My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

[Robert Delahunt]

All,

As came up in discussions with someone else on a different thread, I just don't like how stock Les Pauls sound. I think it's the mahogany, but maybe it's just me. This may be a bit involved, so bear with me.

My first all-mahogany guitar was a classical guitar. I loved the tone and the mids, but the bass end wasn't as tight as I like, and the high end wasn't as sparkly as I like.

I've played many Les Pauls in the stores, and my buddy has one. I just don't like how they don't seem to have high-end sparkle, and how the mids are almost too much. I like a guitar that doesn't get crunch on the mid range before distortion: clean, I want to be pristine clean.

I'm almost running into the same problem with my Showmaster. It's basswood so it's got that basswood-esque hill-shaped EQ: lots of mids, and highs are present due to the tremolo tail floating, and the bass is tight, but the PG+ and '59 crunch a small bit when clean. This guitar is almost too much mids for me to be happy (if this helps you understand how I hear things).

Anyways, so at first I had found the swamp ash studio les paul, and liked it because it seemed to have the same pickups (or so they said) but now it seemed to have highs and nice breathy yet tight lows.

If I was going to build a mahogany Les Paul copy ala Warmoth, what pickups should I use if the stock Les Pauls seem to have too much mids, not a tight enough bass, and no enough high sparkle? Full Shred set? Dual Jazz set? I would build a LP copy with HH and 3-way switching with push/pulls if I was to do it....Thanks!

 

[uOpt]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

Have you checked a SG, possibly one with an ebony fretboard?

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

If I was going to build a mahogany Les Paul copy ala Warmoth, what pickups should I use if the stock Les Pauls seem to have too much mids, not a tight enough bass, and no enough high sparkle? Full Shred set? Dual Jazz set? I would build a LP copy with HH and 3-way switching with push/pulls if I was to do it....Thanks!

If you're going to build an LP copy, don't make it a bolt neck.
Check out this guy for a reasonable alternative to Warmoth.
A long-tenon set neck is what you want.

All about wood.

As to your pickup choices, personally, I'd go with a Pearly Gates set or a PGb/APIIn combo.
I'd use 500k pots as well.

Good luck.
MM

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

You could try Korina as a more articulate and slightly brighter alternative to regular mahogony, along with an ebony board.

On edit: You could also go for some non-PAF derivative pickups, such as a Bill & Becky HB.

 

[theodie]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

You could try Korina as a more articulate and slightly brighter alternative to regular mahogony, along with an ebony board.

Yeah, Limba is good to go with. You can finish it Korina afterwards. :biglaugh:

 

[uOpt]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

Listen to Rudolph Schenker and tell me a full-mahogany Gibson can't be bright to the point of schrill.

It's just the maple deck thick body Les Pauls that soften the attack for a more blooming tone

 

[JeffB]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

Les Pauls have complex mids..which makes them SOUND very middy, though I don't feel they ARE more middy...like a basswood body guitar is anyway.

59s are great pickups for what you describe. They have tight bass, pulled back mids and a nice clear high end. They sound great in Les Pauls. They are not my absolute fave PAF, but for what you describe they are perfect..they "clean up" a Les Paul for those who don't like a ton of mids.

As mentioned earlier, you prolly would like/bond better with an SG tho.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

Today I tried out some guitars at Leitz Music. I tried the fender standard stratocaster and telecaster. I was noticing how much more bright these are than my Lite Ash, but good candidates nonetheless.

Then I switched to mahogany body guitars. Tried an older natural-satin mahogany Ibanez, didn't like the tone as much. Then I tried the Schecter C-1 Classic. I like how it sounds, but somehow it doesn't have as much sparkle as I like. Shouldn't be a problem with my amp though, just flip bright switch to ON.

Then I tried an Ibanez SZ520QM (green). I was blown away by the tone and the feel of it, as well as how it looks (I prefer color-coded guitar lol). The pickups seemed to react as well as I wanted too, but not seeing "Seymour Duncan" when I look down isn't as fun (much less I don't like the SZ fretboard logo as much).

I was playing these through a Fender Pro Junior. I think I liked the mahogany body guitars, but to me they still sound a bit compressed in the mid range, maybe that's what it is. I don't like compression as much, to be honest: I prefer sparkle and snap. But anyways, the C-1 Classic was nice, and I like the set of pickups it has (Jazz/JB), but it's still a bit out of my price range, sadly. The green SZ520QM was real nice, and I was surprised and impressed.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess maybe it's just me.

 

[tone?]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

If you dont like Mahogany dont get a guitar with it. simple.

Get ALDER. Alder to me is FAT plus RICH in tone. has nice bottom, nice upper mids, and some sparkle ( depends on the piece). Alder just seems i guess to people like it is to boring to be good.

Its also the way the guitar is built. Yeah i totally agree that Mahogany can be bright. real bright. Yes Shencker is a prime example of that. He has killer tone in my book.

Played a PRS the other day that was mahogany. It had some mids but also had a fair amount of brightness to it. It was a little flabby though in the attack for chords probably cause of the scale length.

I think build has more to do with overall tone.

Basswood/maple to me sounds scooped. Not middy. i dont know where that comes from . Alder has more mids than Basswood in my book.

 

[Rowan]

Re: My eventual mahogany body guitar thread

Then I tried an Ibanez SZ520QM (green). I was blown away by the tone and the feel of it, as well as how it looks (I prefer color-coded guitar lol). The pickups seemed to react as well as I wanted too, but not seeing "Seymour Duncan" when I look down isn't as fun (much less I don't like the SZ fretboard logo as much).

I just bought a SZ520 and I like its sound alot as well. I think you might be liking the tone of the thick maple top. It adds that sparkle you say you like.

The duncan/IBZ pickups are pretty much like a duncan designed but tweaked a little. The bridge is supposed to be modeled after a distortion and neck pickup im not sure, 59 I think it was.

I just ordered a Distortion and Alnico II pro neck for it. I'll post my findings when I get them. Its a real interesting guitar, so I figured a pickup change would be worth it.