Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: littleredguitars2 on October 13, 2013, 05:29:25 PM
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http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Custom-Lite.aspx (http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Custom-Lite.aspx)
Ive been really curious about these. I know that they don't come with ebony finger boards but I think the rose wood might help make up some Smoothness That may be lost in the weight relieving. Not even the normal les Paul customs come with ebony anymore . They use richlite now. So basically I'm just wondering if this les Paul custom lite really will sound like a les Paul custom when it comes down to it.
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So you're effectively getting an ESP Eclipse sans the ebony fretboard, great neck and extra jumbo frets, top craftmanship and Gotoh hardware, but with the worst bridge humbucker that Gibson actually makes? I don't know, that really depends on the price point and how much you need to have Gibson on the headstock (or how averse you are to flag inlays).
I'm sorry, but for me, this would be a defnite NO. If you want a Gibson Custom, for me it would have to be full thickness, MAPLE neck & EBONY fingerboad (because otherwise you might as well buy a black Studio or Standard) and 57 humbuckers. The only things that fit are the mahogany/maple body and the look at first glance. I'm pretty sure you'd get a better deal on a used Gibson Custom in black.
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If you want a thin Les Paul shaped guitar go the other direction and get one of the recent Melody Maker LPs. At least they were cheap and they have their own distinctive sound. A great punk guitar. I saw the guitarist from Malaysian punk band Vaarallinen (I know, weird for Malaysian band to have Finnish name) the other week here in Adelaide. That thing cut through the mix like a m*th*rf*ck*er. Would make more sense than having a low-fat version of a Les Paul Custom.
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So you're effectively getting an ESP Eclipse sans the ebony fretboard, great neck and extra jumbo frets, top craftmanship and Gotoh hardware, but with the worst bridge humbucker that Gibson actually makes? I don't know, that really depends on the price point and how much you need to have Gibson on the headstock (or how averse you are to flag inlays).
I agree about the ebony, I'm no fan of the 498T/490R, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with Gibson's hardware (although I do prefer Gotoh to Grover, it's hardly a deal breaker). I totally disagree about the neck, the Gibson neck shape is far preferable to the ESP (personal opinion, of course).
A thinner, lighter Les Paul Custom was almost a brilliant idea. If this had an ebony - or even richlite - board I'd be all over it (I would, though, pull out the stupid coil split switch and add a second tone control).
Horses for courses.
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So you're effectively getting an ESP Eclipse sans the ebony fretboard, great neck and extra jumbo frets, top craftmanship and Gotoh hardware, but with the worst bridge humbucker that Gibson actually makes? I don't know, that really depends on the price point and how much you need to have Gibson on the headstock (or how averse you are to flag inlays).
I'm sorry, but for me, this would be a defnite NO. If you want a Gibson Custom, for me it would have to be full thickness, MAPLE neck & EBONY fingerboad (because otherwise you might as well buy a black Studio or Standard) and 57 humbuckers. The only things that fit are the mahogany/maple body and the look at first glance. I'm pretty sure you'd get a better deal on a used Gibson Custom in black.
you make some solid points.
i'm not saying i'm gonna run out and buy one. just curious if it was even worth the $1500 price tag
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So you're effectively getting an ESP Eclipse sans the ebony fretboard, great neck and extra jumbo frets, top craftmanship and Gotoh hardware, but with the worst bridge humbucker that Gibson actually makes? I don't know, that really depends on the price point and how much you need to have Gibson on the headstock (or how averse you are to flag inlays).
I'm sorry, but for me, this would be a defnite NO. If you want a Gibson Custom, for me it would have to be full thickness, MAPLE neck & EBONY fingerboad (because otherwise you might as well buy a black Studio or Standard) and 57 humbuckers. The only things that fit are the mahogany/maple body and the look at first glance. I'm pretty sure you'd get a better deal on a used Gibson Custom in black.
you make some solid points.
i'm not saying i'm gonna run out and buy one. just curious if it was even worth the $1500 price tag
An original 1950s spec Les Paul Custom would have a mahogany - not maple - neck and a mahogany body without a maple top, but I assume Alex was expressing a personal preference for a maple neck and maple top.
