How to get a GREAT Les Paul Neck Tone!

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4 ай бұрын

#gibsonlespaul #gibsonguitars #lespaul ‪@gibson‬ ‪@gibsonguitar‬
Struggling to get a nice Les Paul neck tone that isn't too dark or muddy? Here are some tips that might help! Using an old Gibson Les Paul Classic with PAF style humbuckers and 50s style wiring into a Supro Black Magick, with a Keeley DDR and a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver!
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Пікірлер: 102

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Check out Les Pauls on Zzounds! www.zzounds.com/a--3985805/prodsearch?q=les+paul&key=q&form=search < thats an affiliate link, and if you shop through it you support my channel at no extra cost to you!

@LPManic 4 ай бұрын

Middle is where the magic is on a Les Paul.

@ConcezioPellegrini 4 ай бұрын

100 % CORRECT.

@mikedwiles 4 ай бұрын

I like your idea of dialing in the amp for the neck pickup. While my example is not quite the same, I have an Eastman T386 which is their basic 335 style guitar. Been playing it for awhile, adjusting the pickups, trying various approaches. But never got happy with the neck pickup. Bought a used set of Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2. Bought the braided wire, pots, and caps and built a new loom and replaced the pickups. Spent the entire day on Friday doing that. The change was dramatic. It is so much brighter and defined. It sounds wonderful. I can actually use the tone control now. I did 50's wiring and can now roll of the volume without it getting muffled.

@johncooper16 4 ай бұрын

I also have a T386 and I did much the same. It now has a set of Monty's PAFs and 50's wiring. The difference from the Kent Armstrong stock pups is night and day.

@peteglase 3 ай бұрын

I'm stoked to hear this because my Luthier is dropping a 50's wired Throbak pots, switch and input assy into my '03 Les Paul Std. next week.

@johncooper16 3 ай бұрын

@@peteglase Nice. It should transform your sound. Good luck.

@simonwhalley1743 4 ай бұрын

I completely agree about lowering the neck pickup. I had a great guitar tech set up my new Murphy Lab 09 Les Paul. I got the guitar back with the neck pick-up lowered past the surround. It absolutely sang when I played it. Before the setup the neck position sounded far too muddy on the lower strings. Dialling in the amp to the neck pickup also makes a whole lot of sense. The tone knobs on a Les Paul is where the magic happens. I think a lot of people whack them up to 10 and hope for the best. If you watch people like Joe Bonamassa playing live he’s constantly adjusting both tone and volume knobs, maybe dozens of times during a song.

@TheHalrobot 4 ай бұрын

I've been listening to all your videos for years, you're one of the best KZfaqrs! And you're the one with the best neck pickup tone! Les Paul, SG, tele, your neck pickup sound is always perfect! You're 100% right about the Les Paul neck pickup, but you forgot the most important thing in my opinion, more important than changing pickups, is simply finding the right pick! I've changed the neck pickup on my SG so many times to find a sound I like, to get rid of the muddyness, and never succeeded. Until the day I changed my pick, another material, another thickness! It's a major change. We don't talk enough about the importance of the pick. And yes, your Les Paul Deluxe with the mini humbuckers sounds so good!

@johndaugherty4127 4 ай бұрын

The best guitarist on the tube. And a generous man.

@temujenbarca1284 3 ай бұрын

Good advice, Jack. I would only suggest a bit of a complementary advice of my own regarding lowering your neck pickup, which I am also a proponent; once the height of the neck pickup is in the right ballpark for you, you may want to start experimenting with the relative height of the pole screws... it's all a balance between p.u height, the height difference between the treble and bass sides, and the pole screws. Of course, 50's wiring with high quality (accurate...) components, the value of your caps in either position, the taper of your pots, etc...

@mikeyohe4750 4 ай бұрын

Good video and tips! 👍👍

@DDWyss 5 күн бұрын

One thing I like to do in addition to lowering pickups, which I also do, is raising the screws on my humbuckers. So I will have the pickups sitting very low in the rings, but then screw out the screws so they are a bit proud. I really like the bright, clear tone I get by doing that.

@user-tz6wj2bw9i 4 ай бұрын

I liked the opening guitar playing well done!

@linheitzig9227 4 ай бұрын

Excellent topic Jack, thank you. I almost forgot, great looking wood on that Les Paul! I love it.

