hello, just signed up to this forum after i bought my first gibson les paul, a 2009 standard in ebony finish.
i was wondering, is there any difference in sound between les pauls with regular pots and wiring, and the one's that come with the pcb's like mine?
/QUOTE]
Well for me and my 2012 LP Standard (purchased new), the PCB was not good at all. I fought it for two years trying different caps, modern and 50's, treble bleeds, amps, tubes, etc. trying to get satisfied with the Burstbucker Pro pups to sound good to me. Also bought classic 57's & 57 Plus Pups which didn't work any better. Nothing seemed to help very much. Until I got rid of the PCB, I wasn't satisfied. After removing it, everything improved. My experience.
Daver
ok i get what your'e saying. i once had an ibanez and i played with the pickups until i finally understood that it was just a waste of money and there was no big difference at all.
thats also why i'm selling my sg instead of tweaking it.
daver what did you put instead the pcb? just regular gibson factory modern style wiring?
ok i get what your'e saying. i once had an ibanez and i played with the pickups until i finally understood that it was just a waste of money and there was no big difference at all.
thats also why i'm selling my sg instead of tweaking it.
daver what did you put instead the pcb? just regular gibson factory modern style wiring?
The conclusion from this thread is "dont touch anything"
thanks, i'm not complaining so i think it makes me happy with the tone.. although i only have it a couple of days.
maybe in time i'll see things i dont like.
Take some advice from someone who has been down that route. Leave the PCB board and just play the guitar. I have switched a lot of pick ups, pots, and caps and have found the Gibson does a really good job with the PCB boards. In one of my Les Paul's, I pulled the pcb board and switched it out with all 500k pots and orange drop caps. It opened the pick ups up way too much and was a little harsh. I replaced the orange drop caps with PIO caps and it ended up sounding great but also just like it did with the PCB board. My point is Gibson does a good job and you will just be splitting hairs at that point imo. Plus the quick connect pins are great for swapping out pick ups on the fly and the PCB board just basically takes the place of the wiring, there are still 4 pots and 2 caps in that sucker. All replaceable if you are good at soldering.
I bought a mint condition 2010 Les Paul Studio that hadn't been played much at all for $550 with hard case. After sending it to Portland Fretworks to have the truss rod, action and intonation setup, and the nut properly cut (yes, they don't cut them properly from the factory--they sit too high and also bind the G-string) the guitar played well, but sounded terrible. I took out the PCB, switch, and input jack assemblies and installed 525K CTS pots and a complete wiring kit from TAOT (the art of tone). I used the 50's wiring schematic, and the guitar absolutely shines now. I'm selling the PCB and assembly on Reverb for what the TAOT wiring kit cost me. The pots on the Gibson PCB were 260K for bridge and neck volume, and 450K for tone. The higher value pots open up the sound more and the 50's wiring also makes a huge difference. The 0.022 mfd ceramic disk caps that Gibson uses on the PCB cost literally one-cent. The orange drop caps in the new hand-wired hookup sound much better. I build fuzz pedals and hand-wired tube amps, so re-wiring a stratocaster of Les Paul guitar is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5 difficulty. The PCB idea isn't bad--I just wish Gibson had put 500K pots and better tone caps in their build. I also recommend taking any new or used guitar to a reputable luthier shop for a proper set up--they will put an ordinary guitar in playability to compete with a custom shop model--just my two cents.
hello, just signed up to this forum after i bought my first gibson les paul, a 2009 standard in ebony finish.
i was wondering, is there any difference in sound between les pauls with regular pots and wiring, and the one's that come with the pcb's like mine?
/QUOTE]
Well for me and my 2012 LP Standard (purchased new), the PCB was not good at all. I fought it for two years trying different caps, modern and 50's, treble bleeds, amps, tubes, etc. trying to get satisfied with the Burstbucker Pro pups to sound good to me. Also bought classic 57's & 57 Plus Pups which didn't work any better. Nothing seemed to help very much. Until I got rid of the PCB, I wasn't satisfied. After removing it, everything improved. My experience.
Daver
May I ask which pickups you went with after getting rid of the PCB harness ? Then how did the pickups you choose sound ?