GIbson L6s reissue

[cyclecamper]

I like a guitar that's SOLID. I expect it to hold pitch no matter what I do, not vibrato with my body movements like Pete Townsend shaking an S

G (needless to say I'm no Pete Townsend). I love plain simpilcity: one volume, thick large solid maple body, solid maple neck, no vibrato tailpiece. Solid neck mounts or spine-thru. I love humbuckers. Not impressed with Fender's humbuckers or mounting pickups on a picguard, I was always intrigued by the idea of an L6S Gibson with a maple neck glued onto a maple body. The dual shaved cutaways of an SG seem to decrease its ridigity with pickup cavities so near the neck mount pocket; IMHO the single-cutaway is one thing the Les Paul got right. I even like the second "mid" tone control on the L6S.

 

And I liked the way the original L6S 6-position switch provided all possible ways of wiring a pair of humbuckers (without getting into the wiring within each pickup). It had one, the other, both in series, both in parallel, both out of phase series, both out of phase parallel. I love that it had all the combinations!

 

Now, there's some legit concerns Gibson may have had in making the re-issue. I'd prefer the old wider Schaller-based bridge that was on the original L6s for its additional mass and additional range of intonation setting. But I'm nearly alone in this, as most people consider a tune-o-matic much more lithe and elegant.

 

The out of phase settings are special-purpose things, and though popular with the likes of Santana on the original L6s, it's not an impressive sound in a showroom or a boardroom. It's probably dificult to sell your boss on a tone that doesn't sound that great by itself. But reversing the polarity of one pickup with some extra gain makes pinch harmonics just pop out of nowhere! Occastionally essential for claiming sonic space in a group. Can sound a bit like Peter Green. I've had to add a polarity-reverse switch to every Gibson I've owned, and found it especially valuable for reducing hum on an old hum-plagued SG with P90's. Looking at the lit for the new L6S reissue, it sounds like they eliminated the out of phase settings and added some single-coil settings. Bummer. If I wanted the single coil wiring I'd add a micro-mini toggle switch on the pickup mounting ring. Then again, I've done that to reverse phase too. So I'll keep an open mind until I test it more, but initially I'm disappointed.

 

Anyway, the L6s just arrived and I haven't even plugged it in yet. So, being an amp technician for the last 40 years I called Gibson to get a schematic of the guitar controls and figure out what I just bought without trying one out. Nope. The "customer service" rep wouldn't send one. Said he didn't even have one, but that the authorized service centers could get one and I should contact them. He referred me to a local shop where some poorly-trained kid barely knew what I was talking about. This refusal to supply schematics is a very disturbing change. Gibson sure distributed the schematic for the original L6S. As if it would be difficult to clone without the schematic... What it really means is worse customer service; the customer gets one item less than he used to. So, has anyone taken apart a new reissue L6-s and drawn it up? If not, I guess I'll have to disassemble, look, draw it up, and post it up on the web...'cause apparently Gibson won't.

 

It just goes to show that a re-issue never really is the same. And one person's "improvements" are another person's "damages." I can see how easy it would be to sell the new nicer-sounding settings to a boardroom, but IMHO they should have retained the "thin and inconsistent response sounding" out of phase settings. IMHO they changed the most versatile Gibson ever made into a jazzy-only guitar. I'd have been on-board with providing more settings, but I'm not at all happy about losing some, nor am I pleased that they won't share a schematic to see just exactly what I bought.

 

So:

1) Be aware this reissue is not the original wiring. Somebody thought they knew better than Bill Lawrence did on the original.

2) Demand Gibson share schematics as a condition of buying from them. There's no 'trade secrets' in wiring, just pride versus paranoia.

3) If you have the schematic, please share it.

4) L6-S is still the most underrated and solid of solid Gibsons. I like it as much or better than my previous Les Pauls. I intend to keep with the original idea, and make mine the most versatile Gibson.

[cyclecamper]

I wish it had a better name too. Firebird, Explorer, Flying-V...

[cyclecamper]

Feels light compared to my previous Travis Beans.

