AFTER MARKET add ons to your Gibson?

[pippy]

A guitar wired traditionally will sound like a blanket thrown over it when you back the volume down....Retention of highs when rolling volume off, that's what a cap job is for....

OK. So my guitars are wired '50s style (trust me on this) and I get an increase in highs when the volume is rolled off...

 

 

Pip.

[rct]

OK. So my guitars are wired '50s style and I get an increase in highs when the volume is rolled off...

 

 

Pip.

 

I know. My buddy has an R8 that holds the highs when rolled off, so his isn't accurate 50's either, and we have joked about it.

 

Yours increases because of the cap value. I remember messing with a few to get what I wanted, which was no loss, not addition.

 

rct

[LWAG]

[01GT eibach]

1979 Gibson SG Standard (made in Kalamazoo, MI):

- Came to me in 1982 with an original DiMarzio SD in the bridge, Lyre plate, Grover tuners from a '67 SG, and HSC from the same '67 SG (the '79's tuners and HSC went to the '67)

- In the 1990s I changed the bridge and tailpiece due to heavy use, replaced a tone knob with a phase-out switch, and replaced the pups with 496R/500T (which I love, but I know a lot of people hate them)

 

2010 Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Pro:

- nothing

 

[zigzag]

... and noticed I didn't like the bridge on my Gibson VOS as much as the bridge Gibson had put into my 1996 Gibson Custom Shop that I love, and then I remembered (being the Guns N' Roses/Slash fan) of this guitar bridge he liked called Tone Pros, and Tone Pros were a part/a product/a brand I had heard of, but have never used (I've used Schaller, Floyd Rose Origingal Trem & Fishman bridges when modding, but never Tone Pros); So I went to sleep;

Woke up, took my Gibson R7 with all new strap lock system and pickups, to get a new Tone Pros...

 

Yes, when I replaced the stock bridge in my 335 with a TonePros, my intonation problem went away. Not that the stock bridge was that bad, but I don't think it was versatile enough to accommodate the strings I wanted to use, and the TonePros bridge was a tad wider and allowed the saddles to move more.

 

Old Gibson Forum Bridge Discussion

[capmaster]

The following could be seen as an old platitude, but strap locks will save your Les Paul from crashing to the floor. One of my Gibson Les Paul guitars came stock with a pair of them, but I treated all the others to their individual pairs, too.

[pippy]

...My buddy has an R8 that holds the highs when rolled off, so his isn't accurate 50's either...

Without wishing to start a bunfight as regards how tone is affected by rolling-off the Vol. pot, here's what Seymour Duncan's website says about the tonal difference between '50s and Modern wiring;

 

"The modern version will maintain the overall volume better when you roll down the volume but at the cost of losing a bit of high end.......

...I'm very fond of the 50s wiring myself. The highs seem to be clearer, especially with the volume pot rolled back."

 

I can't help feeling that Mr. Duncan should know what he's talking about and, certainly, the above description mirrors my own experiences yet these are the opposite of what has been mentioned a couple of times here by folks whose experience and wisdom I respect greatly. I'll have to do some more reading to try to get a better picture of the whole shebang.

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

The following could be seen as an old platitude, but strap locks will save your Les Paul from crashing to the floor. One of my Gibson Les Paul guitars came stock with a pair of them, but I treated all the others to their individual pairs, too.

Was a set of Jim Dunlop strap lock system that came stock?

[MichaelT]

Without wishing to start a bunfight as regards how tone is affected by rolling-off the Vol. pot, here's what Seymour Duncan's website says about the tonal difference between '50s and Modern wiring;

 

"The modern version will maintain the overall volume better when you roll down the volume but at the cost of losing a bit of high end.......

...I'm very fond of the 50s wiring myself. The highs seem to be clearer, especially with the volume pot rolled back."

 

I can't help feeling that Mr. Duncan should know what he's talking about and, certainly, the above description mirrors my own experiences yet these are the opposite of what has been mentioned a couple of times here by folks whose experience and wisdom I respect greatly. I'll have to do some more reading to try to get a better picture of the whole shebang.

