RUSHian Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I ordered the Gibson Les Paul Shred it coming today! I was looking for something close to the Alex Lifeson Axcess LP, and this is the closest I can afford. http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Shred-Les-Paul-Studio.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Can't wait to see pics, Ian. It looks good on the website. Hope it works out better than the Kentucky Fried Chicken version you had last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB9KHM Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I have one of these. Got it about 2 weeks ago. My band has 1 song in which I need to use a tremolo, and I just couldn't take playing the old Dean Z any longer. I'm an SG fan, but I just can't get into the Diablo, so I figured I'd give the LP Shred a try. I'm quite happy with it. It sounds like an LP should. I don't really like the all black look of the LP Shred, so I dressed mine up with a cream switch ring, cream pickup rings, cream pick guard, and gold speed knobs. Looks much better now (IMO). One thing I discovered while going through this process is that with the Floyd Rose bridge, the strings must sit a lot closer to the body, and I'm pretty darn sure that means the LP Shred has a different neck angle than a regular LP with a TOM/stop bar (I don't have another LP to compare it with). I noticed on my LP Shred that the tops of the pickups don't sit parallel with the strings. The edge of each of the pickups closest to the bridge (when viewed from the side of the body) sticks up *much* closer to the strings than the edge of each of the pickups closest to the neck. Also, the bridge side of the neck pickup ring was almost touching the strings when I had the action lowered where I wanted it. I bought cream Gibson pickup rings to replace the black ones that came on the guitar. Theses pickup rings are sold as being 1/8" thick (neck position) and 3/8" thick (bridge position). However, the official Gibson BRIDGE pickup ring does NOT fit this guitar, it's way too tall! The bridge pickup ring that comes on the LP Shred has a height that is more like halfway between the heights of the replacement neck and bridge pickups that Gibson sells. So what to do now? I discovered that All Parts sells an off-brand pickup ring that is "curved". The NECK version of this ring fits the BRIDGE position on the LP Shred just perfectly and sets the bridge pickup such that it is now correctly parallel with the strings above it. Now, what about the issue with the neck pickup ring almost touching the strings? I took the replacement Gibson cream neck position pickup ring that I installed and put it on backwards - so that the taller part of the pickup ring is towards the neck. This also works out perfectly so that my neck pickup is now also sitting parallel to the strings. Unless you look really closely ... you can't tell the neck ring is on the wrong way around. One more thing. Because of the Floyd Rose, the bridge and neck pickups are about 1/4" closer together than on a regular Les Paul. A Les Paul pick guard will not fit in the space between the neck and bridge pickups. When I put the pick guard on I had to shave about 1/4" off of the NECK end of the notch for the BRIDGE pickup. This was a painfully slow process with a razor blade knife. (Notice in the pictures below that the pick guard extends slightly below the bridge pickup.) All in all, after putting an RS Guitar Works Vintage/Modern kit in my LP Shred, I'm pretty happy with it. I've still got some slight buzzing that I'm dealing with that will require some further truss rod/action adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manse Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I have one of these. Got it about 2 weeks ago. My band has 1 song in which I need to use a tremolo, and I just couldn't take playing the old Dean Z any longer. I'm an SG fan, but I just can't get into the Diablo, so I figured I'd give the LP Shred a try. I'm quite happy with it. It sounds like an LP should. I don't really like the all black look of the LP Shred, so I dressed mine up with a cream switch ring, cream pickup rings, cream pick guard, and gold speed knobs. Looks much better now (IMO). One thing I discovered while going through this process is that with the Floyd Rose bridge, the strings must sit a lot closer to the body, and I'm pretty darn sure that means the LP Shred has a different neck angle than a regular LP with a TOM/stop bar (I don't have another LP to compare it with). I noticed on my LP Shred that the tops of the pickups don't sit parallel with the strings. The edge of each of the pickups closest to the bridge (when viewed from the side of the body) sticks up *much* closer to the strings than the edge of each of the pickups closest to the neck. Also, the bridge side of the neck pickup ring was almost touching the strings when I had the action lowered where I wanted it. I bought cream Gibson pickup rings to replace the black ones that came on the guitar. Theses pickup rings are sold as being 1/8" thick (neck position) and 3/8" thick (bridge