Should I...Shouldn't I (Les Paul content)

[NY Chief]

Doug Roccoforte builds some nice stuff. I stumbled across him about the same time I found Metro. He's got clips of all his models on his site. Check 'em out. Doug's a pretty good picker too. He's got a nice clip of the Rainsong up.

[fillmore nyc]

Doug Roccoforte builds some nice stuff. I stumbled across him about the same time I found Metro. He's got clips of all his models on his site. Check 'em out. Doug's a pretty good picker too. He's got a nice clip of the Rainsong up.

Yeah, I had heard that clip... really nice playing and tone. I called the studio after my last post, and found out the guy there had been mistaken about which Rocc I was playing. It was a High Gain 100, not the 80 watt, which explains the outrageous volume that amp had. The 80 watter, even though its only 20 watts less, was MUCH more tame. I think for now, Im gonna stick with what I have, cause that cash is starting to burn a hole in my pocket, and when that happens, I usually end up with an impulse buy, that winds up getting sold within a couple of months. / /

[GUITARmole]

First, it is a 1982 Les Paul Custom, Black, and when I bought it, it had been gigged every day since its purchase. This thing is beautifully broken in and plays quite well. However, I've noticed for a while now that it lacks the definition and clarity that I want. When I was into Sabbath and Rhoads/Ozzy, this wasn't an issue, because the gain masked this, but now that my musical taste has changed, so has my need for a good sounding Les Paul.

Does it have bite when you pluck the low E? I'd love to give you hope for fixing up your LP...but the truth is (in my opinion) most of the newer Les Pauls are acoustically dead and there's not much you can do other than replace it with something better. You should get a nice attack to the notes when you pick them along with good sustain and resonance. If you're getting the dead 'thump' that's all too common w/ Gibsons you might be screwed

It weighs in at 9.5 lbs, so while it isn't a super light 50's rarity, it's not a huge dead weight.

That's a good sign...you might have hope with a bridge and pickup replacement.

I want to:

1.Swap the muddy stock pickups for a set of Wolftone Legends.
2.Swap the stock electronics for a vintage retrofit kit from RS Guitarworks.
3.Install a Tonepro's locking T-O-M with a lightweight aluminum Tailpiece.

1. Honestly, I don't know anything about the Wolftones and I for the most part hate fullsized humbuckers so I couldn't give you the most unbiased advice on that one...I'm sure others will chime in and help you though. If it was my guitar I'd ditch the humbuckers in favor of P90s (several manufacturers make ones that fit in HB sized holes now including Gibson) for a big increase in clarity and a big decrease in muddiness.

2. This is just my opinion...but I don't think swapping the electronics w/ the RS kit will buy you anything. If you have a US Les Paul you should have decent electronics already (probably as good as the RS kit with CTS or CGE pots). If not, go for it. If you want to experiment change the tone cap to something more 'boutique' and/or play around with the value...and save the $$ that you were going to spend on pots and wire. RS sells good stuff and I've bought their kits when building a guitar from scratch, there's no point in replacing something that's already OK though.

3. I think that the Tonepros upgrade could potentionally yield a BIG improvement if your current bridge is one of those chrome plated heavy brass tone suckers. Aluminum tailpieces are absolutely 100% the way to go if you want to increase note attack and definition. Also, you'd think they'd kill sustain (being lightweight) after reading all the hype about how mass adds sustain to a guitar but it seems to me they have the opposite effect and enhance it. As for the locking features...well, it's cool and it's a convenience. I agree it's (the locking feature) somewhat a bunch of hype (I don't think it does much to the tone). As for the material (aluminum) I think it makes a bigger difference than fillmore nyc seems to...but my firsthand experience is mostly with the wraparound bridges. For the absolute best buy Pigtail hardware and skip the Tonepros altogether

[philmanatee]

I rebuilt a 76 3 pickup les paul custom that needed pickups. I replaced the pots with cts and told Jeff at highorder what I wanted the pickups to do, and he delivered. Just send an email to Jeff at highorder and tell him what you want the guitar to do, and he'll give you some options. Phil

[ohmygodtheykilledkenny]

Allright cool. I checked your "bite on the low e test" and acoustically, especially with light strings, for sure, its got lots of snap. Plugged in, the bridge is okay but the neck is a pretty big mud fest. I'm going to replace the wiring because the switch is iffy and the pots are all a little scratchy. I'm holding off till February, since I have to decide whether this is worth modding, or do I want a new axe. I have contacted Jeff in the past for the same reason, but never gone farther than that, so we'll see.

