Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

[jonathane40]

I have been playing a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany (all Mahogany) and love the action, feel and the sound when it is unplugged. I have gone through several pickups and have loved none in this guitar. Custom 5 and pearly gates in the bridge and jazz in the neck. I would like the sound to be brighter and more open.

Question. Would the SH-1 59' be a better choice for this guitar?

Thank you and look forward to hearing all your advise.
cheers

 

[blueman335]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

The JazzN is a little bland, you'll get more personality from a PAF. C5's are pretty bright, so your all mahogany LP must be pretty warm. What value caps are in it? If they're 300K's, swap them out for 500K's, that'll open up your sound and give you more treble. If that doesn't do it, try an A5 in your PG (which has an A2).

Report back.

 

[SFW]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Your Les Paul more than likely has a 300K volume pot. Try swapping the volume pot for a 500K. If that doesn't do the trick, then the 59 should be the ticket.

 

[chris_tw21]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I'am going with the vintage blues set,two 59's and 57 wiring that I got from lollar guitars.com.Plus all the electronics from guitar parts resource.com.My advice is if you have a les paul go with the holy grail tone.Then bright equipment after that.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I have been playing a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany (all Mahogany) and love the action, feel and the sound when it is unplugged. I have gone through several pickups and have loved none in this guitar. Custom 5 and pearly gates in the bridge and jazz in the neck. I would like the sound to be brighter and more open.

Question. Would the SH-1 59' be a better choice for this guitar?

Thank you and look forward to hearing all your advise.
cheers

Looks like you have a dark harness in your guitar. Before going through more p'us, change the pots and caps. CTS 500K pots and 400V, .022pf Sprague Orange Drops caps will open up the sound.

 

[marcello252]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

By the way, I have some 500K pot in 2 flavour, one is labelled 500KA, the other 500KB, I guess linear and log, although I don't know what is log, A or B?
I think one could be suitable for volume and one for the tone control, could you please help me about it? what pot have I to choose?
Thank you
Marcello

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

The A is audio taper. Those are Alpha pots, right? I generally use the A taper for volume, but you could use either one, it's just a matter of preference (BTW, I use A taper for tone too, but that's just to save in pots; I'm a cheap bastid!)

HTH,

 

[marcello252]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Thank you LtKojak, I'll go for a A500k vor the volume and a B500K for the tone.

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Thank you all for your help. As usual, you have all been very helpful.

I think the problem is the pot values; i just hoped that i could fix it with pickups. I have not removed the pots for the following reason. When i tried to removed the pots and looked inside the guitar, i was puzzled. I am guessing this was one of the newer models that came with a sort of pc board. I think the best bet would be to remove everything and install the new pots and resistors from scratch. Has anyone removed a pc board like this one from your guitar? What do you think?

cheers,
Jon

View attachment 20457

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Gibson has been using them for a bit now, I've never worked with one but yeah worst case scenario you could just yank everything out and use the parts.

So, are they 300k or 500k?

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I am pretty sure they are 300. I haven't been able to measure them with my multimeter because i haven't removed them from the circuit. I have decided to remove everything and rewire it. And i tried to see if it says it anywhere on the pot, but all i have seen are long numbers that do not resemble the resistance.

I have seen that other Les Paul's have a metal plate at the bottom of the electronics. Is this necessary? What does it do?

Should i get all four 500k pots? I am planning on going with a set of 59' or maybe a 59 neck and pearly gates bridge.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[marcello252]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I have seen that other Les Paul's have a metal plate at the bottom of the electronics. Is this necessary? What does it do?

I guess it's there for shielding against hum. You could eventually shield the cavity both with conductive paint or with alluminium or copper foils, there are some tutorial about, easy to find with google.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Altough it's fun to mod stuff, you should wonder if you really want to have to do everything over while it's working fine now.
Why does Gibson install 300K pot's? I mean what's the way of thinking at the design table?
Maybe you should give Gibson a call and ask...
A vintage mahogany LP is not a budget line guitar is it?

On the other hand, that control cavity looks really clean. Must be pretty easy to solder everything in place since a pcb is used. Thats a great step into the modern age from Gibson!

I would verify if the pots are really 300K first before yanking everything out.

Edit: A quick search on google led me to this place --> http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les-pauls/62929-gibsons-pcb-case-upgrading-pots-caps.html In case you feel like taking it back to oldschool wiring.

 

[GoDrex]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I've found that in dark guitars, lower resistance and A5 magnets work well - so yeah I think a '59 would be good.

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Awesome! I am in the process of choosing my components now. I think I'm going for 4 500K cts split long shaft pots, orange drop caps and resistor for the duncan treble bleed mod.

If you have any advise, i'm all ears.

Thanks again for all your help.
cheers,
Jon

 

[Khriss Bliss]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

don't overlook the Seth in your considerations, but get another opinion than mine...

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

I have just read all i could find on the forum about the 59', seth's and pg. And have decided to go with a pearly gates (neck) and 59' (bridge). It seems that the A5 of the 59b should make it sound warmer and help with the thin/trebly sound of the bridge. The PGb seems to add some mids to the neck and less bass.

Thank you all again and i'll keep you posted.
cheers,
Jon

 

[chris_tw21]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

Remember that maple top les pauls use a2's because they have a lot of bite so I would get the vintage blues set,check the description of the pickup's and what they work well with it's spot on.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

yeah man, sounds like you're on the right track, just make sure you use audio taper pots and you'll be good

 

[jonathane40]

Re: Will the SH-1 59' do the trick?

So i just called Gibson and they told me that the guitar currently has 300k linear pots for volume and 500k for tone. Will adding 500k volume pots make the pickups brighter? I ask because i am not sure which pots contribute more to the brightness, the volume or the tone.

cheers and i look forward to hearing your advise.
jon