Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

I had whatever came with a 96 LP studio, sorry don't know more details!

I have spent some more time and am start to get some good tones. I'm using the TC Nova dynamic compressor which is really helping getting the crunch back, and because it's a multiband comp it helps control the bass, but has blend so I keep the dynamics.

Bass is still a bit of a problem! I hadn't considered the speaker as the culprit!

The biggest issue I have is that I can no longer get power amp breakup without maxing the attenuator, which takes too much high/low off. Interestingly I have never used the HRD drive channel because it was a flabby mess. However.... with Seths it sounds GREAT!




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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

PS I have noticed a farty kind of 'ripple'... It's hard to explain... A subtle kind of... Crackle? I'll have to post a sound clip. It sounds like faint digital noise, but there's nothing digital (took the comp out to check). Could it be a grounding problem??? Is this making any sense??


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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Benjy_26 said:
A booster or compressor may work to push your amp a bit harder with these new pickups.

Also...what speaker is in your HRD? I found that the stock speaker in those is pretty scopped and has a pretty big low end. This could be the weak link in your signal chain at this point, especially if you're looking for clarity with a LP.
Click to expand...

OK, I found this on ebay: Eminence Red Coat Range The Governor 75 watt 8 ohms 12"

...and bought it because it was $150 aud, right in my budget :)

Now I wait for the magic package. Been getting a few of those lately.
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

swapping an a3 into the seth neck will also clean up a bit of the bottom end. ive always found the hrd to be farty on the bottom unless you keep the bass dialed back
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

dimarzio PAF 36th anniversary set. I have a set in my eclipse that kills for everything short of metal. it will do classic metal pretty well.

my faves right now
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Well, he special ordered 4 conductor Seth Lovers to Australia, so he isn't just going to throw them out.

Sometimes making one change in a signal chain we think we have all figured out will provide unexpected results. I actually had a 2001 or 2002 HRDdlx 40 watt and I too found it tubby. I always had to run the bass real low with my Epi LP and it got frustrating, which led me to get a Marshall. I didn't have anyone back then to tell me to try changing speakers. I was surprised to learn that on some amps costing well over $1000 they still sometimes use the cheapest speaker they can get away with using. This surprised me when I first learned it. I grew up in the world where if you buy a good product you use it just as it came from the factory.... they know what works best with it. Boy was I naïve.

I hope a speaker change works wonders for you, but i was so pleased to hear that you liked the OD channel with the Seth Lovers. I think if you get your bass problem sorted out you will love the clean to slight breakup on the clean channel, but you may have just discovered a new world of OD with the Seth's, which is delicious on it's own.
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

...and oh my GOD Jeff, you are absolutely on the money with this one!

I installed the new speaker tonight, but this time I did a crappy recording on my laptop so that I could compare.

After getting the new speaker in...... the difference brings tears to my eyes... no need to compare recordings!

FINALLY the tone I have been looking for for YEARS. It was the speaker! I mean the JJ valves, THD hotplate, and Seths help, but changing the speaker instantly got me the sound I have been hunting for all this time. Turns out if the last thing in the signal chain sounds like ****, the whole thing does! Who knew?

The flab is gone. I could write an infomercial for weight-loss pills, man. Before I couldn't even use neck on clean due to bass overload. Now it is still beefy, but not a touch of flab. Using overdrive on neck even sounds usable, almost like a fuzz. I may not even need my bass roll-off now.

Bridge pup - good lord. Finally a nice, 'crystal' crunch sound, without 'burping' overtones. So hard to explain. The overdrive channel is now quite usable, I'll have to get to know it for the first time in like 15 years. I might even try out that 'More Drive' malarky! I have to re-tune the whole rig, so it's like starting out again, but this time I have a bunch of pedals already.

I find with the Seths, compression becomes quite important. I am wondering whether I need slightly higher output pups, since I used to rely on power-tube distortion with no longer works... I am using compressor to get more gain and blend original signal back in, but I don't want to introduce too much noise. A new adventure begins!

