Grog

Hi Bence, My second one came over the weekend, the 1/4 jack was smashed when the original one arrived. Everything is working great & about as hum free as possible. A good cable makes a difference! My other cable is a cheaper one. It still baffles me that the old Gibson chord worked so well, it looks even cheaper yet........... George

Anybody looking for a "Fixer-Upper" opportunity? Maybe the price will come down with no bidders............ http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Gibson-Les-Paul-Personal-1969-1971-Rare-For-Restoring-/360682721673?pt=Guitar&hash=item53fa5d9189

I tried the different chords, in different combinations, even tried one of my 1/4" male to 1/4" female transformer adapters. Not much difference. The only noticeable difference in output surprisingly, was that the original Gibson chord had less hum, go figure! I'm getting a better unbalance mic cable in a few days, that may make an improvement for the Shure adapter. Here is a scan of the Shure info about changing the wiring between the yellow & orange wires...........

I might try switching the adapter from the Shure A59U, and use the short lead with the Gibson transformer, I would think they should be interchangable. It might give me a bit more volume........... I won't get a chance until tomorrow night. P.S. I have a Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ1A. I believe it has the same wire lead & molded plug as the Gibson Transformer chord. They might have been produced by Switchcraft at the time.

This Brochure shows the only picture I recall of the transformer chord.............. http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1970_Les_Paul_11.php

Hi Dave, I do have a totally original Gibson Les Paul Transformer chord, I just got it with the Les Paul Personal. I've been watching for one for years. A repaired one popped up on eBay within the last six months, I think it went for about $175.00. Mine has the original molded plugs on each end, I'm hesitant on using it much, I don't want to cause a short. The chord is old & fragile. The amp end of the chord is close to six feet, the guitar end is about ten feet long.

I find this to be very true also. It kind of makes you wonder why Gibson supplied a chord with these guitars, that had such a long lead between the transformer and the amp..

A little over a year ago, I met a guy who claimed to be an expert in Chinese Guitar counterfeits. He had a booth in a local guitar show. He was hired by Ibanez because apparently, the Chinese are making counterfeits of their guitars also. He made a comment to the CEO about the years they counterfeited Gibson's, the CEO was in no mood to discuss it! What goes around, comes around...... He was the most interesting thing at the show that year.

Hi Bence, No I've never seen that particular artical before, but I do have the advertisement with the "Wild Eyed Guy". Thanks for pointing it out! Thats's the first artical I have ever seen that pointed out that the Bass & Guitar pickups are all the same, even the bridge & neck pickup on the guitar are the same. I noticed it in my parts catalogs from that era but have never seen it anywhere else in print. George

One final note on the mic jack. I inserted the 1/4 guitar plug only part way into the jack, to make the tip contact with the part of the jack that would connect on the center ring of a stereo plug. I connected a balanced low impedance mic into the XLR jack on the upper bout, & it worked!! A bit lower in volume due to the mic not being unbalanced, but it worked..........

I pulled out my photo lights & took a few shots............. It made me kind of nervous laying the three guitars against the amp, the outside guitars were barely hanging in there. I wasn't going to chance a retake...

I took the guitar apart, pins 1-G-2 are all soldered together & it looks like pin 3 is hot. Its hard to get a good photo, the wires are short...........

Using the supplied or standard guitar jack, the mic circuit would be shorted, or grounded out. That along with the fact that is is unbalanced, I had two factors against me. I 'll have to make a box, or my own Les Paulverizer, that will split the guitar & the mic into their own amps. Or, get a stereo jack & possibly join the tip & first ring together & adapt it to a standard 1/4 jack. Then Guitar & mic will both go into the same amp.......

Hi Bence, it looks like you hit the nail on the head, the guitar does seem to have a stereo jack, if not just to have a special lead to send the mic to a different amp. It looks like I might have to make up a special chord, and find a unbalanced mic. Here is a quote from a web page.... "The guitar's output jack is a regular 1/4" jack (although the LPP's is stereo so you can pluck the microphone signal off separately). The transformer's XLR connection uses only 2-conductors (signal and ground), which I think makes it an unbalanced line. Once you get the cord plugged in the correct way, you can begin to muck around with all the switches and controls."

I found the schematic, it is unbalanced........... http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/LPPersonal.PDF P.S. The schematic was redrawn in 1975, it does show a stereo output jack, one lead for the mic? Whats with that??

I'll have to take it apart & look when I get home. I brought it over to a friends house yesteday to show him & we tried a few of his mics, he had a few old ones & it didn't seem to make any difference. This wasn't a super popular feature, or all Les Pauls would be sporting a mic jack today! I found this schematic reference on line............... http://www.sommercable.com/2__produkte/2__130_support/340_belegungsplaene/belegungsplaene/nf_kabel.htm

I tried pluging a standard XLR mic in the XLR jack, no sound. The last listing I was following stated that the mic jack didn't work also. Didn't they wire some of the older mics differently. It looks as if I am the first person to plug anything into the jack, I doubt it's a malfunction. Any ideas?

The guitar seemed to get heavier, as the newness wore off, so I pulled out the scale. The Personal is 11.4 lbs and the Professional is 10.6 lbs. I sure got that one wrong, I thought for sure the Personal was a lot lighter than the Professional!

I have an LP-12 from the same era, the amp is different but the concept is the same. A preamp and a powered speaker enclosure that you can add as many as you could afford at the time, (they were quite expensive!) This is the low impedance version for the Low Impedance Les Pauls, but they also made the 800-G for guitar & the 800-B for bass, with a couple different powered speaker enclosures.

I guess this is the "Holy Grail" of my guitar collection. I still have to try it in the LP-12......... \:D/

Well, I picked it up about 2 hours ago from the Post Office, it arrived in great shape! The seller did a great job packing it. I'm still in shock!! It plays like a Les Paul Custom of the same era. Either my adrenalin is pumped, or this thing is a lot lighter than my LP Professional or the LP Bass. I'll set things up & take some better photos in the next couple weeks............

The mic gooseneck doesn't look to be an issue at all................ http://www.ebay.com/itm/GOOSENECK-TALKBACK-MICRPHONE-EXTENDER-pulpit-mic-dj-mixer-17-XLR-MALE-FEMALE-/150772775067?pt=US_Stands_Mounts_Holders&hash=item231ac1f89b#ht_2061wt_1177

Now I'll have to be on the look out for the xlr gooseneck & mic, LOL! That may be a tough one!

Yesterday I came across a nice Les Paul Personal, ended up buying it. It should be delivered sometime next week. It even has the original chord in great shape. That rounds up my low impedance collection. Pictures to follow............................

A few years ago I came across a story on Les Pauls son, Rusty Paul. He plays what appears to be a modifyed '68 Gibson EB-2 with low impedance pickups. Check it out! http://cmphotos.zenfolio.com/p281342090/h1e0f3d52#h1e0f3d52