 

Pip.

 

Thank you Pippy, Rabs, RCT. I don't really dig around inside my guitars because I'd rather have someone experienced do so. The main reason why I asked is that I am considering pulling out the PCB in my Goldtop Tribute and see if it sounds and performs the way I want. I had some issues the other day in high heat and humidity on that guitar but not the other two that were hand wired.

[LWAG]

Yes, when I replaced the stock bridge in my 335 with a TonePros, my intonation problem went away. Not that the stock bridge was that bad, but I don't think it was versatile enough to accommodate the strings I wanted to use, and the TonePros bridge was a tad wider and allowed the saddles to move more.

 

Old Gibson Forum Bridge Discussion

My Tone Pros made my Gibson R7 lighter.

 

It weighs like 7 lbs but.... That bridge made it feel lighter (if not actually lighter).

[rct]

Without wishing to start a bunfight as regards how tone is affected by rolling-off the Vol. pot, here's what Seymour Duncan's website says about the tonal difference between '50s and Modern wiring;

 

"The modern version will maintain the overall volume better when you roll down the volume but at the cost of losing a bit of high end.......

...I'm very fond of the 50s wiring myself. The highs seem to be clearer, especially with the volume pot rolled back."

 

I can't help feeling that Mr. Duncan should know what he's talking about and, certainly, the above description mirrors my own experiences yet these are the opposite of what has been mentioned a couple of times here by folks whose experience and wisdom I respect greatly. I'll have to do some more reading to try to get a better picture of the whole shebang.

 

Pip.

 

He certainly does. All of my experience is probably easily chalked off to a variety of guitars being capped/de-capped/re-capped throughout their lives. Our perception, and I say "our" because I was lucky to grow up in an area just oozing guitar players, could have been completely backwards based on our experiences.

 

For a new person attempting to extract that extra 10% of tone out of their guitar by changing caps? No way. A cap job is to retain highs when you roll down the volume, not to cause drastic improvements to the baseline guitar sound you are getting. If you cap it right you won't notice anything from full up to more than halfway down, and that's a good thing.

 

rct

[Mr. C.O. Jones]

Thank you Pippy, Rabs, RCT. I don't really dig around inside my guitars because I'd rather have someone experienced do so. The main reason why I asked is that I am considering pulling out the PCB in my Goldtop Tribute and see if it sounds and performs the way I want. I had some issues the other day in high heat and humidity on that guitar but not the other two that were hand wired.

 

I replaced the PCB in my LPJ with 50's wiring and Orange Drop caps that where in my Traditional wich got Luxe Bees.

I like the way the controlls work much more. I guess some of it it's partly because of the different pot values. The PCB had 300k on the volume and now theres 500k Emerson Pro pot's all around.

I definitely would recomend it.

[Larsongs]

I bought a new Gibson Memphis Blacktop ES Les Paul recently from Sweetwater. They added a Bigsby B-5 & Vibramte. The install is seamless. Looks lime it it came that way from the Factory. Beautiful Guitar!

 

Sorry Photobucket has Pics & I can't share.

 

Lars

[Riffster]

If those are Hovland capacitors they are worth about $50-$100.

 

They are sought after high end audio components, more do because the company went belly up and they are no longer made.

 

Last time o sold a set of those I got $60 on eBay

[paddybrown]

I'm a compulsive modder, I'm afraid. The drummer in my band also plays and collects guitars. He likes the classic designs, exactly as they were in the Golden Age. The only modifications he's prepared to make are ones that make them closer to the classics, like wiring his Les Paul Traditional 50s-style. I love Gibson-style guitars, but I like them to be able to do all the things I want them to do.

 

 

The 2016 Les Paul Standard on the right is the only one I bought new, and is still more or less stock, I've just added Schaller strap locks and knob pointers.

