Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Gibson does not offer coils splits, because that is not their identity.

Hell, even Boeing was looked down upon for advanced supersonic projects in the past, because they were known as builders of excellent but large and subsonic airplanes.

I just don't think Gibson gains anything by offering such a simple change. It would probably lead to thousands of guitars shipped back to the factory and back (AND DAMAGED), for non-existent problems such as "noise in coil tap mode".

^People are dorks. A guitar tech would be lucky to see a complaint as "noisy in coil split mode". Most complaints are "noisy", or "hums", or "bad", "don't work", or "no volume with pot pulled up".

It's more of a nightmare than anyone could understand.

To top that crap off...just let some big mouth "rock star" rip a perfectly functional guitar for no other reason, because they don't have a clue as to what they were doing.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Mike, Im with you on thre quality (or lack of!) in push/pull's...try the DiMarzio branded ones, they are made by CTS, have a great taper and the switch part is really high quality...they cost a little more than your standard push/pulls but it's well worth it IMO...you can even order direct over the phone with the front desk at DiMarzio!

I haven't tried the DiMarzio branded ones yet. I believe the push/pulls I have installed in my tele are from StewMac. The switch is fine, but the taper rolls off a bit too quickly. I'm not unhappy with them. My quality statement was directed more towards push/push, which every one I've seen has failed because of the same design flaw.

Thanks for the headsup, though. I always thought the DiMarzio pots and switches were overpriced, but if you think they are worth it I may give them a shot.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I haven't tried the DiMarzio branded ones yet. I believe the push/pulls I have installed in my tele are from StewMac. The switch is fine, but the taper rolls off a bit too quickly. I'm not unhappy with them. My quality statement was directed more towards push/push, which every one I've seen has failed because of the same design flaw.

Thanks for the headsup, though. I always thought the DiMarzio pots and switches were overpriced, but if you think they are worth it I may give them a shot.

If you order them direct (which is the best way I know of) hey are far form cheep...I think they are close to $20 a pop after shipping but believe me, they are more than worth it!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Most Les Pauls come stock with vintage output buckers, the 57 or the BB. So in addition to all the problems and beefs Sludgenutz brought up, most players don't like the sound of a PAF clone split, especially in the bridge. Thus Gibson doesn't do it, and I wouldn't either if I was them.

To me, the answer for getting good "split" tones is either the Spin A Split, which isn't practical for a player who wants to keep all 4 pots in their original function, OR....

...to actually TAP one of the coils -- as in a real tap, not a split -- so that when you throw the switch on, say, an 8.5k bridge humbucker, you get 6.5k (all of one coil and about half of the other one) instead of just 4.25k, so you get a very solid, viable "single coil" tone. (Have tried it once or twice, it works.)

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Anyone know where to find a quality push/push switch? They used them on early 80's-1987 Ibanez Roadstars and they work great. The Roadstars I have from that era still have the factory switches and none have failed yet (knock on wood)

 

[MikeS]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I've used a few different push/push. I cannot remember where I got all of them from, though I specifically remember Warmoth and Guitar Parts Resource. They all suffered the same fate. I loved the operation. Mechanically they were garbage. I took a few of them apart to find that the "catch" is a piece of plastic. A metal spring with a metal mass on the end (the knob) was too much force for the catch after a couple hundred switches and the catch eventually broke on all of them.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Call DiMarzio, you'll get the front desk, tell the nice lady on the other end of the phone you need to order some (or one, or whatever) push/pull pot. She'll will get your name and address as well as what value pot(s) you need then she'll get your credit card number a few days after that you'll get a small package in the mail from DiMarzio USA and you're push/pull pot hunting will be over. These are the best, highest quality pot/switch combo i've ever tried.

The DiMarzio push/pulls are made by CTS but the ONLY place I've ever found them for sale is through DiMarzio,

 

[wanmei1]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Call DiMarzio, you'll get the front desk, tell the nice lady on the other end of the phone you need to order some (or one, or whatever) push/pull pot. She'll will get your name and address as well as what value pot(s) you need then she'll get your credit card number a few days after that you'll get a small package in the mail from DiMarzio USA and you're push/pull pot hunting will be over.quote]

Nah,....
Better off getting the Gibson custom shop to make you a git with the push pull pot installed.
They only charge an extra $1,850 on top to have it done. :naughty:

 

[MikeS]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

TGWIF... push/push, not push/pull. Does DiMarzio have a push/push? I've never seen them.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

My prs has a push pull pot, and it opens up a whole new window of tonal possibility.

Gibson can't install it on their guitars, because it would make sense to do so.

That, and the rich kids who buy gibsons to learn on, because they saw them in guitar hero, don't care about coil taps.

Lol, don't mean to generalise, but hanging out a lot in one of my favorite guitar stores, you have no idea how often I have heard '' I want that gibson, it's just like in guitar hero!!''.

Worst part it, parents do buy 2500$ lp standards for 8 year olds......

