How to Use the Controls on a Les Paul

[itchybro]

Originally Posted by Bluesyzep

Funny you should post that....

Well, the rehearsal I went to I took the Blues Jr. It's not like I needed a bunch of headroom BUT, what it did allow me to do is get MUCH more convincing "pseudo tele" tones out of the thing.

My home practice rig is a transistor champ and a mosfet Marshall micro stack (the vintage one. It's got the gold piping and everything. It has a unique vibe to it) . I wish Marshall made something comparable to the blues jr. power and size wise. I sho nuff loves the noise the practice pair makes. (it goes out for coffee shop type stuff.)

Here's one of my favorite noises speaking of tones and the DGT:

YouTube - David Grissom at NAMM 2008

YouTube - David Grissom at NAMM 2008

[Splattle101]

Originally Posted by Bluesyzep

Funny you should post that. I've been working on SIBLY (live) for several months. I normally play with the volumes at 10 and tones at 7 switching between pickups. I think the tone was pretty good IMO but playing with Splattle's reccomendations seemed to give my Marshall tube more headroom. I have a lot more amp to work with now. I was trying it out on SIBLY again tonight and spent a whole lot of time fiddling with the volume/tone experimenting. I have to re-learn the way I've been playing. I do think I could benefit from a electronics upgrade. At least the caps.

A couple of things here. Firstly, a lot of the good rock players (like Page, the Young Brothers, etc) played with a lot less distortion than it might sound like at first listen. Since I've Been Lovin' You is a case in point. The intro is a lot less distorted than the first, trebly signature lick. That tells me that the neck pickup - on which he played the intro - must've had the volume backed off to clean it up a bit. But if turning your vol down makes the sound muddy, you have a problem. It was this phenomenon that caused me to re-EQ my amp for the neck pickup in the first place quite a few years ago. Thank you uncle Jimmy.

Which brings me to the second thing. If your sound goes muddy when you turn down, you do need to look at your electronics. There are a number of vendors in this place that can set you up. However, the biggest single change that I heard (your MMV), was changing from modern to 50s wiring. Don't get me wrong: I like what the PIO caps did to the voice of the instrument, and good pots are better than stock, etc, etc, etc. But changing to 50s harness meant that the vol no longer turned the tone down. No mud effect. This made a huge difference to the playability of the instrument, without changing its voice at all.

[Bluesyzep]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

A couple of things here. Firstly, a lot of the good rock players (like Page, the Young Brothers, etc) played with a lot less distortion than it might sound like at first listen. Since I've Been Lovin' You is a case in point. The intro is a lot less distorted than the first, trebly signature lick. That tells me that the neck pickup - on which he played the intro - must've had the volume backed off to clean it up a bit. But if turning your vol down makes the sound muddy, you have a problem. It was this phenomenon that caused me to re-EQ my amp for the neck pickup in the first place quite a few years ago. Thank you uncle Jimmy.

Which brings me to the second thing. If your sound goes muddy when you turn down, you do need to look at your electronics. There are a number of vendors in this place that can set you up. However, the biggest single change that I heard (your MMV), was changing from modern to 50s wiring. Don't get me wrong: I like what the PIO caps did to the voice of the instrument, and good pots are better than stock, etc, etc, etc. But changing to 50s harness meant that the vol no longer turned the tone down. No mud effect. This made a huge difference to the playability of the instrument, without changing its voice at all.

Is this what the RS kit is I've been hearing about? On the other hand I just went through hell and back trying to get my electronics sorted out after installing coil-splits. Can you coil-split the 50's kit?

[Splattle101]

RS is one company that offers complete electronics upgrades. People on here who've bought them seem happy. There are other vendors, too. One of our members on here, Jonesy, is another who can set you up. The people who've bought from him seem happy, too. I recommend you have a look at what these gents can offer, and then shop around because there are other players out there, too.

To answer your question about 50s wiring and coil splitting, yes, it can be done. In fact you can go the whole hog and get 50s style wiring on a 'Jimmy Page' rig, where you get coil taps and series / parallel and in /out of phase switching, too.

[Bluesyzep]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

RS is one company that offers complete electronics upgrades. People on here who've bought them seem happy. There are other vendors, too. One of our members on here, Jonesy, is another who can set you up. The people who've bought from him seem happy, too. I recommend you have a look at what these gents can offer, and then shop around because there are other players out there, too.

To answer your question about 50s wiring and coil splitting, yes, it can be done. In fact you can go the whole hog and get 50s style wiring on a 'Jimmy Page' rig, where you get coil taps and series / parallel and in /out of phase switching, too.

I did look at the Jonesy JP kit awhile ago but was only looking for the coil-split at the time. I didn't consider the additional benefits of an upgrade. The bigger decision would be finding a more competent tech this time around or take the time and do it myself. Sigh.

[5F6-A]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

RS is one company that offers complete electronics upgrades. People on here who've bought them seem happy. There are other vendors, too. One of our members on here, Jonesy, is another who can set you up. The people who've bought from him seem happy, too. I recommend you have a look at what these gents can offer, and then shop around because there are other players out there, too.

.

you are safe either way. Me personally I use RS pots, Jonesy caps and I wire everything up myself...

[matthornet]

Great great post... opened my eyes on how to really make the best outta my LP. Great video of Gary Moore & BB King btw.