[cyclecamper]

Still trying to get the schematic for my new "reissue" L6S. Still unsuccessful. Gibson said to go thru an authorized Gibson repair center. I did, and they said that Gibson would not release the guitar's schematic to them either. This is the first USA made guitar or amp I've ever purchased where the mfgr won't release the schematic. I find this totally unacceptable. I'll see whether I can email Gibson support instead of using the phone, so I can publish their official response.

[cyclecamper]

On the up-side, if this LS6 is the result of the factory using Plek machines for some of the setup, and they all come out consistently set up this good, I'm in awe. Except for the Travis Beans this is the first new guitar I've ever seen that arrived set up this well. Usually I'm fiddling with intonation, nut, bridge, a bit of fret dress; then able to set the action a bit faster the cycle repeats. This did cost a lot more than the Epiphone (incredible bargain) I bought about the same time, but this came with the equivalent of $1000 of my time or a well-equipped lutier's $300 setup. The decent setup probably really helps it in the showroom at Guitar Center.

[cyclecamper]

Wrote email to Gibson support instead of using phone. They came thru with the schematic for the reissue.

 

Hi Gregory,

 

Thanks for the email. We do indeed have the schematic for this model, I’ve attached it to this email. I would like to research this further so that I might be able to find out who you spoke with at Gibson over the phone that claimed we didn’t provide this information, if you have any information such as the date that you called and the phone number that you called from, I should be able to pinpoint who you spoke with and make sure that they understand that this information is available. I apologize for the inconvenience and I do hope this file helps.

Also, the Plek machines do have a part to play in the guitar setup, I will certainly pass your kind words on to our factory personnel. Thank you.

[cyclecamper]

Note they changed Bill Lawrence's "mid" tone control too. It no longer uses any inductor, and is no longer a bandpass filter. Now there's the typical treble cut lowpass and a new treble-pass lowcut.

[L5Larry]

And I liked the way the original L6S 6-position switch provided all possible ways of wiring a pair of humbuckers...

 

I'd prefer the old wider Schaller-based bridge that was on the original L6s for its additional mass and additional range of intonation setting.

 

...popular with the likes of Santana on the original L6s...

 

Looking at the lit for the new L6S reissue, it sounds like they eliminated the out of phase settings and added some single-coil settings. Bummer.

 

...but initially I'm disappointed.

 

...figure out what I just bought without trying one out.

 

Gibson sure distributed the schematic for the original L6S.

 

It just goes to show that a re-issue never really is the same.

 

Be aware this reissue is not the original wiring.

 

So why didn't you just buy a 70's original? There are no less than five of the 70's "standard" models on e-bay right now, and they're selling for well under a grand!

[cyclecamper]

I had really expected the "reissue" with the same knobs to be wired the same. The real reason is that I wanted one with no fret wear.

 

It'e really not a big problem. The new switch is a 4-gang and the old wiring only requires a 3-gang so the new one can be easily rewired like the old. Then single-col switches can be added for the 'new' sounds too if you want. I'd like that better than adding series and phase switches to the new wiring.

 

But to each his own; there are people who like the new wiring better.

 

I'm considering getting rid of the rotary switch completely. I don't like cycling thru other tones on the way to your objective during performance. In that case, it doesn't matter at all what I started with.

 

I'd sure like to get the original inductor to restore the mid control though. After the holiday weekend I'll see whether its available from Gibson anymore. I wish I knew the value, but I don't think its on the schematic, just the part number.

[rct]

I had a 72 and a 74.

 

rct

[dlsmusic]

I had a 74 L6S all black but it got destroyed during a bad divorce. I jumped at the chance of getting the reissue. Yes, it's not an exact replica and I miss the wiring but the vibe is all there. And the workmanship is very good. I'm very happy with this purchase! YIMMV of course!

[capmaster]

Note they changed Bill Lawrence's "mid" tone control too. It no longer uses any inductor, and is no longer a bandpass filter. Now there's the typical treble cut lowpass and a new treble-pass lowcut.

 

Please refer to the post I started the linked topic with:

 

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/102384-what-about-the-contemporary-l6s-model/