This is a fair point for anyone who wants a "proper" Les Paul Custom, but that's not why Gibson have introduced the Custom Lite. It's meant to be a lighter, more manageable LPC for those who find a traditional LPC too heavy and unwieldy.
So yes, if you "just" want a Les Paul Custom, look out for a used example. The Custom Lite shouldn't be dismissed as some kind of bad "copy" of a Custom, it's a different guitar aimed at a different group of customers.
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An original 1950s spec Les Paul Custom would have a mahogany - not maple - neck and a mahogany body without a maple top, but I assume Alex was expressing a personal preference for a maple neck and maple top.
This is a fair point for anyone who wants a "proper" Les Paul Custom, but that's not why Gibson have introduced the Custom Lite. It's meant to be a lighter, more manageable LPC for those who find a traditional LPC too heavy and unwieldy.
So yes, if you "just" want a Les Paul Custom, look out for a used example. The Custom Lite shouldn't be dismissed as some kind of bad "copy" of a Custom, it's a different guitar aimed at a different group of customers.
I actually know they were all mahogany first ("fretless wonder") :D, but figured that information wasn't relevant to the OP. To my knowledge Gibson hasn't made them that way for a very long time, except for some expensive custom shop runs. Who'd nowadays want a guitar anyway with extra low frets?
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So you're effectively getting an ESP Eclipse sans the ebony fretboard, great neck and extra jumbo frets, top craftmanship and Gotoh hardware, but with the worst bridge humbucker that Gibson actually makes? I don't know, that really depends on the price point and how much you need to have Gibson on the headstock (or how averse you are to flag inlays).
I agree about the ebony, I'm no fan of the 498T/490R, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with Gibson's hardware (although I do prefer Gotoh to Grover, it's hardly a deal breaker). I totally disagree about the neck, the Gibson neck shape is far preferable to the ESP (personal opinion, of course).
A thinner, lighter Les Paul Custom was almost a brilliant idea. If this had an ebony - or even richlite - board I'd be all over it (I would, though, pull out the stupid coil split switch and add a second tone control).
Horses for courses.
But the neck is the best part on the ESP! Great playability even past the 12th fret.
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Totally unrelated to all the points above, I wonder if this is a sign that Gibson is no longer getting enough quantities of Ebony wood to put Ebony fretboards on "cheaper" guitars (i.e. non-Custom Shop models). I also wonder if it's only a matter of time till we see other manufacturers increasingly reserve real Ebony only for the top prize model.
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I know Gibson have been having trouble getting supplies of ebony - and rosewood - since their run-in with the US authorities over (allegedly) purchasing illegally harvested timber from Madagascar and India.
Hence the use of baked maple, obeche and richlite fingerboards. They were also using laminated rosewood boards, even on Custom Shop models, for a short time (pretty much the whole of 2012 I think, my own LP probably falls into this category, although it's impossible to tell without removing the nut :? ). Even the current Custom Shop Les Paul Custom (but not the more expensive '57 reissue) has a richlite board.
It doesn't seem to have noticeably affected other manufacturers though.
I know Taylor Guitars have bought an ebony mill in Cameroon to to try to make sure supplies are used in a more sustainable manner.
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Had a few custom lites come through my shop, while playing them you felt a difference in weight/feel but in a blind tone test back to back vs a full-weight custom you couldn't definitively tell a significant difference
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Had a few custom lites come through my shop, while playing them you felt a difference in weight/feel but in a blind tone test back to back vs a full-weight custom you couldn't definitively tell a significant difference
That's what I was trying to find out. Thanks!
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It's interesting how many comments are written on several threads actually, regarding a genuine dislike of the Gibson 498 ..A notable Les Paul user in Billy Duffy appears to have harnessed its capabilities rather well over the years don't you think?-and seems very happy with it!..(check recent interview in Guitarist).. or it could simply be that it is Billy playing it of course!
I'm no guitar legend, but never had a dramatically bad experience with the 498 that preceded my change over to our preferred brand of pickups..
Does evryone here hate the 498 then?!
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every guitar i've had with a 498 in it just seemed like it could sound better. i've always had other guitars with different pickups that sounded better
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I thought Billy Duffy used Duncan JBs, in both bridge and (rather strangely) neck positions? He certainly did during his long hair rock god phase, circa Sonic Temple.
