Overly dark Les Paul

[JonnyScaramanga]

I've got a '97 Joe Perry signature Les Paul (the blackburst one, like he plays in Wayne's World).

Cracking guitar, but just too dark. It always sounds like the tone control is rolled off, and has no sparkle. And I have bright gear (Marshall 2061X, Vintage 30 cab).

I want it to be able to stay within the Aerosmith ballpark, so I don't think anything hotter than Vintage Hot is for me.

Riff Raff is the obvious choice, but I'm worried it won't have enough depth. It has the bite I want, but I also want complexity and richness in the mids.

I've chatted to Ben about this, and it seems the other option is the Emerald. I don't want an Alnico IV neck since I have a Mule set in another Les Paul, and I want to differentiate the two as much as possible, so I was considering a VHII neck.

What are your opinions?

[TheyCallMeVolume]

A RR will work great, that is probably what I would stick with. I'm pretty sure Joe uses PAF types in his guitars, so it'll definitely get you the tone. Emerald certainly wouldn't be terrible either, and if you're feeling really out there, a Rebel Yell.

[itamar101]

A RR will work great, that is probably what I would stick with. I'm pretty sure Joe uses PAF types in his guitars, so it'll definitely get you the tone. Emerald certainly wouldn't be terrible either, and if you're feeling really out there, a Rebel Yell.

This. Also, have you tried upgrading the pots to 550k pots? Gibson tend to use 300k volume pots in many of their guitars which can cause them to be very dark sounding. That was the case with my les Paul studio.

[JonnyScaramanga]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not going to go for Rebel Yell as I already have those in another guitar, but I will buy some 550k pots.

I'm not confident about the Riffraff though. I know it'll have great attack and sound good, but I'm not sure if it will be fat enough. I would go for Black Dogs, but they would be way too dark in this guitar.

[BigB]

I've got a '97 Joe Perry signature Les Paul (the blackburst one, like he plays in Wayne's World).

Cracking guitar, but just too dark.

Should have gone for a white one I guess  :mrgreen:

(yeah, very lame I know, sorry, just couldn't resist)

It always sounds like the tone control is rolled off, and has no sparkle. And I have bright gear (Marshall 2061X, Vintage 30 cab).

How does it sound unplugged ?

[itamar101]

What I'd do is try the 550k pots. If it helps, that's cool. If the guitar is still a little dark or you want BKPs anyway the Emeralds will certainly work quite nicely. A VHII would also be good.

And of course, Riff Raffs would be almost spot on. It may not be far enough for what you want though. From what ive heard it's got a very spangly single coil quality.

[gwEm]

I wouldn't say Riff Raffs sounded single coil-y..

Anyway, I tried a couple of LPs with Riff Raffs in, and they keep that Les Paul thickness. Since you have a dark LP, you should be good I reckon.

Whats in it at the moment?

[TheyCallMeVolume]

RR's pushed by a good amp (which you have) will sound killer. They are still very fat and thick, though they are in the vintage territory. BK wouldn't put that they're good for metal as well as rock if it wasn't fat and thick. I really think they're the way to go here.

[JonnyScaramanga]

I'm starting to be drawn to Riff Raffs – although an Emerald bridge would definitely make my life easier for higher gain stuff.

I don't think 550k pots will do it on their own. For one thing, I think the guitar has 500k already. Even if it doesn't, I've changed pots before, and I think the difference is sometimes exaggerated. It's noticeable, but it's not night and day.

Unplugged, the guitar sounds the same as I describe its plugged-in character – good sustain and resonance, with a dark, fat quality that's lacking in top end sparkle.

I can believe the Riff Raff has a hint of single coil about it. I've heard that quality in the VHII at times, and Bruce Dickinson describes his RR neck pickup as almost single coil-y in the BKP video. I bet it sounds great, but think I want something fuller.

[itamar101]

I'm starting to be drawn to Riff Raffs – although an Emerald bridge would definitely make my life easier for higher gain stuff.

I don't think 550k pots will do it on their own. For one thing, I think the guitar has 500k already. Even if it doesn't, I've changed pots before, and I think the difference is sometimes exaggerated. It's noticeable, but it's not night and day.

Unplugged, the guitar sounds the same as I describe its plugged-in character – good sustain and resonance, with a dark, fat quality that's lacking in top end sparkle.

I can believe the Riff Raff has a hint of single coil about it. I've heard that quality in the VHII at times, and Bruce Dickinson describes his RR neck pickup as almost single coil-y in the BKP video. I bet it sounds great, but think I want something fuller.

I'm beginning to think that a VHII set would be a very good option. But for that aerosmith sound you can't beat a Riff Raff set... Although Joe Perry really does like his P90s too.

[Telerocker]

VHII's in mahogany will be balanced with a enough topend sparkle. They're very touchsensitive. When you dig in you can get some wicked tones. They clean up good too.

[BigB]

I don't think 550k pots will do it on their own. For one thing, I think the guitar has 500k already. Even if it doesn't, I've changed pots before, and I think the difference is sometimes exaggerated. It's noticeable, but it's not night and day.

Swapping the stock 300K pots for 500K ones on my SG made a very noticeable difference. But if you already have 500K pots - which theoretically means "anything between 450 and 550K" but in practice more often means "somewhere between 450 and 490K" (I've only seen _one_ "500K" pot that was above 490K so far) - that will indeed make less of a difference, but it still might help (this or trying 1M pots).

Unplugged, the guitar sounds the same as I describe its plugged-in character – good sustain and resonance, with a dark, fat quality that's lacking in top end sparkle.

Ok then it's really the guitar itself.

I can believe the Riff Raff has a hint of single coil about it. I've heard that quality in the VHII at times, and Bruce Dickinson describes his RR neck pickup as almost single coil-y in the BKP video. I bet it sounds great, but think I want something fuller.

The VHII as a pronounced asymetric wiring for a more opened top end (which is often described as "single-coilish" - can't tell as I never played one).

I don't know if there's any asymetry involved in the RR neck wiring but it's indeed very opened and clear sounding with, yes, something that may remind of good single coil neck sometimes, while still being a true 'bucker.  Well, possibly more along the line of a vintage mini-humbucker to be true. 

[FELINEGUITARS]

Serious suggestion here Johnny - Have an Earvana Compensated tuning shelf nut fitted
The improvement in the the harmonic content of the chords is reason enough but we have found that there is an added tightness and brightness to guitars that have them fitted

Last week we fitted one as a last resort to a Greco Les Paul that already had BKP Mules, CTS pots and 50s wiring but was still a bit muffled and flabby sounding

The result was astonishing and very pleasing
That guitar sounded so good I didn't want to hand it back - full bodied but defined and articulate.

[darrenw5094]

Serious suggestion here Johnny - Have an Earvana Compensated tuning shelf nut fitted
The improvement in the the harmonic content of the chords is reason enough but we have found that there is an added tightness and brightness to guitars that have them fitted

Last week we fitted one as a last resort to a Greco Les Paul that already had BKP Mules, CTS pots and 50s wiring but was still a bit muffled and flabby sounding

The result was astonishing and very pleasing
That guitar sounded so good I didn't want to hand it back - full bodied but defined and articulate.

How much is one of those bad boys?

[Deafcat64]

+1 to Feline's response. The guitars I've tried with Earvana compensated shelves do have an added harmonic balance, and a bit of brightness.

I would also consider the Emerald set seriously. I recently played a friend's Les Paul, which was VERY dark sounding when he first bought it, fitted with an Emerald set. It was a great match. The Emerald neck is excellent as well.