bigneil Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Well, Its my Birthday tomorrow on St Patricks day. This evening when I came home from work my 3 year son came to greet me at the door, then asked loudly (to the sheer shock and disbelief of my wife) If i wanted my guitar for my birthday present a day early !! At which point my wife, realizing that her cover was blown said that i may as well have it a day early and sent me off to look under the bed.... Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me... First Mod was to replace the orange knobs for some black speed knobs i had lying around, then change the strings All i need now is a Tuxedo so I can be as smart as my new axe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Moore Tribute Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Very nice Happy PRE Birthday & Guitar Day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Happy B-Day AND Happy NGD! I've got one just like that and the first thing I did was put on black knobs too. They look so much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karine_plays Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 really looks nice! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 According to the serial number it was born on September 09. Mrs Bigneil says that she bought it second hand from a guy who only ever played it a couple of times, which makes sense because it's in immaculate condition with no fret wear....I would be willing to bet it still had it's factory strings on. I have made a few minor adjustments, and all is well. It plays very nicely . My next modification will be to change the wiring slightly, i want independent volume controls and a 50's style setup on the tone controls. Mrs bigneil did pretty darn good considering she knows nothing about guitars, She just said to me a few moments ago "I like the way it says Les Paul on the handle". lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Happy Birthday! and congratulations on a great guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEpiphone Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Happy Birthday and HNGD, Mr. bigneil! Looks like you are having an excellent day. I think the speedknobs look best on your guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stickman Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Happy B/D and what a great score!.....BTW, it should already have independent volume and tone controls for each pup. I can't speak for the fifties tone setup however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denthevetteman78 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Happy birthday and enjoy your new guitar. It does look great (i forgot, it look's just like mine ). Hope you enjoy and like it as much as i do like mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Gratz It sounds like you have an awesome family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchale Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 HNGD and Happy Birthday! I hope you bought your son an ice cream cone or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Great b/day present, great family, you got it goin' on man, Happy Birthday and HNGD Neil. +1 on dchale's comment about getting your son an ice cream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Happy Birthday/New Guitar Day, Big Neil! My you, your guitar, you wonderful, supportive family ... and Erin go Bragh (last forever!) Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sounds like the little guy was pretty excited for his dad. Cool guitar. I can dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I have done the 50s wiring mod' i mentioned earlier, and can i just say that it really brightens up the whole sound of the guitar. Pre-Mod it sounded a bit muted, like the tone control was at half way when it was all the way to 10, It was unclear as to whether this was due to the components, the wiring or the pickups. Post-mod the guitar is a little brighter with more bite crunch and wail, and sounds much improved. However, they don't quite sing crunch and wail like the wilky pickups i have in my G400 or my Ibby...may have to replace them at some point, but it just goes to show that a little wiring mod may often be all that is needed to get closer to the sound you are looking for. The hardware seems pretty good, but the tuners are not. There is slippage occurring and yes i have correctly installed a new set of quality strings and lubed the nut, these will have to be replaced ASAP. This guitar is excellent value for money and has potential to be a great sounding, rock solid axe, and i really really love it [biggrin] Just need to name it now? P.S. Thanks for all your comments, i got the wee fella a second hand sponge bob electric guitar instead of an ice cream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Mrs bigneil did pretty darn good considering she knows nothing about guitars, She just said to me a few moments ago "I like the way it says Les Paul on the handle". lol I wish Mrs. AlanH would talk dirty to me like that. Congrats, Neil. NB. I'm sure I read the other day that '50s wiring prevents loss of treble when you roll off the volume. In fact, here is what I was reading (while GASing for a Marshall Class 5)- there's some interesting stuff on how to set volume and tone controls on an LP (see below) Alan http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/17536-touch-class-class5-owners-welcome-3.html How to Use the Controls on a Les Paul Because a couple of people asked about it, here is the stuff I wrote in another thread about using the controls on a Les Paul. The OP asked how to use the controls to get sounds like Page and other classic players. My reply includes some alternative suggestions on how you might EQ your amp to get a different range of noises, and get a little bit more out of the neck and middle positions. Hope it's of some use. Here it is First, your volume controls do not just control your loudness, but also your level of distortion (‘gain’ or ‘overdrive’). If your guitar has modern wiring, lowering the volume will also reduce the available treble, as if you’d turned the tone down too. If you have 1950s wiring this effect is far less prominent. Secondly, your tone control not only cuts your treble, it also reduces the amount of ‘space’ your guitar seems to take up in the mix. Turning your tone down can effectively pull you ‘back’ into the mix. Enough basics. Here’s some pointers. EQ Your Amp for the Neck Most of the time you’ve probably set up your amp for a good tone from the bridge. Try this instead and see what happens. 1. Turn all your volumes and tones up to 10. 2. Select the neck pick up. 3. Adjust your amp so you get a good soloing tone for that pickup. 4. Switch to bridge. This will be too bright. Ice-pick through ear territory. 