@mikewithers299 4 ай бұрын

Jack these are some good tips you gave. I knew about pickup heigth adjustments changing tone, and full size pots and good wire. Ive never tried dialing in the bridge pickup first and setting the amp around that. Going to be awesome to hear how this sounds. ❤️🎸

@deanallen927 4 ай бұрын

Great video! I had the same problem when I was strictly a strat player and did just what you say here, and hooked one tone control up to the bridge pickup. Having become primarily a Gibson player, somehow I forgot this method. Mostly because until recently I wasn't real interested in using the neck pickups on my SG and Les Paul until I began listening to Mark Knopfler on Brothers In Arms; I love that sound. Thanks.

@graemero5532 4 ай бұрын

😊 Ahhhhh, That Gold Deluxe 😊 What a great clean tone 😊 What a great guitar 😊

@edwardbristow9331 3 ай бұрын

Great video, thanks for sharing. At several points I was thinking that I would comment about x or y, and at each time you mentioned exactly that! The only thing I don't remember you talking about us an eq pedal first in the chain. Even a cheap as cheap plastic 7 band will help remove the lower mush. Worth a go before rewiring and pickup swaps.

@danielc196 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for another great video Jack. I've been trying to get the right tone out of my Les Paul neck pickup but I've never been totally satisfied with it. I lowered the pickup as much as I could and that certainly helped, but not entirely. I will try some of your other suggestions. One (quite expensive) solution I found was to buy a new Les Paul! I picked up a 50s Standard with P90s and that thing sounds and plays like a dream, the neck pickup tone I've always wanted from a Les Paul, something between a Tele and a humbucker Les Paul. I'm over the moon with it!

@malcolmsansom5026 4 ай бұрын

This is a great vid very helpful cheers Jack 👍🎸

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@Dang... 4 ай бұрын

Good tips here. Nice playing too.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@josephcorcoran8714 4 ай бұрын

Use Lust for Tone pickups! Sounding great tonight. The Black Magick was a great choice. I did end up getting the reverb model.

@Hxrocks22 4 ай бұрын

Love the tone

@mortonwilson795 4 ай бұрын

Great conversation, really enjoyed the insights as usual, thanksalot! Funnily enough I just tried the recent LP '70s De-Luxe Re-Issue and I absolutely loved it . . . first time I have ever played a guitar with Mini-Buckers - sounded a bit like some Page 'bright solo' tracks from Zep days - it really stopped me in my tracks. Thru the '70s my sole rig was my '68 LP Custom, 50w Fender Reverb top w 2 x 12 Cab and a Paul Crowther Hot-Cake for extra drive / lead stuff. (And the obligatory De-Armond Wah, which I would use for some tone modulation beyond just the wah function - and a Phase 90, Leslie, WEM Copicat and Shobud Vol Pedal). I still have the '68 and for the 'art rock / touch of bluesy pop' or whatever I play (I grew up listening to Harrison, Peter Green, Clapton, Page, Steve Hackett, Fripp et all) I would get my Mid position 'perfect' each night depending on the venue / studio - clear, 'chimeyish' and good for cross picking - start at 10 then maybe pull back Neck to 8 or 9, Bridge similar. From there I would check Neck has clarity (amp helps obviously) for 'solo fill lines' and then all good - Bridge could come right up for lead breaks as and when - the Hot-Cake was great (I believe Mark Knopfler used one back in the day) and Paul now has a Double Hot-Cake which is perfect because one side can be edgy and the other side 'Clapton "woman toney") and if you combine both you get a lovely fat rhythm 'wash'. Whatever - this vid got me all excited! 😅 Enjoy your approach, a lot - cheers from Hong Kong!

@michaelheinz3954 4 ай бұрын

Great tones from both Les Pauls, beautiful guitars as such. I really dig the neck tones from the Deluxe, pure magic. It's a brilliant idea to dial in the neck humbucker first and adjust the bridge tone accordingly. Imho you need a quality wiring and pickups that deliver an open and clear sound. As my LP is a 56 RI with P90ies, it's easy to find a wonderful neck tone. But I've been fighting with the tones from my ES-335 for the last five years (there was always some kind of woofiness in the tone). I recently did the 4th pickup swap (I'm on the 5th set now, a pair of Monty's PAFs). This time I also replaced the entire wiring loom and now I finally do get the tones I was looking for. Thank you Jack, inspiring video.

