New Les Paul Custom

[ImmortalSix]

Clean and Crunch:
http://soundcloud.com/hunterjsmith/les-paul-custom-tone-test

Metal / High Gain:
http://soundcloud.com/hunterjsmith/les-paul-custom-high-gain

It's an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, and I got it from a pawn shop
Amp is a VOX Valvetronix AD15VT on the UK 70's model
Mic is a Blue Snowball
DAW is Reaper
No editing or addition of anything - from the mic direct to you.

 

[firebirdV]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

I'll listen to it once Pink Floyd is done.


Well It's a lot brighter than I thought it would be (which is a good thing).

It could definitely use a nicer set of pickups. I will refrain from giving too much advice because there are people who have tried many more combos than I have. I personally thought that the Seth bridge was an absolute keeper in my les paul.

 

[Bludave]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Nice. What pickups do you have in her? She looks real nice.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

I'll listen to it once Pink Floyd is done.


Well It's a lot brighter than I thought it would be (which is a good thing).

It could definitely use a nicer set of pickups. I will refrain from giving too much advice because there are people who have tried many more combos than I have. I personally thought that the Seth bridge was an absolute keeper in my les paul.

Seths, gold covered Seths, are exactly what I had in mind.

Nice. What pickups do you have in her? She looks real nice.

Stock Epiphone pickups - looks to be a "57CH" in the neck and a "HOTCH" in the bridge:

 

[Kam]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Sounds pretty damn good, man. If it were mine, I'd be looking for more clarity from the neck and more warmth from the bridge. But surprisingly good as it is. If you'd told me they were expensive pups, I probably would have believed you.

Nice playing, too. I'd totally just put that track on to chill out to.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Sounds pretty damn good, man. If it were mine, I'd be looking for more clarity from the neck and more warmth from the bridge. But surprisingly good as it is. If you'd told me they were expensive pups, I probably would have believed you.

Nice playing, too. I'd totally just put that track on to chill out to.

I agree, almost verbatim.

The bridge sounds "choked out" to me, I want a more open sound. Fuller, if I can get it.

I could do with more clarity from the neck, but I kind of like the neck - I like Telecaster neck pickups, I don't hear the "muddy" sound as muddy; I hear it as jazzy :laughing:

I think the muddy neck pickup mixes well with the bridge pickup (in general, not necessarily this specific set), and the middle pickup position (both on) is my favorite.


That's where I get the timbre I was searching for.

I will probably do Seths or 59s.

 

[firebirdV]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Wow, I actually forgot to say that it sounded good.

It sounds good, not at all what I thought an epi would sound like (preconceived notions are a b!tch).

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Wow, I actually forgot to say that it sounded good.

It sounds good, not at all what I thought an epi would sound like (preconceived notions are a b!tch).

Thanks --- what did you think it would sound like?

 

[firebirdV]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

I thought it would be a lot muddier. More like any number of the youtube clips I have seen.

What I heard was a surprisingly clear guitar which had a very acoustic voice. While listening I was actually wondering if your mic was picking up some of the unamplified guitar sound as well.

When you turn the gain up, it still retains some of its nicer character, but I think that it becomes more clear that it would benefit from a new set of pickups.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

I thought it would be a lot muddier. More like any number of the youtube clips I have seen.

What I heard was a surprisingly clear guitar which had a very acoustic voice. While listening I was actually wondering if your mic was picking up some of the unamplified guitar sound as well.

When you turn the gain up, it still retains some of its nicer character, but I think that it becomes more clear that it would benefit from a new set of pickups.

Cool ---- yeah, I am excited to see how it sounds with some Duncans.

 

[DankStar]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

sounds good! I was hoping for some gainage but that's ok. maybe in another clip? :naughty:

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

I recorded a crunch and gain clip, but it sucked because my playing style is almost all clean type stuff, so my vocabulary of gainy rock is more limited.

It sounded good, though!

I am also not very good at recording gainy guitar, but I'll try and record something anyhow!

 

[gilaltom3]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Sounds way better than I thought it would as well! How does she play?

 

[formula73]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Sounds pretty damn good, man. If it were mine, I'd be looking for more clarity from the neck and more warmth from the bridge. But surprisingly good as it is. If you'd told me they were expensive pups, I probably would have believed you.

Nice playing, too. I'd totally just put that track on to chill out to.

