That’s exactly where you want a P90 on a JR. I’m glad you got this model because this one was the one I wanted out of the zoo guitars you showed on last episode.
I see that I'm not the only one who *prefers* having a single pickup in the neck, rather than bridge position. I'm a LP Special fan, so I have *both* pickups available. I don't understand why people prefer, and are willing to pay much more for, a carved maple top on Lesters. I prefer *not* having the the carved maple cap, which increases the weight and price considerably, plus it doesn't sound as good to my brain. The maple cap has a harder, less mellow sound than an all mahogany body. Les Paul himself preferred not having a maple top, which is why the first LP Customs had a carved mahogany top instead. I prefer having a flat-top to a carved top too, hence my preference for LP Specials. Those carved maple caps add hundreds - even thousands of dollars in some cases, and I don't like them as much anyways. Happy Christmas ya'll - cheers!
Yep it’s fine. My newer r6 showed two threads out the box. Neck is perfectly straight and truss rod has plenty of play. I noticed on the last video, the bridge only les Paul, had a couple of threads showing too. Perhaps some of the newer custom shops are just coming out that way
I like it. I think a lone single-coil pickup is best positioned at the neck, while just one humbucker is better at the bridge. In each case, you get the maximum versatility through picking technique and amp adjustments.
The neck pick up position is in a harmonic deadspot for the 5th harmonic on open strings, so while you can kind of fake a neck pick up sound with a bridge pick up only instrument by cutting those highs out, you can’t fake a bridge pick up sound from a neck pick up only guitar. 🤷🏻♂️ Those open chords will always sound muddy.
Having a junior with only a pickup in the neck position seems like a good idea to me, especially if you're playing blues or folkier style music. I have a 1963 SG Jr, and although I love it, it only really works for playing loud rock music. As I've gotten into playing less aggressive music I've leaned more and more towards neck pickups. Also, if for some reason you wanted to add a second pickup, you wouldn't have to worry about the routing weakening the neck joint the way you would if you wanted to do the same modification on a standard Jr.
That's awesome, I barely ever use my bridge PU, on any of my guitars. It always feels like a waste of money buying a set of pickups since I only ever use the one.
I have the opposite problem from everyone else. Most people set their amp tone to the bridge and find the neck to thick and muddy. I set it to the neck, roll off low end and such. But then the bridge is too bright and thin for my taste
Would love to see/hear a side-by-side of this beauty and a regular Jr. I'm curious how much of a difference that pickup placement makes. Of course, that might be a little to niche even for here, lol.
Should be easy to find a special with the same pickups, then flip the switch. The bridge P90 is what you want with any significant distortion, but if you play clean and can only get one, I'd go with the neck for sure. (Clean, I tend to turn on both of them, but if I had to choose one...)
@@laughingdaffodils5450 some people say that the absence of another magnetic field on these single pickup jrs makes a huge difference in tone but i have no experience myself
@@notapplicable328 I am a fan of single pup guitars but I don't think that particular 'reason' stands up. Yes, the magnet drains the string ever so slightly - that's what produces the electric output. Yes, the magnet still does that whether it's switched on or not. So yes, all other things being equal a single pup drains less from the string that two, you'll have some tiny increase in sustain with one, again all other things being equal. But all other things are never equal, and this difference is so small that it's completely inconsequential compared to virtually any other variable you want to compare it to. Pup output is measured in /millivolts/. The reason single pup guitars can be great is because they can (ideally) just give you the tone you want with simplified controls. Billy Joe Armstrong would never turn on his neck pickup, unless it was by accident, so why have it at all? And equally the other way, if you're doing that Jim Hall sound and that's your thing, why add a switch and two more knobs that will only ever serve to get in your way?
As a person who in the 90s owned a fair amount of what are now very expensive guitars (and sold or traded all of them), these prices are mind boggling. I love your videos. I don't have to spend my social security money, LOL.
Well Stay Metal Ray, would one need to have an understanding of music theory to make it sound good? Lol. Just making reference to one of your video titles I saw on my thread today. Being as I have no clue about "theory" I didnt watch it so I didnt feel even worse about myself and my playing skills or lack thereof, as I do already. Merry Christmas! I enjoy what you do, thanks!
If they'd put a regular soapbar, that would have given the option of replacing it with a Deluxe-style mini-humbucker. If you're playing rhythm with high gain, you might want the hum-cancelling.
This looks weird, but you can get a range of sounds if you pair this with an EQ pedal or pre-amp. Consider that Lindsay Buckingham's Rick Turner guitars are ALL neck-humbucker pickups and he gets a good range of sound. Throw on an EQ pedal and clean boost, yeah, this will work.
having the dog ear means that there isn't any routing or wood taken out of the body, in theory this is a good thing. One of the things that appeals to fans of these styles is that they are essentaily just a slab of wood with a pick up on them. Makes them rude and crude.
