Can’t get my Les Paul to play nice in D standard

jamesblonde

jamesblonde

Member
Looking for some tips:

I have a 2016 Les Paul Custom Lite Black Beauty that is a gorgeous guitar, but when I tune it a full step down to D Standard (I like to play a lot of mastodon, gojira etc) the feel is just way off. For example, when I play Sad But True by Metallica, the “chunk” of the lower strings feels so dead. It sounds fine but the feel is wrong. Like there’s no snap/life in the strings. I have put on .11-.52s and messed with the truss rod, bridge height and tailpiece relentlessly but to no avail. It’s frustrating because I know guys are able to play Les paul customs in D standard and even lower tunings without issue. The most frustrating thing is I own two other 2014 Les Paul Custom Classic Lites and they can be detuned without any issues in playability. They have .10-.46s and/or .10-.48s on them So what gives? Should I try lighter gauge strings on my 2016 black beauty? Or will that not be enough tension to handle lower tunings? Any advice?
 
Last edited:
Try 10s? Only you will know when it feels right. To clarify, it felt right before you started making adjustments?

My tech thinks Im nuts for running 12-54 in B standard but I adjusted things including how I play and it works so far.
 
Are all other general set up aspects good? Intonation, truss rod, action? What string gauge to you go from and to?

.11-.52 is an excessively heavy gauge for D standard in my experience but this is hugely subjective. try a 10-48 set or maybe the EB Het set 11-50.
 
Last edited:
Romo82 said:
Are all other general set up aspects good? Intonation, truss rod, action? What string gauge to you go from and to?
Click to expand...
It sounds like the other two, running lighter strings, do not have an issue in D standard.

OP needs to copy that setup to his 2016 including string gauge and see if it solved it.
 
Budda said:
Try 10s? Only you will know when it feels right. To clarify, it felt right before you started making adjustments?

My tech thinks Im nuts for running 12-54 in B standard but I adjusted things including how I play and it works so far.
Click to expand...
I think trying lighter gauge strings would be the next move but I’m just worried .10s might be too floppy on a shorter scale-length gibson
 
Romo82 said:
Are all other general set up aspects good? Intonation, truss rod, action? What string gauge to you go from and to?

.11-.52 is an excessively heavy gauge for D standard in my experience but this is hugely subjective. try a 10-48 set or maybe the EB Het set 11-50.
Click to expand...
I have messed with these adjustments more than I’d like to admit I was eyeing the Hetfield set
 
Budda said:
It sounds like the other two, running lighter strings, do not have an issue in D standard.

OP needs to copy that setup to his 2016 including string gauge and see if it solved it.
Click to expand...
Thats what I'm thinking, I've been playing drop B on a 24.75" ESP viper for 20 years and never had an issue with tension or stability.
 
jamesblonde said:
I have messed with these adjustments more than I’d like to admit I was eyeing the Hetfield set
Click to expand...
There's nothing wrong with adjusting things when changing tunnings/gauges, in fact I think its essential as things change. It sounds like you increased string tension too much and your neck isn't straight any more and your getting ahem nut bottom-out on open strings. If your doing the open E minor chunks in Sad But True and they just choke out then that sounds pretty spot on to be the issue.

Do you know how to check and adjust truss rod/neck relief?
 
jamesblonde said:
I think trying lighter gauge strings would be the next move but I’m just worried .10s might be too floppy on a shorter scale-length gibson
Click to expand...
They arent. The tension from E to D isnt a huge change. You already said the other two CL’s feel fine when downtuned using that gauge.
 
Are the low strings sitting all the way in the bridge saddle grooves? How is the break angle towards the tailpiece? Are the strings hitting the back of the bridge?
 
Could be the nut isn’t cut wide enough for the gauge you’re using. That will certainly effect your tone. I’ve used mixed packs of D’Addario to achieve 10 to 50 and love the way they sound and feel for lower tunings.
10-13.5-22w-30-40-50. But this was done on my ESP/Ltd EC-1000. I filed the nut to except heavy bottom gauge.
 
Infuseguitar said:
Could be the nut isn’t cut wide enough for the gauge you’re using. That will certainly effect your tone. I’ve used mixed packs of D’Addario to achieve 10 to 50 and love the way they sound and feel for lower tunings.
10-13.5-22w-30-40-50. But this was done on my ESP/Ltd EC-1000. I filed the nut to except heavy bottom gauge.
Click to expand...
So I took it to my local tech and he said this was the exact issue. The nut slots aren’t wide enough to accommodate heavy gauge strings. Time for a new nut I guess. Hopefully that fixes the issues.
 
Wow, if the nut slots were that tight just going up .10 then the nut sounds like it was poorly cut to begin with. Also, did this tech say you had to replace the nut rather than widen the slots?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom