New Guitar!! Gibson Les Paul - 2006 '57 Goldtop Reissue!

Well, I am officially addicted to the V.O.S. (Vintage Original Spec) Gibson Les Paul series. I liked my '59 Reissue so much I decided to check out a beautiful 2006 1957 Goldtop Reissue that was hanging around down at the Guitar Center. :) The '57 is brand new, despite being made in '06. They make lot of the '57s (a.k.a. "R7"), so occasionally an older serial will pop up now and then. I decided to return my first Goldtop, which was the much cheaper Classic Les Paul, as I didn't see the need of having two Goldtops. The R7 is a huge upgrade on the Classic, anyway. ;)

This guitar is as lovely to play as my '59, but it does have a slightly different tone. I find it to be a lot brighter and more aggressive sounding. The R9, in comparison, has a much rounder tone that seems to be better balanced between the high and low frequencies. I love that they have such a distinct tonal difference, because it would be pointless to own two guitars that sound too much alike, in my opinion. The neck carve is also slightly different (not on purpose, but just due to the different building techniques of the luthiers). I love the way the guitar feels! It is a toss up between the R9 and this one in terms of playing feel, but I still lean towards the R9 in the tone department.

As is fairly common on most Custom Shop Gibson models, you'll find sloppy workmanship on the bridge saddle slots (amongst other places). On this one the bridge saddles were particularly bad, and I ended up needing to practically re-radius the whole bridge! The ABR-1 bridges are built with the 12" radius curvature of the fretboard already, but you also have to take into account the varying thicknesses of the strings themselves. Unless the saddles are notched deep enough for the heavier strings to sink down into saddle properly, they will sit too high and the string radius will be thrown out of whack. I just file a high saddle slot down a tad bit, tune back up and test string height with a depth gauge ruler on the 12th fret, file some more if needed... then follow up with some 1200 grit sandpaper to make sure the slot is as smooth as silk. Pretty easy stuff!

I am really pleased with both of my Les Pauls, so far. My only real complaint about them are the pickup covers. The covers on these guitars are not properly installed by Gibson, in my opinion. For any song that has enough gain and a loud amp these pickups will feedback, and not in a good way. I'll likely be forced to remove the covers at some point to avoid this, but I really hate the idea since it ruins the look and changes the sound of the guitars. Time will tell, but I am afraid the covers will have to eventually come off.

Overall, another great guitar!

Gig - Macy's Runway Party :)

My first gig out in a millennium and I play a Macy's runway party. WTF!? :) Actually, the demands were light, the sets were the shortest in history and we had a lot of fun. I was playing lead guitar for my friend Christian Arena who is a great singer/songwriter here in the Memphis area (and a fantastic guitarist, too).

Since we knew this was going to be a pretty loose gig, we didn't even rehearse! Despite no rehearsal (or even a set list), we knocked it out of the park. There is something special about the way Christian and I play together... the chemistry is there and we just lock in tight. I always enjoy jamming with him. I played my beautiful and awesome R9 Les Paul all night through my Atomic 1x12 15 watter with the Pod XT. ;)

We played a few covers, (the names of which I cannot remember), one or two of Christian's songs and a couple of free-form jams. We had a blast and would have loved to play longer but the party was over and it was time pack and leave before we knew it. :)

New Guitar!! Gibson Les Paul - 2007 '59 Reissue!

Wow! I just made my biggest guitar purchase yet... a V.O.S. (Vintage Original Spec) 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, Cherry Burst (a.k.a., the "R9") with a beautiful flamed top! This guitar is absolutely ridiculous in every way. The tone is unreal, the top is gorgeous, the neck feels awesome and the weight is just a touch heavy at 9.12 lbs., but I don't mind heavier guitars.

