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what parts should i change on my les paul?


mbengs1

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When I get bored with a guitar I put it away for a while and play something else. Sometimes it's funny how things work out, I change amp settings and change my attack on the strings to get the sound I want. Then eventually I come back to the guitar I was bored with and it sounds different because I've changed my style.

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​I was getting bored with the guitar. same sound, same look... I decided to change it since the first thing I thought it needed was hot output pickups. I had emg's in my '****************ty' guitar. :) (it's an Ibanez JS1000 that was trashed and fixed up again) it had emg 81 and 85 so I swapped the pickups. now the Ibanez js has the 498t and 490r pirkcups. I might as well change everything if I can. but the tuners and strap locks are quite expensive so I may leave that out... I just bought a grey pearloid pickguard and plastic jackplate on ebay for about 10 bucks each.

 

The Gibson 498T is not hot enough for you?

 

My LP has the 490R/498T combination and the bridge pickup is so hot it overloads my Shure wireless transmitter to the point where I can't use it.

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. . . I might as well change everything if I can. but the tuners and strap locks are quite expensive so I may leave that out... I just bought a grey pearloid pickguard and plastic jackplate on ebay for about 10 bucks each.

If it has those robot tuners I can see where they would be expensive to replace, otherwise it won't cost any more than you've already invested. Personally I don't care for those pus green tuner knobs one finds on Gibsons and I'd be inclined to replace them. Strap locks aren't that expensive either. My aesthetic sense tells me gray pearl won't look that great with white and gold hardware. And a plastic jack plate is a mistake IMHO. I'd go for a metal one. You might change the bridge and tailpiece to match the new pickups. They're normally black and that would work.

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​ I might as well change everything if I can. but the tuners and strap locks are quite expensive so I may leave that out... I just bought a grey pearloid pickguard and plastic jackplate on ebay for about 10 bucks each.

 

 

​But the EMG's cost a hell of a lot more then tuners and strap locks, which would be the only things I would ever consider upgrading. Straplocks are too expensive? Really????? Tuning stability and protection from the guitar falling down and going boom, are too expensive....

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​I was getting bored with the guitar. same sound, same look... I decided to change it since the first thing I thought it needed was hot output pickups. I had emg's in my '****************ty' guitar. :) (it's an Ibanez JS1000 that was trashed and fixed up again) it had emg 81 and 85 so I swapped the pickups. now the Ibanez js has the 498t and 490r pirkcups. I might as well change everything if I can. but the tuners and strap locks are quite expensive so I may leave that out... I just bought a grey pearloid pickguard and plastic jackplate on ebay for about 10 bucks each.

 

 

:philpalm:

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Mbengs1 -- my advice is to RELIC that baby - big-time. Give it the road-worn treatment. Telescope 3 decades of use into 3 hours in your garage.

 

Screwdriver and chisel are probably the only tools you'd need. Maybe sandpaper will help. Screwdriver, chisel and sandpaper. Maybe a jigsaw? OK Screwdriver, chisel, sandpaper and a jigsaw.

 

With a kit like that, you can relic it up really swell. Ask the wife to help.

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Mbengs1 -- my advice is to RELIC that baby - big-time. Give it the road-worn treatment. Telescope 3 decades of use into 3 hours in your garage.

 

Screwdriver and chisel are probably the only tools you'd need. Maybe sandpaper will help. Screwdriver, chisel and sandpaper. Maybe a jigsaw? OK Screwdriver, chisel, sandpaper and a jigsaw.

 

With a kit like that, you can relic it up really swell. Ask the wife to help.

 

A little off topic but a luthier friend of mine was given a 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The guitar was all original except that the neck had been cleanly removed for whatever reason and was missing.

 

He borrowed another Les Paul and took detailed measurements and built a replacement neck from sctratch. He decided to put the frets over the binding which apperantly is an accepted way to refret Gibson guitars. When finished It was a superb recreation of the LP Custom neck.

 

When he put the guitar together, the new neck did not match the old body. I was in his shop when he proceded to relic the neck using a screwdriver, sandpaper and a chain. It was the first time I had seen that done to a guitar but, under the circumstances, it seemed like a reasomable thing to do - I would not have done it if it was my guitar.

 

Once the project was complete, my friend took it to a well known guitar shop where the proprietor looked it over. After careful examination the response was 'you know it has been re-fretted' at which point my friend told him the details of the project.

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I would argue that you can't change anything and still have a Les Paul. Is a Corvette with a Chrysler hemi still a Corvette?

Sure. Classic car folks will put a Chevy engine and transmission in a classic Ford and still call it a Ford. A Les Paul is a Les Paul until you stick a Strat neck on it. Humbuckers, Les Paul. P90's, Les Paul. Etc.

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