New Lester Paul Day!

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Hello everyone!!! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything on here, in fact I haven’t posted any pics of my newer guitars in a couple years! So there’s probably going to be more gut-fiddles to follow?

As for now.. Through a trade I recently acquired a set of Queen-Buckers from the Duncan Custom Shop! These are MJ’s take on the perfect PAF set, & they pretty much proved to me hands down, MJ is the closest thing to a Queen well ever have, or need, in this county…

I’d originally planned to just sell them, but I decided to try them out first in my old PRS S2 Standard 24 first, just on a whim.. OMG, they were absolutely gorgeous sounding!!!

So much so in fact, I felt like they were almost wasted in that guitar? So I bought myself a slightly used 2018 Gibson LP Traditional for them to live in..

I’ve had the guitar as it sits in the photo for about a month now, & it’s still hard to put it down when I’m playing at night!!! It just oozes with lovely vintage goodness…

Actually, I have a beautiful ES-335 that has been my main guitar for the past few years. I love that thing, & I’d never let it go..

However since buying this pretty lady about 5 weeks ago, I’ve barely touched the ES-335…

 

[Benjy_26]

That is VERY pretty. Congrats!

 

[Mincer]

Wow! I've never tried those pickups...can you compare them to anything?

 

[jeremy]

great lookin guitar! and sweet pups for sure. i have an antiquity set in my lp with a3 neck and ive been temped to flip the magnets for giggles

 

[Blille]

Beautiful guitar! And good to see you

 

[beaubrummels]

Nice. Very nice. I've jonsed for Queenbuckers for a few years now.

 

[Securb]

Beautiful guitar and great seeing you on the forum again.

 

[LRS]

Nice guitar! Rock on!

 

[GuitarStv]

Nice top on that guitar.

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Hey everyone, it’s nice to be back!

I think like a lot of potential buyers, I was slightly worried about having a A3 bridge pup with a A2 neck pickup…

I have a MHS set in my ES-335 which has the opposite magnet configuration & I love them! However the A3 neck is quite a bit weaker than the A2 neck in that set, so I kinda expected the same?

Fortunately the Queen Bucker set have no such issues.. I have found A3 bridge pickups do like to be right up close to the strings, & this is the case with this set.

I’ve heard lots of people compare them with Pearly Gates & I suppose that’s a pretty accurate comparison? They do the whole “Bright with Bite” thing like PG’s but I would venture to say the bridge pickup has a bit more “presence” vs the PGB?

The Queen Bucker neck pickup is very warm & smooth, more so that the PGN, & with a softer treble response.

Great note separation on both pups, with a extremely complex & “chewy” tone when pushed into breakup..

I’d highly recommend this set to anyone that loves vintage PAF tone! These are one of the few modern PAF recreations that IMHO, are actually worth their $300+ price tag!!!

Its been fantastic to hear from you guys again! I don’t know that I ever appreciated how great the people are on this forum vs other places..

 

[justFred]

Cool…what amp these days?

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Cool…what amp these days?

Oh man.. Well the majority of the time I’m usually playing through one of my VOX AC-15/30’s, or a similar Class A cathode biased EL84 circuit. (IE-Matchless Spitfire, a 18W Marshall, Etc.) However I’ve also got a Swart Space Tone Reverb here at the house that I’m quite fond of…

As far as the others, I still have my faithful old J Chester 4X10 5F6A Bassman clone sitting at our practice spot, along with another AC-15H sitting on top of it, LOL!!!

Then currently on loan to my buddies studio, I’ve got a Fender D.R.R.I., a Fender Vibroluxe clone, a couple old Supro’s, & a 50W KT-66 Plexi clone…

Oh yeah, & a 50W 6505+ combo that I ended up with as partial payment for some work I did for a friend. He said it was broken but it just needed some new tubes. Not really my kinda deal, & I’ve actually never used it past the re-tube, but he definitely seems to enjoy it!

These are all too big & loud for home use, as well as taking up space that I just don’t have to spare? So I get free storage, & what’s essentially unlimited studio time by leaving them over there. In return he gets a plethora of different amps to record with…

 

[Aceman]

Welcome back!

Sweet @$$ Les Paul! Love the flame and the overall color.

Never heard of this set. For $300 - glad it floats your tone boat! I'll pass. I am a big fan of an A3 neck though.

I see a pedal board. You may want to play our new game in the Pedal room: Let's review your pedal boards - hosted and roasted by me! It's an enjoyable read I hear....

 

[justFred]

I;m usually playing through one of my VOX AC-15/30s, or a similar Class A cathode biased EL84 circuit.

Interesting...seeing more and more long time players have moved in that direction...me, still in the Fender 6V6 place, will have to spend some quality time with Vox AC and find out what the attraction is....

 

[jeremy]

thats quite a nice collection of amps you have!

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Welcome back!

Sweet @$$ Les Paul! Love the flame and the overall color.

Never heard of this set. For $300 - glad it floats your tone boat! I'll pass. I am a big fan of an A3 neck though.

I see a pedal board. You may want to play our new game in the Pedal room: Let's review your pedal boards - hosted and roasted by me! It's an enjoyable read I hear....

Ace I’ve truly missed you buddy!!!

Yeah, that is one of two pedal boards that I have, so I’ll definitely check it out…

 

[Securb]

H
I have a MHS set in my ES-335 which has the opposite magnet configuration & I love them!

I have the MHS set in my 3-pickup NOS Les Paul Black Beauty. I freaking love those pickups

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

thats quite a nice collection of amps you have!

Honestly I wish I could sell about half of them..

Unfortunately I almost always lose stupid money when I sell amplifiers. So I guess I’ve just tried avoiding doing so whenever possible, & it’s left me with a rather large collection?

So that’s what happens when your super healthy Mom dies unexpectedly @ 60 years old, leaving you with depression, as well as a bunch of money that you neither want, or feel like you deserve..

Online shopping addictions..

Where would we be without them?

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Jesus, that got dark didn’t it!

Sorry guys, got off topic..

I should also probably also say that my Mom passed more than 2 years ago now. While I still miss her very, very much, I’ve since taken steps to address my mental health since then & am in a much better place mentally..

So these days there’s no more compulsive gear buying. Or at least it’s not any worse then before her passing anyway?

And now back to guitars, pickups, & pedals! That s#!t was effing depressing!

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

I have the MHS set in my 3-pickup NOS Les Paul Black Beauty. I freaking love those pickups

Oh man, me too!!!

It really was the MHS set that “led me” to the QueenBuckers that are in this guitar..

I was searching for a used MHS set on Reverb for quite a while, but unfortunately the only set I ever found was listed for like $650!!!

I mean they’re definitely good, but not $650 good…