I went to Guitar Center just to check this guitar out because I have been reading a lot about the R9 Les Paul lately and I had remembered seeing one at GC the last few times I was there. So I plug it in and start playing and find that I really like the bigger 50's style neck, and the fret work (which is done with a Plek system) is superb. This must be the smoothest, most accurate fretwork I've ever had on a guitar (thanks to the Plek)... and it is a really pleasure to play. Unplugged this thing is loud and resonant, and plugged-in the tone is very well balanced. It has a round, warm tone overall with plenty of mids and a nice spike of upper mids that really help to keep the sound even keeled. I simply haven't stopped playing it since I got it.

The overall fit and finish is good. There are some flaws, but that is to be expected. The R9s come with a slightly distressed finish and aged hardware (pickup covers and bridge). It looks and feels like a well worn, played-in guitar. The Gibson V.O.S. series is very similar to the Fender Time Machine relic collection with the main exception being that Gibson only offers one level of lightly aged guitars instead of the several levels of aging that Fender offers. I cannot stress enough how much better these Custom Shop instruments are than the regular production stuff. That goes for Fender as well as Gibson. It is well worth the extra cash for these guitars.

The R9s come with wider, more modern-like frets which were actually standard equipment, and first introduced, on the real guitars in 1959 (a real innovation at the time). The Burstbucker pickups are very cool sounding, vintage-style Pus that have plenty of warmth and just enough "bite" to keep the tone hot and allow you to cut through the mix. In addition, this guitar is wired 50's style with bumble bee capacitors! For the first time in a long time we are now able to buy Les Pauls that are as close to the original year models as have been made since the 50's and 60's. Plus, there is no doubt in my mind that with current production techniques and modern technology, these guitars are more reliable, better constructed and can hold a tune throughout an entire set instead of just one song. ;)

So far this might just be my favorite guitar, ever. It looks hot, plays great and sounds unreal. Those are the ingredients for "mojo", my friends.... when a guitar has the look, the feel and the tone that just draws you to it over any of your other guitars, you know it is special.

Rick Hancock Leaves for PRS

Since getting the Power Jet back from Rick I have noticed a high 13th fret. I originally had Rick fix the 12th fret end that had popped up (it was like that when I received the guitar new). Since gluing down the 12th fret end, the 13th is now causing a slight fret out when bending the high E string at the 12th fret. This would be no problem, except for the fact that Rick is no longer working in Memphis. He landed a fantastic job at Paul Reed Smith guitars where he will be a Master Luthier building the PRS Private Reserve instruments... the top of the line PRS's! I sure hate to see him go, but I am very happy for him. He certainly deserves it. ;)

I guess I am going to have to go ahead with those luthery classes I have been threatening to take for the last few years now. Heck, maybe I could even get enough business to make some money now that Rick has left a void here in town. We'll see...

New Guitar!! Gibson ES-339

Well, I couldn't resist getting this guitar once they got me to play it at my local Guitar Center. I didn't think I'd care that much for it, but once I plugged it in I couldn't believe how well it played and sounded.

The ES-339 is a Memphis Custom Shop based on the larger ES-335 semi-hollow electric guitar, but is smaller and lighter than its larger sibling. In fact, it's about the same size as a Les Paul... yet it still retains the same fat tone that the larger ES-335 is famous for! A pretty amazing feat of guitar design. I briefly had the Vintage Burst 339 (pictured left), but after I got it home and began setting it up I realized that the neck had a hump in it starting at the 12th fret. It was a really bad case of "rising tongue", which is when the fretboard inclines upward on the high frets. This is a very undesirable condition and so I returned the guitar to Guitar Center, only to find out they had just taken shipment of another 339 that hadn't even gone out to the floor. This one was the Antique Red that I now have. After careful examination and many hours of playing I am satisfied that this one is an excellent specimen.

Gibson put their '57 classic humbuckers in the 339 with the "Memphis Tone Circuit" (basically a capacitor that preserves high-end when rolling off volume) . The tone of this guitar is just spectacular. It is exactly what you'd expect of a good ES-335, warm fat tone on the neck pickup, which can really fatten up with the tone control for smooth Jazz... and a nice aggressive, punchy bridge pickup that can do everything from dirty blues to compressed 80's shred distortion. In a word, this thing is "versatile". Plus, the Antique Red is simply a gorgeous finish that really gives this guitar a classic look. The neck feels unlike any neck I've tried. It is super comfortable, however, the fretboard feels a bit crowded up high for my big fingers, but I still manage to solo on the high frets just fine. My guitar has the slimmer 60's profile neck, but the 339 is also available with the fatter '59 profile.

