Snake Aces
Singlecut Slut
Re: Can the right pickups get Les Paul tones from any guitar?
I think there is no true LP tone, just a ballpark. The important factors will be scale length, bridge type and a roll of the dice that you will get a guitar with mahogany that is warm and close to what you're after.
I've only ever owned one Gibson Les Paul that had, what I would call, true Les Paul tone. It was a beautiful looking, sounding and playing guitar. I've played many that came close and some that were either a bit off or way off.
I've played with humbuckers in longer scale length guitars that have cool sounds and a chunkier tone than using single coils would have, but not quite the same tone and feel the 24.75" scale offers when combined with certain humbuckers.
As far as the set neck versus bolt-on thing goes. In my experience I find both can have tons and tons of sustain. If the bolt on neck is making the right contact with the body (assuming you have good pieces of wood) and fit snugly in the pocket it can sustain a lot. However, I have noticed different tonal characteristics of set necks versus bolt-ons. I find the set neck can sometimes have a bit warmer tone and feel to it. Bolt-ons, at least in my experience, have a little bit more of a... I almost want to call it brightness but it's something a bit different than subtle brightness. However, the tone can still be fat. I think the type of wood the neck is made out of has more of an impact on the tone of a bolt-on whereas a set neck strikes more of a balance between the body and the neck. At the end of the day though, either type can be pretty impressive and end up making a great guitar. Just check out this bolt-on LP demo:
I think there is no true LP tone, just a ballpark. The important factors will be scale length, bridge type and a roll of the dice that you will get a guitar with mahogany that is warm and close to what you're after.
I've only ever owned one Gibson Les Paul that had, what I would call, true Les Paul tone. It was a beautiful looking, sounding and playing guitar. I've played many that came close and some that were either a bit off or way off.
I've played with humbuckers in longer scale length guitars that have cool sounds and a chunkier tone than using single coils would have, but not quite the same tone and feel the 24.75" scale offers when combined with certain humbuckers.
As far as the set neck versus bolt-on thing goes. In my experience I find both can have tons and tons of sustain. If the bolt on neck is making the right contact with the body (assuming you have good pieces of wood) and fit snugly in the pocket it can sustain a lot. However, I have noticed different tonal characteristics of set necks versus bolt-ons. I find the set neck can sometimes have a bit warmer tone and feel to it. Bolt-ons, at least in my experience, have a little bit more of a... I almost want to call it brightness but it's something a bit different than subtle brightness. However, the tone can still be fat. I think the type of wood the neck is made out of has more of an impact on the tone of a bolt-on whereas a set neck strikes more of a balance between the body and the neck. At the end of the day though, either type can be pretty impressive and end up making a great guitar. Just check out this bolt-on LP demo:
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