Les Paul STD too bright (2018)

[mihcmac]

Les had no hums to put in the original LP, they were not invented yet.

Gibson's hum cancelling pickup was invented developed by Seth Lover, a Gibson engineer and released in 57. Les always made sure his Les Paul Models were available with P-90's..

 

Note: The first humbucking coil was invented by Electro-Voice in 1934..

Edited May 5, 2019 by mihcmac

[mihcmac]

Yeah I know that. Invented was the wrong word, I meant made for guitar yet. Were they available for guitar when the first LP's were made? Or a year or 2 later?

 

The first Les Paul was released in 52 with P90's and continued using them even after Gibson introduced the humbucking in 57..

Edited May 5, 2019 by mihcmac

[badbluesplayer]

IMO, having the correct pickups and running your amp's eq evenly sounds waaayyyy better than having the wrong pickups and choking out the bad frequencies with the amp's eq, which makes the sound weak and thin. If you're playing a high gain amp, you won't notice it as much. If you like a ratty distorted sound then you may not be able to hear that kind of thing.

[Black Dog]

Since you say you otherwise really like the guitar, I'd take everything out and put in a set of SD Seth Lovers and re-do with hand-wired pots and caps. If that doesn't fix it, nothing will.

[Black Dog]

Lindy Fralin makes sweet pups.

 

No doubt. There seem to be lots of really good PAF clones out there right now. You probably can't go too wrong with most of them.

 

 

 

[mihcmac]

These are the mods I did (trying copying what's on the '96)

 

1 swap pickups from BB PRO to 490T 498R

2 removed the controller pcb and made a brand new modern wiring (like on the '96) with 300K volume pots and 500K tone pots and black bee caps

 

Still too BRIGHT! The pickups swap made the sound a bit better but the new wiring didn't make any difference.

 

If changing to the same pickups didn't get the desired result, wonder if the 490T 498R's are still made the same way, or is something else happening?

 

Is the construction of the 2018 Les Paul Standard different from the 1996, like a different density of maple on the figured/sculpted top or the neck contruction?

 

Or does a 20 year old Les Paul just sound better, will the 2018 sound improve after its aged for couple of decades...?

 

Does the 2018 and the 1996 sound the same when not plugged in?

Edited May 6, 2019 by mihcmac

[pauloqs]

+1 on adjusting pickup height o

+1 on rolling the tone down, and

+1 n the Classic 57'

 

in that order :)

 

Edit: Classic 57 are one of my favorite Gibson pickups, second only to the Custombuckers, tied with the Burstbucker 61s and marginally prefer them to Burstbucker 1 & 2 combo. The BB pros are great and cut through a band mix like a hot knife, I just like other Gibson pickups better. A bit brighter than I'd like my humbuckers.

Edited May 9, 2019 by pauloqs

[Pinch]

On 5/4/2019 at 2:22 AM, FZ Fan said:

Are you guys saying if I adjust the tone and vol on my amp and guitar the sound will change? I'm gonna go try it right now and see if i.

 

Heh!

On topic, that's really weird. I woulda thunked switching out the BB Pros would have changed things dramatically.

[Dave F]

I had a '68 Custom RI that I really liked the play and sound but sold because it was too heavy and I did not like the triburst. I sold it a few years ago.

 

A couple of years ago I picked up this standard. A few pounds lighter and I prefer the desert  burst. I did not like the Burstbuckers  Pro that came with it. Too bright.

I put a set of  '57 Classic Plus in it and I had the sound I wanted. I also added a Bigsby.

[Mr. Natural]

3 hours ago, Dave F said:

... A couple of years ago I picked up this standard. A few pounds lighter and I prefer the desert  burst. I did not like the Burstbuckers  Pro that came with it. Too bright.

I put a set of  '57 Classic Plus in it and I had the sound I wanted. I also added a Bigsby.

That's a beauty!

[pauloqs]

4 hours ago, Dave F said:

I had a '68 Custom RI that I really liked the play and sound but sold because it was too heavy and I did not like the triburst. I sold it a few years ago.

 

A couple of years ago I picked up this standard. A few pounds lighter and I prefer the desert  burst. I did not like the Burstbuckers  Pro that came with it. Too bright.

I put a set of  '57 Classic Plus in it and I had the sound I wanted. I also added a Bigsby.

 

Bourbon and Desert bursts are by far my favorite bursts. 

[NighthawkChris]

On 5/1/2019 at 9:44 AM, NighthawkChris said:

 

So first mistake is buying a guitar assuming you know what it sounds and plays like. It happens, don't make this mistake again if you don't have any sort of return/trial window to take advantage of when dealing with an unknown guitar. And don't assume in the future.

 

You are determined to make this guitar sound like something it isn't this all sounds like. And you mention that you like it a lot... What is it about it you like a lot that has you hell-bent on ripping it up at any expense to make it sound like a 1996 LP Standard? Why not buy another LP from that era? I'm sure you can sell your 2018 LP for at least the cost of a 1990s LP Standard... I bought my 1994 LP Standard in excellent for less than $2k. I know you could sell a 2018 LP Standard for at or near this price. Perhaps even a trade might work...

 

Overall, there is more to a guitar's sound than the electronics and such. A lot of it has to do with the way it is constructed, woods used, etc. This is why you play before you pay - or as I said, have a window to return if it doesn't fit the bill. If you are planning on keeping this 2018 LP Standard, then good luck trying to make it sound like something different than what it is. You are just going to have to compensate with tone on your guitar and/or amp until you have the tone you find that is acceptable.

 

And just to clear something up, I have a LP Custom that has the 498T/490R set and my 90s LP Standard that has the same set. Both sound different to some extent because they are different guitars. All guitars are somewhat unique and there are things about each of them that you just cannot make it do like another. May not always be the case, but I typically trial a guitar, and if I like it, I take it. I don't mess around with changing it all up because the effort isn't worth the time and money most of the time. Nothing better than getting a guitar that you have to do jack squat to it to play it and be happy with it.

 

I wish you best of luck and hope that you start to like your LP for what it is. I'm sure it doesn't sound like crap, but I can buy it that it sounds a bit different than your guitar that was constructed decades before your 2018 LP.

 

Really after all the other condescending and unhelpful posts I get downvoted... sorry the truth hurts... with the new forum setup, I’m notified about what happens with my content and this example here is why I have stayed away for a while here. Some regulars wouldn’t dare get downvoted or singled out for brutal honesty and I get it nearly every single time I say what has to. 

Nice forum we got here... just when you think things might go good, never fails to let me down. Have fun with the popularity contest. 

[jazzyjim]

Play with the tones on the amp and the guitar. It's about fine tuning it for each guitar you use. Modeling amps are nice because you can have presets. I keep a log for a few of my amps on what settings sound best with which guitars. That way I can always get back to something for recording. If you still can't get what you want, you may want to play with the pickup height. I'd do all of that before you try to start swopping parts out.