Gibson Les Paul Special Sounding Thin

C

Charvel1975

New member
Hello all, sorry for my rant but I'm just so frustrated with my Gibson Les Paul Special and it's my first Gibson ever and I don't own any other Gibson's and want to be able to use this guitar for live shows and rehearsals and occasionally tune the low E to Drop D for a couple of our cover songs :(

Last night played the guitar through my Boogie Mark V 90 watt head into a Harley Benton 4x12 cab with Celestion Vintage 30's & just doesn't have any girth and clarity, it's thin and low output. Guitar is in standard E tuning with .010 - .046 nickel wound strings. I'm in a 2 guitarist covers band playing 70's/80's/90's Rock/Classic Rock/Heavy Metal/Hair Metal.

I'm going to take it to a guitar repair place and have the guitar & all the wiring looked over and maybe have the 50's wiring done as well as I've heard that can also help the tone along with a proper setup. I want the full humbucker sound out of the P90 Super Distortion so does that needs to be wired in Series?

Might be looking to replace both pickups with something else too & if I decide to get all new pickups for it, I'm looking for P-90 sized humbuckers good for what we play. Was also wondering how a Dimarzio Tone Zone p90 would sound in the bridge and moving the Super Distortion to the neck?
 
Wire that P-90 SD in series. That'll give the full output and a fatter sound. Parallel is a like a noiseless single-coil and much lower output. Don't worry about the 50's wiring. Start with one thing at a time. A good setup is always a good thing, I will say that. Any Super Distortion (humbucker or the P-90 version) will sound muddy in the neck unless it is wired split in single-coil mode or parallel.
 
ErikH said:
Wire that P-90 SD in series. That'll give the full output and a fatter sound. Parallel is a like a noiseless single-coil and much lower output. Don't worry about the 50's wiring. Start with one thing at a time. A good setup is always a good thing, I will say that. Any Super Distortion (humbucker or the P-90 version) will sound muddy in the neck unless it is wired split in single-coil mode or parallel.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the suggestion You think the P100 is still fine in the neck or should I look for something better to compliment the bridge P90 super distortion?
 
There are so many settings on a Mark V that I'd spend some time with the various EQ options. You can also use a boost pedal, too.
 
Charvel1975 said:
Thank you very much for the suggestion You think the P100 is still fine in the neck or should I look for something better to compliment the bridge P90 super distortion?
Click to expand...

Once you have it situated with the Super D, play it for a while and then decide. You might like it.
 
Back the volume down to 8 or 9 out of ten on the neck and bridge and set up your amp so that it sounds good with the neck pickup. Then start out with the tone rolled back to about 5 for the bridge. Roll the neck volume up to add clarity, roll the bridge tone up to add clarity. Roll the bridge tone down to add girth. When set up this way the neck shouldn't need any added girth.

P90s have a particular sound, and that sound is different than a regular humbucker . . . but it's great. I'd play around with the pickups and give them a chance for a few months at least to let my ears get used to them before deciding to swap them out.
 
Mincer said:
There are so many settings on a Mark V that I'd spend some time with the various EQ options. You can also use a boost pedal, too.
Click to expand...

This for certain.

Mark V EQ doesnt work like you would expect an EQ to work.

Watch You tube videos that Mesa made which explain the weirdness of how their EQ works.



Also, what is the pickup pole and string height? Having the poles at optimum distance is the best was to get full response.
 
What are the pots? 300k?

In my opinion a P90 shines with 500k. A HB needs 300k min. 500k tops. HB has to be in series.
 
I assume you were using amp settings dialed in for your other guitars. What bridge pickups are in those?

You're sure this bridge is actually a Super Distortion? DiMarzio made another P90-sized twin coil that was intended to sound more like a real P90.
I think even in parallel, a Super D should have some girth... Of course it'll be beefier in series.

Never owned one myself, but it seems the Tone Zone P90 should be quite fat.
I do agree with ErikH, a Super D is not at its best as a neck pickup.
 
this has a dimzarzio sd p90 in the bridge? that shouldnt sound thin if its wired right. id guess the p100 in the neck is fine. do you have a multimeter? sounds like the wiring is messed up
 
No one mentioned PU distance from strings. They might be too far away. Move them closer. I usually aim for around 2 nickles distance from strings with passive.
 
Top-L said:
No one mentioned PU distance from strings. They might be too far away. Move them closer. I usually aim for around 2 nickles distance from strings with passive.
Click to expand...

So stack 2 nickels on top of one another and adjust bridge and neck pickup heights to have 2 nickels distance from the strings?
 
Top-L said:
No one mentioned PU distance from strings. They might be too far away. Move them closer. I usually aim for around 2 nickles distance from strings with passive.
Click to expand...

I did mention this above. and yes agree that should be the first thing to check
 
Charvel1975 said:
So stack 2 nickels on top of one another and adjust bridge and neck pickup heights to have 2 nickels distance from the strings?
Click to expand...

You want to start with the distance form the top of the pole to the bottom of string to be about 1/8th (3mm) of an inch on the low E side and 1/16th (2 mm) of an inch on the high E side. -then adjust from there to preference

Correct-Height.png
 
FWIW the Gibson factory string heights are:

Fret the high and low E at the highest fret, then while holding those strings fretted...
Measure 3/32" from the top of the pickup to the bottom of the strings,
Except on the neck pickup under the low E, measure 1/8" from the top of the pickup to the bottom of the strings

Since I learned about that, been using it for years as the starting point to evaluate pickups. I only find myself deviating from this less than 25% of the time, usually related to changing to different amps than I normally use.
 
i almost always set the bridge pup, then adjust the neck to get the balance i want. the 2 nickel thing is a good start for the bridge pup, and the other suggestions are good as well.

did you have a meter or not? a super distortion p90 in series shouldnt be thin sounding.
 
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