Should I do this to my Gibson Les Paul......

[PESIMAX]

Hello guys, HAPPY NEW YEAR, I hope your all well....

Now I've been waiting since june for my Gibson les paul studio 50's tribute goldtop to arrive and now it has, I can't help but have a rumbleing in my stomach telling me to add a middle P90 and a stewmac 'free'way (six) switch. And a bigsby. But my question is.

Should i do it?  

The guitar its self cost £799, it's not a high end gibson even though they are limited edition. The bigsby can be reversible but the routing for the middle pickup isn't. But as I haven't seen any of these guitars about and I know most of the shops that had the goldtop model sold out through pre-orders...should I just leave it alone?

Here's a pic of the guitar as it is at the moment.



I mean dave Gilmore has never felt the need to add a middle pickup to his goldtop, but Townshend did it to all of his.

Look forward to hear your opinions.

George


p.s we all know the next question will be....which BKP P90 should I get, ha.

[Tellboy]

Happy New Year!

Your choice... but my opinion ....... NO, NO, NO middle pickup.  P90s are quite 'chunky' for a single coil pickup so adding a middle one is nearly going to fill up the space between the bridge and the end of the neck so you are likely to be hitting the middle pickup with your plectrum when playing. (Ritchie Blackmore didn't use the middle pickup on his strat and screwed it down low because it used to get in the way - and strat pickups are much smaller than P90s). Would you be gaining much usable tonal variation by adding a middle pickup ? Debateable....

As for the Bigsby ... again personal choice ...I much prefer Les Pauls as a hardtail and wouldn't touch a Bigsby but I know many like them. (must admit I have seen a few on black Les Paul Customs which look good)

[38thBeatle]

Another no from me too- I'd leave it as a 2 pup guitar personally and I am not a fan of Bigsbys either but that is just my view. I like the look of the guitar as it is. That in between tone would be the one I'd like the most I think.

[Ratrod]

The Bigsby: Yes.

You can make that mod fully reversable with a vibramate adapter.

Middle pickup: No.

Really, it gets in the way.

[PESIMAX]

Thanks for all your comments and  I haven't heared one positive from anyone on the middle pickup, I think i'll give it a miss on the gibby....

 but what do you guys think about maybe getting the Tune-o-matic Piezo bridge fitted? As it has a chambered body on the les paul this could be an interesting option. Also, I don't own an acoustic, could this be a good compromise (obviously when used with an amp) for acoustic radio gigs?

all the best

G

[38thBeatle]

If it were me I would just play the guitar and get used to it before I decided what I did and didn't like. The Piezo idea is a possibility if you think you need an acoustic simulation. I have no idea if they are any good as I have never tried/heard one( the bridge that you speak of I mean). It sounds like a good idea perhaps but another option would be to look at an acoustic simulator pedal. I have experience of the Boss AC2 ( or whatever it is called) and in those rare occasions where I have used one in a live situation, it did the job reasonably well.
Even with changing the pickups( if that is on the agenda) I would always say get used to things as they are first and then decide whether a change is what you want. Just an opinion for what it is worth.

[hunter]

no middle PU. Is just ballast. I had a 3PU Custom. Only thing I liked about it was the looks.

Bigsby is a 100% yes though

[PESIMAX]

I love the sound of the two p90 pickups and the guitar sustains forever. Also i like the sound of the gibson unplugged, here's an example of the same bridge i was thinking of using http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EHoI_urMWw&feature=related.  I've been quoted by a luthier that it would cost 120 quid for the job..

[Tellboy]

Middle pickup, Bigsby, Piezo bridge .......... you seem hell bent on modding the guitar  :D.

I agree with 38thBeatle (nice man - we both use 4 way switches on our Teles  PDT_003) - why not just play and enjoy the guitar as it is for a while - really get to know it before jumping in with mods. (the piezo bridge does sound excellent)

[choucas09]

Bear in mind though with the piezo you'll need an acoustic amp as well. It'll sound awful through a normal amp.

[PESIMAX]

Yeah, maybe i should leave it for abit. I do love the guitar, I've got a few other guitars, mostly semi acoustics, a gretsch electromatic and 64' rickenbacker 365 and they don't have the warmth of the les paul. I do feel like i need to mod it to, make it my own, I was thinking about a mini humbucker in the bridge untill i got the thing home and was blown away by the pickups.

I think the piezo could happen, but in a few months and with some more research on how to set the thing up in a simplistic logical way.

I might treat myself to the bigsby for my birthday with the vibramate.

Cheers everyone.

[AndyR]

Yep. Personally, I'd leave it as is - possibly go for the vibramate/bigsby, as that's reversable...

I don't usually worry at all about resale, I'll do anything to a guitar if I think it makes it more mine... but in this case I would think twice for a while. Although they are a budget Gibson, the Goldtops are like hen's teeth. If you have got a good one, you might regret fiddling with it.

Actually, if you don't bond or get on with it, I suspect that you could already get more than you paid for it :lol:

[MrBump]

It's a "no" to both options from me too, I'm afraid.

As it is, it looks amazing.  I hate Bigsbys with a passion, and do you really need the middle P90?

Keep it as it is.

Mark.

[FernandoDuarte]

As it's not a expensive guitar, I think it's up to you doing or not it... Made a little mockup to help you see if you like it or not...

[PESIMAX]

Cheers for the mockup image. I'm not sure if i like the look of the 3 p90s all together now it looks like too much is going on, I'm suprised because I thought i'd like it. However after seeing this on the les paul forum, I'm thinking the bigsby is going to be a yes, It looks abit like gilmour's les paul goldtop. And I'm really happy with the sound of the p90s.



here's gilmour playing his goldtop with bigsby.

http://www.youtube.com/v/_wFkn6Q7DzU?fs=1&hl=en_GB

Cheers.