@coltonhardy4453 4 ай бұрын

I changed my Les Paul Studio from modern to 50’s wiring and that helped keep the treble from disappearing when I’d back off the volume, especially in the neck!

@ConcezioPellegrini 4 ай бұрын

Excellent Video. Thank You. Subscribed

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Welcome!

@adamdavis106 4 ай бұрын

Been looking for the answer to this for awhile that wasn’t “change the pickups” or something else, thanks!!

@chief6749 4 ай бұрын

Your exceptional sense of humor is great 🤣🤣🤣

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

I do the best with what I have to work with

@jfiery 4 ай бұрын

Great advice and that's a beautiful looking and sounding Les Paul you have. My 60s Standard came with the pickups right up against the strings, the 61 Burstbuckers sounded way too sharp and I didn't think they were going to be in it very long. But dropping them as you said corrected it. My bridge is just above the ring and the neck is slightly below the ring and I love how it sounds. Also, it's amazing how many of us forget the tone knobs are there for a reason. Great advice as always.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Epiphones are really bad culprits for that too - they send them out stock with the pickups so ridiculously high, and then players get upset when the sound is overly compressed and muffled. Epi could solve their own problems if they just realized that loud isn't everything.

@mikeyohe4750 4 ай бұрын

Lowering the pickup height is definitely the best way to get a good vintage tone.

@aminahmed2220 4 ай бұрын

What a fantastic video have a wonderful day Jack also how is the weather today ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

@J_B72 4 ай бұрын

Jack. Well done. Here’s your next challenge. Put together a video on how to set up a non-channel switching amp for both a single coil and a dual Humbucker style guitar. Rules: 1) all pickup selector positions need to have a functional tone - you can fiddle with volume / tone pots as much as you want, 2) no fiddling with the amp settings between guitars or pickup selections - 1 amp setting for everything, 3) you get 1 pedal to help. I just solved this equation in order to fill in for a buddy in his blues band for a few months. I’m interested to see how you attack it.

@El-Scorcho 4 ай бұрын

Yes PREACH about that mini humbucker neck! I think it’s the best neck pickup, even though I find the mini humbucker bridge to be terrible

@Guitarjosii 4 ай бұрын

50s Wiring and proper pots with higher values are the key. Really love the VIP-pots. Best mod you could do to a Gibson style guitar. A passive bass cut might be a good solution as well.

@shawnmartin4701 2 ай бұрын

You can adjust pole screw up to get even more clarity once you lower the pickup. I was about to order another set of pickups because my bridge sounded too muddy even lowered completely until I started experimenting with the pole screws. Sounds fantastic now.

@Les537 4 ай бұрын

Lower the pole pieces. Like right down as far as they can go. It will cause that coil to mostly stop picking up sound. It will remove your mud, but also some volume. Raise the screws back up to taste. I don't know why more people don't know this.

@mikeyohe4750 4 ай бұрын

Lee Roy Parnell gets a great Les Paul tone and he lowers his pickup pole pieces dramatically.

@Nobody92421 4 ай бұрын

Perfect timing on this topic! I was just messing with this today after installing 50's wiring. My results were...meh. Trying to avoid going down the pickup swap rabbit hole. (again.)

@mortonwilson795 4 ай бұрын

" . . . don't go into the light!" 😅 so many rabbit-holes to explore . . .

@shooterx9690 4 ай бұрын

Swap magnets instead. Much easier and makes big difference in tone.

@cahootspastor7855 4 ай бұрын

Yes Hardware! When you said wiring I was hoping for a pun and that you would go into different strings, sizes and materials. Vastly different Tones and of course feels can be sound there. And not forget about bridge and tail piece material. Going from a vintage type string to a more modern bright type, adjusting pickup height for clarity and maybe a Aluminium tailpiece instead of a cast iron one -> you can have a completely new sounding and feeling instrument and will start to tell everybody the story about the blanket removed from your sound ;) @Jack great video as always, love your girl next door attitude :)

@igordemoraeslenzi 4 ай бұрын

Great video. I love lowering the pickups, being in a strat of a Les Paul. The only tip I would add is to start the lowering at the bridge pickup, because it tends to have a higher output than the neck. If you start at the neck it can be difficult to match the volume of both pickups later on. Btw, what’s the model of the Les Paul ulyou used throughout the video? Is that an R8?