That was fun. I’m a big Les Paul Junior fan. I currently own a couple and I’ve had others. That LP Jr Rhythm reminds me of my 2015 Gibson Jr in Tobacco Sunburst. I don’t think I’d trade mine for yours, but that is a cool and quirky guitar. Maybe someday they will figure out how to do a guitar with both a neck pickup AND a bridge pickup. Maybe even a way to switch between the two pickups. That would be cool.
Not for me - I know from experience a wrap around bridge without individual adjustable saddles sucks You can never work all the buzz and rattle out otherwise
The nitro aging lacquer has a nicotine tint and for some strange reason called ' Biker Ink' in the UK . The toffee they paint these things in takes a lot of stripping unless you get the exploding paint remover from your paint and panel guy , which is probably how the body gets marred . It tells you when it's shelf life is up by literally exploding in the tin ! Can you roll the volume back to 7 and the tone to 3 to get that almost acoustic sound in cream mode like the Junior ? It has its purpose.
Austin, You should do a deep dive documentation of a R4 Black Beauty. During that episode take the time to compare the mahogany top tone with a maple top R4 Standard. This would also allow you demonstrate the differences between a P90 and the AlNiCo V Staple Pickup. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a comparison of those two very different R4 instruments (especially the Staple and P90 tone comparison). Another great instrument, thank you for your content.
Nope. I prefer my guitars to have 2 pickups in the traditional position, with traditional separate volume and tone controls for each.. If you want to play mostly the neck pickup, then flick the switch and keep it there. The option to switch to the bridge pickup for a brighter tone should always be available. I do own 2 single pickup Les Pauls --- one with a HB at the bridge, and one with a dogear P-90 at the bridge. With these, I feel limited because there is no neck pickup to give me a more mellow tone. Two pickup guitars win out for practical reasons, especially for those who may not have oodles of cash to shell out for a large guitar collection.
Pretty cool guitar! Reminds me a lot of my '58 Silvertone, which only has a single coil neck pickup. The Silvertone sounds a little more twangy, but that's probably due to the hollow wings. The pickup in it is an old Gibson single coil that looks like it came from an early 70's Melody Maker.
I just realized watching this video and then the original of the 55 stripped jr you reviewed a long time ago that I now own that guitar. I traded a custom shop strat for it here in Dallas Fort Worth a couple years ago. I put a new pickguard/backplate and correct tuners on it and a new better bridge and it absolutely rules. One of my favorite guitars. Named it “woody”
OK, you have this, and a regular junior. You wear one behind your back like Joe Perry and instead of switching pickups you quick change the guitars. Makes perfect sense
Love this review! I also love the new editing, there’s so many new touches here and there while still feeling distinctly trogly. I would say when you have the text at the bottom of the screen during the tear down, i like the text you’ve been using previously, this white background and the current font doesn’t feel right IMO. Keep it up!
I love it 🤩 I have a 70s/80s Kay LP that I wired up with just a neck pickup - I love single pickup configurations. I used a bridge P90 which gives it some exceptional twang in the neck position, and picking nearer the bridge certainly opens up the tonal variety! Enjoyable video as always!
This should be a regular model ....I would suggest they put the P90 in the middle like the early ES 330 s were like JJ Cale played for a bit !! Great Video ......
It definitely sounds different than what I thought it would sound like. it might be a guitar that would benefit from the use of various types of pedals.
I love it! I'd love a LP with neck pickup only. You need to give us high up the neck demonstrations, playing high up the neck the neck pickup effectively becomes a bridge pickup, which is perfect.
@Ben Miller I know how to do all that stuff. I was raised in the country, killed my first deer at 12. Helped my papaw plant corn and squash every year and my mawmaw plant strawberries. None of that has anything to do with celebrating traitors who wanted to own people 🖕🏻
I would turn the knobs into push/pull switches and give it a Jaguar type treatment. One switch activates the "rhythm circuit" and the other would be a "strangle" bass cut.
Thinking the same thing with a bass cut push pull at least no rhythm circuit though, I feel that would be a bit unnecessary accessory to the circuits n tone how would that work with both I've never had a jag but I've scene how the JM works I'd think that'd be more useful on a two or more pickup guitar or one with only a bridge PU but then I'd probably wouldn't want a bass cut mixed in. Generally curious🤔
A friend of mine had a guitar with a single neck pickup. It was actually kind of cool, and I'm a "use only the bridge" guy. It evokes a different response from the player, and that is always interesting if not pleasing.
Being a custom shop and getting a silk screen Gibson logo with the dot above the "i" being crooked and touching the G.... geez horrible if I am to be honest
Why not make a model with a *slidable* single pick-up? But I guess it wouldn't look too aesthetically pleasing having a big cut-out between the end of the fretboard and the bridge.
