Played a Gibson L-5 WesMo for the first time

[ptchristopher3]

yeah ck74!...dan armstrong (kents dad) orange squeezer was one of first guitar dedicated compressors built..if not the first!...plugged into the guitar..and the cable ran from that...

[...]

btw, blue clipper was armstrongs fuzz..which the early mxr pedal was based on!!...

[...]

from a longtime dan armstrong plexi guitar/orange squeezer owner!! hah

I still have my 1979 Ross Compressor, but actually use the orange squeezer in the pic. A friend asked, “what? It turns tomatoes into beer?”

The blue clipper that came in this aluminum box was truly horrible. 80 Grit sandpaper sound.

[helios]

I'd say the Lollars are not necessarily bright, but they are clear. It kind of manifests as bright, having less of a juicy midrange, that sort of thing. I actually have them adjusted rather nicely, but I have a mental bias that they are not as authentic as they could be. I've got unpotted humbuckers on a couple of guitars, and they seem to be very responsive and let the wood sing a bit more.

Most likely if anyone heard my L-5CES with the Lollars right now, they'd probably tell me it sounds fine, so just shut up play it.

My Eastman Jazz Elite 17 came with a Lollar Imperial. I replaced it fairly quickly with a Lindy Fralin Pure PAF for the very reasons you describe. I had no problem selling the Lollar on Ebay, as many people like them.

[JazzNote]

Too bright? Maybe the problem was a lack of cigarette and thumb callus...

Attachment 48324

;-)

Doctor Jeff, do you happen to have a high res version of this picture? I'd like to print it out and hang it on the wall - but it shouldn't be too small ....

[rpguitar]

My Eastman Jazz Elite 17 came with a Lollar Imperial. I replaced it fairly quickly with a Lindy Fralin Pure PAF for the very reasons you describe.

It's good to hear my impressions validated, Helios. I am definitely too picky but I do know what I hear, whether other people think it's important and share the same sensory experience or not.

[fritz jones]

if the strings were chromes, it could have been a bad G string. I have had them buzz on a guitar where other types of
strings do not

[rpguitar]

They were indeed Chromes. Now that's odd... I use TI Swing 12-50 flatwounds normally on a guitar like that. I wonder what the reason would be for a steel wrapped string to buzz like a sitar on frets 7-10 whereas a nickel wrapped string would not? (Assuming it would not...)

I left my contact info in the event they sorted it out, but have not been contacted. They probably are waiting to see if someone will scoop it up online without the hassle.

[stanislaw1]

Hi all,

Just spotted this little beauty on ebay uk today. No connection...

Gibson L5 Wes Montgomery signature | eBay

[rio]

I have wondered if the Wes L5 is constructed differently than a CES or if they are the same. The few I have tried were noticeably brighter than the CES’ I have tried and of course only having one pickup will change the sound but are there other differences? Another thing I have always wondered about was why they didn’t flip the pickup. It is supposed to be Wes’ guitar after all. I’m sure it might be psychological but after I flipped the neck pickup on my ‘70 L5 CES it sounded a little clearer and more focused. I don’t know if in terms of the science involved if there should be that kind of sound difference but it seemed to have one to me and for his signature guitars to have a traditionally oriented pickup seems weird.


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[lawson-stone]

I have wondered if the Wes L5 is constructed differently than a CES or if they are the same. The few I have tried were noticeably brighter than the CES’ I have tried and of course only having one pickup will change the sound but are there other differences? Another thing I have always wondered about was why they didn’t flip the pickup. It is supposed to be Wes’ guitar after all. I’m sure it might be psychological but after I flipped the neck pickup on my ‘70 L5 CES it sounded a little clearer and more focused. I don’t know if in terms of the science involved if there should be that kind of sound difference but it seemed to have one to me and for his signature guitars to have a traditionally oriented pickup seems weird.


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The two pickup model has a bit of extra bracing under the top, cross braces, basically, to support the second pickup opening. Maybe the Wes, with only one pickup, has less cross-bracing and so the top has a different resonance?

[Stringswinger]

The two pickup model has a bit of extra bracing under the top, cross braces, basically, to support the second pickup opening. Maybe the Wes, with only one pickup, has less cross-bracing and so the top has a different resonance?

The Wes has less bracing and is way louder acoustically than a L-5CES, but not as loud as the old L-5C

[Flat]

I'd like to get a WesMo one day, but for this guitar I would want a fairly dark tonality, not bright. And almost everybody says the WesMo is for some reason brighter than the L5-CES.

Is there a high-quality humbucker out there that is known to be seriously dark that I could swap in?

Or maybe I should talk to Pete Biltof or somebody about winding me a too-dark-for-most-cats humbucker?

Good luck in your quest, rp. I always find your archtop adventures most inspiring!

[Stringswinger]

I'd like to get a WesMo one day, but for this guitar I would want a fairly dark tonality, not bright. And almost everybody says the WesMo is for some reason brighter than the L5-CES.

Is there a high-quality humbucker out there that is known to be seriously dark that I could swap in?