5. Tame bridge with tone control, until you’ve got a good soloing tone. You now have your ‘boost’ sounds. Now turn the bridge vol down (about 75-80%), until you’ve got a good crunching rhythm sound. If you have modern wiring you may need to turn up the tone a little at this stage. You could now play the rhythm on the bridge, and switch to the neck for the solo. Solo on Bridge, cleans on Neck Turn up your bridge tone and vol. That’s your solo sound (ice pick and all). Turn your neck vol down to about 50%. If your amp is any good, that should be nearly clean. If you’ve got 1950s wiring, it won’t be muddy either. You may now play the intro to Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You on the neck pick up. Switch to bridge for the signature lick. Back to neck, or turn down bridge to 50-60%. For a more sensible bridge pick up sound, just turn the tone down a fraction to clip some of the hairs off it. If your amp is good, it should be sensitive enough to clean up when you turn down, and also to clean up if you back off with your right hand an pick gently. Use both these effects to control your tone. Middle positions Leave your bridge in its rhythm setting, then switch to middle. Now turn down the neck to nearly nothing, then slowly turn it back up (to about 50%). Somewhere across this range you’ll hear three fairly distinct tones. It’ll start out sounding like the bridge on its own. Next, it will fill out (i.e. get some extra bass), and it might do this quite suddenly. This is a really useful sound for soloing, because it basically sounds like the bridge pickup, but it’s fuller and meatier without being in any way muddy. As you keep turning up the neck vol it will start to sound more like both pick ups. This can be sort of nasal, but quite good. Once you get both pick ups to the same vol (~ 75%) you’ve got the classic middle sound. Many people find this a bit muddy, but if you EQd the amp for your neck pick up, you should be OK. And: Before I forget again, there's one thing about the middle setting that I forgot to mention. It’s a lot easier to use than it sounds to describe it! If you set your neck so it’s basically clean (~ 50%), and then set the bridge to about 75%, that will give you the sounds-like-the-bridge-pickup-but-fuller tone. As I said before, that’s a good rhythm or lead sound. From that basic position, if you want to get a boost, all you have to do is adjust ONE volume control up to 100%. Either will work. If the bridge, you get the biting sound, if the neck you get the fuller sound. When you’ve finished, simply turn that volume back to where it was. Simple. In other words, once you’ve worked out your pre-sets, using the Les Paul this way is as simple as playing a Telecaster. The above courtesy of Splattle101 on MLP forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 ALANH: That is great stuff. that should be a sticky. Not to add or subtract, but there are a few myths involved that cause us to shy awat from actually USING the controls on the guitar: The idea that all the way up being wide open and out of the curcuit is a myth: what it is technically is that the output is SEPARATED from ground by 500k. Thats why higher values mean more volume. half way would be like having a 300k full on, or a 1000k halfway would be the same as 500k if you turned it down. The full on setting is just a stopping point that does not mean it is any more or less in the curcuit. The same applies to tone control curcuits. The cap is actually always on, it is just a matter of how much. A tone control full on or halfway on is no more or less "pure" depending on where it is set. SO..the idea of stting our amp or voicing our guitars to sound good at full on settings on the guitar is misleading, and limits our options and use of the controls for really no reason. Also, regarding the change in tone controls with 50's wiring and what it does is this: it puts the effect of the tone control AFTER the volume and wiring of where the volume is set. It is an interaction thing between the volume control. You can have the volume control cut the signal of what is coming from the tone control, or you can have the tone control cut the highs coming from the volume control. When it is after as it is in 50's wiring, the tone cut is half when the volume is half, as opposed to still full when the volume is halved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 great info Alan and stein thanks for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC59 Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 My Birthday is also on St Pat's Day and I'm 1/4 Irish However, I don't have a Mrs. DMC59 so could Mrs. bigneil take pity on me and buy ME a new guitar? Congrats on the nice guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleWide Revival Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Grats Bigneil!! and thanks AlanH!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchale Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I have done the 50s wiring mod' i mentioned earlier, and can i just say that it really brightens up the whole sound of the guitar. Pre-Mod it sounded a bit muted, like the tone control was at half way when it was all the way to 10, It was unclear as to whether this was due to the components, the wiring or the pickups. Post-mod the guitar is a little brighter with more bite crunch and wail, and sounds much improved. However, they don't quite sing crunch and wail like the wilky pickups i have in my G400 or my Ibby...may have to replace them at some point, but it just goes to show that a little wiring mod may often be all that is needed to get closer to the sound you are looking for. The hardware seems pretty good, but the tuners are not. There is slippage occurring and yes i have correctly installed a new set of quality strings and lubed the nut, these will have to be replaced ASAP. This guitar is excellent value for money and has potential to be a great sounding, rock solid axe, and i really really love it [biggrin] Just need to name it now? P.S. Thanks for all your comments, i got the wee fella a second hand sponge bob electric guitar instead of an ice cream. A sponge bob guitar is much better than ice cream! My 4 year old grandson loves sponge bob, I didn't know they made sponge bob guitars. I'm going to have to do a quick search and see if I can find one now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Bigneil, Only just spotted this lovely story. Happy belated Birthday & NGD. Oh, & for a name (seeing as it's a fancy schmancy 'tuxedo' & given that you 'really really love' your premature arrival) how about 'Sir Prize' Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 A sponge bob guitar is much better than ice cream! My 4 year old grandson loves sponge bob, I didn't know they made sponge bob guitars. I'm going to have to do a quick search and see if I can find one now. I got this one for him. there are bigger ones too. Basically its junk, i had to take it to bits and put it back together again before it could be played. Wee fella loves it, as far as he is concerned it is a REAL electric guitar just like daddys ones. Oh, & for a name (seeing as it's a fancy schmancy 'tuxedo' & given that you 'really really love' your premature arrival) how about 'Sir Prize' very good lol, I like the idea of a Sir. I think I will name him "Sir Handle" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SketchyEtchy Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Like Eggmuffins just noticed this post. Happy Birthday (sorry its late) and that is an amazing LP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 UPDATE. Sir Handle is now playing very nicely after a few adjustments, as good as any gibby LP i ever played . I wasn't happy with the sound, but i have no money right now for Pick-ups, so i popped in the M22T that came from my carvin, and boy-oh-boy does it sound cool in this guitar, so there it will stay. I'm planning to find some way of fitting a Mini hum at the neck at some point. here's some fresh guitar Porn for you Why oh why oh did i not pull the trigger on one of these years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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