Les Paul Classic w. Burstbucker 61

[Fearomoon]

What I can gather from all your answers so far is that Gibson's factory settings are really crap and you all screw the pickups down significantly. All I really want is to get a decent sound like all the YouTube videos, like the Gibson website for example... but I just can't get it. it really can't be that difficult.

@Bryansamui it‘s a brand new Classic with PCB, nothing soldered…

@JPA67 A luthier told me to put them down like this. he said modern pickups no longer have to be screwed high under the strings to get a good sound.

 

[Bryansamui]

What I can gather from all your answers so far is that Gibson's factory settings are really crap and you all screw the pickups down significantly. All I really want is to get a decent sound like all the YouTube videos, like the Gibson website for example... but I just can't get it. it really can't be that difficult.

@Bryansamui it‘s a brand new Classic with PCB, nothing soldered…

@JPA67 A luthier told me to put them down like this. he said modern pickups no longer have to be screwed high under the strings to get a good sound.

Gibsons factory settings are not wrong, but at the same time ,it's not WRONG to not follow them. There are no rules. Those who break convention stand to create new tones.
I have the higher wind pickup in the neck, the lower wind in the bridge, which is unusual . I've got a very unique tone.

What's misleading with that Gibson video is we are not listening to "Pickups" .We are listening to a complete signal chain .( a certain speaker, a particular amp/mic, Plate Reverb ,EQ etc)
That Guitar in the vid will sound completely different with my signal chain
Have you , keeping your signal chain unaltered, plugged in another guitar?
Does IT sound good? If No, well you're probably got to change the signal chain.( Amp sound, etc)
If Yes, You've probably got to change your pickups in your new Gibson
There is 1,300 used Seymour Duncan pickups for sale at the moment .It's not that they're no good, it's just they don't suit the ears of the current owners .Your Gibson ones may fall into this category also .
I don't particularly care for Gibsons current offerings either. It doesn't mean they are no good .

 

[JPA67]

What I can gather from all your answers so far is that Gibson's factory settings are really crap and you all screw the pickups down significantly. All I really want is to get a decent sound like all the YouTube videos, like the Gibson website for example... but I just can't get it. it really can't be that difficult.

@Bryansamui it‘s a brand new Classic with PCB, nothing soldered…

@JPA67 A luthier told me to put them down like this. he said modern pickups no longer have to be screwed high under the strings to get a good sound.

I have owned a 69 LP Deluxe which played well but the tone was a bit empty. Along with that, I had a 79 LP Custom, which I purchased new. This was an amazing instrument out of the box. I had this 2018 LP Classic which was pretty clear with the 57's. I now have a 22/23 LP Classic with 61's. Out of the box, it was a kind of in your face tone wise. I've been advised that 61's are strong in that they have the A5 magnets. Depending on type of music, they should probably be lowered from standard factory height. Lol, anyone got a set of 490/498's? I am probably somewhat OCD, regarding tone. And I don't play anything as I used to.

 

[tjdjr1]

roughly .125 under the strings. No matter where i tried the 61s could not bond with them. I wound up gutting it and hardwired it with pots and pickups I wanted. Now it's a gigging machine.

 

[JPA67]

roughly .125 under the strings. No matter where i tried the 61s could not bond with them. I wound up gutting it and hardwired it with pots and pickups I wanted. Now it's a gigging machine.

Okay, OCD is in play! I decided to set pickup height in complete clean set using GLS cable. Have the neck at 6/64" both sides and bridge at 7/64" both sides. Real nice ring when using both. Set amp to high gain at 7, bass, treble and mids more than half an reverb at 4... Guitar volumes around 7 tones 6 or 7 and... Not exactly what I am looking for but can't imagine that this can, or will, sound better than this. This is for my old ears. Happy Sunday

 

[Peter Mac]

Thats good info .Only to add ,the benefits to using the individual screws fine tune string volumes is offset a bit by changing Bass /Treble balance. The higher the screws go, it changes EQ ,( a bit)
This is course is going well into Cork sniffer territory as often what we do somewhere has an effect for better or worse' somewhere else. My pickups in my pic don't sit quite level.Neither did the pic I posted of Jimmy Pages. Nevertheless, my guitar still gets the desired tone.

It does change the EQ slightly however as the guage of each string produces a different volume, by staggering the height of the pole pieces makes all 6 string of relative equal volume. How many times when you get onto that 1st string only to have it overpowered by the B or G string? Most luthiers I know employ this to get a more even tempo...hell even Leo used this idea on the first 16 years of Stratocaster. By keeping the pickup low, it also allows the string to pass through the centre of the magnetic field rather than the edge which (according to Les Paul himself) creates a better tone.
" If you want volume, turn up your amp - that's what it's there for." I disagree about cork-sniffer territory ( unless it has a different connotation in the USA) - it is more about fine-tuning ones equipment for optimum performance. I will add that all my Lesters have 50's wiring with PIO caps so they are never muddy - even on my all Mahogany LP Custom with Burstbuckers.