@@TheCadegoodspeed45 - Yes, on an early 'Iceman' model, wasn't it? Gibson had only done it on a bass once, if I remember correctly (Grabber bass), but the pick-up could only be moved a a couple of inches or so. Unlike Westone's 'The Rail' bass, that also had quite an 'out there' design 🙂
As a fan of Neck pickups... i actually like (the concept of) it. althoughh i would put a weird pickguard to cover a bit of the "empty space" actually, a single version of the les paul special, with the pickguard not having the cut for the bridge pickup... that would look nice imo.
Nice guitar, I agree with you that the Paul would be more pleasing to see with a soapbar p90 or vintage staple 90 with maybe a tunermatic wrap around bridge to make the intonation easier
The TV yellow at 3:30 would be an EVH fan favorite no doubt! Now that's a workhorse guitar! My '62 double cutaway LP Juniors P90 pickup had the balls, but for heavy rock/ metal it always had that solid mono-sonic sound. I absolutely love the feel, weight, simplicity, appearance...but I like the duo-sonic sound of a humbucker. The Floyd Rose...well that's unique. I love that combo!!
FYI, if you hold a pick right, the tip shouldn't descend far enough into the plane of the strings to be hitting the pickups. "Room to pick" is the stupidest reason to buy a one pup guitar. That's like saying taller frets give you "room to finger". Your fingers don't touch the frets, they touch the strings, and a pick shouldn't hit the pups. The "pickguard" was not put there to protect from the pick: it was added to classical Spanish guitars no one ever used a pick on to protect from fingernails. The damage on the front of old guitars is from the nails of the picking hand, not the plectrum. It's a scratch plate, not a pick guard. Please... try to play a guitar so the pick comes down where the damage is (ala Nelson's Trigger). Basically impossible, but you will notice the nails of your right hand resting there. This screed is basically to say that there are reasons to buy a one pup guitar, but "picking space" isn't one of them.
My '50's ES 140 is a full depth hollow body version of this guitar. Everyone loves the sound of it. Pick near the bridge to brighten the tone, and go! Thanks for reviewing this oddity!
Not feeling it without a pickguard. Should have had neck binding like a special. The normal USA special and JR have the same pickups and nitro finish. Hard to justify custom shop prices. You’ll take a bath when you sell, unless you’re trogly
wow....LP Jr fan since '69 with Mountain. I was 12. I saw one in a pawn shop, $100 just like Leslie saw. He'd buy one when ever he saw it, often giving them away as gifts to people like Joe Walsh. Took awhile but finally bought the 2020 Epi from Sweetwater then, tob burst or whatever they call it. Guitar is great. Want 'warm' ? Work the controls. Its amazing what one pu and two knobs can do.
If this wasn't a $5k+ model, I might actually get one of these. I've always loved the simplicity of Juniors but generally never use the bridge pickup on any of my guitars, hell, my main Telecaster has a P-90 in the neck position and that's pretty much where I stay.
Very cool LP Jr.! The teardrop burst and one neck pickup looks great. Sounds great too. A custom LP Jr. with a single middle pickup would be cool. Or, a single angled bridge pickup (e.g., EVH style) would be nice!
Hey Troggly! Cheers from Brazil! Have you ever tried a Supro guitar? They are out of production now but there’s some great models still available on reverb and eBay. I strong recommend the Hampton model! Happy Xmas !
Happy with my Modern Special Tribute with no shelf and has a lightning bridge. To me the cheap one is way better for playing than the Vintage Juniors/Specials. As for a Junior, if I ever get a one pickup guitar (very doubtful), I much prefer this neck only pickup over the bridge only version. Makes the burst look even more awesome.
Exterior crocodile alligator I play a Junior Les Paul Rhythmator (lame) Honestly, I loved this thing, I just thing that they should move the volume pot to somewhere you can reach it and pick at the same time.
I think those scuff marks are from the case. My 2021 Standard 50’s neck in Heritage Cherry Sunburst had a small scuff mark just like that on the upper shoulder by the toggle switch on the side as well. Only that one though, the 2020 Tobacco Burst and 2021 Alpine White Custom Shop Custom did not have it. All 3 are from AMS….
That's... Disturbing...Seeing that wraparound bridge without the pickup in front of it is weird...And you're right...A staple P90 would have been more interesting...Kinda reminds me of a '66 Musicmaster I've had for a long time which surprisingly sounds bright and I really love it and do not miss a bridge pickup...For once 🙂 As for that LP Junior if it was mine I would replace the tone pot with a no-load tone pot to have the tone taken out of the circuit if I wanted...Kinda defeats the point of a neck-pickup only guitar but whatever...
Spec'd out nicely for jazz playing. but I've never been a fan of the Jr's. I like what they are, but to me it's like going to a huge candy store and just getting the Butterfinger.