Thanks to everyone who jumped in on this journey. I injured both of my arms a few years back and have been struggling with motivation to get playing again. Now I'm excited to play again.
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

"power tube distortion" is seldom actually that and there isnt much compression there. the PI overloading does give some compression though. what you hear when you crank the volume (on a non-master amp) is preamp + PI + power tube + maybe speaker breakup and it is a glorious thing indeed
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

So glad to hear about the fabulous results with the speaker change. What a great story!! It will take you time to reset all of your "normal" settings, which can be fun on its own. The speaker will get better with time too, as you break it in.

I don't know enough about the gain and other settings on the Fender you need to figure out, but through my Marshall DSL40c, the Seth Lover Set has plenty of punch and crunch for anything up to hard rock. However, that may be a product of my amp and the differences between your amp and mine. You've made so much progress with your tone, so I'm confident you will find the sound your looking for.

SD does have that 30 day return policy, if you purchased through an authorized dealer. You can always try something else if you wish. Please keep updating us on your progress. I've enjoyed being part of your journey.

Ps....I also know what it's like to deal with chronic pain and nerve damage. I have nerve damage that effects both of my legs and I have some minor nerve damage to my hands. Some days it's all I can do to get up and take care of myself, let alone work on a guitar or sit down to study or play. I can completely understand your issues.
 
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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

TeaAt5 said:
Sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination... I hope I never 'arrive'
Click to expand...
Yeah, 'cause then there's nothing left but learning to play better.

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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Grats on the new speaker.
If you think that you like it now, just wait 'till you break it in.

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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

TeaAt5 said:
Do you do that by just playing a lot?



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Click to expand...
Well, there are all sorts of recommendations that you can find.
I've always done it by playing it a lot. With increasingly greater volume.

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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

It has certainly been an interesting journey. For example, only now, after installing the new speaker, have a found a serious ground loop problem. On overdrive, the amp squeels if I have my TC nova repeater powered.

Not plugged in, mind you... I just have to plug in the daisy chain (from 1spot) and it shrieks.

Could be because I scraped off so much of the shielding foil when I pulled the amp guts out... [emoji38]

Now I am going to rebuild my board and pull off pedals I never really use.


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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Jeff_H said:
Ps....I also know what it's like to deal with chronic pain and nerve damage. I have nerve damage that effects both of my legs and I have some minor nerve damage to my hands. Some days it's all I can do to get up and take care of myself, let alone work on a guitar or sit down to study or play. I can completely understand your issues.
Click to expand...

Sucks to hear that man. I injured my arms as an IT worker, and while they're not bad now, it's a psychological thing with confidence.

Hope you are getting better, it's a bad time when your body won't do what you want!



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Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

Just put in 50's wiring - didn't change the tone pots, just snipped the cap away from the outer volume lug and soldered to the center lug.

I love it! Not getting that 'bloom' ppl talk about, but it is MUCH better when pots are rolled down a bit. Incidentally, I am not getting any volume loss when using the tone pots either...

One more step.
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

TeaAt5 said:
Just put in 50's wiring - didn't change the tone pots, just snipped the cap away from the outer volume lug and soldered to the center lug.

I love it! Not getting that 'bloom' ppl talk about, but it is MUCH better when pots are rolled down a bit. Incidentally, I am not getting any volume loss when using the tone pots either...

One more step.
Click to expand...

I also like the 50’s wiring setup. Much more usable taper
 
Re: Les Paul Studio - looking for 'Forever' pickups

It's funny - all I wanted to do was buy myself some new pickups for my 40th birthday. It's turned into an odyssey of tone discovery. I have not only changed my pickups, but have discovered new tones, rediscovered unused amp settings, rethought my pedals, changed to 50s wiring... and now I'm addressing power and shielding issues for the first time!

It's likely that I just never noticed the power issues before, but I think my tech did some sub-par soldering, as there was a lot of noise. I touched up the soldering which fixed it somewhat, and there is now only a slight difference when I touch the bridge. However for the first time I am getting a nasty buzz (not hum) when the axe is at certain angles to the amp. I've never really had this before. It could be because I scraped a lot of the side shielding from the HRD when I put the chassis back in after speaker change.

I've ordered some copper tape AND some conductive paint. I plan to shield both the cavity and the sides of the amp around the chassis.

I also have quite long leads coming from the triple shots... could this be acting like an antenna?
 
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