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Its actually a modified mid 2000s Les Paul Classic

@TheBigH1975 4 ай бұрын

Love Song for Sonny Liston. Not at a point where I can play it yet, but I like everything about it.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

It's a great song! Mark Knopfler's solo career is amazing, I actually like it better than Dire Straits. He's a gem of a songwriter.

@MrDoobie12286 4 ай бұрын

Wiring and height definitely change tone. Pickups have height adjustment me for a reason. Use the recommended height as a baseline and go from there. You’d be surprised how much of a change you will get

@darenanderson1960 3 ай бұрын

I play on the bridge humbucker 90% of the time, so I prioritize the amp EQ for that pickup to sound its best. This video has lots of good ideas for getting a useable neck humbucker tone. I am curious to know if the Les Paul had been designed with the neck humbucker just a little closer to the bridge if it would have a slightly brighter tone, and help resolve some of these common complaints about being too muddy.

@JackFossett 3 ай бұрын

Actually, this is a function of the Gibson SG - its hard to directly compare because the SG also doesn't have the maple top, but the neck pickup is set closer to the bridge than it is on a Les Paul. I've always felt the SG neck tone is a little pluckier and snappier that way, with less bass muffle.

@darenanderson1960 3 ай бұрын

@@JackFossett Very interesting! I didn't know that about the SG.

@stanesposito2664 4 ай бұрын

Best LP neck tone I've heard in person several times was Warren Haynes with Government Mule.

@jaydendrennan9567 4 ай бұрын

Warren has a fabulous tone

@thebrysmith3 4 ай бұрын

Going to try this with PRS McCarty 594 SE that I've got strung with a set of Stringjoy Pure Nickel 10's.

@bee.normal 4 ай бұрын

11:57 Sweet and thick like molasses. 'We were running molasses from Havana when you were a baby. The trucks were owned by your father.'

@bryangarcia662 4 ай бұрын

"I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies... And bad LP neck tones". 😂

@natemccollum3731 4 ай бұрын

Maybe I’m just lucky or just naturally set my amp in a way that’s great for neck tones (although I doubt that as I use completely different settings to suit my Strat cuz I don’t like my neck pickup on those settings). It may just be my guitar this time, my old Les Paul was a Chibson with whole lotta humbuckers. Now I have a Wildwood Select 50’s Gibson Les Paul and came with their Gibson Tribute ‘59 pickups- I hated the neck pickup on my old guitar, this one is crazy good. One way I saw that worked well from a buddy was a guy who used humbuckers built for coil splitting. They unevenly wind the pickup so you don’t loose as much output as with regular (whole lotta humbuckers SUCK for coil split). I think finding the right humbucker for your tone makes a huge impact

@stanesposito2664 4 ай бұрын

You can swap the magnet in a pickup also.

@rockandrollmd541 3 ай бұрын

Flip the pickup around so that the pole pieces are closer to the bridge.

@mboyer68 4 ай бұрын

I've got an Epiphone Les Paul Ultra with quilted top which has a piezoelectric pickup at the end of the fretboard. It's really confusing because the knobs don't really seem to work like they're supposed to. Been thinking of retiring the piezo and wiring it up normally. But I'm not sure because i can get very good tones from both pickups. It's funny because i have two Gibson guitars, one with 57 classics and the other with 490/498 or whatever numbers are, and i prefer the Epiphone tone.

@jltrem 4 ай бұрын

My Epi LP pickups are as low as the pickup rings and the pole pieces lowered also. I always keep the bridge PU's tone knob at 6 or 6 1/2.

@loiclebrun6519 4 ай бұрын

With es 335 i put m'y vibro champ AT 7 treble and 3 bass straight into the AMP volume 8... Classic 57 pure magic tone bluesy warmy Woody tone... With télé i swap the treble and bass....perfect !! Simple

@jaysonlavie603 3 ай бұрын

How to get a Great Les Paul Neck Tone. 1) plug into great amp 2) select neck pickup

@jaysonlavie603 3 ай бұрын

And mind the bass

@JackFossett 3 ай бұрын

How far into the video did you watch? Just curious...