position). However, the official Gibson BRIDGE pickup ring does NOT fit this guitar, it's way too tall! The bridge pickup ring that comes on the LP Shred has a height that is more like halfway between the heights of the replacement neck and bridge pickups that Gibson sells. So what to do now? I discovered that All Parts sells an off-brand pickup ring that is "curved". The NECK version of this ring fits the BRIDGE position on the LP Shred just perfectly and sets the bridge pickup such that it is now correctly parallel with the strings above it. Now, what about the issue with the neck pickup ring almost touching the strings? I took the replacement Gibson cream neck position pickup ring that I installed and put it on backwards - so that the taller part of the pickup ring is towards the neck. This also works out perfectly so that my neck pickup is now also sitting parallel to the strings. Unless you look really closely ... you can't tell the neck ring is on the wrong way around. One more thing. Because of the Floyd Rose, the bridge and neck pickups are about 1/4" closer together than on a regular Les Paul. A Les Paul pick guard will not fit in the space between the neck and bridge pickups. When I put the pick guard on I had to shave about 1/4" off of the NECK end of the notch for the BRIDGE pickup. This was a painfully slow process with a razor blade knife. (Notice in the pictures below that the pick guard extends slightly below the bridge pickup.) All in all, after putting an RS Guitar Works Vintage/Modern kit in my LP Shred, I'm pretty happy with it. I've still got some slight buzzing that I'm dealing with that will require some further truss rod/action adjustments. That looks a lot better than the stock guitar. Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 How do you like the Richelite Fret Board? I've been playing mine. At first I had black on my fingertips, I'll see if it continues. I too am not a fan of Black guitars- scratches and fingerprints are easily seen. It does play and sound great- I'll post pics soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 How do you like the Richelite Fret Board? I've been playing mine. At first I had black on my fingertips, I'll see if it continues. I too am not a fan of Black guitars- scratches and fingerprints are easily seen. It does play and sound great- I'll post pics soon! black on the finger tips is more likely due to residue coming off the strings and not the fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 black on the finger tips is more likely due to residue coming off the strings and not the fretboard. Really? I've never got black fingers from any of my new guitar's strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasbluezman Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 The black stuff is why Gibsons are so expensive. It takes a lot of time and effort in putting that black stuff on there. But on a serious note, ever since I switched to pure nickel strings, I get black fingertips. I used to get black fingertips with some brands of nickel plated strings too. I just thought it was because I picked up my guitar at soon as I got home, before washing up. And since I was a welder working in a refinery, I sometimes got fairly dirty. I didn't know it was coming from the strings either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 I always wash my hands before I play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Really? I've never got black fingers from any of my new guitar's strings. yes, I do think so, still doing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 yes, I do think so, still doing it? It seems better, but I haven't had the chance to play it for a longer period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Looking forward to the snaps! And on another point raised here; I, too, started getting black residue after the switch to pure nickel strings on the fingertips of fretting hand as well as (mainly) my thumb if I'm going 'pick-less'. Even if I'm playing and just damping the strings with my picking hand there is always some sign... P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 It seems better, but I haven't had the chance to play it for a longer period of time. get a cotton rag, put a dab of rubbing alcohol, pinch the strings with thumb and forefinger with the dampened area, and go up and down the neck a few times on each string. Take a look at what comes off the strings. Bet it's the same crap you are seeing on your fingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHian Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 I may switch the pick up rings to cream- too much black for me. I wished they'd had this guitar in antique white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB9KHM Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 too much black for me. I wished they'd had this guitar in antique white. Yup that's why I changed mine all around. The RS Guitarworks vintage/modern kit really makes it sound a lot better too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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