NiceGuyEddie Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Hello everyone. I have a 2011 les paul R8 in faded tobacco. It has the stock burstbuckers but they are not to my liking. I have some vintage gibson pickups...a 69 and an early 70's gibson pickup that I want to swap out. Will this diminish the value of its collectability or does it not matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Unless you have a very rare R8 it should not matter. Just keep the original pickups and put them back in if you are going to sell it. In most cases, a pickup swap in an R8 should not hurt the value except those that want to see untouched solder joints. If it is a rare and collectable R8 and you plan to sell it, then don't touch it. If you plan to keep the guitar, then put in the pickups that inspires you to keep playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceGuyEddie Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Unless you have a very rare R8 it should not matter. Just keep the original pickups and put them back in if you are going to sell it. In most cases, a pickup swap in an R8 should not hurt the value except those that want to see untouched solder joints. If it is a rare and collectable R8 and you plan to sell it, then don't touch it. If you plan to keep the guitar, then put in the pickups that inspires you to keep playing. good advice thanks...what would be a rare r8 by the way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 A rare one might be a custom ordered one-off or a signature edition or a special run with a limited amount. Maybe a Murphy aged one from his time working in the Custom shop before he went out on his own. If it is a documented one that Murphy painted and/or aged in house, it would be collectable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceGuyEddie Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 gotchya thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups? And or the pole pieces? I've seen people way over spend on pickups when a proper adjustment will do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I've seen people way over spend on pickups when a proper adjustment will do the trick. Exactly! I had a friend that was going to sell his CR8 and he brought it over to me to look at it. He said it just wasn't great tone. I spent a few minutes adjusting the heights of the pickups and some of the poles and it was a completely different guitar. He still has it and hasn't changed the pickups. I really think a lot of techs don't spend the time to adjust them but would rather sell them a new set. (not trying to say that I do good work, it was just something that the local techs don't even try) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest farnsbarns Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Exactly! I had a friend that was going to sell his CR8 and he brought it over to me to look at it. He said it just wasn't great tone. I spent a few minutes adjusting the heights of the pickups and some of the poles and it was a completely different guitar. He still has it and hasn't changed the pickups. I really think a lot of techs don't spend the time to adjust them but would rather sell them a new set. (not trying to say that I do good work, it was just something that the local techs don't even try) I think you have point, if I take my guitar to a tech mentioning tone issues I'd expect them to tweak the pup heights and if they didn't, and started trying to sell me a different pup I'd see that as dishonest. Pup height adjustment is subjective though, not really a case of right vs wrong. When I got my R8 I had to tweak (actually tweak isn't the word, dramatically adjust would be closer) the truss rod and subsequently the bridge height and intonation. This of course, effectively changed the pup height (relative to the strings anyway). I found that, after I'd adjusted everything else to the correct geometry, the neck and bridge sounded quite similar so I dropped the neck pup down quite a bit as a start and then tweaked it for about an hour. I feel sure that another person would have arrived at a different height preference to me. I kept the bridge about as high I could, I like to ride the pots a bit so I thought I'd go for quite an extreme sound with the taps open and roll it al back a bit. Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceGuyEddie Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 I think you have point, if I take my guitar to a tech mentioning tone issues I'd expect them to tweak the pup heights and if they didn't, and started trying to sell me a different pup I'd see that as dishonest. Pup height adjustment is subjective though, not really a case of right vs wrong. When I got my R8 I had to tweak (actually tweak isn't the word, dramatically adjust would be closer) the truss rod and subsequently the bridge height and intonation. This of course, effectively changed the pup height (relative to the strings anyway). I found that, after I'd adjusted everything else to the correct geometry, the neck and bridge sounded quite similar so I dropped the neck pup down quite a bit as a start and then tweaked it for about an hour. I feel sure that another person would have arrived at a different height preference to me. I kept the bridge about as high I could, I like to ride the pots a bit so I thought I'd go for quite an extreme sound with the taps open and roll it al back a bit. Works for me. they are growing on me! But I will tinker with the heights thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarBuilder Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Try those funny knobs labeled "tone"........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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