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Wow! Kurt sounds great with that Les Paul Custom. After asking some questions here, I decided to take my Les Paul Studio to my NYE gig. It was the first time I used it on a gig and it worked out quite well. I was happy with the sound. Not the same type of sound that I’m used to with my archtops, but quite nice in a different way. I really like the long sustain you get with a Les Paul. It’s a really comfortable guitar to play and it fits in a small gig bag that you can easily throw over you shoulder. I will definitely take it out to gigs again.
Keith
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01-02-2023 06:02 PM
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Original question [QUOTE=The Jazzworm;36350]Hi Folks!
Since it has an arched top and humbuckers, is a Les Paul type guitar any good for a traditional jazz tone (fat/warm enough)?
I know there have been some players (Les Paul for instance) who used a Les Paul for jazz, but do they have a good traditional jazz tone?
[QUOTE]
Had to go back to original post to re read that question.....I very much enjoy Kurt's playing , but, he does not sound like he's on a jazz guitar anymore....Sounds like one of Jan Hammer's keyboards in the 70s.....Great playing though...I prefer most of his stuff on his semi hollow (his D'angelico namesake and a few others ) . Interestingly enough, this ties in with another thread on multi FX
Originally Posted by Perdido
posted by:
whiskey02 on Dumping Multi FX
I agree with his comments....
Check out Ulf with Oscar here on and old beat up Aria solid body : sounds very jazzy to me ....
S
Last edited by SOLR; 01-03-2023 at 02:27 PM.
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That makes a lot of sense to me. I think the main reason I swap PUs, is to try something new. If I am honest with myself, my fingers can do a lot to create the tone I want, but the “golden shores of tonal bliss”, seem so close. I only need to find the best PU. Originally Posted by floatingpickup
There is a lot of knowledge to gain from a problematic tone/sound, but for a gig, I tend to choose what I hope will work best. I hate having to fight with my equipment while in flight.
However, there has been times when I purposely practice with a less the great sound at home.
I certainly have relied on my tone, and guitar and amp relationship, to get notes to sustain enough, or have enough bite and bloom, to sound musical and to cut. However live situations are a bit hit or miss.
The only thing that helps with that is knowing how to tweak things fast. I bring a different setup to every rehearsal or jam I do. That allows me to practice dialing things in fast.
In bigger situations, ultimately I have to trust the engineer and work with what s/he has said is right. Sometimes my on stage stuff sounds great, sometimes only the house sounds great… one hopes at least.Last edited by st.bede; 01-03-2023 at 07:08 PM.
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That sounds excellent, and glad it worked out for you. LP's are very versatile. I tend to keep mine strung with .010's as I like to wank around with blues a bit in addition to jazz. I would go up to .011's at least if I was going to use it exclusively for jazz, but part of the beauty of a good LP is that it is covers many bases. It was a good choice for me for NY Eve and weddings, just like an ES style guitar, you can play standards, bluesy stuff, funk, and rock on it with ease, and that's what those gigs are often all about. Originally Posted by floatingpickup
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bluejaybill: Yes, a Les Paul would cover all the bases on gigs where you are required to play all styles of music. Back in the days when I played in wedding bands, I left my ES-175 and L5CES at home and played an Ibanez Artist solidbody on all of the gigs. It was basically a Les Paul type of guitar, but a double-cut. I was able to cover everything from rock to country, jazz, blues, and anything else that was required. That guitar was fantastic and I regret selling it. A Les Paul, or a guitar based on that design, is extremely versatile. Originally Posted by bluejaybill
Keith
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Now that is a felicitous phrase and, if we are honest, is what all of us hanging out in the gear section of JGO are looking for. Originally Posted by st.bede
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Is it possible to get the Alnico “staple” pickup in a Les Paul these days? They sound phenomenal in the early LP Customs such as Jim Hall used with the Chico Hamilton Quintet.
