Lower Watt Amps

There seems to be a growing (if not grown) trend towards lower powered amps, combos, and what not. There's more and more talk of higher wattage amps; 50+ watts, being unnecessary for live applications, and there are more and more ways to achieve low-watt sound in today's market. We use amps ranging from 15 watts to 150, and feel that every amp has its sound and application.

Lunchbox Amps: Lunchbox amps seemed to get their start with the Orange Tiny Terror; a great 15 watt amp that I used for quite a few years. Seemingly every amp manufacturer has a piece of this pie these days. Mini versions of Marshall and Mesa Rectifiers are quite common, and these amps can push a full 4x12 cab. That said, one must consider what they are trying to achieve with these. The majority of these use EL84 power tubes, which in our experience get you some great British high-gain sound. The Tiny Terror did this in spades, as do some of the Marshall offerings.

Orange has increased their line to include a Dark Terror which is voiced to be a bit darker than the original. They also include a Dual Terror, which is a 30 watt version of the Tiny Terror with 2 channels. The downside to the Dual Terror is it's 2 channels are the same, and each channel is kind of a one-trick pony.

The one we weren't too keen on was the Mesa Mini Rectifier. A key to Rectifier sound is the 6L6 tubes and the bassy sound. The Mini Rectifier doesn't quite nail that sound. The other aspect of the Mesa mini heads is there's way too many switches on these, and the simplicity is lost.

Jet City also has a lunchbox amp that gives some great high-gain sound, and is definitely worth a try. There's been some mixed reviews on the Egnater stuff, but we've been rather impressed with their sound as well.

Combos: There have seemingly been combo versions of stacks since stackable amps have been coming out. That said, we've never found a combo version of a Marshall that quite captures the sound of its big brother. One band I was in had a guitarist with a JCM 900 combo that just sounded shrill. The sound of a head on a 4x12 cab doesn't translate in a combo with an open back. At the same time, a halfstack isn't gonna sound like a Twin Reverb. Some look to combos as a less expensive way to get their sound. Combos are compact, but good ones aren't necessarily cheaper. Generally, we look at combos as a good foundation to build on with pedals, and this seems to be a popular way for guitarists to get their sound. Also, combos aren't always low-power or light-weight.

For a good clean sound, something like a Fender Twin Reverb is always a trusty go-to, as well as the Deluxe. The Bassman is a great pallet for sound as well. These do clean well, but are not low-power so much. Our feeling on clean sound is it's better to have power on tap. More power leads to clean sound without break-up at low volumes. Some of the modern Fender offerings seem to work as well, such as the Hot Rod and Blues amps. The Hot Rod does clean and reverb well enough, but the overdrive on these are harsh, and we prefer the overdive sound on the Blues, particularly the Blues DeVille.

Now for those looking for highgain sound from a combo, the Vox AC15's and AC30's are a great sound for a price that is not ridiculous. There's some stigma about these being made overseas, but if you're a hand-wired zealot, there are hand-wired options... at a higher cost. These get a bright British crunch, the crunch that made the Vox combos famous, and do so at 15 or 30 watts. These are amps that have noobs say "That's loud for a 15/30 watter!!". That said, they are designed for crunch, not clean. To those that whine about the clean on a Vox, I say again, they're designed for crunch, not clean.

For those who have the funding, there are seemingly countless boutique and private builders with some great offerings as well. Matchless is a name we've been familiar with for decades. As kids, we could never understand why anyone would pay $2000+ for an amp that only has less than 15 watts. Since then, we obviously grew taste, learned about clarity, and learned appreciation for construction. The sound and construction on these are superb, as are many of the other small builders. A dream amp of mine is actually a Matchless Club 30 head with matched 2x12 cab, a great throwback to the old piggy-back amps. Bad Cat is another amp that thrills us as well (started by a Matchless designer). There are also several others, but these are the ones we have played, and fell in love with.

Another thing worth mentioning on this subject is the EH 44 Magnum. This is a 44 watt solid state "head" in the shape of a pedal. We have heard the 22 Caliber worked quite well, and had a great sound. We; being tube zealots, looked at these as a nice backup for when your head went to hell.

To Sum It Up: The trend has fallen from the halfstack considerably. Insiders have told us halfstack sales are extremely low, and at the local Guitar Barn, there are no high-end 4x12 cabs on the floor, even though there are pro-line heads. The search for tone has definitely drifted into the low-watt arena, and smaller seems to be the way people are moving.

Just Gonna Vent Here...

So I had been making some conversation on one of the Les Paul forums. On one thread, this asshat made a stupid remark comparing top-priced gear with budget gear where he said something about touring Canada with Gibson Les Pauls, and how he wouldn't trust a Squier in that climate. I called him out on this saying that here in Wisconsin, I've never had an issue with the cold using a Squier, but I have known people to have Gibson necks snap from the cold. I've known a few guys that opened a guitar case, pulled the guitar out, and noticed the guitar wouldn't go in tune because the neck had cracked. In one case, the player felt the sharpness of the crack first.

The thread can be read here: http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/vendor-classifieds/322246-ok-im-just-gonna-say-outright-11.html#post6678295 , I'm DaveThePius on that forum.

He proceeded to rip on me asking about the "magical" maple Squier uses for their necks, vs the maple Gibson uses. This struck me odd, as EVERY Gibson Les Paul we've come across has had a mahogany neck (exception for the Zack Wylde models); kind of a key to the Les Paul sound. He then proceeds to show a bunch of pics of some Les Pauls (supposedly his) with maple necks (according to him). Some looked like they could have been maple, but one he showed a close-up of looked like mahogany to me. He proceeded to tell me I needed to do more research... me... the guy who eats, breathes, and shits guitar gear knowledge. He also claims that the guitar was frozen "solid", which makes me wonder why he was touring around in an ice cream truck.

Squiers, like Fenders have one piece maple necks. Gibson necks are predominantly mahogany, and are glued; hence why I'll do neck adjustments on all my Fenders, but won't touch a truss rod on a Gibson. The techs I've worked with seem to fall in the line of thinking that it's pretty hard to mess up a Fender neck (Squier necks are built the same way as Fender, just overseas), and I've never come across one that snapped . Gibson and Ibanez, yes, but not Fender or Squier.

I generally don't blow my own horn, and never claimed to be a great player, but I rarely come across players with as much gearhead passion as myself. If anything, I come across people who are better at specializing than I am. I know who to go to for everything Fender related when it comes to amps or guitars, I have my Vintage guys I use for reference, I've got my Gretsch guy, and I have the big-box stores to tell me the bullshit the manufacturers are saying. I spend much of my free time reading about gear, new and old on forums, manufacturer's websites, and reviews. I watch countless videos on YouTube, and I actually leave my house to go to shops to try guitars, amps, pedals... and am not just a slave to one brand. I also don't fall into bigoted beliefs when it comes down to where gear is manufactured. I'm more impressed with the Epiphones I've come across than the Gibsons that have come out in the last 10 years.

I don't pigeonhole myself into one type of gear, or way of thinking, as I never aimed to be a one-trick-pony musician. I may not be able to tell you the difference from a '69 Les Paul and a '71, but then again, Gibson isn't a consistent company. Things can be slightly different on 2 guitars of the same model during the same year. Example: Aaron's SG Supreme has a Sapphire blue finish in a burst that goes from blue at the center to black at the edges.

