Played this week

All guitars played since Monday (L-R):

1. Yamaha RGXA2-  I'm paying more attention to guitars with hollow/ semi-hollow bodies as these instruments sound different with intense distortion. They manifest this different kind of thickness as well but the RGXA2's default pickups have to go. Waiting for replacements to be available...
2. Gibson Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker)- still trying to like Gibson LPs, still trying. PFFTTTT.
3. Jackson DK2T- One of the most rewarding guitar in my possession, those Duncans in there sound... I've loved Duncans all along so I have nothing negative to say :-)
4. Schecter Omen 6- I'm really glad to have this guitar in the house, it goes to show that you can have a good guitar without spending a bomb. Also, the pickups in there are superb: TESLA's Opus2/ Nitro. I think the Nitro is my most rewarding discovery.
5. Edwards E-MA-100SD/QM- I'm rather averse to singlecut designs, namely because it alludes too much to the Les Paul- play any singlecut guitar & the other person in the store would go, 'Oh, it's a Les Paul'. But manufacturers like Edwards know what they are doing when it comes to a thoughtful design, regardless of the outline, of course. People like me wouldn't mind owning a singlecut if they are appealing in terms of playing ergonomics. Janet said there'd be more Edwards to come (@ Davis) & I'll definitely be on a lookout for them :-)

Knobs swap

I've just swapped my Gibson Tribute 50s tone knobs from the default 'hat' type ones (left) to the more cylindrical version- I need a more sure grip to pull up those coil-split selectors...

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker) Part 5

This is how the circuit board's under-side looks like. The pick's there for relative size reference.

Close-up of the terminal clips...

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker) Part 4

Here's the revised wiring courtesy of Master BEEZ, of course. The circuit board had been removed so you can see the wooden base there, Gotoh pots in use & a pair of Orange Drop caps.

The tone pots are also push-pull coil split switches for some single coil moments when I'm bored...

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker) Part 3

This is how it looks like underneath the control cavity cover- all neat & tidy. It is so because Gibson used a circuit board for the connections, the pickup & output jack wires attach themselves to the board via clip insertions, very similar to EMG's solderless schematics. I've detached one of the pickup's clips there so you can have a better look at it...

This makes our lives easier because should we wish to remove the pickups & transfer them elsewhere, it's a matter of unclipping & re-clipping; painless, solderless.

But here's the other side of the story- should you wish to remove the default pickups & have your choice pickups in there instead, how do you solder the new ones to the circuit board? You can't because you need the terminal clips for the attachment & these are not available off-the-shelves. The last time I checked, replacement Gibson humbuckers do not come with those ends clip-ready so I find this very annoying. So the only way is to remove the entire circuit board (like I did as depicted above) & get on with traditional wiring. 

To be continued...

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker) Part 2

I told myself not to bother Beez yesterday so I bought the necessary spares for my Tribute LP's make over & decided to head home but Beez told me he had some spare time as his guitar lesson is cancelled for the day. So I headed East yesterday to have my Seymour Duncans installed:

• Neck: Jazz (SH-2)
• Bridge: Distortion (SH-6)

I respect what Gibson put into their guitars but I have no obligations to embrace what's not going my way. Don't get me wrong; they aren't duds but Gibson pickups just don't work for me (& countless others out there, I'm sure... Slash, you there?). I'm happy with the Duncans' performance in this guitar, in fact, I've yet to come across any down moments after installing them in any of my darlings. OK, so maybe the Invader wasn't that appealing, I'll revisit this one when the time comes (maybe when it stops screaming Synester...). 

The 50s Tribute humbucker, is a bright sounding guitar due to the following accounts:

• chambered body
• lighter overall due to the absence of a final lacquer overcoat
• maple fretboard

I thought these would counter the mushy 490/498 humbuckers but I somehow didn't hear that chemistry. The Duncan Distortion is there for a simple reason- I added it for power; more punch for distortion application but more importantly, more clarity. It does the job without loosing the PAF overtones; that's what the Distortion is all about, a souped up PAF without too much complicating extras. The Jazz serves as a reminder that it's a deserving neck pickup, the name's a little deceiving but it's worth reiterating the fact that it's adept to both clean & driven settings- with ease.

In my next installment, you'd see the extent of Beez's masterpiece in giving the electronics a  circuit board-free second life. Cheers & good night!

PS: Do you see the maple fretboard in this guitar?

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker)

Yes, if you are familiar with the Gibson bag featured in the initial post, the new guitar is a Gibson Les Paul 50s Tribute humbucker version. I especially like how Gibson manufactured this guitar, it's basically a bare-bones instrument just made to deliver. As such, the satin finish is a thumbs-up from me. I'm not sentimental about the '50s era fundamentals incorporated into this instrument because they are not significant contributors to tone. The accuracy of the '50s details were also not not in its entirety; bit-part incorporation at best. To be done soon:

• instal Orange Drop caps
• new humbuckers (most probably a pair of fierce Duncans)
• coil-split switch

Humbucking tribute

The Gibson Tribute series Les Paul Studios are indeed great guitars for the money; some of us are loving our '50s P-90 version. Good news is, the humbucking version is now available as depicted above but it's exclusive to Europe's Thomann online store. *Bummer*

Tribute Studio

I'm applauding BGW for giving the Gibson LP Studio (50s Tribute model) a very competitive price tag: $1,360...

Many of us would be enticed by the price per se, we'd be pacified having a guitar with the 'Gibson' name at the headstock & paying >$1k for it. However, assess your needs before you buy this guitar if it's just for the sake of buying- are you agreeable with the P-90 pickups in there? Keep in mind these are single coils.