I have the bridge setup with the stopbar screwed down flush and the strings reverse wrapped for now, but I may try stringing straight through next time to see if I prefer the tone of the guitar reverse wrapped or normal. So far I am very impressed with this guitar! It really helps me round out my collection with a good quality semi-hollow guitar, and one that's beautiful to boot! ;)

Les Paul Classic Pickup Swap to Seymour Duncans (then back to the originals)

I decided to try out some Duncans for my new Les Paul Classic, just to see if I would like a more classic pickup tone over the more aggressive ceramic, high-output 496R and 500T pickups that originally came in the guitar.

Installation was simple. It doesn't get much easier than a Les Paul when it comes to electronics. During the pickup installation I went ahead and did some quick maintenance while I had all the strings removed. I cleaned the fretboard, oiled the bridge parts and thoroughly cleaned the guitar. Once I got the pickups installed I immediately re-strung to test the new Duncans... and... I didn't like them as much as the original pickups. ;) There is just something about the 496R and 500T PUs that sound so good in this guitar. They are very aggressive, yet still able to retain good note separation.

So after a day or so I put the originals back in. My guy at Guitar Center agreed to take back the Duncans for a full refund, even though I installed them. I spend a lot with them, so I get special treatment (which is nice). ;)

New Amp!! Fender Blues Jr.

I finally got a new amplifier. It's been a long while since I bought one, since I have been so happy with my Atomic amplifiers and the computer-based Line 6 TonePort. I really like this little amp... it has that beautiful Fender clean tone and it can create a really nice early break-up blues tone, as well.

I am running it with the excellent Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde overdrive/distortion combo pedal. This is a great pedal! The overdrive sounds about as close to a real Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer as I have ever heard. The distortion is fantastic sounding... much better than pretty much any other distortion pedal I've played. It's musical sounding, useful gain. This pedal plus the Blues Jr. is deadly! ;)

I have my Wylde Crybaby Wah Wah in the chain along with an old Boss DD-3 I have had since I was a kid. Never had much use for it until now. I have the DD-3 set for "shred style" tone thickening when wailing on full distortion with the Visual Sound Hyde pedal. ;) Sounds great. I also bought the Planet Waves tuner pedal, which is built like a friggin' tank. It works very well and it has true bypass, which is a must for a tuner pedal. You don't want something like that sucking your tone.

I recorded a rough take with a blues backing track using an SM-57 and the TonePort straight into the computer. I setup the backing track loop in Cubase SE, put on some headphones and let it rip. Here is the raw recording with just a touch of EQ and some thickening by track doubling and a hard stereo pan: Blues Jr. Test Recording (mp3 format, 3.1 mb). I used my Custom Shop '60s Relic Strat with the overdrive pedal engaged and the neck pickup selected on the guitar. No other effects, pre or post, were used.

This is a fun little amp that's easy to get a good Blues tone with (hence the name!)

New Guitar!! Goldtop Les Paul Classic

I'm baaaaack... and with a major haircut! Still cycling and loving it, but the guitar has seduced me back into all things music.

Whoa! I finally did it... I bought a Gibson! I said I would never be a Gibson owner, and I certainly never thought I'd ever own a Les Paul. I always had trouble playing them because I grew up playing the flat profile Strat shape. After spending a good amount of time with my Grestch Power Jet I finally trained myself to handle the higher bridge.

I LOVE this guitar. It is a Les Paul Classic, so it isn't the most expensive model but not the cheapest either. This particular one felt really good, has tons of balls and plays exceptionally well. After spending a few days probing thoroughly I just can't find anything wrong with it. ;) It's definitely a keeper.