We've come across ones from the same year that go from the blue to a more purple. Later, they changed the pattern from looking like a normal burst (dark around the edges of the guitar to lighter at the pickups; like a current Les Paul burst, or a Fender sunburst) to a weird looking burst where if you hold the guitar upright, the bottom (between the bridge and strap button) is dark, and it gets lighter up at the horns.

This all said, if you feel I'm saying something wrong on here, please comment or message me. I'm all about giving accurate info, and will correct any misinformation. Most of what we offer on here is opinion based on experience, as that was the original intent of Guitar-DNA. We are by no means certified experts, just players. We don't just do this for fun, but more as a public service. We receive no compensation for anything we review.

CrAzY MoDs??

In the world of guitar and bass, we've seen, thought about, and woke up screaming to the thought of some crazy modifications to guitars and basses. This is where the tech minded get abstract. Without getting too balls-deep into modding out tone caps and pot values, we'll take a look at some of the more awkward mods we've seen, practiced, theorized, or read about.

Gibson With Filter'Trons: We have had experience with Les Pauls and SGs, and we've had experience with Filter'Trons. In general, Filter'Trons are renown for giving Gretsch guitars that shimmer; not as barky as a Strat, or as bright as a Ric, but a sound all it's own. People have asked the question "If I put Filter'Trons in my Gibson, can I get a Gretsch sound?" No. What one must keep in mind with Gretsch is the other key to their sound is the hollowness of their bodies (even if chambered), and the wood. Gretsch is a company that uses a lot of maple, not so much mahogany. They are inherently a brighter guitar. That said, people have experimented with this. Essentially, you'll get a clear, bright sound out of the Les Paul, one that's great for cleans, and more transparent with drive. To me, they sound a bit like what my brain tells me a '57 should sound like, but brighter and clearer. The bridge pickup isn't as harsh as a Gibson 498. With an SG, it'll be in the same ballpark as the LP, but less snap, due to the all-mahogany body.

To achieve adding Filter'Trons with minimal hacking of the Gibson (or Epiphone), we recommend going with TV Jones pickups, and Classics will be the most traditional with standard output. These are more expensive than Gretsch HS Filter'Trons (which we love), but have the "English mount" option to install them without drilling, and are considered a step up from HS. GFS has their Nashville, which is Filter'Tron-esque, but has ceramic magnets, so doesn't quite match the full Filter'Tron sound (Filter'Trons have alnico), but is a budget-orientated way to get the sound.

Another mod to consider in this arena is Seymour Duncan SH-3 Stag Mag pickups. Set these up with coil splitting, and you're working Strat pickups on a Les Paul without HEAVY modification of the body. GFS does have some Humbucker Rout Adapter Rings for putting actual Strat or Tele pickups in a Gibson with pickup bezels.

P-90's and Mini-Humbuckers: P-90's are being found in all kinds of guitars these days. We've come across some parts-casters (home-built Fender style guitars made with various Fender and/or aftermarket parts) that have had them, as well as (duh) the Gibson lineup. The Les Paul Juniors with the all mahogany seem to be the best home for these over-sized single-coil pickups. If you like bright noisy and aggressive, this is a great way to achieve it. That said, the flip side of these is that the sizing of P-90's is so unique that you're limited to mods on P-90 equipped guitars. There are some P-90 sized humbuckers if you want to switch sounds, and what you'll find is a satisfying humbucker sound that correlates with that guitar.

Conversely, most of the pickup makers are making humbucker-sized P-90's. The ones we see the most are Gibson P-94, and the more reasonably priced Seymour Duncan SPH90-1 Phat Cats. GFS also has some for the budget minded. There's some debate as to how close these are to actual P-90's, but they will get you into the P-90 zone without butchering a guitar. Duncan also has their SHPR-1 P-Rails, which is like a P-90 with an extra rail to give you some hum canceling. This can be split to just have the faux P-90 going, and stay in the realm of the true sound.

There are some stacked P-90's as well, which look just like a P-90, but have a second coil under the top to achieve hum-canceling, similar to how a Fender Noiseless pickup works. There's Seymour Duncan's STK-P1, and Gibson P-100 and H-90. Though we don't know much about the Duncan, we do know the Gibson ones blow. Hard. Very muddy pickups, and not P-90 sounding; more like a bad humbucker. Also, if you install these on a P-90 guitar, the standard rout may not be deep enough for these. If the guitar has a stacked P-90 style pickup and you want to put real P-90's in it, the route may be too low, suspending the P-90 too high above the bottom of the guitar.

With guitars equipped with P-90's, there is the mini-humbucker option. That said, there are fewer offerings for mini than standard humbucker options. Duncan has some in their Antiquity line, and GFS has some as well. Mini-humbuckers go back to the time when Gibson bought Epiphone. There was a stockpile of Epiphone bodies, but Gibson didn't have humbuckers that would fit in them. As a result, Gibson designed the mini-humbucker. Every so often, Gibson will release a model of LP with mini-humbuckers, but they aren't extremely common. That said, we would never condone routing a humbucker guitar for mini-humbuckers. Not that we don't like minis, but mainly because you already have several options in standard humbuckers as it is. At the same time, we'd never route a P-90 guitar to put humbuckers in it. These look horrible, and destroy the resale of the guitar.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there are several builders that use P-90's, not just Gibson. Music Man has an Axis Sport model with them, and some of the Eastwood models have sported P-90's. If you look around, you can find some interesting offerings.

The Strats we've come across that have had P-90's have had an interesting sound, yet still have that Strat quality to it. Basically, the P-90 on a Strat will sound fairly bright, but not have that Strat "quack" as much.

Rickenbacker Mods: We have seen some mods done to Rics, and they generally ruin a great guitar or bass. We don't see a lot of aftermarket Ric guitar pickups, and Seymour Duncan and Alembic are the only companies we've seen that do an aftermarket for the basses; the Duncan SRB-1, which is designed to be a hum-canceling Ric pickup, and the Alembic turns a Ric into an active bass. Generally, anyone buying a RIC is buying the sound... and quirks. These aren't guitars for modding. They have their own sizes of pickups, and changing them out with something else requires heavy modification.

Conversely, GFS has their Memphis and Liverpool model humbucker sized pickups that are supposed to get some Ric sound.

Gretsch: We have had some fun in the past upgrading the Gretsch 5120's. These were the low-end Gretsch hollowbody guitars that were built extremely well, but came with horrible stock pickups that we call "Gretschbuckers". The mods done to 5120's were generally done to make it more like a pro-line Gretsch. The end result was a guitar that sounded like a 6120, and was only missing the bracing, the F-hole binding (though many found ways to do some great faux binding), and had a black headstock (some figured out ways to fix that too). The 5120 has been discontinued, and the replacement 5420 has Blackout Filter'Trons on them. That said, there are still plenty of people who will replace HS Filter'Trons with TV Jones versions. The true Gretsch zealots will argue up and down that the TV Jones pickups are WAY better than the HS Filter'Trons, and there is a bit more clarity to the TV Classics. We like the sound of good ol' HS Filter'Trons enough that it's not worth our time to replace them. TV Jones does quite a few offerings in Filter'Tron style pickups with increased output and such.

