IMF Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Was just wondering other then wear and tear how different is your Les Paul from when you first got it, is there section of this fraternity that customers / altered their guitars. I was not really expecting a West Coast style pimping but would like to hear and see pictures of anything different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvansickle Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Wow, mine has had more work done than Joan Rivers! I've changed the pickups at least 10 times in 28 years, finally settling for the Fralins that are on it now. I added the Groove Tubes Fat Head in 1989. I installed new pots and caps, and a Stellartone ToneStyler in 2006. The nut has been replaced at least twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolff Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Cool avatar there IMF. I like to slightly mod some of my guitars. The one you see in my sig started out as a regular ebony/creme LP. In addition to the cosmetic changes, the big thing is I put in Seymour Duncan sh6 pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpdeluxe Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 My '70 Deluxe now has Seymour Duncan SM-1s, because the bridge pickup lost its magnetism and slowly went dead. I went with SD because I was able to check out a sound sample and verify that it sounded very close to the original (I prefer minis in an LP). Other than that, strap locks, the pickguard had already been removed, that's it. I do change strings from time to time. The real issue with it has been finding an amplifier that allows it to sound its best. After 11 years, I've settled on a '67 Super Reverb that a friend has and my own new Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, but actually it never sounds bad -- just better through certain amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elessar820 Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 My BFG has a pickup ring, Straplocks, switch washer and pickguard as well as 500k bridge volume and 500k tone pots. I had it wired as a 2 volume/2 tone 3 way set up, a pickup cover and a Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon. Now it is wired stock with cosmetic changes. I want to get a 4 conductor BB3 so I can coil split it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I took the covers off the pickups and installed strap locks but, other than that, it's stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I've not changed anything, but, as I didn't get my guitar from new, I don't know if the circuitry is as it left the workshop. It has Sprague 'Black Beauties' (aka Bumblebees) and the original style of '58 - '60 wiring route, which isn't always the case as far as I can see from pictures of other LP control cavities. There is one thing I would really like to try (following on from what elessar wants to try with the BB); has anyone out there tried the magnet flip to get the middle-switch-position out-of-phase sound? I've read several articles about o-o-p on a Les Paul and there seems to be many different ways to get it but the magnet flip was always the easiest. Any views and/or methods welcome! Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elessar820 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Now my BFG has a Dirty Fingers in the bridge. The BB3 was losing signal and I decided I wanted a hotter sound and I'm pretty happy with the change. Pippy, I don't think I've ever mentioned anything about flipping any magnets or anything. I have mentioned that my Ibanez SZ520 has push/pulls for phase reversal and coil split. I know I've talked about coil splitting my BFG before, but I wouldn't waste my time with phase reversal again, I don't care for the sound too much. I honestly only did it because I had two push/pulls in the Ibanez for individual coil splits and decided I could do something else with the second one. Flipping a magnet is something I wouldn't want to try anyway, seems like too much work when adding push/pull is so much easier and still gives to the added option of the standard middle position. Good luck if you try it out and let us know what happens... I didn't even know flipping a magnet would cause phase reversal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I have a DiMarzio Dual sound in the Bridge and an Air Classic in the neck. Both are wired with push/pull volume knobs to split the coils. One tone has a phase switch and the other tone is supposed to place the pickups in series, but I'm not sure I like the sound. I may rewire it this winter. I have Sprague orange caps - a 22 in the neck and a 47 for the bridge. Speed knobs and strap locks. I've been thinking about making some more changes as some parts need replacing after 30 years and I'm thinking about some cosmetic changes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy60 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 i've had all the hardware replaced due to the wear of extensive use and the need to improve tone. sperzel locking tuners, a pair of emg-81s, neutrik locking jack, schaller straplocks, tone pros locking bridge and tailpiece, and graphtech graphite saddles. i've also had the nut and frets replaced due to wear and a battery compartment installed in the control plate for the active pickups. it's all topped off with a fatfinger sustainer on the headstock. pretty much the only original part on my '94 LP classic is the wood body.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucy-guitar Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I frequently change the nut for a bone nut, the stoptail for a light aluminum one (Gibson or Faber), in some cases even the Nashville bridges for ABR-1, all Lesters get 50's wiring and usually I try different capacitors (old russian paper/oil caps with different capacity). I do less experiments with pickups as I really like the Gibson tone but - to be honest - the WCR Fillmore on my SG in neck position is way better than the PAT-humbucker I tried as well. An interesting fact is the staggering quality of CTS pots - what was supposed to be 500 kOhm tone pots in my '88 LP Standard had only 78 and 82 kOhm. These were changed for a measured pair with 477 and 496 kOhm - sound improvement guaranteed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Sorry, elessar, for any confusion I caused; I merely meant that you reminded me of a question that I wanted to ask when you talked about your BB3 and coil-splitting - hence the magnet-flip part. To get the pickups wired for o-o-p, from what I've read (but with a dodgy memory...), you loosen the four screw-heads on the underside of the pup, slide the magnet out from under the coils, turn it over on it's short side (???) and re-install. This has no effect on the pup's sound when each is being selected alone but, in the middle position, the polarity of one is the opposite of the other and they are, literally, out-of-phase The only reason I'm interested is I now play a lot of stuff where the classic Peter Green sound suits the track perfectly. Having used a '64 Strat for 24 years I'm used to using the 'jammed switch' sound! I strongly suspect the LP's o-o-p tone with the humbuckers will sound marvellous but am a bit reluctant to start messing about with something that sounds fantastic as-is. I just miss the option of having o-o-p. The coil tap in my DiMarzios just makes a Les Paul sound like a Telecaster; nice as that is, it's not what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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