LP Recording, Personal, and Professional

[moff40]

Something that came up in conversation today that perhaps some of the experts can help out on. We were discussing Terry Kath's LP, and what model it was.

Depending on the source or article, it has been reported to have been a "Recording", a "Professional", or a "Personal". All three were similar in design, and the control layout seems to be the only visible difference at a casual glance. How do you tell the difference?

This is what I've gleaned, but please tell me if I'm right or wrong:

The "Recording" had a control configuration with 4 knobs 4 switches, and 1/4" input jack on a black plastic plate that took up nearly the entire lower quadrant of the guitar. The pickup selector was on that plate and not on the upper bout as it is on most other LP models:



The "Professional" had 4 knobs mounted through the wood of the guitar, and two switches mounted on a small plastic plate. The pickup selector was in its "normal" position on the upper bout:



The "Personal" was much the same as the "Professional", except that there was also an XLR mic connector on the upper bout's edge, and a knob on the upper bout, adjacent to the pickup selector switch (volume control for the mic?).



Is that about right? If so, then I can go back and say that his LP was definitely a "Professional".

[AngryHatter]

Hold a séance and ask him.

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

Looks like he used a modded '69 Professional.

[moff40]

Originally Posted by LIBERTYMACHINE

Looks like he used a modded '69 Professional.

Why do you say modded?

[moff40]

Originally Posted by angryhatter

hold a séance and ask him.

Wow! What a useful response!

While it certainly started as a question about his guitar specifically, I became interested in finding out the differences in the three models. There is a lot of misinformed supposition out there, so I decided to ask here.

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

Originally Posted by moff40

Why do you say modded?

Kath's tools
^
"Kath's Les Paul featured low impedance pickups, which had a line-level output that easily drove long lengths of cord and which could be plugged directly into studio equipment. For use with standard guitar amplifiers, an adapter was required. Kath said in a GP article that he liked the clean sound of the Les Paul Professional. Les Paul himself played a variation of the Professional model with the low impedance pickups."




.

[acstorfer]

Originally Posted by LIBERTYMACHINE

Les Paul himself today plays a variation of the Professional model with the low impedance pickups.

That's quite a trick, considering.

Well, I do hope he's jamming away with others who so sadly were taken away from us on earth.

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

Originally Posted by acstorfer

That's quite a trick, considering.

Well, I do hope he's jamming away with others who so sadly were taken away from us on earth.

copied from the link provided......but thanx for kickin' me in the dick.

[acstorfer]

Ha!

We all have our mind farts! I've been called out on many myself.

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

Originally Posted by acstorfer

Ha!

We all have our mind farts! I've been called out on many myself.

yeah.....that and I'm too damn lazy to type or proof read my copy
thanks for the heads up, though....guess I should fix that, eh?

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

I guess I'm listening to Terry Kath today thanks to moff40.

Chicago 1972-Make Me Smile 6/16 - YouTube

Chicago 1972-Make Me Smile 6/16 - YouTube

R.I.P Terry Kath

[moff40]

Originally Posted by LIBERTYMACHINE

Kath's tools

"Kath's Les Paul featured low impedance pickups, which had a line-level output that easily drove long lengths of cord and which could be plugged directly into studio equipment. For use with standard guitar amplifiers, an adapter was required. Kath said in a GP article that he liked the clean sound of the Les Paul Professional. Les Paul himself today played a variation of the Professional model with the low impedance pickups."

AFAIK, low impedance pickups were stock in all three models, so that wasn't a mod. I think maybe the article writer was confused (not unheard of ).

Originally Posted by LIBERTYMACHINE

I guess I'm listening to Terry Kath today thanks to moff40.

Chicago 1972-Make Me Smile 6/16 - YouTube

R.I.P Terry Kath

He WAS a motherfscker wasn't he?

I'm kinda sad that nobody commented on the soundclip I put up of my Chicago tribute band's gig a few weeks ago. I mean, nobody posted even a feigned "sounds great" nor did they bust my balls about it, which I thought was sort of odd for this place...

[LIBERTYMACHINE]

Originally Posted by moff40

Low impedance pickups were stock in all three models, so that wasn't a mod. I think maybe the article writer was confused (not unheard of ).



He WAS a motherfscker wasn't he?

Yep. Hendrix thought so too. I'll be listening to him all day today.

I had magazines from the 70's with him in them.....wish I had them now,as they listed his gear and guitar specs.I def remember reading that he altered his guits and used custom made amp(s) as well as messed around with diff types of pedals.
Here's one of the issues that I had
Terry Kath interview in Guitar Player Magazine

I'll bounce around the net and see if I can locate his specs.


Thanks for the playlist,moff40.

[moff40]

Originally Posted by LIBERTYMACHINE

Yep. Hendrix thought so too. I'll be listening to him all day today.