All of this. You've got me thinking about a good guitar for the ship. As much as I'd love to keep one of my Gibsons or Hamers here, I'm always afraid I'm going to walk in and find it gone, one day. How are the frets on it? I had a P90 '56 GT thing that I ended up loaning to my brother because I couldn't get on with the tiny frets, though I'm getting better in my old age.

Oh, and I have listened to it about 4 times here at work, so far, just chilling. I dig.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Big thanks to the guys who were listening to it at work and digging it! My favorite tones are the 12-bar blues at the end, and the "Perfectly Lonely" blue-eyed soul in the middle.

I don't really have much to say about the frets - they seem medium to medium jumbo; pretty standard. I am notoriously immune to fret size, radius, etc. I care a lot about neck shape, and this neck is a D shape neck, and it's too thin for me. I like the PRS Wide-Fat carve, and I got a USACG "Fat-Back" for my custom guitar. It's 1 inch all the way (!). I love the (huge) neck, another D shape on my Dot, but this neck is slimmer.

I probably like huge necks because I mostly play chords and such - I don't move around a whole lot, as you can hear :laughing:

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Yep, that sounds like a Les Paul Custom

I recognized a couple riffs from the SD sound samples page! And "Heart of Life" and "Waiting on the World to Change" by your boyfriend. And that Aerosmith song I don't hate.

Didn't have time to listen to the whole 13 minute clip but what I heard is really good!

I agree with those who want more clarity in the neck, and for that my instinct is to go with the Jazz. Bridge ... tough call. I say keep it classic-sounding though.

And if you don't keep the gold covers I will put you on ignore list.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Yep, that sounds like a Les Paul Custom

I recognized a couple riffs from the SD sound samples page! And "Heart of Life" and "Waiting on the World to Change" by your boyfriend. And that Aerosmith song I don't hate.

Didn't have time to listen to the whole 13 minute clip but what I heard is really good!

I agree with those who want more clarity in the neck, and for that my instinct is to go with the Jazz. Bridge ... tough call. I say keep it classic-sounding though.

And if you don't keep the gold covers I will put you on ignore list.

Thanks - and yes, I will definitely do gold covers. I hate open humbuckers. The only exception I ever made was zebras on my Dot, because it was brown with black hardware and creme plastics - zebra just seemed to fit.

I love not only the look of covered humbuckers, but I like the sound better. It's a subtle taming of highs and mellowing of the sound that just works for me.

I am not looking forward to having shiny new gold covers (as these are nicely worn), but I am going to play this guitar a lot, so they should be worn in in no time.

Plus, let's get real, nobody's going to see me playing this thing in public until my son gets a little older (baby + band = nope) :laughing:

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

Thanks - and yes, I will definitely do gold covers. I hate open humbuckers. The only exception I ever made was zebras on my Dot, because it was brown with black hardware and creme plastics - zebra just seemed to fit.

I love not only the look of covered humbuckers, but I like the sound better. It's a subtle taming of highs and mellowing of the sound that just works for me.

I am not looking forward to having shiny new gold covers (as these are nicely worn), but I am going to play this guitar a lot, so they should be worn in in no time.

Plus, let's get real, nobody's going to see me playing this thing in public until my son gets a little older (baby + band = nope) :laughing:

Yeah, don't remind me ...

You could always remove the covers from these pickups and put them on whatever you end up with. Maybe even the screws? That's what I'd do. I agree - bright shiny pickups on a well-worn guitar will look absurd.

I like open coil 'buckers on most things, but you would seriously fudge up the overall aesthetic of this instrument with those. I'm also usually anti-gold hardware, but there are a few guitars where it just works, and a white LPC is definitely one of them.

 

[Kam]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

You could always go for antiquities if you want the aged hardware. They may even do a set of Seths with Ant covers as a shop floor custom if you ask nicely.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: New Les Paul Custom

First...your playing is outstanding. You've got a fantastic style. It's true that a great guitarist can make a crappy guitar sound good--not saying that your guitar is crap, but that I never would have guessed that it was an Epiphone Les Paul. That guitar stock sounds about a MILLION times better than the brand new Epi Pro/Fx I just got. I actually like the neck tone, but it definitely can be better. I'd describe it as usable. The bridge sounds a bit compressed and thin like you said. I think Seths will be a phenomenal improvement to this guitar. I put a Super Distortion and Duncan Designed Jazz neck in mine and it sounds killer now. Nice score with the axe, and keep up that great playing!