The 498T is OK, I think it probably suits Les Pauls rather better than SGs, even though Gibson use it in both. Personally I always find it rather "messy" sounding, that's a very unscientific description I realise....
(And yes, that is probably largely down to my own very limited capabilities, as I've been reminded whilst playing for a couple of hours this morning :| .... no 498s involved there, though)
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Billy confirmed he employs 498s, in Guitarist and again in Total Guitar I believe, earlier this year..
I guess this pickup responds well with a very particular playing style and attack..While it won't work for a majority, it can perform with a few-Billy, as well as my rather less talented fingers to name but two!
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its not a BAD pickup. it works well for a lot of people. but i can see why a lot of people including myself would choose to change it. i'm pretty sure the only guitars i've used them in were the 2 SG standards i had. and while i liked the sound at the time, if i still had it, i'd probably switch it for something else. maybe a holy diver or something
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The Holydiver is actually the pickup I swapped my 498 for, out of a Les Paul! :D
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The 498T is a bit thin sounding and lacks definition compared to a BKP. On the whole though I much preferred it to the 490R in the neck, which I really hated. Overly warm and wooly sounding. I have no idea why some people like it, but there seem to be a lot of fans. Different styles I guess. Needless to say the Cold Sweats are a MASSIVE improvement!!!!!
I know people say that the 498T has a decent amount of output but with the 300K pots that come with SGs from the factory I didn't notice the output. I changed pickups and pots at the same time so I'm not sure how much was caused by the pots. Anyway I liked the 498T it a LOT more than the 490R, which I avoided
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The 498T is a bit thin sounding and lacks definition compared to a BKP. On the whole though I much preferred it to the 490R in the neck, which I really hated. Overly warm and wooly sounding. I have no idea why some people like it, but there seem to be a lot of fans. Different styles I guess. Needless to say the Cold Sweats are a MASSIVE improvement!!!!!
I quite like the 490R. But I like warm and woolly. :lol:
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I've you love the sonic equivalent of a sheep, it's for you ;)
Personally I have a low tolerance for warm and woolly in the context of what I generally play. I didn't mind it that much clean, but then it wasn't amazing either. Distorted it was @ss
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Yeah I almost never used the 490
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Believe me, if you had an SG Standard still you would want a Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell set for those '80s sounds. The Holy Diver has a reputation for being muddy in SGs. The Miracle Man is also reputed to be excellent in the SG, and in fact it seems like the guitar best suited to the MM in many ways.
But yeah I'm always surprised that the 490R doesn't get as much flak as the 498T. I found the 490R almost unusable in terms of sound. That Gibson has this as a standard set in SGs is puzzling.
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A thinner, lighter Les Paul Custom was almost a brilliant idea. If this had an ebony - or even richlite - board I'd be all over it (I would, though, pull out the stupid coil split switch and add a second tone control).
OK, I know this is a really old thread, but.... I got over my reservations about the rosewood board.
The guitar ticked so many boxes for me, I just had to get one.
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damn. There aren't many guitars these days I really care about, but I'd love a custom lite. I really want one in the metallic kinda pink though. still. I am a jealous guy right now. If you ever want to move that on... hit me up.
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damn. There aren't many guitars these days I really care about, but I'd love a custom lite. I really want one in the metallic kinda pink though. still. I am a jealous guy right now. If you ever want to move that on... hit me up.
It's probably only a matter of time.... :lol:
But no, I'm liking it a lot at the moment. The thin body makes a huge difference, not just to the weight but even more to the way the guitar feels - it's so much more manageable, more like an SG or PRS.
The pink ones are cool, but eBay prices for them are too high. There's some guy who lists his on eBay every now and then for some ludicrous price, about $10,000 I think. Of course he hasn't sold it!
The 2013 model has pluses and minuses compared with the '80s version - you lose the ebony board (although I doubt rosewood sounds any worse) but gain a bigger '50s neck profile (although I wouldn't mind if it was a bit more chunky, to be honest).
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Lovely 8) keeping it stock? Or changing pickups?
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Lovely 8) keeping it stock? Or changing pickups?
Not quite an NGD thread, but.... :wink: :lol:
Stock for now, but I still have my set of Emeralds, it would be silly not to try them at some point.
