I've had this Les Paul Special w/Humbuckers for a while now. I'm definitely a tinkerer, and relish every opportunity to tweak something on it. I even see bad decisions as having good worth cuz of whatever I learn. Of course I try to avoid them.
I've got a few issues that are currently stumping me. I've even been searching through the Erlewine's "How to make your Electric Guitar Play Great" book and I'm still confused as to what I should do. So I'll describe my LP's current status:
The action is a bit on the higher side, because 1) I tend to prefer that on electrics in general and 2) because there is a buzz in the low E string that is minimized (yet not eliminated) by the higher action. I think if I didn't have that buzz that I'd have my action slightly lower... but not a lot. It doesn't buzz when played open, but on a majority of the fretted notes you can hear it. It's not a problem plugged in really, but I play a lot at night without an amp when others are sleeping and its a real pest. Plus I'm a perfectionist.
Next: While the action of the Low E string and the High E string at the 12th fret are approx. the same distance, the positions of the dials underneath the Tune-o-Matic necessary for the action to be that way are crazy. The bass side is pretty far up yet on the treble side it's almost touching the body of the guitar.
Thirdly: Ever since I've had it, in order for the intonation to be right, all 6 saddles had to be pushed all the way back towards the tailpiece. Even then 2 or 3 of them needed more but it was impossible. My dad suggested that I take it apart and turn them around to get them to go a tad further. So I did that, but not until after I bought some Tusq saddles... just wanted to try them out. Partly for sound, and partly because I think they look nice.
Anyway, turning the Tusq ones the other way seemed to improve a little, but still didn't solve the problem. I still have some strings that are out of intonation.
I've tinkered quite a bit... and I am dreading the idea of adjusting the truss rod cuz I've never done that before and I don't even know if that would help to be honest. I know I should probably take it to a guitar tech, and I may yet, but I'm a poor college student and I figured I should at least try posting here for help first.
My guitar plays pretty good for me... but not awesome like some LP's and some other guitars I've played but not owned. I do a lotta bluesy bends and whatnot. But I was playing it earlier today and I realized that even mine had been better a while ago, but maybe I did a little to much tinkering here and there and gradually over time it got worse without me really noticing. Help anyone?!
Oh and my strings are D'Addario Half Rounds: 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49 if that helps. And here are some pics taken with my phone:
