It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

[Innocent_Bystander]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Looking cool!

Are there are any stacked p90's or something like that you can buy to get rid of the hum?

P-100's are stacked humbuckers. I don't know that you can buy them aftermarket but I'm sure someone is selling a used pair.

 

[ErikH]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Gorgeous LP. I LOVE Goldtops. *sigh*. One day I will have a Goldtop. Take care of that thing.

I agree on the sustain issue from Jeremy. Raise action a bit (it doesn't take much either) and look at where the tailpiece sits. Forget the lightweight aluminum Tonepro's stuff. Overpriced and overrated IMO. The stock tailpiece is fine. If my Epi LP can sustain like mad (not an Elitist either) then yours sure should being a Gibson Historic.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

I love me some goldtops!!!

I bet the P90s sound nice. The factory Gibson P90s are actually pretty good too. I bet some Ants. would be killer though.

My personal goldtop is a Godin, but one day I'll inherit my Dad's 68-69.

Enjoy it man!

Luke

 

[jonnymangia]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

More R6 porn... When I have a few minutes I'll post some more observations.
In the meantime, I guess the consensus opinion is that you CAN'T get the vintage, bucker type vibe from the P90's, correct? Maybe Christian and Jeff can opine on this...I'm particularly looking for that early ZZ Top crunch. If it can't be had from the R6 I'll just try to squeeze it from the SG, or get a lower-cost bucker LP as a backup. Actually, tonight I am going to play the SG and the R6 back -to-back and write up the results.

 

[ErikH]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

From these two shots I see two things that will affect the sustain.
1. The action for sure like Jeremy said...raise it up some so the strings can ring a little more.
2. The pickups look way high. The poles are the magnets in those things (P90's are single coils). Lower them down a little. In fact, I'd start there and then go to the action. Chances are the pull of the magnets is affecting the string vibrations too much.

That is an absolutely gorgeous LP. Can't say it enough.

 

[junior]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Man , that thing is totally beautiful. I'm a P-90 junky and have wanted one of those for a long time. Maybe when my wife gets done with med school:fingersx: I also want the one with the humbuckers ('57?) Good for you!

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

The Rev. did use some P90s, but yeah P90s are a very different beast.

If you are set on bucker tone you could get MJ to wind you some of the bucker sized P90s.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/customshop.shtml
left column

Luke

 

[JeffB]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

yep..I'm with erik. drop the poles a bit or raise the action (personally I'd raise the action...low action kills sustain and tone)

Also Historics already come with alum tailpiece.

And you def won't be able to cop PAF tones with it. Ain't gonna happen. You may get close with alot of fooling around, but they are just different animals. Would a R7 with Phatcats be able to sound like an R7 with 59s or Seths? I think you know the answer.

 

[jonnymangia]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

yep..I'm with erik. drop the poles a bit or raise the action (personally I'd raise the action...low action kills sustain and tone)

Also Historics already come with alum tailpiece.

And you def won't be able to cop PAF tones with it. Ain't gonna happen. You may get close with alot of fooling around, but they are just different animals. Would a R7 with Phatcats be able to sound like an R7 with 59s or Seths? I think you know the answer.

Point taken. My thought was to use the SG for the vintage PAF vibe. However the damn thing sounds thinner now after playing the R6! I may look to hook a diff bridge pup as the Rio Grande is too hot. I'm actually thninking of re-installing the 2 59's in the SG.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Point taken. My thought was to use the SG for the vintage PAF vibe. However the damn thing sounds thinner now after playing the R6! I may look to hook a diff bridge pup as the Rio Grande is too hot. I'm actually thninking of re-installing the 2 59's in the SG.

59s+SG=mmmmmmmmm

 

[JeffB]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Well you can def beef up the R6 if ya want. There are many options with a P90.

Minis with rings will fit (and current Gibson minis are HOT.. dang near PAF level..just a little clearer and slightly less thick..certainly much closer than P90s). I really had no issue copping PAF vibe with my MF deluxe, and got killer thick Gary Moore/Sykes "woman tone" at the neck.

DiMarzio makes a bunch of drop in replacement stuff for p90s.

Duncan or any other number of winders I'm sure can hook ya up.

Thing is..you got a KILLER Les Paul...and there are easy options to get you where you want to be if the p90 is not quite for you..unlike the old days when people had to rout out Deluxes and P90 guitars for full size buckers.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

The P90 Customs give you a hotter tone, hotter than PAFs I'd even say. Lots of crunch and grit, but they clean up nicely as well.

Luke

 

[jonnymangia]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Well you can def beef up the R6 if ya want. There are many options with a P90.

Minis with rings will fit (and current Gibson minis are HOT.. dang near PAF level..just a little clearer and slightly less thick..certainly much closer than P90s).

Don't you think PAF's are thicker than P90's?

 

[JeffB]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Don't you think PAF's are thicker than P90's?

Yes. Maybe I worded my post wrong?..sorry

What I mean is that current Gibson Minis are nearly as thick as a PAF/full size bucker...just a little clearer/more biting on the top end, not quite as complex in the mids...(i.e. minis are closer to a PAF than a P90 is).

EDIT: And if you went with minis you don't have to carve up the guit and it's easily reversed.

Now the Firebird type minis and minis of old (like in the Norlin Deluxe I had 17 or 18 years ago) are a different story..they were very weak and thin compared to modern Gibson minis, and P90s for that matter.

I really wish I had made some clips of my MF deluxe (didnt have any way to do it at the time). It was fatter and sang better than a whole mess of other (full size bucker) LPs I've owned

 

[jonnymangia]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Bottom line with P-90s - if Leslie West can make that little slab of wood with a single P90 sound THAT FAT, a full fledged Paula with two P90's will do it. It's just up to me to get the tone.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Bottom line with P-90s - if Leslie West can make that little slab of wood with a single P90 sound THAT FAT, a full fledged Paula with two P90's will do it. It's just up to me to get the tone.

FWIW the guy I got my R8 from has a Korina Jr. that is soo fat it's unbelievable.

Luke

 

[JeffB]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Big diff in tone between a solid plank of mahogany (or limba) and one topped with a maple cap.

My V and Explorer and FB are "fatter sounding too" compared to a Paula. A (typical std.) Paulas mids are more complex. They are not necc fatter sounding apples to apples. In fact they (typical paulas) are generally more even sounding in EQ and less articulate than a solid plank of mahogany.

Even with 59s my Hamer Standard (mahog/ thick maple cap, fat mahog neck, long tenon-like neck joint design) doesn't/didn't have nearly the chunk and "fat" sound my new explorer with a 500T/496 has. And the Hamer had some seriously good wood. It's just that maple makes things more complex sounding and balances the tonal EQ.

I posted some clips a few weeks back of the Frank Hannon band. Compare his tone with an SG and Les Paul. The SG sounds "fatter". His other guitar player has a Paula and his SG sounds MUCH fatter.

def has something to do w/ "tone is in the fingers"..but Jr's sound the way they are also because it's just a slab of mahogany w/ no maple cap.

But in the end it doesn't really matter. Most people don't care about tonal nuances of one Gibbo vs. the other once the drummer starts :laugh2:

 

[jonnymangia]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Big diff in tone between a solid plank of mahogany (or limba) and one topped with a maple cap.

My V and Explorer and FB are "fatter sounding too" compared to a Paula. A (typical std.) Paulas mids are more complex. They are not necc fatter sounding apples to apples. In fact they (typical paulas) are generally more even sounding in EQ and less articulate than a solid plank of mahogany.

Even with 59s my Hamer Standard (mahog/ thick maple cap, fat mahog neck, long tenon-like neck joint design) doesn't/didn't have nearly the chunk and "fat" sound my new explorer with a 500T/496 has. And the Hamer had some seriously good wood. It's just that maple makes things more complex sounding and balances the tonal EQ.

I posted some clips a few weeks back of the Frank Hannon band. Compare his tone with an SG and Les Paul. The SG sounds "fatter". His other guitar player has a Paula and his SG sounds MUCH fatter.

def has something to do w/ "tone is in the fingers"..but Jr's sound the way they are also because it's just a slab of mahogany w/ no maple cap.

But in the end it doesn't really matter. Most people don't care about tonal nuances of one Gibbo vs. the other once the drummer starts :laugh2:

Jeff don't you think this arguement is contradicted by the nuances of the SG? God knows how many threads I jumped on in the last year that dealt with the SG's "thin-ness". That's a slab of Mahogany as well, so why do you think the LP Jr. is much different? The single cut?

And didn't Frank Hannon (or the other guy in Tesla) play an R6?

 

[JOLLY]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

I love it, but what's with the red selecter switch tip?

 

[greendy123]

Re: It's Here! LP '56 Goldtop pics and review

Jeff don't you think this arguement is contradicted by the nuances of the SG? God knows how many threads I jumped on in the last year that dealt with the SG's "thin-ness". That's a slab of Mahogany as well, so why do you think the LP Jr. is much different? The single cut?

And didn't Frank Hannon (or the other guy in Tesla) play an R6?

The LP Jr is different because of the single cut and they are thicker than SGs. + an LP Jrs is just a les paul without the maple cap. I pretty sure the maple just more high, the lack of maple allow more of the mahogony tone to pass through thus having a thicker tone.