Other Gretsch guitars have come stock with P-90's and Duosonic pickups, which still have some Gretsch characteristics, but aren't as warm.

Fender: The great thing about Fender is that most of the weird mods you can think of with them, they've released a model that had it at some time or another. There's a Tele with TV Classics on the market, there are some Strats with different switching and active tone, and the Humbucker equipped Strat is quite common. Generally, if you start modding Fenders too much, you're gonna get a superstrat sound; think Jackson, Charvel, old Kramer, or Ibanez. The Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB is a sound we're very familiar with in a Strat.

Some interesting mods we've come across are some phase-shifting, adding of kill-switches, and other toggles added to a pickgaurd. There have been effects added to Strats and one P-bass we've come across, though we wouldn't recommend this. One mod that's a little outside of the box involves replacing the 5-way switch with a 7-way, which adds the ability to run just the neck and bridge pickup (without the mid), and all 3 pickups.

The beauty of Strats is the pickguard. You can take off the original, and get an aftermarket one in the color you want, and hack and slash the hell out of it to put whatever you want on the guitar without touching the wood. We also like blocking the trems on Strats, as we, and 90% of our peers never use them anyway. when doing a partscaster, we look to finding "hardtail" bodies, bodies that take a standard bridge rather than a trem. These usually tend to be string-through-body like a Tele.

With Teles, we don't care to mod these in that the beauty is the simplicity of the guitar. We've seen some with trems added; mainly Bigsby variations, which change the overall sound of the guitar. One shop owner put it best when he said "A Bigsby makes a Tele sound even more like a banjo". There's also the B-Bender, which is a machine that puts a spring-loaded armature in the guitar at the top strapbutton, inside the body. The idea is that you pull down on the guitar, and the B-Bender bends just the B string. This can be heard in Led Zepplin's "All of My Love". The worst part of this mod is how much body you route away for a stupid effect. Translation: we wouldn't do it. Ever.

We have seen some people swap Tele necks for Strat necks, or P-bass necks for Jazz necks. A neat little mod that makes the guitars stand out, and makes the guitar or bass more playable to the player. The nice thing is most Fender neck pockets are standard, and this can be done without alterations to the joint area.

Superstrats and Pointy Guitars: Generally, we don't mess around with (or use) these too much. Basically, we say don't put holes in the body of these unless you don't care for the resale value. Otherwise, you're mainly gonna like whatever pickup you go with on these. EMG's are popular on these, or some of the over-wound offerings from Duncan or the other guys. We'd definitely recommend getting the budget models of these, and upgrading pickups. The hardware should be fine; most of these have Floyd Rose trems, which if that's the case, you're pretty much stuck with it. It's said that some Floyds are better than others, so that may be a mod to consider; a Floyd Rose by Floyd Rose might be better than the one on a $300 guitar. Some of these have really crappy vintage style trems that we'd recommend blocking them if you don't use them (or stop using them and block 'em anyway).

Cosmetic Mods: We've been seeing more and more cosmetic mods being done to guitars, and some are fairly noninvasive, while others are quite involved. Some Gretsch owners have used paint-pens and pinstripe tape to simulate F-hole binding, and these are hit or miss. It seems to depend on the care taken when modding. We've also seen some binding mods done to Gibson Les Paul Studios that simulate body binding, but involve removing finish. There are also inlay decals out there that are pretty convincing. When doing these mods, one must ask if they're doing it for stage appearance, or for themselves.

I had a guitarist that took an LTD EC1000QM and painted it white with a brush, then painted a black stripe on it to look like black binding. It looked great in pictures and on stage, but up close it was really disgusting. When on stage, people aren't always able to get a good look at the name on the headstock, but if the inlays are not trapezoids or blocks, and the guitar is supposed to be a Les Paul, people who know guitars are gonna notice. At the same time, I've never had anyone say a word about me using a Squier on stage.

Other simple cosmetic mods include changing out knobs, adding covers to open-coil humbuckers, and DR makes strings in every color of the rainbow... One can also swap chrome hardware for black or gold. Some guys leave the string ends uncut for looks, which drives me nuts. Not a mod, but still. It looks stupid.

Overall: We are definitely a fan of mods on guitars. We try not to get too weird, and the only time we mess with the wood of the guitars at all is when mounting locking tuners, and compensating for straplocks. Any experimental mods should be considered on budget guitars, and thankfully, the budget guitars are getting better and better at mimicking the big-dollar models (and better than in some cases). If you have ideas for a crazy mod, just Google it and you'll usually find a forum thread by someone else who had the same crazy-ass thought. Usually when it comes to off-the-wall concepts in general, we encourage them for comedy factor if nothing else. In guitars, we try to talk people out of really bad ideas, because guitars are like children to us.

Guilty As Charged

So today I found myself cruising around the forums looking at opinions from other faceless peers who seem to know everything about guitars, pickups, and what have you... basically know-it-all-guitar gearheads like me. I'm on a few forums; you can find me as DaveThePius on MyLesPaul.com. What I do is one of 2 things: 

1) Educate myself on guitar theories

                and

2) Try to find other people that validate my beliefs

Any time I think to myself "This pickup is gonna sound AWESOME!!" because I like the description of it, I go to the forums to find at least 4 guys who have experience with it, and back me up. The downside to this is that for everything you find a good review on, you find 20 people say there is something better, and in some cases it'll be something that you a) never heard of, or b) read somewhere else that it sucks.

The plus side to the forums is that you get more insightful info than "It sounds great!!" or "This really sucks!!" like most reviews on the shopping sites. Keep in mind, the guys on Musician's Friend's website probably bought the item with their eyes more than likely. A lot of complaints are due to the fact that they were never tried the item before buying it, or received something that could have been damaged in transit, didn't sound as bitchin' as the picture looked, or know nothing about setups. I wish I had a dollar for every review I saw that stated something about the setup being horrible. I never expect mail-order guitars to be setup, I live in Wisconsin. There's a reason guitars have trussrods.

Usually, in the forums, you'll come across geeks like us who will tell you a certain guitar tends to be darker, lacking sustain, or something more descriptive. They'll give you feedback on how 2 pickups compare, saying one's more articulate than the other, has more gain, or more clarity. After a while, you get an understanding for terms like "glassy", or "chimey". Plus you'll get some comical exchanges.

This all said, there have been some pieces of gear I have bought despite negative reviews and feedback. I completely went for broke when I tried the X2 XDS95 wireless systems. They had horrible reviews, but I tried them anyway. They are still fantastic units, and I still love them to death to this day. At the risk of seeming like I'm reaching for a shameless plug, here's a video of one of the bands I'm in where I'm using the X2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y6rme93m6U

This demos the "lifeless wireless that kills sustain". I get sustain for days through those wireless systems.

So basically, take what some of the reviewers and experts say with a grain of salt. If you have a $200 guitar, chances are ANY upgrades are gonna make it sound more gooder to you. Also, just because you don't like something off the bat, doesn't mean you won't like it down the road. It's quite common to go full circle on liking gear. Sounds can grow on you, and sometimes you discover ways to make a thing work for you by use of different approach. 

