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Yardbird Mac

Yardbird Mac

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Jan 6, 2004
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Well... not actually.

Yesterday afternoon I took my 2003 Gibson Les Paul Standard to LAY's guitar shop in Akron, Ohio to have my Brandon Wound humbuckers installed and general rewire in the control cavity (Bumblebee caps, CTS pots etc.). I'm dangerous with a soldering iron, so I farmed out this project (let the experts do it).

When I left the shop I didn't have any big expectations for this guitar. Previously, it sounded harsh and "stiff". When I got home I plugged it in and was immediately blown away by the tone improvements. Instead of being shrill and harsh (using distortion) it was rich, full, more "open", and "fat"... not to mention more touch sensitive. I can play with a lighter touch and have better dynamics at my disposal.

The same can be said playing it clean. It has a nice rich tone that also sounds full and dynamic. In general, I would say that it plays and sounds pretty close to what I get from my R9.

Prior to yesterday I was seriously thinking about selling off this guitar... Not anymore! Kudos to Brandon Wound Pickups and LAY'S
 
mistersnappy

mistersnappy

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Nice! Congrats. I was in Akron last summer and wish I'd known about that place, to just hang out.
 
Yardbird Mac

Yardbird Mac

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Well... I had a chance to A/B this guitar with my 2004 R9. The goal has been achieved. These improvements have made the Standard sound and respond as close to my R9 as possible. The main difference is that the Standard feels different due to the construction differences from the reissue.

I now have a Les Paul (with great tone) that I can take out and jam with people and leave the R9 in the relative safety of my home (the R9 is my main recording guitar).
 
Black58

Black58

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Anything done to the setup of the guitar, while it was out? :ganz

:hmm
 
Yardbird Mac

Yardbird Mac

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Black58 said:
Anything done to the setup of the guitar, while it was out? :ganz

:hmm
Click to expand...

No... I stuck around the shop while the pickups were being installed. At one point the owner came out and asked me if I wanted it set up. I told him I didn't feel it was necessary this trip. I put a bunch of FABER hardware on it this winter and had it pretty much set to my liking. I may take it back to them a little later in the spring for a fine tuning. Right now, it's right where I want it to be. Their pickup height adjustment was perfect!
 
Yardbird Mac

Yardbird Mac

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Hetfieldinn said:
Lay's has been a butcher shop for a while. Was a good place years ago.
Click to expand...

That hasn't been my experience over the past 6 years. They did a great job of refinishing the top on my "04" R9 (changed from washed cherry to Brock Burst*). The recent electronics/pickups upgrades, mentioned above, more than met my expectations, and 3 days ago I bought, and had installed, an all maple neck/fretboard on my "03" MIM Strat. With those "upgrades" I've been a satisfied customer!

I had 2 "opposite" experiences with LAY'S back in the 1970s. I had a Norlin era LP custom that the fretboard came unglued near the neck joint. They glued it back in place only to have it come unglued a year or so later. My second "not so good experience" was with a 1977 Lp Standard that had a broken truss rod. I think at that time Virgil was still running the shop. Anyway, instead of removing the fretboard completely and installing a new truss rod by that means, they cut a section out of the fretboard near the neck/body joint and fed the new rod in through the cavity, then glued the section of the fretboard they removed back in place.

The guitar played OK, but the neck/fretboard looked horrible. You could see where they sawed through the neck binding when they cut out the piece of fretboard. This was a Gibson warranty repair that, as far as I was concerned, went horribly wrong.

*They also repaired a slight "ding" in the top where I accidentally dropped the bridge on it while cleaning it.:##
 
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