 

On the left is my 2001 Standard Plus Doublecut. It has strap locks and knob pointers. It also has a Duesenberg Les Trem ii, combined with a roller bridge and a String Butler to keep it in tune. Also, I had the electronics modified from one volume and one tone knob to two volume knobs, one of which is a push-pull phase switch. I find the independent volume controls on my other Lesters indispensable, but I hardly use the tone controls at all.

 

The middle one is the one I've done the most surgery to. It's a 2015 LPM. Like the Doublecut, it has strap locks, knob pointers, a Les Trem, a roller bridge and a String Butler. I also replaced the G-Force with Grover locking tuners and the Z-Fan nut with a Zero Glide. I turned the magnet round in the neck pickup for the out-of-phase sound, but then I found someone selling the circuit board from a Standard on Ebay, so now it has coil taps, a bypass, and I can switch it back into phase if I want to. The least pretty of the three, but the most versatile.

[badbluesplayer]

Sixties wiring with treble bleed circuit. [thumbup]

[Black Dog]

'17 Tribute T with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups, Emerson pro pots, PIO caps, Faber ABR bridge and Faber Tailpiece.:

 

[Black Dog]

Epiphone Black Beauty with Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, Emerson pro pots, PIO cap, Free-way 6-way pickup selector, Faber ABR locking bridge, Bigsby:

 

[capmaster]

Was a set of Jim Dunlop strap lock system that came stock?

It was Schaller style replicas with no names on them. Anyway, they creaked like the hinges of an old door in a horror castle when moved, and this noise was also transduced through the piezos. I replaced them with original Schallers which are quiet.

 

By the way, my Fender American Deluxe Telecaster came with Schaller replicas, too, but they bore Fender embossments. Unfortunately their threads were quite soft and didn't allow for securely mounting the strap, so I replaced them with original Schallers, too.

[LarryUK]

Epiphone Black Beauty with Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, Emerson pro pots, PIO cap, Free-way 6-way pickup selector, Faber ABR locking bridge, Bigsby:

 

You should take the photos for a lot of shops. Nice pics.

[LarryUK]

'17 Tribute T with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups, Emerson pro pots, PIO caps, Faber ABR bridge and Faber Tailpiece.:

 

I had a new tribute once. But they only painted some of it. Yes it came with bare wood at the corner. Andertons who I bought it from, couldn't believe it.

[Riffster]

I modify just about every guitar, this is my latest (not sure how to do the links on my phone)

 

Before

 

After

[Pinch]

I'd rather mod a VOS.

 

However, I'm still wondering if I'd be better off going for stock capacitors.

I bought mine used and those MusiCap capacitors was an aftermarket mod done by a former owner (and I bought the guitar unplugged based on tone and weight and feel).

 

Maybe I'm paranoid about tone, or maybe I'd be happier with stock capacitors?

 

Or maybe they're also what makes my Gibson R7 different than another, like the Hot Rod 'mine is upgraded' mentality that wonders why have the same as everyone else?

But then, I could be missing out on what I want.

 

IDK, it sounds great, but because it's a Gibson VOS. IDK if the MusiCaps are taking from that.

 

I'd still have modded it with the same bridge and pickups though, that's on me/I'm owing that one.

 

"Paranoid about tone" has such an ugly ring to it... But yeah - probably. I'm with Rabs - if it sounds great, leave it be.

 

You can always mod it tomorrow, but getting it to sound great again if you fook it up... Not saying you would. You know what I'm saying.

 

Oh man, Slash Duncans. Bet they're great.

[LWAG]

I'm taking my 2005 Gibson R7 (that I bought used and found a former owner did a relic job on it and upgraded to Musicap capacitors) that I had a set of Slash's signature Seymour Duncan pickups and a Tune-o-matic style bridge (Tone Pros) put on - to get speed knobs today.

 

I've had this guitar since November, just over 7 months now, it's my daily player, and I wished I'd have had it done sooner, but, whatever, I'm finally getting the knobs I want put on today.

[LWAG]

I have the option to buy these today;

but, I think I've seen This Is Spinal Tap (1984) just the once..

I'm sticking with getting.