Humbuckers n' Stuff

So the most fun aspect of playing guitar or bass at times is tinkering with the pickups. Aftermarket pickups can take an OK sounding instrument and make it sound stellar. I remember in my early days of bass playing, I had a boutique store install an EMG J set on my American Standard Jazz Bass, and every employee said that that bass was the best sounding bass in the store. The frustrating thing is the fact of having to have the pickups to put in the instrument, going through the work of installing them, and there's really no quick way to A/B the pickups. Even if you have 2 similar guitars with different pickups, the wood density and what not can make a difference. What sounds terrible in one guitar might sound spectacular to you in another guitar. Also, the pot and tone values can affect the sound as well.

On vintage guitars and basses we don't change pickups. We recommend rewinding or reconditioning pickups on vintage instruments over swapping pickups any day. 

What we've decided to do is put our $.02 in as to what we have experienced with pickup mods we have done, and give some opinions of what we like and what we don't like.

Fender: What we have experienced is that Fender stock pickups are usually gonna get the job done, and represent the sound of the instrument itself, but we generally like replacing the pickups on close to every Fender we get our hot little hands on. Fender even offers guitars and basses with other guys' pickups on them.

For Strats, we find the GFS Strat replacement offerings as a great way to breath more vibrance into the guitar. There's a few offerings out there, and even on the forums out there, we see very little complaint on their singlecoils. Also, a personal favorite Strat pickup of ours is the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Strat pickup set with the center reversed (SSL-4, 1x Rw/Rp). This gives a good vintage Strat sound with more output. Some people like putting sigle-coil sized humbuckers into Strats, but we don't. If we want a Strat with a humbucker, we get single-single-hum (SSH) pickguards, and put in the appropriate pickups. For that humbucker-on-a-strat mod, we generally like Duncan JB's (SH-4), or some of the SSH Strats were coming stock with Duncan SH-PG1 Pearly Gates pickups, that were a nice warm humbucker that contrasted the Strat brightness well. We have had some experience with Duncan SG-8 Invader, and though a fun pickup, the high output can get old after a while. The invader is every bit what Duncan describes it to be. If interested in the SH-8, we did find that Duncan makes an overseas version called "Duncan Performer Detonator", and can be purchased on Musicians Friend's website under their Musicians Gear line (search MF's site for "musicians gear pickup" and you'll find it). I believe I've seen these at Guitar Barn too. It goes for $30.

 Teles are a different beast all together. Other than the Squier Afinity models, I've never come across one that I felt needed different pickups. Fellow guitarists have rarely changed pickups in their Teles as well, but those who have seem to have gotten great results with Fender Texas Special pickups. These give a tad more vibrance to MIM Telecaters. The Tele I've been using was bought by Aaron with heavy mods done to it prior to purchase. It has a Duncan SH-2n for a neck pickup, giving it a fuller warm neck tone, and we were told the neck pickup was a Duncan JB Jr; which is a singlecoil take on the SH-4 JB. Upon further inspection, the bridge pickup is actually a Duncan STHR-1n; Hot Rails for Tele bridge pickup. Amazingly, this pickup retains some of that classic Tele sound somehow, but for the most part, is a pickup meant for highgain with a tele. This tele is also equipped with a push-pull pot for coiltapping, which gets a little closer to true Tele tone. I had tried purchasing one of the new Fender Satin Telcasters (in a beautiful orange with a rosewood fretboard), but ended up getting a Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro Top Plus in honeyburst instead for the same price. I had no desire to change out the pickups in that Tele.

For basses, we use to outfit just about everything with EMG pickups. These are a great clean active pickup for J and P basses, but still have some good growl. In recent years, we started getting back into passive vintage sound, especially on Precision basses. The SPB-3 by Seymour Duncan under their Basslines banner is our all-time favorite for this. Great vintage tone with punch, and higher output. Also, as stated in the past, the Squier Vintage Modified series has been using Duncan Design pickups that have more character than the stock American Standard pickups. Closer to Duncan quality than Fender blandness.

The Duncan Design pickups on every Fender guitar or bass we've played has been exceptionally impressive on every guitar and bass we've tried. We have yet to pick up Duncan Design equipped guitar or bass (by any manufacturer) and feel a need to mod. We've found some Hamers with Duncan Design pickups that sounded great, and fell in love with the DD's that are stock on the Schecter PT Fastback; a DD version of the SH-2n Jazz in the neck, but with a mini-humbucker sized Filter'tron kind of pick in the bridge.

Gibson: In the Les Paul realm, there are so many options depending on what type of sound you are looking for. If looking for that vintage PAF sound of the early humbuckers, Gibson 57' Classics are a number 1 go-to pickup for us; Aaron has these in his 2 main SGs and loves them to death. I tend to be a bit more frugal, and lean towards Duncan SH-1 '59's, or Alnico II for vintage vibe, or more realistically, GFS Vintage 59's, Alnico II, or Fat Pats. Gibson pickups are priced right into the ridiculous in my opinion. You can get a set of Seymour Duncan pickups for less than the price of ONE Gibson '57 Classic (or 2 sets of GFS... that's FOUR PICKUPS). There's also Gibson's '57 Classic Plus, which I refer to as "The '57 Classic Plus 20 Bucks". This is supposed to be a hotter '57, but we really haven't tried these or come across anyone who has shelled out the $160 for them. The trick is making sure there's an alnico magnet in a vintage voiced pickup, and alnico II seems more in line with vintage sound than alnico V. Ceramic will get you more into the hotter realm, like the Gibson 496/500's.

The other style seems to lean towards a "hotter vintage" sound. There are a plethora of pickups that fall under this umbrella, but the ones we like are the Duncan JB's, matched with SH-2n (available in a Hot Rodded set at most retailers). This is a very versatile combo with coiltapping capability. GFS' VEH pickups seem to be a variation of vintage/higher output. They also have the Crunchy Fat Pats which are a ceramic magnet pickup, and vary slightly from the sound of the VEH or Duncan JB. As mentioned in the past, we do like the BurstBuckers 2 & 3 on Les Pauls, but at ~$130 per pickup (same price as a Duncan JB/Jazz SET), would probably not buy them aftermarket to put into a guitar. They have more clarity than the Gibson 490/498 pickups that are on other Gibsons. As stated in other articles, Epiphone has their ProBuckers in some guitars, and these have impressed us greatly. AB'ed against a Gibson with Burstbucker pros, the Gibson seemed muddier.

With SG's one must keep in mind that they are a bit darker in sound from a Les Paul if they have the correct wood; mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fretboard (some lower line Epiphones and other knockoffs might use alder, basswood, and other woods for the body, have a maple neck, and might be a bolt-on). With an SG, we recommend brighter pickups, or pickups that are a little hotter. The distortion pickups by Duncan like the SH-8 Invader, or SH-6 Distortion are a great balance with the straight mahogany SG. Aaron uses 2 SG guitars that have '57 Classics, but one's a Gibson SG Supreme with a maple top so it's got some Les Paul type snap to it, and the other is an Epiphone G-400 that we believe to have a maple neck (an $80 guitar with $300 worth of upgrades). The SG I've been using is a Special Faded with open coil 490's. These sound more articulate and a tad brighter than covered 490/498's on SG Studios and Customs.