I had magazines from the 70's with him in them.....wish I had them now,as they listed his gear and guitar specs.I def remember reading that he altered his guits and used custom made amp(s) as well as messed around with diff types of pedals.
Here's one of the issues that I had
Terry Kath interview in Guitar Player Magazine

I'll bounce around the net and see if I can locate his specs.


Thanks for the playlist,moff40.

Being uber-fan, I can tell you what I know about his gear (some may duplicate the 1971 GP article):

Early on, he used a Stratocaster, and an SG, both stock. The LP Professional came in about 1970, and it, along with the Strat were his primary gigging guitars. The LP Pro was retired from live use in late 1972, in favour of the iconic customized Telecaster (which, according to an internet acquaintence who has WAY too much inside informaton and rare footage, made its debut Thanksgiving 1972).

The Tele had a 'bucker in the neck position, and the stock Tele bridge was cut in half, leaving the mounting surface for the bridge pickup, but with the back half replaced with a Strat "hardtail" bridge (in those days, Tele bridges only came with three saddles, and he wanted 6 for better intonation). That guitar eventually sported Maico motorcycle and Chicago Blackhawks stickers, along with a TON of Pignose stickers. According to Michelle Kath-Sinclair (Terry daughter, who was only 2 at the time of his death), that Tele is now unaccounted for - it went missing at some point, but she doesn't know when.

He was big on exploring new technologies and sounds. A Crybaby, MXR (or Maestro?) phaser and Mutron were staples of his rig.

As far as amps go, at different times, he used a Bogen PA amp, a Twin, a Dual Showman, and some other stuff, including a custom built 60-watt (Allied) Knight amp. Eventually, he had Acoustic Control (Acoustic) build amps for him and they designed their 150 series amps based on his Knight. He'd use either the Knight or the Acoustic head, depending on the venue. Cabs were 2x12s or custom "diamond" shaped 4x12s.

He was one of the principle investors and owners of the original Pignose guitar amp company (which is why his Tele had Pignose stickers all over it).

[Cookie-boy]

Never mind all the bollocks, these guitars are as much modded as anything. I have seen and held/played factory produced instruments that didn't conform to Standard specs of all three the OP listed. There's a "Special Op's" thing going on with this stuff and that's a fact.

[AngryHatter]

Originally Posted by moff40

Wow! What a useful response!

While it certainly started as a question about his guitar specifically, I became interested in finding out the differences in the three models. There is a lot of misinformed supposition out there, so I decided to ask here.

The trouble is, no one here can confirm the information you seek.
You can define what each model contains but not what he played on any particular track.

[moff40]

Originally Posted by AngryHatter

The trouble is, no one here can confirm the information you seek.
You can define what each model contains but not what he played on any particular track.

In my original post, I was asking how to tell the difference between the models. Actuallty, more specifically, I was asking if my take on the differences was an accurate way of distiguishing between the three models, or if there was more to it.

[moff40]

Originally Posted by Cookie-boy

Never mind all the bollocks, these guitars are as much modded as anything. I have seen and held/played factory produced instruments that didn't conform to Standard specs of all three the OP listed. There's a "Special Op's" thing going on with this stuff and that's a fact.

I don't really understand what you're getting at Cookie. I grabbed pics of the three models to illustrate my take on the basic differences between the three, specifically around the control layout and configuration; I didn't care if there was an aftermarket Bigsby installed.

So what then do you say are the differences between the Recording, Professional, and Personal? (BTW I have it from TK's wife that his was indeed a Professional).

[AngryHatter]

Originally Posted by moff40

In my original post, I was asking how to tell the difference between the models. Actuallty, more specifically, I was asking if my take on the differences was an accurate way of distiguishing between the three models, or if there was more to it.

My bad.

[HOT-BRIT]

Professional and Personal needed an external adapter to play through normal high impedance amps, the Recording was updated version and did not need the external adapter as it was built into the guitar, the Personal was the only one of the three that had gold hardware, the Professionals & Personals were heavy!!!!! I had one that was thirteen pounds!!!!! it was the heaviest Les Paul that I have ever had!!!!!!

[maplehead872]

The easy way for me to tell the difference between the three models is the inlays. The Personal had large block, the professional had the crown and the recording had small block and also the professional didn't have the broken diamond on the headstock like the personal and recording. The recording is the only one that had a high and low impedance switch of the three models.Hope this helps.

[The Refugee]

Any info on those pickups?

They seem to be larger than single coils, but not quite the size of P90s? Curiosity has gotten the better of me.

[HOT-BRIT]

Originally Posted by The Refugee

Any info on those pickups?

They seem to be larger than single coils, but not quite the size of P90s? Curiosity has gotten the better of me.

very good for clean sound! jazz like Les Paul played

[moff40]

Originally Posted by The Refugee

Any info on those pickups?

They seem to be larger than single coils, but not quite the size of P90s? Curiosity has gotten the better of me.

I don't know a lot about them either - whether they were hums or singles. They were low-Z though.