I have an LP ‘60s Tribute with P90s (I might even have posted it somewhere up thread) which is wonderful, but I have become increasingly curious about those early Customs with the staple pickup.Last edited by L50EF15; 01-06-2023 at 09:16 PM. Reason: typo
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There is a thread here about staple PU. One person mentioned that you have to really dial them in. I assume they were writing about adjusting each staple, but they mentioned the magnet… maybe just lowering or raising each side. I think I have seen a staple PU where each staple is adjustable. I really do not know… I know that Lollar sells staples. I am not sure if you would need a deeper route. If you find HB sized staples, please message me. I have been searching a little for such a PU. However, I think TV Jones T-Armonds could work for me. Originally Posted by L50EF15
Staple P-90 Pickups
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This guy sounds pretty good playing Wes' solo on "Down By The Riverside" on a Gibson Les Paul Custom:
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Thanks for the link to that thread! I had read somewhere the Alnico was a Dynasonic copy, that it was done because Les Paul kept using Dynasonics in the neck position of his personal guitars. Whatever, it works very well in there in an LP. Originally Posted by st.bede
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I don't have a guitar with Gibson Alnico "staple" pickups, but I have a guitar with Dynasonics. They are super sensitive to adjustments, but you can get a huge range of sounds from them. If the bobbin is closer to the strings and magnets are lower (i.e. almost flush to the pickup) they sound very fat, but with the pickup lowered and the poles raised the tone gets a bit 'leaner' (more treble, less bottom end) I'd expect Staples to behave in a similar way.
They're not staples but my Dynasonics are made by Gabojo Lab in Greece, you can get them with the vintage correct long magnets (you'd need to do some routing in a solid body), finer gauge wire as per a vintage DeArmond. Seymour Duncan used to offer a HB sized alnico staple pickup too. They're more true to the original design than the TV Jones version.
Interestingly the Low Impedance pickups in my LP Recording sound strangely similar to the Dynasonics - I think Les Paul must have had a preference for that type of sound.
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Thank you for that information. I really appreciate that. Originally Posted by entresz
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These look very interesting.
Mr.2000HB for Hollow body Guitars with white - creme leather top - Gabojo
I have take measurements, but since my simi has only a small block under the bridge, I think they could fit.
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Reminds me a lot of Al Di Meola in the 70s. I'm a big fan of that style by the way.
With regards to Kurt
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Yep, Custom Shop '54 LES Paul Custom for $6495 new or about $4500- $5000 used Originally Posted by L50EF15
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More and more I come to the conclusion that it all comes down to strings.
Simplified:
Traditional jazz tone (percussive, warm, short decay) = flat wound strings
More modern tone (less attack, brighter tone, ore sustain) = round wound strings
The more solid the guitar is built the more sustain. Les Pauls are built very solid and heavy, but also my GB10 has lots of sustain as it is heavily braced.
BTW – did ist occur to you that the GB has a Les Paul shape, just a little bit bigger and deeper?
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Les Paul shape but a little bigger was exactly what the Benson Ibanez was intended to be. Don't remember where I read that but I do remember George saying that.
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I tried out a bunch of solid bodies including the LP to use on jazz gigs if for any reason I'm not bringing an archtop.
I expected the telecaster would work, I tried it and hated it. I played that thing for 30 seconds and put it back on the rack. Everyone yells about how great telecasters are for jazz. Well it didn't work for me.
Ended up going with a 90s Les Paul Special. It's light and small, which is what I was looking for (as an alternative to a huge archtop). I throw it in a gig bag and leave it in the car. It was cheap. It gets the job done. I have 14 gauge flat wounds on it. It sounds pretty good, but nowhere near what an archtop sounds like. It's OK for gigs with a quartet or at a shitty sounding open jam. The drums and piano cover up the guitar sound a bit. I would not play a Les Paul on a duo or solo gig. When my playing is under the microscope I really need the archtop. I'm an average player, hobbyist (non pro). An archtop helps a lot for me.
The best thing about having a cheap les paul is that it has increased my practice time a bit. I carry it around various parts of the house, leave it in the car, pick it up and play scales whenever I have a few minutes.
The worst thing is that the scale is shorter than an archtop. The high notes are PLINK PLINK PLINK and the archtop is really better for those.
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My experience with LP is that they respond to temperatures and humidity much more then a bolt on neck. I would not leave my LP in a car. I would not leave any of my guitars in a car that is going to get hot. Well, unless I wanted to buy a new guitar due to neck warping.
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