The Perfect Setup

[jhalbert]

I purchased a Gibson Les Paul Vixen back in 2009 from Musicians Friend, and have played it for the last few years without giving much thought to the setup. Recently I purchased a Gretsch from a small dealer who did the setup in their shop, and it's like night and day between the two guitars. I still love my LP a little more, because it just suits the style of music I play, but now I'm looking at the setup and realizing that I could probably get a lot more out of the guitar.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions about getting the most out of my Vixen? I've been thinking that I want to replace the wraparound bridge piece with one that can be adjusted. Without the tune-o-matic I'm worried about intonation and messing with the bridge height as right now the intonation is just fine, but the action is a little high & I don't want to mess up the intonation. Has anyone made that change to a Vixen, and if so what was the outcome?

 

Thanks!

[jdgm]

Hi there

 

Unfortunately this particular part of the forum doesn't get many visitors....but if you re-post your question in the Les Paul section or the Gibson Lounge, you should get plenty of helpful answers!

 

I'm not familiar with the Vixen but looking at pics there is some adjustment there but not for individual strings. This is usually ok most of the time IMO. See my avatar? Wilkinson replacement bridge (wish I could find another) - you intonate the 2 E strings perfectly 1st by setting the entire bridge at the correct point with an electronic tuner, then you can move a slider to adjust G and B if necessary. With your Vixen bridge the 2 E strings are intonated using those 2 screws which stick out the back. Get 'em perfect with a tuner and the rest will probably sound fine.

 

Stewmac combination bridge/tailpiece for LP, made by Schaller -

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_non-trem_tailpieces/Schaller_Bridge_Tailpiece.html

 

You need to be very sure about spacings, width etc before you commit to buying!

And before you seriously think about replacing the original bridge, fool about with it a bit so you get the idea of how to intonate and set the action. There are plenty of guides to this on the net and you won't damage the guitar, just remember to (for instance) count the number of turns you put on a screw so you can take it back to 'normal'.

Everything is reversible. I think you could get that guitar playing really very well indeed without changing the hardware. Intonate the bridge then take it down until the strings are buzzing and bring it up again to taste.

Then you might even want to tighten the truss rod if you look down the neck and there is a visible curve somewhere, BUT only do this if the rod adjustment is not already stiff and only a quarter turn at first. It is really worth getting into doing the minor adjustment/setup/intonation stuff whenever you change strings as once you know it, it is very easy, completely logical (though time-consuming and fiddly) and therefore always works. You can do this!

Regards!