Les Paul Studio Project

smitty_p said:
Let me just say, ya'll...

I AM LOVIN' THIS GUITAR!

Man, seriously, it feels great, it sounds killer and I'm just stoked by it!!!

It was worth the time, money, and effort.

Okay...I'll be quiet now.
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You're guitar turned out great Witty Smitty!:wink: I really like the gold hardware and the whole look of your guitar. It's your own signature guitar now. I myself own a Gibson Les Paul Studio guitar (in black of course) and it plays and feels great. It has the 490R/498T pick up combo. I really like the 498T...it has a lot of sizzle to it. They are good guitars for the price which you can't beat.


;>)/
 
Real nice piece, nice work.
Glad you are happy with the outcome.
Congrats and Enjoy!!


I dig studios / plain tops.
All Go; neat and clean but not too much Show.
Rock On Smitty.
 
DonP said:
No overlap to ground the cover plate? That's important.
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I agree. It's incomplete at the time this image was taken...it will receive that feature. I did not do this work...I just drew out the wire diagram and figured out the capacitors needed...
 
DonP said:
And - we have a winner. I like that.
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Thank you Sir!

Interesting to note that I used to have a very, very slight 'hum' on the SG, even after I did all this shileding. What I discovered was, one of my cables had a slightly longer tip, and this came into very close proximity with the cover plate. I fixed it by applying a small piece of high quality electrician's tape, as shown here...The tip never touched the cover, but got close enough to hum, ever so slightly.

Small Cavity Tone Man Harness.jpg
 
smitty_p said:
Aaaaand finally, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a pictorial presentation as I take this project across the finish line.

You've seen my teaser posts above showing the pickups. Unlike the original thought in my OP, I ended up using a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (SH-14) in the bridge, and I used a Seymour Duncan '59 bridge pickup (SH-1B) in the neck. The Custom 5 is quite a bit hotter than a '59. In the end, this gamble paid off. It wasn't too hard to get them to balance and they split well. So far, I'm quite pleased with the results.

The split is more noticeable when playing clean. It is a really nice effect. Of course, it doesn't sound like Strat...I never expected it to. But, I think it's a very useful tone.

Here is the finished wiring. As I indicated in my OP, I set this up with push-pull pots so I can coil split both the bridge and neck pickups.

View attachment 9788

Everything all covered up awaiting the next step:

View attachment 9789


Here's a shot, showing the bridge pickup, bridge, and tailpiece. The bridge and tailpiece are a little different. I got them from Philadelphia Luthier Tools. The bridge is adjusted with a small allen wrench. It fits very snugly onto the posts and exhibits no slop or play. The saddles were also practically perfect just as it came! Very little adjustment was required to get the intonation set.

The plating also seems pretty good.

View attachment 9790

So far, so good. Now, it's time to get artsy!

A shot from the left....

View attachment 9791

A shot from the right...


View attachment 9792


And finally, the fully complete frontal shot!

View attachment 9793

All in all, this was a very enjoyable project and I thank all of you for sharing in it with me!
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Very cool guitar.....just enough of everything....sound clips?????
 
RVA said:
No, keep writing and add a sound clip!
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Robert Herndon said:
Very cool guitar.....just enough of everything....sound clips?????
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I suppose I'll have to put some sound clips together.

I've actually received a couple unsolicited positive comments about the sound of this guitar since I've started playing it. So, I'm happy about that. The band leader thinks it's the best sounding guitar I have...and he's heard them all.

The clean tones are actually the most intriguing. Splitting both pickups, ramping back both volumes just a touch, using a clean channel on the amp, and adding some delay really creates a pleasant, airy strumming sound.

I'm actually thinking of putting this same pickup/electronics combination in my Jackson and selling off the JB/Jazz combo I have.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Smitty, you didn't like the jazz jb combo?
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I've had a like/dislike experience with it. I'll play it and think I like it, then play another one of my guitars and then not like it as much. I've done several things to get it to sound how I want it, and I've been fairly satisfied. But, the sound of this Studio definitely upstages it. By comparison, the Jackson with the JB/Jazz is actually kind of weak. Replacing the pickups will be a last resort. I have some other things in mind first.
 
smitty_p said:
I suppose I'll have to put some sound clips together.

I've actually received a couple unsolicited positive comments about the sound of this guitar since I've started playing it. So, I'm happy about that. The band leader thinks it's the best sounding guitar I have...and he's heard them all.

The clean tones are actually the most intriguing. Splitting both pickups, ramping back both volumes just a touch, using a clean channel on the amp, and adding some delay really creates a pleasant, airy strumming sound.

I'm actually thinking of putting this same pickup/electronics combination in my Jackson and selling off the JB/Jazz combo I have.
Click to expand...

This is my goal - ONE guitar that just feels and sounds right...
 
smitty_p said:
I've had a like/dislike experience with it. I'll play it and think I like it, then play another one of my guitars and then not like it as much. I've done several things to get it to sound how I want it, and I've been fairly satisfied. But, the sound of this Studio definitely upstages it. By comparison, the Jackson with the JB/Jazz is actually kind of weak. Replacing the pickups will be a last resort. I have some other things in mind first.
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Smitty, I understand. I mostly asked because that '75 Ibanez 2355 that I looked at had those swapped in it in lieu of the factory Super 70's. Thankfully for the seller, he has all the original parts included for the eventual buyer.
 
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