Page 130 - Guitar Classics Magazine - The Les Paul Bible 2019

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO VINTAGE LES PAUL TONE

ABOVE Our tone tests test results suggest some are more influential than a bit of extra brightness. However, it’s not a massive
reveal that, to us at least, others. Everything we have learned so far about change and the most crucial factor is the way they
the pickups are the most vintage Les Pauls leads us to conclude that the respond. We have established that modern pots
important factor for authentic pickups are the most important factor and the wood with vintage-accurate tapers are available and they
vintage-style Les Paul sound
is possibly the least of it. are affordable.
Of course the wood matters, but so long as your Capacitor choice has an even more subtle effect
Les Paul has a non-chambered mahogany body with a and only those with keen hearing will detect a
solid maple cap, a rosewood fingerboard and a glued difference. It’s quick and easy to install a bunch of
in mahogany neck, the fundamentals are in place. capacitors on a rotary switch to audition them, so
We’d probably argue that a long-tenon neck joint and simply pick the ones that sound good to you. All the
a fully loaded weight of somewhere between 8.2lbs vintage ones will have drifted so far out of spec, it
and 10lbs are desirable features, too. would be misleading if we told you to buy a specific
We’ve reached our conclusion by experimenting. type or value.
Having had the opportunity to load vintage P-90s The reality is that the majority of us will never be
and PAFs into a couple of 80s Grecos, there’s no able to afford a genuine 50s Les Paul and it’s easy to
denying that copies can sound almost exactly like spend our time gazing wistfully at vintage pictures,
the real thing. When vintage Gibson hardware is reading every article and hanging out on forums. As
installed, too, the results are truly staggering. Sadly fun a pursuit as this undoubtedly is, it ultimately
vintage hardware has become very expensive, but if doesn’t get us any closer to the sound in reality.
you can afford a piece here or there, you will hear Alternatively, you can get proactive about it. We
a difference. In the meantime, we’ll continue our hope we’ve demonstrated that not having a spare
investigations in the hope of finding repro hardware £220K in the bank doesn’t disqualify you from
with authentically vintage tonal characteristics. enjoying vintage Les Paul tone. Get creative, be
Let’s be clear about potentiometers. If you increase prepared to compromise and you may find yourself
the pot’s resistance by 10k, or even 100k, you will get very pleasantly surprised with the results.

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