It may end up cheaper in the end to pick up a 67' V RI and stick some new pup's and tone caps in there. Or a Tele, just because.

With any luck, I'll win a lottery and not have to decide

Travis

[yngwie308]

fillmore nyc, George can build you a cool 1971 spec MK II 50 watt for sure, a lot of people are seeking metalfront specs lately.
George's '66 JTM 45/100 should be in the Marshall museum as it is to me, the ultimate Marshall tone..
You have to hear it in person to believe it, the clips do not do it justice.
It made me excited about Marshall's again..

yngwie308

[fillmore nyc]

fillmore nyc, George can build you a cool 1971 spec MK II 50 watt for sure, a lot of people are seeking metalfront specs lately.
George's '66 JTM 45/100 should be in the Marshall museum as it is to me, the ultimate Marshall tone..
You have to hear it in person to believe it, the clips do not do it justice.
It made me excited about Marshall's again.. yngwie308

Hey, Yng. Yeah, I emailed George about a '70-'71 metalfront spec amp, and he says he can build me pretty much whatever era Marshall-clone I want, which is very intriguing. Im not sure exactly which way Im gonna go at this point, as the sound of that Roccaforte I played is really burned into my brain at this point. I KNOW how great Georges stuff is (Im STILL waiting for my JTM45 kit to start building itself ( ), but that Rocc sounded jaw dropping for real. SUPER harmonically rich and complex, and a bottom end that could move my couch. Ahhh, choices, choices... lucky that way, but... "this indecisions buggin'me..."

[yngwie308]

fillmore I looked into Roccaforte's seriously three years ago when I was thinking of jumping back into this game amd I like the 80 and the 120 I believe, Doug, besides having a cool Italian name, understands the cranked Marshall tone well and his amps have always been highly regarded.
However, they do the one thing well that they do, and if that is what you want, then that will suit you.
For me, I like to work with a less gainy Marshall base and add stuff to it, whether slamming the front end or just using power tube distortion.
I had a 1973 Super Lead and I had a mod on it fitted where it would internally link the two channels, which was cool.
Yet I was into different tones then and had I found a Metro JTM 45/100 then, of course they were not in existence then, I would have been much happier.
My '67 JTM having 600 volts on the plates, was way too clean and sounded brutal, totally wrong for all my speakers, real '69 G12H-30's and l tried it with the Vintage reissues of the time, 75 watts, not happy.
I would like to hear a 1971 spec MK II Metro with all the DOD205, YJM308, DS-1, ect, plus compressor in the front end first to make a choice on a 50 watt.George can make any era it's true, the negative feedback on the later 50 is the main difference, as early small box 50's had a more mellow raunchy sound to my ears, Humble Pie, Rockin' The Fillmore, used 50 watt heads with single 4X12"s, if I'm not mistaken, I remember reading that back in the day, as that was to me a great Marshall tone as well.
When I lived in England and would see a semi-pro band as they were called, I would check out there amps, if they had Marshall's ,even better and I would check out what era they were and be right in front of them
So I have heard all these tones in the past, later '70's when more effect pedal tones were used, I wasn't listening that much, just to Tommy Bolin, Deep Purple MK IV, ect.
After the amp show, I found besides f$#@ing up my right ear, major, was that it really does make a difference what amp a guitarist uses, for the most part, as I did not hear Jeff Beck or Yngwie Malmsteen, Gary Moore there, sorry Chief, you were great, a million times better than me though.
So I think my point is some Marshall/clones do some things better than others, I like KT66's now and I was hardcore El 34 forever and now the softer compression sounds right to me, my '66 JTM45 even had El 34's when I got it!
I still am not convinced that anybody is getting the Alcatrazz/ Rising Force tone so far, to my ears and maybe John (Deuterium) will suprise us, once he gets his clips together. But it is hard to get that tone, seriously, a very tricky one.
I have heard Hendrix out of George's 1966 100 watter, loud and clear as a bell, without fancy guitars, pedals, ect.
So for my $4K it would be that amp with the NOS KT-66's, killer.
Yet metalfront tone is 180 degrees opposed to that, so apples and oranges, let's have both .
yngwie308

[Billy Batz]

fillmore I looked into Roccaforte's seriously three years ago when I was thinking of jumping back into this game amd I like the 80 and the 120 I believe, Doug, besides having a cool Italian name, understands the cranked Marshall tone well and his amps have always been highly regarded.

Lol. That is a cool name for an amp company. It sounds like he should be making super performance cars or designer clothes something.