Guitar experts, help please.

SidewinderINC said:
I'd advice barknuckle pickups myself
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bit late here but just to say, Bare Kuckle Pickups are some of the best sounding pickups i've ever heard

got a set of single coil "country boys" in my Tele. They may cos a bit but their hand wound to order in the UK just for you. They also do custom pickups to order if you want them, i remember reading on their forums that someone had some single coils made for a strat that measured in at around 15 - 22k ohms each :eek:
 
naffa said:
Well I have a few things to say.

First off, I've played ~seven different Gibson Les Pauls. Each of them I've loathed to the bone, on grounds of playability. But one of my friends has just bought an Epiphone Les Paul for £300 off of one of his friends, and they're incomparable in terms of playability. It's just in a different league. Obviously that's down to personal opinion, but several of my friends feel exactly the same.

And about the Gibson Les Paul Studio being a nicer guitar than the Epi Standard, again, I can't disagree strongly enough. Gibson Les Paul Studios are widely regarded to be one of the worst guitars on the market, in the price range. I can guarantee that if you shell out ~£60 more on an Epi Les Paul Custom, there really will be no comparison between that and the studio. For the money, they are tough to beat.

As for pickups, I agree with the advice that's been posted already. :)
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I'm not sure you should write off any guitar based on playability, until it has been set up to your specification. I've owned several Gibson's and four Epiphones, and all have played very nicely after I set them up. The hardware and build quality on all of them was of sufficient quality to allow a decent setup.

The Les Paul Studio was easily the best player of all my Gibson's (others were an SG standard and a Gothic V), and was good value for money second hand.
 
I totally agree with regards to setting up. But I do feel that a Les Paul will never be able to compete with a Strat (obviously, in my opinion). This is just how I feel obviously, but I've played off the shelf Epiphones that have outplayed off the shelf Gibson Les Paul Black Beauties that don't play as well.

Again, just my opinion. :)
 
I would personally say don't upgrade it, but if you have to, try and get used pickups. Seymour Duncan 59 > Gibson 57 IMO, and they're often available on that auction site. There's a steady market in good-condition used pickups, since people like to swap them about, so you're not losing out if you decide to sell them on. I think when I was building my SG, I went through about 7 different pickups before I settled, only one was bought new, and I more or less broke even on the sales (plus, my Gibson stock pickups sold for more than most Duncans go for, for some reason)

Roland Cube 30 is a good amp. Way better than the MG, which was a fairly average amp when it was new.
 
naffa said:
I totally agree with regards to setting up. But I do feel that a Les Paul will never be able to compete with a Strat (obviously, in my opinion). This is just how I feel obviously, but I've played off the shelf Epiphones that have outplayed off the shelf Gibson Les Paul Black Beauties that don't play as well.

Again, just my opinion. :)
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Couldn't agree more about the off the shelf state, Gibson have had dodgy QC for a long time, and it seems a lot of guitar shops do little in the way of setups. I'm lucky, I have owned and maintained over 20 guitars since I started playing, and the first thing i'd do with most guitars is strip them down for a complete set up.

For new guitarists, and people who like to buy something and expect it to feel right straight away, I can see how it would be off-putting.

And as far as the Strat>LP comment, fair enough! I'm in a confused state right now. I was firmly a Gibson man for years, and balked at the existence of monstrosities like the Strat and Tele, and now I own a Tele and zero Gibson's..
 
Some very interesting comments, thanks very much.

Indeed I will check out other pickups no doubt along the line or even fish in the bay.

15 20 ohms, paaah thats nothing comapred to the old Gibson mudbuckers, that used to come in previous incarnations of my current Gibson guitar, they where 29 - 30 ohms! One of my local shops has a big bare knuckle range...
http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/pickups.asp

They dont though say what would be suitable for a les paul, neck or bridge.. im guessing its the ones that look like the humbuckers. I will be getting a shop to do the mod for me, as I cant be doing with a solder iron. It wont be for a while though, has anyone got a shop to do the same? how much will it cost? baring in mind I will be supplying the pickups.

I'll look into what everyone says, so thanks.
 
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If anyone sees any classic 57 Gibsons on the bay, please give me a shout... I might get a bargain.
 
Jimbo said:
They dont though say what would be suitable for a les paul, neck or bridge.. im guessing its the ones that look like the humbuckers. I will be getting a shop to do the mod for me, as I cant be doing with a solder iron. It wont be for a while though, has anyone got a shop to do the same? how much will it cost? baring in mind I will be supplying the pickups.

I'll look into what everyone says, so thanks.
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So you want to mod it because "it excites you" and then you're getting the shop to do it?

That sounds retarded IMHO mate, sorry. I've modded/built guitars and that's the fun in it. doing it yourself. Otherwise you're just buying a half assed guitar with good pickups for the same price as a good guitar with good pickups. I didn't factor in the fact that you'd be paying somebody else to fit them when I said it was a dumb idea before.

Sorry if that offends you, I'm very passionate about guitars.
 
No im not offended at all mate, fair point. I have never trusted myself with a solder iron, but I could do it. The idea of getting the equipment together and then having the pickups installed is an idea that excites me. I don't see anything wrong with that?

Maybe its because I'm primarily a bassist is the reason why im not bothered if its me or someone else who does the mod. Hey you may be right, it might be fun for me to do it, I would certainly like to know how.

Also as I say I wont be modding it straight away but in the future. It is something I want done eventually. I dont see why not?
 
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Jimbo said:
I have never come across this guitar by the way.
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It's the les paul I ended up with :) I could try and record some stuff if you want. I paid £330 for it and haven't done anything to it since buying it.



And If you're going to do it "eventually" then fair enough, I'll probably end up replacing the pickups in some of my guitars eventually so I can't say anything against that.
 
I'm impressed with the reviews that Burny LP got, it must be a very good alternative to Gibson. The problem I would have is I cant pay for something like that outright, hence the finance. Is the Burny a Japanese replica of Gibson LP? I have a Epiphone Elitist EB3, jap its awesome.

Good news is the local store where I got my Gibson SG bass RI, is gonna do me a nice deal, a Epi LP standard and the Roland 30x amp for £429 and give me 10 months to pay it off, thats easy peasy. Better than doing a 36 or 48mnth job.

Sidewinder I would love to hear some recordings if possible, thank you.
 
OK, I'll see if I can get the PODXT hooked up to the mac - not entirely convinced I'll be able to do it quickly but I'll persevere :p


Yeah, Burny are a japanese manufacturer (Owned by Fernandes, famous for the ravelle guitar as used by kushner of Velvet revolver, and the sustainer system) that do replicas that are often better than some of the originals :p
 
Cheers mate, please dont go out of your way, there's no hurry. Just if its easy for you to do, Im just curious is all.
 
I would say the Burny Les Paul Custom is probably better than a real Gibson Les Paul Studio at least. Others would rate them even higher than that. The only problem is that I've heard the newer models aren't the same standard so look for one that isn't new.
 
Having looked through these reviews I am almost certain from this description that this is the one I have ended up with:

Product: Burny Les Paul Custom
Price Paid: US $259
Submitted 09/20/2003 at 10:10am by Simmy
Email: goddards<at>blueyonder dot co dot uk

Features : 10
Ivory / White Randy Rhodes Custom.
Has R.R. name in gold on scratchplate, Faded but still there.
The white has mellowed to a yellow/cream, Steve Jones, Sex Pistols LP
vibe.
Only issue is missing PU covers, but this looks good anyway.
Neck is CHUNKY. The way I like it.

Sound : 10
Thick/creamy. just like the colour.
Used with 84 JCM 800 50 head & Vintage 30's 2x12.
Cry Baby Wah, Boss Dist & old Ibanez TS808 Phaser.
As you can imagine. Awsome.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
Bought from Japan on Ebay. Buy now at $259.
About #180 British pounds.
Cost nearly that to get it here, but well worth it.
Minor cosmetic clean up & new strings & it was perfect.

Reliability/Durability : 10
Weighs a ton, but I'm a big strong guy !!!!
Always have a backup incase of broken strings etc.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A.

Do my own setups & monor repairs etc

Overall Rating : 10
Playing 30 years.

Own 80's Tokai St, Antoria 70's SG Junior & Tele (Bitsa) Caster
+ various old acoustics.
Would look for any 80's lawsuit Tokai/Burny/Fernandes/Orville LP
If I lost this one.
Big fan of the 70's-80's lawsuit stuff

Not sure what year but definately no later than late 80s so its at least 20 years old. The white has turned into yellow and the body is battered, screws missing, pickup covers missing but I think it all adds to the character.
 
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