What is a small thing that makes a big difference to your LP?

[Caretaker]

Bone nut
.015 neck cap
Tuned down half step
Usually change harness and pickups to what I like.
Neck pickup flish with ring.

 

[northernguitarguy]

HP models are fantastic. The carved neck heel makes a huge difference when playing high up the neck. That’s the one thing I always hated about my other LP. I wanted a double cut just because of that issue, but with the HP it doesn’t bother me near as much. The titanium nut is also a major improvement, who wants to have to ‘craft’ a new nut if something isn’t right? Just adjust it, genius.

I would expect that to add to costs. But dang, how much to switch from plastic to bone, or nylon? Mere dollars per guitar, and it makes a huge difference in the long run.

 

[northernguitarguy]

I may get Freddy G to rid me of the train-track jumbo frets, with a proper crowning.

 

[gball]

The smallest thing that makes a difference to me is steel tailpiece studs. Seems like a minuscule detail, but they seem to really help tighten up the sound, along with an aluminum tailpiece.

 

[Side Burns]

Putting steel Tail piece studs made the guitar reverberate more. You can feel the vibrations behind the neck.

if a magnet doesn’t stick to your studs, its worth a try

 

[BKS]

String hight.... I love them nice and lowwwww. Were i take mine for setup likes to set them up pretty high.... Sky high. But in the end they set it up nice and low... Had to tell them, set as low as you can i don't care for some buzzzzz!
Now is is nice and low... No string buzz and i am back in love with my custom shop baby.
A little thing with big impact.

Fresh strings are something too, especially if the old ones are a bio hazard.....

 

[Moby Dick]

An aluminum tailpiece makes a noticeable change in sound.
It will sound brighter.

 

[Demon Dave]

Drop down the tune 1 step and half

 

[73171]

Not a small change...I put a Bigsby on my Les Paul and I love it1

 

[PauloQS]

Okay, so regarding the nut. As far as I knew the current lineup is not using corian, but GraphTech nuts. I have seen them being called Tusq XL, but never officially. I know GraphTech is a company and they use all sorts of different materials for nuts. For instance, nubone, which is being used on the Epiphone inpired by Gibson lineup. As far as I know, GraphTech doesn't make corian nuts, but I could be wrong. I know that Gibson used corian in the past and continues to use in some specific models, I think some acoustic guitars and some custom shops, like the Les Paul Custom Ebony (both reissues in the current lineup use nylon, though). When you guys are talking about replacing the corian nuts, are you talking about previous models? Prior to Tektoid?

 

[Daniel.S]

Using a metal switch tip.
So I don’t have to worry about snapping plastic ones.

 

[Phil W]

Practice.

 

[Pappy35]

Stopped utilizing 50s wiring and went back to modern wiring.

Funny that. I just got (like two days ago) a new Wildwood 50's Standard and I'm changing the wiring to actually be 50's style. I loved that change when I did it a couple of months ago to my Epi (a new 60's) .

 

[jbash]

Funny that. I just got (like two days ago) a new Wildwood 50's Standard and I'm changing the wiring to actually be 50's style. I loved that change when I did it a couple of months ago to my Epi (a new 60's) .

I've done the 50s wiring thing for the past 10-11 years. It works well when I'm chasing other tones, like say, Page. But I struggle with getting jbash's tone

 

[Kitsune]

I think a small detail often overlooked that makes all the difference is adjusting pickups height and more particularly: adjusting the height of the poles on each pickup. Lowering the pickups and adjust the poles so they end up higher makes the Les Paul sound much better, less mud and more clarity overall + better attack and overall more pleasing sound.

 

[dro]

Smallest change that makes the biggest difference is Rotosound strings.

 

[JMP]

Having the local luthier do a fret level, glue the frets, make a bone nut and do a great setup had made a huge difference in my playing experience. The guitar is a joy to play and sounds better than ever. And this makes me want to play it a lot.

 

[northernguitarguy]

Okay, so regarding the nut. As far as I knew the current lineup is not using corian, but GraphTech nuts. I have seen them being called Tusq XL, but never officially. I know GraphTech is a company and they use all sorts of different materials for nuts. For instance, nubone, which is being used on the Epiphone inpired by Gibson lineup. As far as I know, GraphTech doesn't make corian nuts, but I could be wrong. I know that Gibson used corian in the past and continues to use in some specific models, I think some acoustic guitars and some custom shops, like the Les Paul Custom Ebony (both reissues in the current lineup use nylon, though). When you guys are talking about replacing the corian nuts, are you talking about previous models? Prior to Tektoid?

Mine’s a 2012. By 2015, no amount of graphite could lube that shitty (cheap) corian nut. I got an excellent local tech to switch to bone, and under normal conditions, this baby stays in tune, only needing the slightest adjustments over an entire gig or rehearsal.

 

[jbash]

Smallest change that makes the biggest difference is Rotosound strings.
View attachment 489081

LOVE their strings- Great sound and feel, but they really tore up frets in my guitars. They use a very hard alloy. I stopped using them after a year or so.

 

[PauloQS]

Mine’s a 2012. By 2015, no amount of graphite could lube that shitty (cheap) corian nut. I got an excellent local tech to switch to bone, and under normal conditions, this baby stays in tune, only needing the slightest adjustments over an entire gig or rehearsal.

Thanks for the clarification. And yes I totally agree, corian is possibly one of the worst nut materials out there.You’d have to make a nut out of avocado to get a worse material than corian.