People don’t try to make their LPs sound like Telecasters so much as they just try to make them sound like the original Les Pauls sounded. I’ve listened to loads of demos of vintage LPs, and the best of them have a clear, articulate bell-like tone, not the muddy mess they’ve sounded like for the past few decades.
The muddy mess is chiefly due to high output pickups that honestly destroy the tone completely. Lower output pickups (I have a pair of 70's TTops) are the secret IMO. I also reverse the magnet in the neck pickup to get the out of phase tone in the middle.
Kris! I want to just thank you for the idea of lowering the neck PUP and raising the screws. I tried it on my ES345 and it did wonders to improving my tone. Prior to doing this it was both a bit muddy and also a bit clicky but after lowering the PUP and backing out the screws it lost the muddiness, tightened up the low end and even the high end got smoother while not losing anything, thanks!!
I have pretty strong about the first 2 questions Regarding Les Pauls, there are more shades to Les Paul. Id say one side is Clapton on Beano album. Very articulate, bright, airy Les Paul. And then Adam Jones with the thick compressed, wall of sound Les Paul. If someone falls in love with the airy Les Paul, its hard to go past that. 2nd about the amp/guitar situation. Id say, amp sets limit to how good your guitar can sound. And then its up to the guitar, if it can match that ceiling. On the other hand, if the amp does not allow your guitar to sing, best of the bestest guitars want help. 👍
Hey there! Another approach I recommend to my students: Take any 3 different riffs. To begin, use a blues scheme. Play the 1st riff 4 times (i.e. in the key of A), the 2nd riff 2 times (key of D), the 1st again 2 times (in A) and then 2 times the 3rd (in E) plus 2 times the 1st in A. You can change the order of riffs, the keys and also the number of repetitions to taste.
Hey man, tolles Interview neulich über deine Geschichte und wie du zu Thomann kamst. Wir haben die selben Wurzeln. Freue mich auf dein Album und noch viele viele tolle Stunden auf RU-vid mit dir 😉 frohes neues Jahr, das wird dein Jahr !!!
It’s not about trying to make a LP sound like a Tele. When you tap or split a humbucker, you get a new tone that is different from either a single coil or a humbucker, and can be perfect for certain situations. Gibson never does a good job splitting humbuckers to sound like single coils anyway. (PRS is the only one that gets close) So just embrace the split sound as something completely different. It’s not a Tele sound, but it’s still useful in some cases.
Hi Kris, thanks especially for your LP setup and songwriting tips. Your advice always fits and thanks to your wonderful playing and demoing between the parts, I don't even lose attention! 😉 You really know how to make a fun and educational video.
It was very interesting to hear you explaining the differences between the OX Box and the Fryette Power Station. I've been wondering about that too. Cheers!
Seems to me you should make your guitar sound however you like, no rules! I am primarily an LP player and I tend to raise the neck pup and adjust my Amp or effects EQ so that my neck pup really gets an almost strat tone and I love it.
Oh man I love the sound you have with that Les paul, one of the best sound I think I heard on a Les Paul to my hear must be "Pete's New LP Guitar" on Pete Thorn channel playing through his Suhr... Gyat damn!!
Hey Kris, nice video once again! One thing I never accomplished is to play the melodys that come to my mind. Is there a way to learn this, any advice? Thanks a lot, Horschy
Always great, your videos. Being a "amp-guy" and because of the feel of real amps (in comparison with modellers) do you consider to review the bluguitar amps ?
I used to own and love the original Amp1. I played it for years on hundreds of shows. Truly great product. I was never asked by Bluguitar to do a review and I will not buy one just to test it, haha! It would be fun to check out their current stuff, so hopefully one day it happens.
I'm with you on the tones thing. Everyone has it's own personal sound, and people should understand that if you like it then it's cool. Same thing with relics and everything
I like the way my LP sounds marginally better than my Tele, but I play sitting down and the Tele is way more comfortable for me personally because of the position of the bottom carve on my knee and where it positions the fretboard for my neck hand. Does that make sense? I wouldn't care if I played standing up. So I think based on that, putting the sound you like with the feel you like makes all the difference. If you like both of those things on one guitar you don't have to make changes. I've been looking into Troublemaker Teles specifically to get one that can sound like an LP. If I liked the LP sitting down, I'm sure I'd add Tele pickups to it if those were more pleasing to my ear.
A lot of people missing one crucial thing about sound of their guitar - amp. It is more crucial than humbuckers you install , cuz hums colour your sound , while amp shapes 80% of it. You want bell like clear punch tone ? Try plexi type amp with 6550 tubes! P.S. hums are still matter , especially magnets they have.
I remember reading about these music journalists who both had played Jimmy Page's no 1 Les Paul when Gibson had when they were doing their re-issue of it. Both journalists said the same thing, that the pick- ups were very weak sounding, almost strat single coil like. Page made it sound thicker with his vibrato.
I think the finesse of the right hand is more important than anything else when it comes to getting the nuance out of any guitar or amp. Most people who sledgehammer the strings are looking for the Satan's chainsaw sound anyway, and whatever gear they're using will usually reflect Those intentions. I prefer to listen to those who have a full spectrum of right hand attack. The dynamics are the whole point. I'm all too painfully aware that this outlook is about as popular as Hank Jr. at a Farrakhan rally, and I also don't get Christmas cards from anybody's marketing dept. Oh well. Nothing to do now but just go play.
I would suggest you listen to all the videos of real 57-60Les Pauls… the ones that have the best balance between neck and bridge, sound like a tele with more of a P90 focus. Low wind pickups 7.5k -7.99k give those tele sounds but fatter. Nothing in the world wrong with a LP sounding like an overgrown fat tele at all. Jimmy Page made millions in that middle position with that high pitch treble chirp with sounds like a tele to me all day….. it is all subject to interpretation and what you like…. But I like an LP to growl like a fat tele…. Not bright or over warm or jazzy as I have found with some. But…. Hey…. Always do you and play for you and if others love it and stop to listen…. And applaud…. You did that one thing right and right there….
the commenter complaining about making your LP sound like a Tele must have forgotten Seth Lover was trying to create pickups that sounded like P-90's but without the hum.. depending how you set-up your p-90 you can come very close to the sound of a Tele. Therefor if you have a good PAF type humbucker set up correctly it should sound somewhat like a slightly warmer Tele, with a lot of clarity and definition. that is what it was supposed to sound like. I have yet to find an original burst that has a dark sounding neck pickup. they all seem to sound slightly warm but with a lot of clarity and note definition
I run my Gibson “Murphy Lab” Kirk Hammett "Greeny" 1959 Les Paul Standard through GORILLA GG25 1X8" GUITAR COMBO AMP (capitals intentional) Sounds like nothing else.
funny enough,Les Paul wanted single coil sound,hated HBs,ended up never playing a LP anymore,then ask Jimmy Page what kind of sounds he was getting out of his custom wired Lp,to each his own,shut up and play guitar like FZ said