The Classics have the thinner 60's profile neck, tall frets and slightly yellowed trap inlays. The fretwork on this guitar is very good and well finished... nut is superbly cut and the Nashville TOM bridge appears to be of the pre-slotted variety, so there are no slotting issues on the bridge. The thumbscrew pins are bent slightly because the stopbar was screwed down way too tight and I think the string pressure bent them. I have new ones on order from Stew Mac.

I'll be re-stringing with a "reverse wrap" on the stopbar from now on. This will allow me to screw the stopbar all the way flush to the body without having too sharp of a string angle (thus, avoiding more bent pins and a collapsed bridge!). This should also provide better coupling and a slightly rounder, warmer tone. Since this particular guitar seems a bit on the treble side I think a reverse wrap will balance things out nicely.

This guitar has tons of sustain! The stock pickups are really hot and could probably stand to be lowered a tad from the very high factory setting. I'll probably experiment with some Duncans just to see if I like them. I will also be ordering a new blank pickguard and truss rod cover so I can get rid of the unnecessary script on those items.

Overall I am very happy with this guitar! I have always wanted a Goldtop Les Paul, and I am lucky to have found one with such good fit and finish. Gibson quality can be hit or miss so I feel extra fortunate that this one turned out so well.

More to come as I do some PU mods and set her up!

Tour de France

Claudia and I just finished watching the Tour de France. We are having a really good time with the cycling thing, and in the process we have found some good friends who ride.

I have decided to create a new blog to chronicle the adventures of "Team Gringo". ;) You can catch the blog here @ teamgringo.blogspot.com. I have a new gear addiction and it's pretty serious! I'll be sure to take plenty of photos and do some careful write-ups of our stuff when I can.

Still playing guitar, just less. I have my sights set on some great new guitar gear this coming fall so let's see what happens.

Taking a Break

I have decided to take a break from playing guitar for a while and try something a little different. I have quit smoking (as of April 23rd) and have not had one since. My wife and I are giving bike riding a try to see if we can lose some weight and get healthy. ;)

I bought us a couple of cool Bianchi's and a car rack for the RX-8. Finally I found hobby that is actually more expensive than guitars! :) I am not quitting the guitar, just playing less and taking a much needed rest from tinkering, obsessing over details and worrying about my picking technique. Jeez, I have had enough of that for a while. ;)

Cycling is so much fun, and it's something Claudia and I can do together . My new heroes also dress in tight lycra... what a crazy thing. :)

See you out on the road.

20th Anniversary RG Gets New Pickups

After a long wait for the pickups to arrive, it was finally time to finish up the 20th Anniversary RG. I ordered two PAF Pros in hot pink ;). One F-spaced for the bridge and the other regular spaced, plus an SDS-1 single for the middle, also in pink. I ended up not liking the sound of the SDS-1, nor the pink color since it really didn't match the humbuckers at all. So I removed it and took DiMarzio up on their 30 day satisfaction guarantee and sent it back for a swap-out with a pink FS-1. I had a black DiMarzio single coil cover laying around, so when the FS-1 arrived I put that on instead since the pink single coil cover still didn't match the humbuckers very well.

I bought some great original 80's NOS (now old stock) neon knob and switch tip sets from a great guy on Jemsite that lives in the UK. Shipment was prompt and exactly what I was needing to complete this baby.

The pickups were a breeze to install electronically, but presented some difficulty in keeping themselves level in the pickguard. I came up with the idea to use the foam from a paint brush to create a pad underneath the pickups to help keep them level under the strings. Works great!

I love sound of the PAF Pros, they really have a nice chimey quality with plenty of crunch and tons of harmonics that truly captures the 80's lead and rhythm sound beautifully. The FS-1 is a pretty high output single that balances really well with the humbuckers... and the best thing is that these pickup selections are period correct, meaning that these were available for purchase in 1987. A neon green DiMarzio cliplock strap completes the package. Now this thing really looks like it was born in the 80's! Can't play an 80's Ibanez without a neon cliplock strap. :)



Check out the before and after. Narly, brah!