Which has the biggest impact on tone from a Les Paul?

[Shepdoggiest]

And how Axe Fx iii sounds from the differences in the same preset. I know there are plenty of people who have multiple solid body guitars with multiple pickup vendors/variations installed here. I'm specifically interested in the opinions of Les Paul owners using the Marshall amps for 70's/80's rock sounds here.

Is the body of the guitar and it's makeup biggest in impact - whether solid or chambered?

Or is it the pickups installed in the guitar?

Please detail your guitar and pickups that tailor your opinions. Thanks much!

 

[jetdriver1775]

I have 4 Les Pauls, and typically use Marshalls & Friedmans within Fractal. I would say that the biggest tonal difference is the pickups.

 

[peteri]

I don’t think there’s a way to quantify, even for a car do you say the engine, gearbox, tyres etc?

You’d need to be able to change each component in turn.

However my thoughts - having owned three 50s, a Terry Morgan and countless others.

Clearly body construction and how the neck is attached
Scale length
The bridge (I had a 54 and 56 Les Paul once - real difference between tunamatic and wrap around bridges)

I don’t think where the rosewood comes from makes as much difference as some claim.

What I do think makes a massive difference is the finish - I consistently prefer Murphy Labs to normal reissues and I really believe that’s down to the thinner ‘more authentic’ finish

 

[Shepdoggiest]

I have 4 Les Pauls, and typically use Marshalls & Friedmans within Fractal. I would say that the biggest tonal difference is the pickups.

Thanks much. Are they non weight relieved? What pickups are you partial to?

 

[Shepdoggiest]

I don’t think there’s a way to quantify, even for a car do you say the engine, gearbox, tyres etc?

You’d need to be able to change each component in turn.

However my thoughts - having owned three 50s, a Terry Morgan and countless others.

Clearly body construction and how the neck is attached
Scale length
The bridge (I had a 54 and 56 Les Paul once - real difference between tunamatic and wrap around bridges)

I don’t think where the rosewood comes from makes as much difference as some claim.

What I do think makes a massive difference is the finish - I consistently prefer Murphy Labs to normal reissues and I really believe that’s down to the thinner ‘more authentic’ finish

The reason I bring up the body type is I've heard some chambered body owners say there are lower resonances that poke out and ring. One of mine is chambered and I agree with that. I am glad you brought up bridge. I hear what I consider odd harmonic content from some of the open strings. I'm going to try Graphtech string saver saddles and see what happens. Which do you prefer - the wrap or the ABR? Do you wrap the ABR strings? Thanks.

 

[jetdriver1775]

Thanks much. Are they non weight relieved? What pickups are you partial to?

One is heavily relieved/chambered and the one is a hefty non relieved traditional. The others are standards. The chambered one had a JB in it, which had a bit too much nasally honk in it - switched to a Duncan Custom Custom. I prefer Alnico II magnets for a more rounded tone, but still mid gain and punchy. Of course, they all have their differences, but like I said the BIGGEST difference came from the pickup swap. I was a JB/Jazz combo guy for a long time, but my all around fave now is the Custom Custom, with a 59 in the neck. That gets me from 70s/classic rock/blues, to grindy Alice In Chains to more modern metal if needed. The older I get, the less gain I feel I want or need LOL.

 

[Shepdoggiest]

One is heavily relieved/chambered and the one is a hefty non relieved traditional. The others are standards. The chambered one had a JB in it, which had a bit too much nasally honk in it - switched to a Duncan Custom Custom. I prefer Alnico II magnets for a more rounded tone, but still mid gain and punchy. Of course, they all have their differences, but like I said the BIGGEST difference came from the pickup swap. I was a JB/Jazz combo guy for a long time, but my all around fave now is the Custom Custom, with a 59 in the neck. That gets me from 70s/classic rock/blues, to grindy Alice In Chains to more modern metal if needed. The older I get, the less gain I feel I want or need LOL.

I also have a JB in my main guitar and am feeling the same about it's nasal tone now coming from an Ultra to the iii 2 months ago or so. I have a 59 in the neck as well and even with cab cuts and bass reduction it seems like there's no 'ass' in the JB when I get the 59 tonally happy to my ear. I would hate to have to create a separate scene for pickup changes. Speaking of gain, I'm programming a bunch of Pat Travers songs and that has painfully taught me about using less gain, more turn up the amp for power saturation. Such a fine line it seems at times.

 

[Kelleys Heroes]

Pickups for sure, and if you have a doubt play a LP with P90s, and a comparable one with humbuckers

 

[jetdriver1775]

I also have a JB in my main guitar and am feeling the same about it's nasal tone now coming from an Ultra to the iii 2 months ago or so. I have a 59 in the neck as well and even with cab cuts and bass reduction it seems like there's no 'ass' in the JB when I get the 59 tonally happy to my ear. I would hate to have to create a separate scene for pickup changes..

I was worried about that too, but then I realized I didn't want the guitars to sound too different. I wanted each one to sound good in its own way. I considered different presets per guitar (I'm usually on one kitchen sink preset per gig). Then I realized the main thing was gain differences. So I put the amp input trim on the global performance page, for a quick tweak. Since each of my guitars are tonally similar, the main difference is gain levels. This way I can adjust that quickly if desired.

 

[mr_fender]

Yeah, pickups have the biggest tonal impact on any electric guitar. That said, they can't necessarily change something inherent in the acoustic response of the guitar like weird resonances or dead notes. Those aspects are mechanical (wood, construction, hardware, etc.) Like peteri said above, there's lots of factors and they all play some part in it.

 

[Shepdoggiest]

Pickups for sure, and if you have a doubt play a LP with P90s, and a comparable one with humbuckers

Thanks for replying. I get that difference between a P90 and Humbucker. My question comes from the differences between the different Gibson PAF models and levels of Alnico magnets, and the 3rd party PAF offerings.

 

[strabes]

Pickups / pickup distance from the bridge / pickup height. Everything else that's not directly part of the circuit (e.g. wood) is negligible by comparison (assuming the same circuit in both instances i.e. pot values, wiring, cable length & capacitance per foot, input impedance of whatever you're plugging into, etc). Put the same pickups & wiring in two completely different guitars, double track the same riff through the same rig to account for playing differences between the 4 takes, I promise the two clips will be indistinguishable.

 

[Budda]

Ive had chambered, 9 hole and solid. Pickups have the biggest effect outside IR choice imo.

Is OP trying to ask what pickups people like in their lp’s for 70s/80s (very different sounds in there..) tones??

 

[Shepdoggiest]

I was worried about that too, but then I realized I didn't want the guitars to sound too different. I wanted each one to sound good in its own way. I considered different presets per guitar (I'm usually on one kitchen sink preset per gig). Then I realized the main thing was gain differences. So I put the amp input trim on the global performance page, for a quick tweak. Since each of my guitars are tonally similar, the main difference is gain levels. This way I can adjust that quickly if desired.

Pickups / pickup distance from the bridge / pickup height. Everything else is negligible by comparison.

Thank you much. I'm finding for some 'between tones' that the instrument input on a scene controller can help me get where turning the volume pot down doesn't, tonally speaking.

 

[Budda]

All my pickups are low to med output and i dont change anything when i go between them.

 

[Tonedeaf]

Tabacco Burst LP's sound the best.

 

[Shepdoggiest]

All my pickups are low to med output and i dont change anything when i go between them.

Sounds like your sound is sorted to the point guitar choice is gonna get you where you want to be. Cool.

 

[strabes]

Thank you much. I'm finding for some 'between tones' that the instrument input on a scene controller can help me get where turning the volume pot down doesn't, tonally speaking.

I'm assuming you don't have a treble bleed installed on your volume pot? Typically without a treble bleed, as you turn down the volume pot the tone also gets darker. So using a treble bleed will result in a more consistent tone across the range of the volume pot. Changing the input level digitally on the Fractal input will have a similar effect as the waveform is identical, just lower in amplitude.

 

[Shepdoggiest]

You are correct, I don't have one. I did just order a set of 3 different values to try out.

 

[strabes]

You are correct, I don't have one. I did just order a set of 3 different values to try out.

The downside is that they can dramatically affect the taper of your volume pot, making it closer to functioning like an on/off switch, which you've experienced if you've ever accidentally installed a linear pot as a volume pot instead of an audio taper pot. Fender and Suhr (and I'm sure other companies) use a combination of parallel and kinman treble bleed networks which mostly avoids this, it's basically a resistor and cap in parallel, with an additional resistor in series.