I tried to strike the strings equally at all times. The poly tunes signal drops out after it doesn't sense the string vibrating anymore. It may not be a perfect measure but it's consistently applied across the experiment. Fat finger = 31 secs no fat finger 34 secs extremely consistent every measurement was within one second of the other measurement. So I do believe I overly heavy headstock is not the right direction. Even given that the last 5 to 8 seconds of vibration can't be heard by anyone perhaps by a amplifier With gain that's on 10 Might pick up the last 3 seconds, It's possible that it acts a little bit like a compressor the volume of the string sounded more even with the fat finger attached for the first 10 to 12 seconds. So that may be what people. I'm sure the designers must've hooked it up to an oscilloscope but maybe not. cheers fun I won't be using the fatfinger.
  14. Did you replace the brass nut with the titanium, I had to file out my low E Slot a little bit with my 10's, On the titanium nut Cheers
  15. It's possible what you say is true, but I'm pretty convinced it was acting a like a Sonic sponge, Certain harmonics and frequencies were not right. It is a little hollow plastic box With quite a bit of mass, I would suppose if you're playing at very high gain you wouldn't notice very much but low medium crunch seems to be an improvement without it. And I think that's what I meant it seemed like my power chords Were not in tune even after just tuning it to perfection. Just slightly dissonant on one string versus another string. Do you have a G-Force on yours? And it seems okay
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