Les Paul upgrades -- what's your experience?

[Bobby D]

Or one from Sweden.

no, I think BJ found his "lifetime" guitar when he got his LP special.

and my '69 strat was a GIFT from the heavens, because I could not afford a "good" one.

i got that guitar for $350.......and at the time, i really needed the money, and was going to "flip" it and make money.

but as soon as i put my hand on the neck, and played a few notes, THAT guitar made me go back to playing music fulltime.

several psychic type people have told me that guitar is haunted. my CAT is afraid of THAT guitar....my other guitars do not bother her. but the '69 makes her JUMP if she sees it.

it is AUG 22 1969 neckdate.......week of WOODSTOCK.

Hendrix had dozens and dozens of strats......and from working with the Hard Rock and knowing that market pretty well, there have only been FIVE strats that have been authenticated as belonging to Hendrix.

Which means.......there are a few dozen 68 and 69 strats out there that belonged to Jimi, and we don't know which ones they are....

I don't know WHO used to own mine, but they sure did do a "1980s mod" to it ---- floyd rose, and recessed body route, and replaced all the pickups, etc. I spoke with Floyd himself, and sent him pics of the tremelo unit, and he said that was one of the early Floyds, and said "Damn son, that tremelo is worth more than you paid for the whole guitar"


One of my good friends, someone DONNER will know, was Ronnie Garvin, guitarist for Stranger....BIG band from Florida. He killed himself a few years back from being depressed. And they BURIED him with his '59 strat, god rest his soul. Luckily, very few people know exactly WHERE he was buried.......because I am sure some idiot would want to dig him up and steal his guitar. But THAT guitar would be haunted for sURE......

[DocRock]

Wow.

Your posts are always an interesting read for sure!

[Bobby D]

here's ROnnie Garvin, RIP, brother.

check this LIVE video out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1SnKcVf1fI

Donner has seen him live, i am sure of it


why are so many of my old musician friends dead????

[Bobby D]

THIS ONE is amazing.....check out his live tone!!!!

that's the '59 strat he played his whole life, dimarzio PAF in neck, and a seymour JB in bridge, if i remember.

rest of the guitar was stock.

ronnie played straight into the amp.

he was endorsed by Peavey, but there was an old marshall head hidden behind the stacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC_qw1uScQ

[Eskimo_Joe]

LES PAUL UPGRADE REPORT

-- Bumblebees - My Les Paul came with the little round circular "Advil" caps. The guitar sounded great to begin with, but curiosity prevailed so I did some digging and found some authentic bumblebee caps from the 50's, same that were used in the 50's Pauls. I also tried some Luxe repros. The hands down winner is the real bumblebees. More round, warm, natural, organic. I'm not sure how something that small adds vibe, but it does. The second place in my opinion is the original Advil caps. Last place were the Luxes (sterile).


-- RS Kit -- Added the vintage RS kit. They provide a better, smoother taper. If you use your controls alot, well worth the small investment. Otherwise, you're not missing anything in my opinion.

-- Pickups -- Have some Throbaks on order. Can't wait! Throbak tracked down one of the original Gibson PAF winding machines (custom) in a warehouse in Michigan, resurrected it and now they use it to wind their pickups. They also tracked down some original wire. By all accounts, the pickups are amazing. I'll post a review when they arrive!

[DocRock]

As in Throbak (Jon Gundry) the pedal maker? I didn't know they did pickups!

Interesting.....

[huckleboogie]

THIS ONE is amazing.....check out his live tone!!!!

that's the '59 strat he played his whole life, dimarzio PAF in neck, and a seymour JB in bridge, if i remember.

rest of the guitar was stock.

ronnie played straight into the amp.

he was endorsed by Peavey, but there was an old marshall head hidden behind the stacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC_qw1uScQ

WOW sounds great!!

[Eskimo_Joe]

As in Throbak (Jon Gundry) the pedal maker? I didn't know they did pickups!

Interesting.....

Yes, that's the one. For anybody who wants more info, check out the Les Paul Forum. I am not a hard core LP guy, but the guys over at LPF are going nuts for these pickups. Also, there are some clips on You Tube, although I always find clips kind of hard to judge since there are some many variables, not the least of which is the recording gear.

[if6were9]

My Les Paul is a '70. I bought it in 1976 for a huge sum ($300 + $50 for the case as I recall). Over the years I have not done much to it. If your Paul is a vintage instrument beware that any mods you do will lower its value (this may be true, to a lesser extent, even if it is a newer model).

That said, I can't help myself and over the years made a couple of small tweaks. I put in a brass jack plate cover when the plastic one broke. I had the pickups tapped (or maybe the coils split ...I am not sure which it was so long ago), and had pull-pots put in the volume controls. I almost never use this, so I would not recommend it.

I loved the original neck pickup but was never satisfied with the original bridge pickup. In the early 80's I put in a Dimarzio and later a Duncan, but both these pickups sucked (maybe they are better now - and certainly there are many other good choices now available). About 5 or 6 years ago I solved this problem when I found a real PAF from a '60 ES335 (at $500, it cost more than I paid for the entire guitar originally, but it is worth every penny). If I had to replace a pickup now I would not pay $2000 for a real PAF. Instead I'd check out Gibson's Burstbuckers and new PAFs, and I'd look at ThroBak Vintage Authentic Series pickups (which get great reviews). I would also ask Kinman when their humbuckers are coming out. Their noiseless single coil pickups are amazing for strats and teles and they are coming out with a P90 replacement very soon (there is a prototype on their web page). I hope this helps.

[nichcope]

they are coming out with a P90 replacement very soon (there is a prototype on their web page)

Can't wait for those P90's! BJ's pedals love P90's, so a noiseless P90 from kinman and some BJF pedals are going to make for a nasty combination for sure!!!!