@Bodiddley788 4 ай бұрын

I bought a new Les Paul a few years ago and sold it within a month. I just couldn't make myself like Gibsons. Oh, I still have a 335. Its ok and not much more. Some folks really love them.

@mikeyohe4750 4 ай бұрын

You should try the setup tips in the comments for this video before you give up.

@Bodiddley788 4 ай бұрын

@@mikeyohe4750 It could be my hearing. Way too much gunfire and explosions for 15 years.

@RodC14 11 күн бұрын

Whilst I agree with you generally, it would be more convincing if you demonstrate using a cheaper Epi. Your Gibson with those PAFs (?) would sound great anyhow.

@garycrant4511 4 ай бұрын

Simple option for me to enhance Neck Humbuckers is to use a good Rangemaster clone.

@kevinmusso2397 4 ай бұрын

Own one…..

@chrisdaviesguitar 4 ай бұрын

tried the adam jones signature yet?

@chief6749 4 ай бұрын

In your description you mentioned PAF style pickups, I’m just curious but what pickups are you using?

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Lust for Tone Skydawgs - they’re inspired by the Duane Allman LP tone

@chief6749 4 ай бұрын

Thank you and I love the tone

@xamxamxamxa 3 ай бұрын

🌚🖤🎶

@soapboxearth2 3 ай бұрын

Lower the pickup , wire it 50s style,pick near the bridge and don't hit the strings hard.

@JimMorrisonsBathtub 4 ай бұрын

I pull the neck pickups out of most of my guitars so I get my neck tones by not playing. I never use neck pickups on my main guitars so I just take them out because for some reason I like the sound of one pickup guitars a bit better.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Less magnetic pull on the strings allowing them to vibrate more and for longer - my Les Paul Jr is one of my new favorite guitars

@JimMorrisonsBathtub 4 ай бұрын

That was my guess but I didn't know if that was a real thing or if it was just me being an idiot like usual. Thanks for the confirmation.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

I mean, I could be wrong - but I’ve always noticed a deeper resonance from single pickup guitars and I see no other explanation that satisfies

@JimMorrisonsBathtub 4 ай бұрын

That's also what I noticed. It was enough of a difference for me to keep my neck pickups out of everything except my Danelectro and Gretsch (which are my only two guitars where I ever used a neck pickup).

@craigtodd8297 4 ай бұрын

The way to get a good les paul neck tone is to plug it into a nice amp and strum a chord.

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Just to gauge your comment, how far into the video did you watch?

@craigtodd8297 4 ай бұрын

@@JackFossett Maybe I am lucky I don't know. I wasn't originally a LP kind of person. I bought one purely for the sale price. The guitar blows me away. Good tone is very easy on it. It is a 2016 Studio with 490R/498T pickups. I have watched all the video, but yes I was being a little flippant with my comment. ;-)

@craigtodd8297 3 ай бұрын

So how is it gauged?@@JackFossett

@sempercompellis 4 ай бұрын

TAKE OUT THE PAF HUMBUCKER- done

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Then you have no neck tone…

@sempercompellis 4 ай бұрын

Kinda meant "replace it too"- like with say.... filtertron or humbucker sized p90... Humbuckers are too dark for neck purposes imho@@JackFossett

@guymarzello8818 4 ай бұрын

Can mini humbuckers be put in a Standard?

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

I think there are adapter pickup rings you can get to make that work

@christianboddum8783 3 ай бұрын

Yes, but it looks a little odd on a normal pickup ring, and you'll need some foam or rubber to hide the space. I just did this to a Tokai LP to get the Scott Gorham LP DeLuxe neck tone, it worked perfectly!!

@gerryloughran1676 4 ай бұрын

Thicker the strings 10s + ...try tail wrapping

@JackFossett 4 ай бұрын

Tail wrapper since 2013!

@HCrockt 4 ай бұрын

Tail wrapping vs. stoptail down is playing with extremes. Using tail wrap results in lowering the downward pressure to the bridge posts. Using stoptail down to the bottom increases this pressure. Simple physics. Lowering the pressure means less attack but more sustain. Increasing the pressure means more attack but less sustain. The stoptail posts are height adjustable, with a good reason. Find the sweet spot somewhere in between where attack and sustain suit your taste. After you‘ve found this Sweet Spot, measure the distance and produce yourself a fitting spacer, cut from a pipe. It is so easy.