 

[Hellion]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Les Pauls, to me, are a lot like Teles.   Totally utilitarian in nature.   There's nothing on them that doesn't need to be there.   Two pickups, a couple of knobs, a switch.   Nothing fancy, kind of an "if you can't find it in here, you don't need it" type of thought process.   There's a reason that I only take a Tele and a LP to any electric gig.   If I can't find the sound on one of the guitars, the other one has it.   But those traits also open both guitars up to hot-rodding.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Les Pauls, to me, are a lot like Teles.   Totally utilitarian in nature.   There's nothing on them that doesn't need to be there.  

if this were true there wouldn't be 4 knobs IMO

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Les Pauls, to me, are a lot like Teles.   Totally utilitarian in nature.   There's nothing on them that doesn't need to be there.   Two pickups, a couple of knobs, a switch.   Nothing fancy, kind of an "if you can't find it in here, you don't need it" type of thought process.   There's a reason that I only take a Tele and a LP to any electric gig.   If I can't find the sound on one of the guitars, the other one has it.   But those traits also open both guitars up to hot-rodding.

"Totally utilitarian", yet aren't fixable friendly like a strat or Tele with an easily replaced bolt neck if something goes wrong, utilitarian enough had many LPs have quite obviously more expensive finishes that adds to the cost of the guitar instead of being more plain and working musician like (more "utilitarian")
It's pretty clear something like a LP standard and above is more marketed as being a more "crafted" instrument than a "utilitarian" one.
Until an LP strips back some of the fancy features, I don't think utilitarian and LP can go in the same sentence and there are many others that feel that way too.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

To me, the answer for getting good "split" tones is either the Spin A Split, which isn't practical for a player who wants to keep all 4 pots in their original function, OR....

...to actually TAP one of the coils -- as in a real tap, not a split -- so that when you throw the switch on, say, an 8.5k bridge humbucker, you get 6.5k (all of one coil and about half of the other one) instead of just 4.25k, so you get a very solid, viable "single coil" tone. (Have tried it once or twice, it works.)

That or...Artie's coil swap, which has a lot of neat things to it (unbalanced coils, noise-free, etc). As far as I know Artie's the first one to come up with this (March this year), but the company that invented HB's certainly could have invented it themselves with their R&D budget (slightly more than Artie's budget). Artie stumbled on it while he was doodling one day.

Gibson overdoes the "traditional" thing & ignores the market too often. Why perpetuate HHH's & vari-tones, that were proven to be next to useless in the 1950's? They were caught sleeping when Super Strats exploded on the scene. They could have broken with the past & competed head-on with a line of HSS & HSH SG's with 5-way switches & Floyd Roses (and still kept their traditional SG's). When the market was eating up skinny single coils, they should have made far more use of P-90's. Is it any wonder almost all Gibsons come with HB's that have single-wire leads. If you want to do anything creative, you have to buy new PU's. While they can cater to some of the guitar market, they insist on missing large parts of it. Parts they'd love to have.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

i dunno man, but my schec came with it and i use it all the time

it came with a jb jazz set & the jb blew tapped or full, jazz rocked tapped, but I switched over to a brobucker/59 set and I'm in heaven. Full on the '59 is exactly what it should be; thick ass rock & roll, and when i split the coils i get the most awesome sounding single coil tones that are really amazingly responsive. Even through a big pedal board that 90% of my gain comes from i can still use a light touch & make it sound clean or dig in & get amazing blues tones. The brobucker tapped reminds me a lot of the tone on The Seeker by The Who. JB tapped was it was like an ice pick or something but the bro tapped is just kind of a raw midrangey tone with just enough highs.

If all my humbuckers in all my guitars were 4 conductor I'd put push/pulls in all of em

 

[blueman335]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

Les Pauls, to me, are a lot like Teles.   Totally utilitarian in nature.   There's nothing on them that doesn't need to be there.   Two pickups, a couple of knobs, a switch.

Yes, Tele's are purely utilitarian, designed to be simple & cheap. No way to argue that. But LP's have a lot of upgraded features that take them out of that raw "basic" category, which was the intention of Gibson from day one. They wanted an elegant instrument that outclassed the Tele in every area, and deliberately designed them to be harder & more expensive to manufacture, so Fender couldn't copy them. The carved body, maple on top of mahogany, block inlays, binding, angled neck, angled headstock, & 4 knobs are all upgraded features. They knew Fender didn't have the machinery to do an arched top, which was part of their motivation. LP's were one of the first to get the new humbuckers in 1957. LP's are the opposite of utilitarian. They're loaded with high-end features to differentiate them from Teles.

After Jimmy Page's signature LP, I think a lot of us look at LP's as the platform for mods. To me, an LP without push-pulls seems incomplete (except for the original Bursts; at several hundred thousand dollars, you don't tinker with them).

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I don't have any use for it, and if any of my LPs did have that stuff, I'd have to disable it.

I don't like futzing with controls. One selector, 4 knobs and 3 pedals already pushes me to a point.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I don't have any use for it, and if any of my LPs did have that stuff, I'd have to disable it.

I don't like futzing with controls. One selector, 4 knobs and 3 pedals already pushes me to a point.

I take it you don't risk trying to chew gum when you're playing.

 

[wanmei1]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I take it you don't risk trying to chew gum when you're playing.

If I could stop laughing long enough,...I'd type this:

......+1. :bigthumb:

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Why don't Les Pauls come with Coil Taps?

I take it you don't risk trying to chew gum when you're playing.

If I could stop laughing long enough,...I'd type this:

......+1. :bigthumb:

I'd rather spend energy playing and singing than fiddling with stuff.

As another benefit- I'm not tied to "my" gear. I don't need to have my guitar or my pedal board or my amp to play and be relatively comfortable.

There's something to be said about "plug 'n play."