Or maybe I should talk to Pete Biltof or somebody about winding me a too-dark-for-most-cats humbucker?

Good luck in your quest, rp. I always find your archtop adventures most inspiring!

I think the 57 Classic that these come with is pretty dark. Changing the TOM to a wooden saddle darkens it as well.

[yebdox]

I have a ‘97 Wes that I bought new and always thought was a little bright. After some reading and then a conversation with Jason Lollar, I replaced the ‘57 classic with a high wind Lollar Imperial and that warmed it right up! I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The TOM bridge sounds fine the way it is, stays in tune, rock solid. I did have it Feitenized years ago, which made a mild difference with tuning, though not sure anyone would notice.

Apparently, a higher wind brings out the lower frequencies a bit, as confirmed by Mr. Lollar, and in my limited experience (N of 1) it seems to be true. But I’d still like to find a blonde CES some day.

[lawson-stone]

I have wondered if the Wes L5 is constructed differently than a CES or if they are the same. The few I have tried were noticeably brighter than the CES’ I have tried and of course only having one pickup will change the sound but are there other differences? Another thing I have always wondered about was why they didn’t flip the pickup. It is supposed to be Wes’ guitar after all. I’m sure it might be psychological but after I flipped the neck pickup on my ‘70 L5 CES it sounded a little clearer and more focused. I don’t know if in terms of the science involved if there should be that kind of sound difference but it seemed to have one to me and for his signature guitars to have a traditionally oriented pickup seems weird.


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I've looked at a bunch of pictures of Wes on the web, and I can't find very many at all with the neck pickup flipped. The only guitar I ever see that on is thew one with his name on the cutaway section, and even then it's not consistent.

Where is that information coming from?

[vinnyv1k]

I hate bright sounding archtops. I have 3 L5 Wes'. They sound plenty dark and rich to me. Well Rita is a tad bright I would say. Nothing a tone knob won't fix. I never use a bridge pu. Why would I want all the extra weight and unnecessary hardware. I think the Wes L5 is the best guitar on the market. At least for me it is.

[jads57]

Remember Wes used his thumb not a pick, so brightness wan't an issue.

[Stringswinger]

Remember Wes used his thumb not a pick, so brightness wan't an issue.

Wes had Gibson install a TOM to INCREASE brightness. His thumb attack did not get the note clarity he was after.

Wes Montgomery: a player's perspective | MusicRadar

This article does say that at some point he had the PUP reversed.

[Bebop Tom]

I have scrutinized all the Wes photos I could find to see what saddles he had on his tuneamatic bridges. They seem to be nylon, not metal. I switched the metal bridge for a nylon saddle version on my Wes, and it removes the metallic ring that the original bridges have. I tried wooden, but it mellowed the sound out too much. I found the metal saddles on the guitar to be annoying. Too thin and bright sounding. My 1966 L5 CES came with nylon saddles so I knew what sound I was after with my Wes L5.

[jasonmi3]

I have a ‘97 Wes that I bought new and always thought was a little bright. After some reading and then a conversation with Jason Lollar, I replaced the ‘57 classic with a high wind Lollar Imperial and that warmed it right up! I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The TOM bridge sounds fine the way it is, stays in tune, rock solid. I did have it Feitenized years ago, which made a mild difference with tuning, though not sure anyone would notice.

I also swapped out the 57 classic with a high wind Lollar Imperial and it also warmed up to my liking. I had my luthier make me an ebony bridge which is fine but to my surprise it did not warm up the tone too much as it has on some of my other guitars.

[rpguitar]

I have a GraphTech ResoMax bridge with StringSaver saddles on my L-5CES. I got the recommendation from someone here on JGF. They provide a really clear-but-warm tone that is close to the original metal saddles, but without any of the weird overtones or pinging.

product-detail

[Flat]

Doctor Jeff, do you happen to have a high res version of this picture? I'd like to print it out and hang it on the wall - but it shouldn't be too small ....

I think that is pretty much the coolest photo I have ever seen of Wes! I would love to hang that on my wall too!

I know the photo was used for the album cover of "Genius of Wes Montgomery." But the way the image in Dr. Jeff's photo is offset, with the jet black background--I find it just stunningly evocative.

[Frank67]

Yeah, I‘d love to have that poster sized as well. It so captures the spirit ...
but there is so little available online in terms of Wes or Django posters. I searched for a bit and with very little results.

[Gitfiddler]

Since quality posters or Wes (and other jazz greats) are rare, framing the actual album cover is a cool option.

Amazon.com: AlbumMount - New Adjustable Wall Mount or Shelf Stand To Display Your Vinyl Records, Album Covers Or Records: Home & Kitchen

[Stringswinger]

I suspect that if someone manufactured Wes Montgomery posters, it would be a million cellar. No typo there, they would end up storing a million of them in their cellar.

[ESCC]

Stringswinger I'll have to disagree with your cellar premise. Based on the support here at JGF, I believe there would only be 999,972 in their cellar!