I think the coil split switch looks ridiculous, but don't want to commit to drilling any holes just yet.
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Is the coil split switch in the same location as a bridge tone pot would be? If so I would enlarge the hole to fit a tone pot and install push-push tone pots if I wanted coil splits.
Emeralds would be nice, but take care to not install an overly bright capacitor on the bridge pickup. Might be one more reason to get away from the master tone format
On my most recent harness I went for modern wiring, a treble bleed, and a 0.033uf poly cap just because it's quite a bright guitar (SG Junior) and 500K pots might be overkill for a P-90. I'll see. I have a 0.022uf cap on standby if it ends up too dark.
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Is the coil split switch in the same location as a bridge tone pot would be? If so I would enlarge the hole to fit a tone pot and install push-push tone pots if I wanted coil splits.
Yep, it's exactly where the bridge tone control would be, so an easy mod to replace it with a pot but I'm a bit hesitant - only because once I've enlarged the hole there's no going back. I don't really like to do irreversible mods after all the silly things I did when I was young (fitting Kahlers etc).
If I do it, I might opt for a push-pull or push-push coil split, but the body may actually be too thin to fit a push-pull pot.
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If you wanted some kind of tone control but youre not too bothered about how adjustable it is, you could swap the switch with another switch and wire a cap and resistors to it to give you fixed levels of treble cut. You could even use trim pots instead of fixed resistors so you can adjust it. Just an idea. I wouldnt drill it.
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Is the coil split switch in the same location as a bridge tone pot would be? If so I would enlarge the hole to fit a tone pot and install push-push tone pots if I wanted coil splits.
Yep, it's exactly where the bridge tone control would be, so an easy mod to replace it with a pot but I'm a bit hesitant - only because once I've enlarged the hole there's no going back. I don't really like to do irreversible mods after all the silly things I did when I was young (fitting Kahlers etc).
If I do it, I might opt for a push-pull or push-push coil split, but the body may actually be too thin to fit a push-pull pot.
People fit them into SGs. Tight though.
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Looks awesome man congrats. You can't beat an ebony board though ;)
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Nice Philly, congrats! LPs just are hard to beat and that one looks tasty!
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that looks really great. As you can probably tell from my recent purchase, I like LP Customs.
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Thanks guys. :D
littleredguitars2, you're right, a Custom really should have an ebony board, but I was never going to find a "full fat" Gibson LPC light enough for my liking. I've spent years scouring eBay for MIJ alternatives, but 90% of those have rosewood boards anyway.
In the end I just thought I'd snap up a Custom Lite while they were still available. I don't know if they really only made 250 of them, but they're already getting hard to find.
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I'm still surprised my new custom is under 9lbs
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Yeah, that's about as light as it gets for Customs!
I've never understood why Customs seem to be generally that bit heavier than Standards, it makes no sense. Well, perhaps that's not true - maybe it's the case that they just make a lot more Standards than Customs, so if you're patient and shop around you'll find a lighter one eventually.
I've actually got a solidbody LP Standard which weighs a fraction under 8lbs. The weird thing is, despite what the scales say, when I pick it up it still feels heavier than my other guitars around the same weight, somehow! It must be the psychological effect of seeing that big chunk of mahogany. :roll:
I haven't mentioned, my Custom Lite weighs 7lb 7oz. Not quite SG-light, but a nice comfortable weight for me, in the same range as my Jrs and Specials.
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I used to have a really light LP Custom from 1972. I don't know why it was so light, but it was easy to play for full sets and a friend with a 335 used to use it sometimes too (I used his 335 sometimes as well - we didn't have lots of backup guitars in those days!). I would love to get it back, but I sold it in 1978 or so.
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That looks awesome, congrats!
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I've actually got a solidbody LP Standard which weighs a fraction under 8lbs. The weird thing is, despite what the scales say, when I pick it up it still feels heavier than my other guitars around the same weight, somehow! It must be the psychological effect of seeing that big chunk of mahogany. :roll:
I think it's about weight distribution rather than actual weight. The LP is all arse end.
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when it comes to weight, my fender tele is a friggen brick. still a nice guitar to play but man, it makes my LP feel light.