If you buy an SG as a cheaper alternative to a Les Paul, you will be disappointed in most cases, even with a pickup mod. The belief is in most cases a guitarist buys a Gibson SG because it's about 1/2 the price of a Les Paul. Aaron loves the SGs he has, I find them uncomfortable to play, and not bright enough.

ES-335 and other Gibson style hollow bodies seem to be synonymous with '57 Classics. For those we stay in the realm of the PAF style pickups mentioned above. In general we don't mod 335 style guitars because it's a bitch to fish everything through the pickup holes. Fortunately, Gibson stocks most of their hollowbodies with '57 Classics, Epiphone ES335 has the Alnico Classic Pros, and Xaviere XV900's (their ES335 clone) comes stock with GFS Fat Pats. Ibanez Artcore  hollows have great construction, but we shy away from them because their pickups are unimpressive, and we don't wanna mod 'em. This goes equal for the Epiphone Dot or Sheraton.

With P-90 pickups, we found that we tend to like the overseas made P-90's better than Gibson American made ones. I remember when Eastwood was making their Mosrite copies; the Sidejack, and these had P-90's that sounded phenomenal. That said, the only real preference we have for P-90's is in vintage ones over modern... but we have yet to shell out the money for vintage P-90's.

Gretsch is its own guitar with its own sound, but there are some options on how to optain that. The "Great Gretsch Sound" seems to come from the quirkiness of the guitars themselves, and the pickups. HS Filter'Trons are what are on most models, and the step-up pickup for those are the TV Jones. HS Fliter'Trons are great pickups on their own, and we couldn't really justify an "upgrade", and in all honesty, can't hear a huge difference between HS Filter'Trons, and the TV Jones Classics. Seymour Duncan has a Filter'Tron style pickup in their Custom line, but these are also the most expensive Gretsch pickup we've found. I've written other articles comparing HS Filter'Trons to "GretschBuckers"; the stock pickups on some Electromatics, and the long and skinny on it is the GretschBuckers sound like mud, and the HS Filter'Trons shimmer and have presence. There's also Dynosonic pickups on certain Gretsch models, but they seem great on their own, and we never saw a reason to even look into a mod for these.

Keep in mind, with Gretsch (like most hollowbodies), mods are a pain in the ass. When Aaron modded my 5120, I didn't get it back for over a month... and I think he lost 20 pounds over the anxiety of the project. TV Jones sells kits with tubing that are meant to help in the moding of Gretsch guitars, but Aaron used masking tape and fishing line when modding my 5120.

Super-Strats: We don't use super-strats too often really, we kind of came of age as the neon Kramers and Jacksons were dying out, so we really don't hold a lot of opinion on these. Generally, what sounds good in a Strat is gonna sound similar in these, as they tend to just have less resonance and sustain due to the fact they have less wood, and in most cases Floyd Rose trem systems. A lot of these have active electronics that we really don't delve into at all. None of us have actually owned an active guitar. I have heard some hairmetal guys get some bithin' sounds out of Duncan JB's, and seem to remember they came stock on a lot of super-strats in the day.

Basses: Most basses (outside of Fender) we buy have the pickups we want on them. Music Man has a great thing going on with their electronics, and have been doing active electronics longer than anyone else. Alembic, Sadowsky, Ken Smith, and Wal have their own electronics that are unique to their sound. Spector, Fodera, Carl Thompson, and many of the other builders offer EMG pickups, as well as some other options. Other vintage or vintage style basses like Rickenbacker, Mosrite, and Gibson have their own pickups that really don't have a lot available for upgrades. There's really no way we'd ever do a pickup mod on vintage instruments.

Admittedly, we don't have guitar companies sending us demo gear, so what we provided was tried and true experience with guitars we have played. There are a lot of great pickup builders out there who we have great respect for, but not a lot of experience with their stuff. I recommend to anyone going for true vintage Fender tone that they try Lindy Fralin... and switch to 12 gauge strings. We've heard some good things about Kent Armstrong pickups, but have not worked with them. Like anything else, there are pickups I can purchase at Wade's Guitar Shop like Seymour Duncans, but there are limitations to what guitar shops can stock. Hell, our local Guitar Barn only has about 3' of glass case with aftermarket pickups!!

Some guitars like Rickenbacker have their own thing going on, and we'd never do a pickup mod on these. You get a Ric to sound like a Ric. The basic pickups we see on Rics are the standard singlecoil, and the toasters. The singlecoil seems to have more gain than the toasters, but we'd never switch one for the other. G&L also has great pickups on their guitars that we'd never touch. A favorite is the Asat Special.

In the years we've done Guitar-DNA, one might have noticed we really say nothing about DiMarzio pickups. On a personal level, I've never really used them, but the pickups I like are the ones in certain guitars (like the Music Man Axis), and not available as aftermarket, which turned me off to the company as a whole. DiMarzio was huge in the early 90's, and we'd just kinda turn the page past them in the Musician's Friend catalogs. Seymour Duncan pickups were in some of our favorite Fenders and Hamer guitars early on,so we had more access to try them. Duncan never really has exclusivity on their pickups, so if you liked a JB on a Hamer, you could buy one for your Strat. It seemed like DiMarzio was more popular with the hair-metal guys, and the cock-rockers of the 90's who annoyed us. Neon colors didn't thrill us either. Among our peers in the area, we aren't alone in this thinking. I know one guy who actually put DiMarzios in a guitar.

The Other Les Pauls

In the past we've been known to bash Gibson. We have owned their guitars over the years, and still own some Gibson guitars. Aaron uses his SG Supreme relgiously; sapphire blue sunburst, with stock '57 Classics, ebony fretboard with 24 frets, Grover tuners that were swapped with Schaller locking tuners, and flame maple top. I've been using a first generation SG Special Faded; heritage cherry matte finish with open-coil 490's, crescent moon inlays, and it came with Kluson style tuners that were replaced with the Grovers from Aaron's SG Supreme when one of the stock tuners broke. I also owned a 90's Les Paul Studio that had Sperzel locking tuners when I bought it used, and the original 490/498 pickups. The main reason for the ill speak towards Gibson revolves around the price of their guitars. 

We've dealt with our political issues with the company in other articles, but what it all boils down to is the cash money. The quality of the $2400+ Gibson guitars is not really any better than the knock-offs. Here we'll list some of the knock-offs we've looked into and kinda go into the pluses and minuses.

What seems to put Gibson ahead of the knock-off models is the pickups and electronics. The Gibson Les Paul is going to have either 490/498 pickups (Studios and Customs usually have these), 496/500 (used in the Classic models; these are open coiled) or variations of BurstBuckers (slightly hotter than the 490/498; BurstBuckers 2 and 3 are seemingly the better combo than the Burstbucker Pro). With any of the knock-offs, there's going to be different pickups, and we'll get into this a bit. The knock-offs can be modded with Gibson pickups, as well as some great pickups from Seymour Duncan, or GFS if you're on a tighter budget. The Les Paul sound is definitely achievable without the $2400+ price tag. A $300-$500 knock-off is still gonna be cheaper than a Gibson Les Paul even if you drop $1000 of mods into it.

So basically in most scenarios with a Gibson Les Paul Standard, you're paying an extra ~$2000 for a name, pickups, and a case. Oh yeah, the 2015 models are gonna tune themselves now too.

Epiphone: In a recent article, I focused on the Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro. This guitar runs 1/4 the price of a Gibson Les Paul Standard. This is gonna get you the absolute closest in looks to the Gibsons with the real noticeable difference being at the headstock, because Gibson owns Epiphone, and therefore doesn't have to make changes to the looks to avoid copyright issues. Also, the finishes are the same names and types as classic Gibson finishes. Over the last few years, we haven't noticed any more flaws in the Epiphones than in the Gibsons. The Epi standards feel and play every bit as good as the Gibsons, the primary argument falls into the catagory of sound. The Plus Top Pro Standard and the Gibsons have the same wood compliments, so from the foundation, they have a similar sound. Epiphone Plane Top Standards and Customs have a maple veneer, which is debatable for the sound quality. The pickups are going to be subjective; an Epiphone may not sound as good to you as a Gibson, but 2 Gibson guitars of the same model can sound quite different as well.

It use to be that an Epiphone was a great guitar once you replace the pickups; their stock pickups were dull, lifeless, and way too dark. The beginner lines tend to have differing woods, bolt-on necks, and though sounding nice, don't always get you into Gibson sound. If looking at price, keep this in mind when considering the Special II, or any $100 doorbusters at Guitar Barn. Seymour Duncan SH-4 and SH-2 (JB/Jazz) was our favorite candidate for a pickup mod, as well as Gibson '57 Classics, though GFS Phat Pats are a much cheaper alternative, and Duncan's 59's and Seth Lover pickups will save you a few bucks as well.

In recent years, the $400+ models have had some upgraded pickups like the ProBuckers (an overseas made variation of the BurstBuckers), and Alnico Classics. These pickups in an Epiphone give you a great Les Paul sound out of the box; and have more clarity than the 490/498 sets on some Gibsons. Also, we like the hardware on the Epiphone Les Paul Standard models better than the stock hardware on the Gibsons. The Epiphone locking bridge and tailpiece is a far cry better than the stock Gibson hardware, and Epiphone Standard and Custom models have Grover tuners stock, which we replace with Grover locking tuners.

One thing that should be noted is the Custom models. The Gibson Les Paul Custom has an Ebony fretboard, where as the Epiphone version has Rosewood, but the Epiphone Les Paul Custom has ProBuckers and the Gibson Les Paul Custom has 490/498's. That said, the newer Epiphone Les Paul Customs have a maple veneer, as opposed to a carved maple top like the Standards and Gibson Les Paul Customs. This is actually a step up from older Epiphone Les Paul Customs, as the were all mahogany. If you're looking for all mahogany bodies, you may want to look to SG models.

There are Epiphone labeled cases that are sold separately, but are quite pricey. We recommend the budget cases from the online places. We use Musician's Gear cases that can be bought on Amazon or the bigger online retailers.

Xaviere XV-500: This is a Les Paul copy offered by www.guitarfetish.com, which is known for their GFS  Pickups that we've been quite impressed with. Their Xaviere XV-500 is their closest offering they have to a Les Paul. The neck specs are right on par with the Gibson Les Paul Standards, and they have the classic Les Paul wood formula; mahogany body and neck, with a maple top which is a maple cap; not a veneer, and a rosewood fretboard. They offer some finishes that are close to Gibson, and some that are more eclectic. The stock pickups are GFS Crunchy Phat Pats, which are a slightly hotter open-coil, ceramic magnet pickup with a bit of a classic vintage PAF sound. The XV-500 is going to be a bit more noticeably different than an Epiphone in that they can't look just-like a Les Paul. You get the LP feel, but a slightly sharper lower horn, different inlays (more like something you'd see on a banjo), and no pickguard. 

The tuners are more like what use to be stock on the old Epiphones, but GFS offers locking tuners that are a direct fit on their guitars that are 1/2 the price of the leading locking tuners out there. The rest of the hardware is pretty standard, not too far off from Gibson hardware. Another nice feature with GFS is they have cases available for their guitars. The cases seem to be made by the same company as Musician's Gear's budget LP cases, and for close to the same price. There are also other models of Xaviere guitars that are LP variations, and they also do a great ES335 copy, along with some other Fender types and some super-strats.

Agile: These are some Les Paul copies that are sold on www.rondomusic.com. They tried to make a Les Paul clone that was a bit closer to the look of the Les Paul than Xaviere, yet looks slightly distorted. The wood compliment is on par with a true Les Paul except the fretboards are Ebony; what you'd expect to find on a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and the maple tops are a veneer; not carved maple. Solid finish models have no maple, and are all mahogany. They have finishes that are similar to Gibson finishes, and some that are WAY different. The pickups are decent out of the box; basic humbucker sound, but this is definitely a guitar for modding. The hardware is pretty standard, but the saddles seem to be Gaphtech, the nut is graphite, and they come with Grover tuners as stock equipment.

What's a bit confusing at Rondo Music, is that there are LP copies made with the Agile name, and some made with the names Douglas, Omega, and SX as well. Some of these seem to have maple necks and/or alder bodies, or have no maple top. These tone woods will get you away from a Les Paul sound, so in sifting through their website, be mindful of what exactly you're looking at. Seemingly all the Agile models are correct.

Rondo has some cases available with the Douglas name on them that are seemingly an over-seas made version of the cases Gibson uses for their Customs; the leather style ones with the velvet cloth cover. These cases are in the same wheelhouse price-wise as the Musician's Gear and Xaviere.

LTD by ESP: Now in LTD land, the EC, or Eclipse models are their answer to the Les Paul. These are pointier, more tongue-in-cheek Les Paul knock-offs. The headstocks are a pointy take on a Gibson headstock, and the inlays are a wavy version of Gibson's trapezoid. They generally come with volume, volume, tone (or master tone) control setups. Their bodies tend to be lighter, and more carved than a traditional Les Paul, and the necks are much thinner; closer to an Ibanez or Jackson. The goal seems to be an easier-to-play version of a Les Paul.

The lower end models have basswood bodies, maple necks, and rosewood fretboards, and some have maple tops, that we assume are veneer. Though these are great tone woods for a super-strat, they aren't gonna sound like an LP. The necks on the lower-end models are also bolt-on and maple in some cases, which is much brighter than a traditional LP set-neck. Acoustically (unplugged) a guitar with a mahogany neck actually has a throatier sound than one with a maple neck. The lower priced models use LTD pickups that aren't impressive; about the same muddiness as old Epi stock pickups, and the hardware is nothing spectacular. On the plus side, the ECs that come with the ESP tuners are a great candidate for the GFS "Sperzel Style" locking tuners.

The higher priced models start getting the proper wood materials, and also get upgraded pickups by EMG and Seymour Duncan. EMGs are more synonymous with metal; not so much classic rock. The Duncans we've seen on some are the JB/Jazz setup, which is a) more Les Paul-like, and b) more versatile. The higher priced models also have Grover tuners, and some hardware upgrades.

