singemonkey
So I finally got my 27 year old Les Paul over to Foster v.d. Merwe this morning to have the Bigsby put on and get the resultant set up. It looked so small and vulnerable on his table. It was like taking a favourite cat to the vet for a major operation.
I recently finally sorted out the nightmare I've had getting the right tuners since one broke off nearly 2 years ago now. Jeez. You simply cannot believe how poor the information out there is and how difficult it is to do such an obvious thing. I got Grover self-lockers just before this only to find that, yes, they did fit the holes in the headstock. But the screw holes were about a mm off and the capstans were ludicrously high - seriously reducing the break angle over the nut. I'll be putting these essentially unused tuners up for sale soon. Great pieces: 18:1 ratio for fine tuning. Self locking. Just needs to go to the person with the right guitar.
So I got Grover Rotogrips - finally a perfect fit. They lock with the thumb-wheel at the back for easy, quick string changes, and rock-steady tuning; just like the Sperzels on my Pacifica.
Foster's going to install the Bigsby, and wire the middle, both-pickups-on, position to be out of phase for a bit 'o quack. Also he'll get the strap lock installed (on one side the screw was loose so that hole will probably need filling). And then sometime next week, I'll have my favourite inanimate object in the world back and rearin' to go (although I'll still need to get a good strap to carry the weight of the monster. Especially if I ever plan to use it for more than 1 set).
And I'll post some delightful pics ?
Despite my being unconscionably late, Foster is very pleasant and exudes an air of calm confidence. Glad the forum helped me find him instead of some of the bums that I've let touch that guitar over the years.
raithza
nice..!
Your guitar is in good hands...
Reinhard
I saw your guitar at Fosters' when I went to get the 330. It is indeed in good hands. It was already undergoing surgery when I got there.
I did the out of phase mod on my LP, I just flipped the neck pickup magnet, instant out of phase. Gets quite a bit of quack and easy to reverse. