The Newer Les Paul Ive tried are so “Chingy”

[MiniB]

Ha...

Seriously though, as in my first response I get it...I described it as a certain 'steeliness'. But it has pretty much gone away in regards to the more bothersome aspects, and at the same time my USA Standard rings very clearly on the lower strings...better than some Historics I've owned. So it has evened out and kept aspects that I like.

 

[MiniB]

But you could also put one of these over the doorway.....

.....in whatever room you play the guitar most often.

 

[dspelman]

Are we really paying 2K to spend a couple more C notes to make the fiddle complete.

I routinely spend a couple of hundred getting a New To Me guitar's frets superglued and Plek'd. Figure it into the cost of the purchase.

As for the bridge, etc.: Most of the guitars I've purchased (non-Gibson) recently have had uprated hardware, including a Tusq nut (I see that Gibson has finally climbed onboard there) and a Graphtech NVS2 bridge with String Saver saddles.

Honestly, a lot of this is the cost of buying from a company that values "tradition" over quality. If it was on a late '50's guitar over half a century ago, that's what you get now. The customer has to take some responsibility in this area as well. Lots of "If it was good enough for (name some celebrity guitar player famous half a century ago who may be living or dead or circling the drain now), it's good enough for me" going on.

So the answer is Yes, we're really playing $2K (and up) and then having to spend more to get a competent guitar.

 

[dspelman]

Might be the hardware. You could always order a new bridge/stop tail from CreamTone so you have no choice but to get used to it.

These issues were solved nearly 50 years ago by companies like Ibanez and Yamaha, who built better "Les Pauls" back in the late '70's and early '80's. The Yamaha SG2000 has a heavy bridge screwed into a 10.5 ounce brass sustain block set into the mahogany body (as well as neck-through construction). The Ibanez AR300 has the same (it's a big old harmonica bridge in this case), including the sustain block and a bolted down stop tail.

 

[Steven]

These are the responses I was hoping when I chose to use the word Ching! I expected a few cranky responses sponsored by Nike Monarchs but these pics are killing me! Thank U!

I doubt the above statement. It is more likely that in lieu of the comments you received regarding using the word chingy, your comment is in defense of doing so.

 

[flamesarewicked]

Eh FWIW, a large majority of the Gib LPs I’ve owned suffered from the bridge slots being too deep. In recent months I’ve swapped my current ones out with Tone Pros drop in replacements and I’ve had great results.. whether it’s the Nashville style or the modern version of the ABR that’s currently used on USA models.

 

[GibsonMarshallGuy]

Strings maybe? Turn down the treble on your amp?

 

[Village Idiot]

Sure. That’s because “New” Gibson Les Pauls stink! What did you expect…lol

 

[RufusTelestrat]

Have you considered using guitar strings instead of Ching strings. I know they are cheaper but ....

 

[MiniB]

Don't knock'em....

...'till you rock'em....

 

[Tsukiyomi]

Can you throw together a quick A/B recording against another LP without changing any recording or amp settings? Even with differences between guitars, it might help people get their heads around what you're hearing

 

[AJK1]

It’s probably tinnitus

 

[Knoby]

The tone is in the wood.

I started by upgrading the maple cap for the highs and bright tones.

Then upgraded the mahogany body with slab I found from an old 200yo cabinet. That improved the sustain to no end.

This where lab grown wood would solve all your issues. You can build consistent slabs for optimum sustain an tone.

Am i serious? Maybe. Maybe not.

 

[CyFan]

I've also had good results with this....


View attachment 678382


.....put it right before your overdrive pedal.

Boss makes a pedal for everything!

 

[CyFan]

So reading a bit between the lines... If you're talking $2k for a Les Paul, are you referring to the models with maple necks? I imagine those would sound as you describe. I don't have much experience with LPs honestly. I wanted to add a PAF-esque humbucker guitar to my repertoire and I found mine last year and I am (no GAS)content. 2022 50s original standard. However, mine being newer, I'm curious about this "chingy" sound the OP reports. My LP has a clearer voice than I expected, based on typical LP tone Ive heard, but not brittle or anything like that. No ping-y-ness to it but I can get a nice spank with the right settings and pick attack. Maybe the set up is bad or you have a loose part?

 

[Enjoicube]

I know it’s not a Les Paul, but I had the exact same “ching”/steely/metallic sound on my new 335 figured. I hated it. I swapped out the bridge for a faber insert (the one that requires fully removing the Nashville inserts) and it has gotten 100x better. I do the faber swap on all my guitars and it never fails to improve the tone, but this one just shocked me.

I already spent almost 4 grand on the guitar, what’s a few hundred to make it play the best it can? Worth swapping out some of the sub-par stuff. In fact, I was considering just having it redone with stainless frets from the get go because I hate the tiny vintage frets Gibson is using these days, but I’m not quite there yet.

 

[EPI_LP_SPC_I_P90]

Try adjusting the pickup height and pole pieces, it costs nothing. It's hard to understand what "ching" means to you, but you can dial in and out high end and overall output with a simple adjustment. Also try pure nickel strings, they're warmer sounding (though personally I don't like them that much).

Yep, the Epiphone LP Special I P90 that I have, after the original set of strings were dead, I went with Gibson Premium Les Paul 10's. Pure Nickel and silk ball ends. The write up on them is that they are studio quality performance & grade strings, the silk ball ends eliminate ambient noise. I have the wrapover Lightning Bar on this guitar. I won't rule out ever using another set of strings on the Epiphone, but when the Gibson Premiums are available, go on sale, I just was so pleased & impressed with the Gibson strings, that I don't feel a need to take a chance on anything else. I scored clearance sets for $ 6.99, bought the last 3 in that bin at the local music store. I'm down to the last package. They were on clearance because Gibson was at the deadline for a packaging appearance change. The music store was burning the previous packaging. Makes sense, having the same strings in different packaging might give the impression the Gibson strings don't sell well or whatever, brand perception thing.

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Product/SEG-LES/SEG-LES10

This was the previous packaging look.