The ECs will fit in some of the LP style cases. The ESP cases will run you about $130 street.

The Eclipse series is definitely a take on the Les Paul, but a slightly different flavor. These might suite your taste, but for those looking for the Les Paul vibe, the Epiphones in the same price range (or cheaper in some cases) will be a more satisfying option. We didn't get too deep into specific models, because there are so many different Eclipses in LTD's lineup. LTD doesn't give too many descriptions on their maple tops, but we would assume they're veneer.

In A Nushell... The Les Paul copies listed here are some of the more popular ones. Agile and Xaviere are mentioned on numerous forums, whereas Epiphone is the most easily found in most music stores, and LTD by ESP is fairly common as well. The online exclusive guitars are great, but can't be impulse-bought at the local Guitar Barn like that honeyburst Epi that was hanging on the wall.

Accessories Revisited.

In looking back at the older posts, I looked back to the one on accessories. In reading that article, I realized that there should be a rehash; as new products have come out, and favorites have been discontinued. Translation: Dave gots a new guitar and has mods on the brain!!

Straps: The general thoughts on this has stayed the same. Nobody has really come out with anything too earth-shattering in the last 5 years. I've been buying up Ernie Ball studded (chrome) leather straps whenever possible, as I'm fearful they'll be discontinued. I actually have one in my picture on this blog. These are the ones that are adjustable to 60", and though people speculated that they were just cheap straps that were made in China, I still use the first 2 I bought 5 years ago and they're nowhere near wearing out. They dun broke in rather nicely!! I also have some funky looking JS straps by Planet Waves (same company that owns D'Addario). These are the same straps as the Planet Wave nylon straps, but have neat designs done by Joe Satriani. I've actually owned one of these longer than the Ernie Ball Leather ones; over 5 years. I did pick up a Souldier strap a couple years ago; these are made out of recycled seat belts and move around a lot on the shoulder. Not usually a fan of these, but this one was an olive drab color with 3 Boy Scout Merit badges sewn on, and I picked it up at Riot Fest in Chicago. Very sturdy, but still pricey. Aaron is still using the same Levy's leather strap with the skulls on it and will probably be buried with that thing.

Tuners: Last time we approached this topic, we were singing the praises of Sperzel, Schaller, and GFS' "Sperzel Style" locking tuners. As great as these tuners are, they didn't work on every guitar without drilling holes. Grover has recently gotten on board the locking tuner bandwagon with a set that are a direct replacement with their standard tuners on the newer Epiphones, and some Gibsons, giving us more options. The Grovers boast a 14:1 turning ratio which is similar to Sperzel. Fender has locking tuners available that directly replace stock tuners on the American and Mexican made Strats and Teles that don't have classic style tuners. More than likely these Fender locking tuners are made by Schaller. We just put a set of these on Aaron's Standard Telecaster, and they are phenominal.

As far as standard tuners go, we don't have a lot of opinions because we're always looking to switch to Locking. What we do know is we hate open-gear tuners; the ones that came stock on Gretsch 5120's never held a tune. Kluson style never impressed us. Granted, we grew up in the era of Gotoh tuners, Gibsons with Grovers as OEM, and Fenders with sealed Schallers. Klusons may look more classic on Gibsons, but we never liked the way they looked, never liked how they held a tune, and have had them break on us. Fender vintage style tuners drive us nuts as well, mainly because they take too long to restring. Anything Schaller or Gotoh style seem decent, and Grover is nice as well. 

With bass tuners, we've never replaced a set on a bass. That said, most of the basses we've had have either had Schaller cloverleaf style tuners, or the smaller Gotoh style machines. Both hold their tuning well, and have never failed us, even the ones on the Squier basses. The Grover bass tuners (usually OEM on Rickenbacker basses) function well, but we've noticed they can rattle over time.

What should be mentioned is we don't know who the parent companies are to these manufacturers, and it's quite possible all these tuners are coming from the same factories.

Tuning Devices: What we're seeing more and more is musicians using clip-on style electronic tuners. Snark seems to be the most possible, and they are nice little tuners, quite accurate and easy to read, plus you can buy them for around $13. What we don't like is the fact the batteries are button style, and though not overly difficult to find, it's not something you can find in a 7-11 in a pinch. There are some complaints on these saying they're too breakable, but we never had an issue with that... BECAUSE WE DON'T LEAVE THINGS CLAMPED ON TO OUR HEADSTOCKS!! The Snark is nice for home use, or to keep in a case, but not something I'd leave swinging around while rocking out like an asshole. Plus they just look bad (we tend to not use capos for that matter either).

In live settings, we use tuner pedals. I use a Korg Pitch Black which is true bypass, and has survived over 5 years of abuse in my pedalboard. Snark makes a tuner pedal that's going for about $60 and is true bypass as well. GFS has a tuner pedal that's true bypass, and goes for about $45 (not including shipping). Rack tuners were quite popular years ago, but there seem to be few of those on the market.

For those of you who like guitars that tune themselves, almost all 2015 Gibson guitars will be outfitted with their G Force auto-tuning setups by Tronical. What we've also been told is that there are companies coming out with replacement kits for these Gibsons for those of us who know how to tune a guitar. 

Cables: Generally, we don't follow the hype on any cable gimmicks. We use to buy either Rapco, ProCo, or Horizon cable depending which brand was available at our local stores, and never found a difference between any of them. We're told that ProCo now owns the other 2 companies, and some stores will have their own brand of cables that are made by ProCo. We also have some budget cables that were made overseas, and they work great as well. As far as sound goes, we never noticed a difference from the $15 cables and the $100 cables. We have had colleagues who have had bad experience with Monster cables, mainly breakage by the jacks. Also, I've been using Line 6 wireless systems for over 5 years (since they bought X2), so I don't go through a lot of cables.

Cases: For our guitars and basses, we never mess around with gigbags. Generally we have hardshell cases for all our guitars and basses (the ones we take out of the house anyway). A lot of our better instruments have come with cases. Lately, we have had some purchases that did't include cases, and have had to improvise. At Guitar Barn, they have their "Musicians Gear" cases, which are generally lower end Road Runner cases. It should be noted that this big box retailer never stocks the lowest priced cases in their stores, and when asked they say they can order them (I can order them too). The guitar cases offer enough protection and have impressive lastability. I actually prefer the budget bass cases by Road Runner and Gator (I usually find these for around $50) because they fit into my car better when loaded with gear. You'll see reviews on these cases where people say they're made with cheap materials, but unless you pay top dollar for the Canadian made cases, the $100+ cases are made with the same materials. 

There are also poly-foam cases which are supposed to be the happy medium between cases and bags, but they can become useless if the zipper goes.

Stands: We shy away from any of the tri-pod tubular guitar stands, especially the ones made for multiple guitars. The tripod multiple stands worry us because of their lack of stability. The guitar racks are a much sturdier way to go; currently I use the Rockstand by Warwick, although the bolts are constantly coming loose on the thing. GFS has some 6-guitar racks that fold into a case for about $80. At home, we tend to use hangers. Hercules is a favorite of ours, they have the plastic tabs that secure the guitar.

Bridges and Such: Unfortunately, Leo Quan is no longer with us, and his famous Badass bridges are no longer in production. In the Fender bass world, we've had to look to alternatives. The Schaller roller bridge is a real crowd pleaser, but the rollers tend to move side-to-side when restringing. Fender has started making some nice higher mass bridges that work well, and they're available for standard and string-through model Fender basses. These bridges are also considerably cheaper than the Leo Quans too.

Our opinions on guitar bridges hasn't changed much, but what should be noted is that some of the newer Epiphone models now have their own locking bridges and tailpieces.

Straplocks: We still mainly use Dunlop and Schaller straplocks. What we have been seeing are some copies, and some of our insiders tell us that some of these copies are less than stellar. We're still reluctant to try the newcomers, and some of the new systems are massive and not aesthetically pleasing. We'll stick with what we know works, and looks good.

Strings: For guitar strings, we were always fans of DR. Aaron converted to DR Hi-Beams in 10 gauge from Dean Markley Blue Steels back in 1994, and now uses DR 11 gauge. I was ecstatic to find DR string sets in the 10-52 gauge, which I was only seeing in the Ernie Ball sets earlier. I actually switched back to Ernie Ball because of the newer packaging DR has; 2 strings per envelope. DRs stay bright a little longer than the Ernie Balls, but that packaging is a deal breaker. I also don't use D'Addario guitar string for the same reason; they have all the strings in one bag. Ernie Ball and D'Addario seem to be the same string quality-wise, and we've theorized for years they're made in the same factory. On the bass side, we tend to go with D'Addario because we can get them in 2-set packs for $25, and they stay bright for quite a while. DR stays bright longer, but also run over $20 a set, and have been breaking too easily.

We tend to shy away from Dean Markley, GHS, Rotosound, and any similar strings due to bad past experience. One must remember, there are only so many factories actually winding the strings, and it's just a matter of who slaps their name on the package.

Picks: Dunlop Tortex is a great pick, and they're available everywhere. The thing is, they are Delrin picks, and Dunlop doesn't own the patent on Delrin; DuPont does. We actually custom order our picks, and generally we order Delrin .88 mm (green like the Tortex, all companies selling Delrin picks color code the thickness the same) from Steve Clayton. We've never broken a Delrin pick. We don't like the slickness of celluloid (standard Fender picks), the feel of nylon, or the feel of the other materials.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro

Been a while since we posted anything on here. I was having all kinds of fun with my Gretsch 5120 mod project, and recently I started looking at Les Pauls again.

I had a 90's Gibson Les Paul Studio years ago, but had to sell it and have regretted it ever since. It was ebony, with the 490/498 pickups that I never changed even though they were a bit fuzzy. I bought it used and it already had Sperzel locking tuners and was set up for Schaller straplocks. Loved the feel, sound was good, but not great.

In the years since I hemmed and hawed about getting another Les Paul, and Honeyburst was the finish I was drooling over the most (Gold top being #2). I couldn't justify the $2400 price tag for a Gibson (we are cheap here in Guitar-DNA land), and finally I decided to pull the trigger on an Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro.

I've always looked at Epi's as guitars that were a good foundation, but in dire need of upgrades; they've been renowned for lifeless pickups, budget hardware, and just a not-good guitar right out of the box. It should be mentioned that we never believed in that line about Epiphone guitars being made "from scrap wood left over from the Gibsons". I had considered other guitars in the same price range (still looking to GFS' Xavier guitars as a backup). I tried an Epi Lester at the local Guitar Barn, and it had a Honeyburst finish that put the Gibson version to shame, and a AAA flame maple top. It felt spectacular when I strapped it on; better than the first generation Gibson SG Special Faded I've been using lately, and I decided to buy it. The sound wasn't great, but the amp I was playing it through had everything to do with that. The tag said "Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro" which meant nothing to me. Gibson loves sticking guitars with fancy names.

I assumed I'd have to do some upgrades, but upon further inspection I was more than pleasantly surprised. First we'll do a comparison of the body to the Gibson equivalent. The AAA flame maple top the Epi has is actually nicer than the Gibson model which boasts a AA flame maple top. The Gibson "Honeyburst" is seemingly darker, almost to the point of an Antiqueburst... which never thrilled me. The finish quality is every bit as good as the Gibson, and the frets feel great. What Gibson is saying is their newer standards are lighter, which worries us. If I wanted a chambered guitar, I'd get a Gretsch. As far as weight goes on a guitar, we expect Les Pauls to be heavy; they're not Parker Fly guitars.

Both guitars have push-pull volume pots for coil tapping, presumably the Gibson will have better pots, but we tend to leave stock pots alone on Gibson style guitars until we have issues, so I'll leave those alone for the time being. Also the Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro has a system with clips on the pots, so changing them would involve swapping the entire assembly.

The Gibson Les Paul Standard is said to have BurstBucker Pro pickups; not the BurstBucker 2 and 3 which we prefer, so this seemed a bit of a let down. Apparently the Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro has what are called ProBucker 2 and 3 pickups, which are apparently an overseas-made version of the BurstBucker 2 and 3, with the correct materials. They aren't nearly as lifeless as the Epi pickups we loath, and are actually quite pleasant sounding, not far off from BB's 2 and 3, and clearer than the Gibson 490/498's we've had. I was going to swap the ProBuckers out for some GFS (Alnico II neck, and VEH bridge), but the ProBuckers are gonna stay in this guitar for a while. I might consider swapping them for a set of Duncans down the road (JB/Jazz combo), but not any time soon.

I've been really getting into upgraded hardware lately, and I was looking at upgrades for this Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro as well. The tuners are actually Grovers which are nice; but I've got a set of direct fit Grover Locking Tuners coming (almost all the guitars we own have locking tuners). The Gibson version has those self tuning tuners, which we still can't fathom, AND are meant to look like the Kluson style tuners which we never liked due to looks and poor experience with them (had the back cover break off of one on the aforementioned SG Special Faded making the tuner useless, and replaced those tuners with Grovers). Straplocks are a given; gonna go with Dunlops as I've been doing with all my guitars lately. I wanted to try a locking bridge and tailpiece like a TonePro setup, but upon further inspection, the Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro has its own locking bridge and tailpiece that seem to use a C-clip system, so that's taken care of. The Gibson equivalent still has the standard non-locking pieces for a comparison.

For the Grover locking tuners and Dunlop strap buttons (didn't need more locks) I went to eBay. Guitar Barn didn't have any budget Musician's Gear cases in stock at the local store (Guitar Center never stocks them in their stores), so I bought one through Amazon. 

We've said for years that the overseas guitars have gotten quite good, and the fact that Gibson has released a "budget" guitar that surpasses their $2400 version is a testament to that. We recommend checking out the Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop Pro if you're looking for a Les Paul that doesn't break the bank and is usable right out of the box. It should be noted there are some other knock-offs that are great like the LTD EC's and the Xavier XV500 is stellar as well, but when is comes to looks, an Epiphone is the closest to a Gibson Les Paul with correct inlays and body contours. The price tag is a little higher than than the others, but the upgrades justify the cost ($499 street).