sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

[lkr]

This 2012 traditional pro has been very picky over the last year. It was terribly bright with the bb3 so I put a Rio BBQ in. That helped but the neck was always louder no matter the pickup heights. Then I replaced the bridge with a Faber tone lock and aluminum tailpiece. The brightness went away and now was super thick. Next I put a Suhr aldrich in the bridge. It was a good pup without any strong frequencies showing but no personality. I came across a Fralin 9k and tried that. That was just as aggressive and I thought I would stick with it. Then I ditched the aluminum tailpiece, top wrapped the strings and the volume difference between the bridge and neck pup went away. Also the Fralin became a little congested. So despite my past experience with the sh5 being too bright in a strat I thought Id try it again in the paul. Instantly I was blown away through my jvm. It was perfect. Though my old 5150 it is a bit bright but nothing i cant dial out.
I think I should have spent time on the set up before all the pup changes. The original bridge was not setup properly causing the original brightness and volume issues. Lesson learned. Digging the sh5 though!!

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

Cool! I'm going to keep this in mind if I ever buy another Traditional.

[Tumblinman]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

I agree with the praise for SH-5 in a Les Paul. Had a Les Paul Traditional with a 59 in the neck and a SH-5 in the bridge and it was a nice combo, for sure.

[Aceman]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

Jazz SH-5 is a cool modern combo from what I have read.

[Farkus]

sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

I have a LP Traditional myself but my main complaint is the guitar is muddy...I have been reluctant to pull the '57's out of it because I wanted to keep it stock and maybe sell it for something I like better but it sounds good acoustically and I do have a SH-5 laying in my parts drawer...maybe I'll try that.


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[dystrust]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

I had a SH-5 in the bridge of my Les Paul from 2002-2008 and it sounded pretty good if a bit heavy on the low end. This may just be a characteristic of my LP, and it may be something in the voicing of the Custom. It should be possible to dial out either way, but this wasn't really an option for me as I didn't want to be tweaking my amp between songs in a set. In the end, I replaced the Custom with a 59 because I wanted a more vintage sound from my LP.

Following this 'lesson' we installed a JB in the bridge of longcat's LP since she was looking more for versatility than vintage tone. Don't believe the nay-sayers, a JB in a LP smokes.

[lkr]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

Mine came with a bb3 bridge and a 57+ neck. My strings were hitting the rear of the nashville bridge as they passed over. I now realize this was causing my brightness more than the pickup and volume balance issues. I now have a faber tone lock abr bridge with the stock tailpiece and top wrapped the strings. This has made more of a difference than most other changes. I also installed new controls from jonsey blue with 50s wiring. Honestly I dont hear much difference even though the jonsey specs out at 550k volume and tone controls. My lack of bridge setup knowledge on the les paul at the time led to many changes. The sh5 is a keeper with the Marshall jvm. The 5150 rhythm channel is great as well, but the lead channel is a touch bright and compressed. Just goes to show that the whole rig has to work together.

[Aceman]

Re: sh5 in les paul traditional=Awesome

As always - you really have to tune into the Les Paul's sound BEFORE you just go throwing pups in there. Big reason i LOVE the Distortion.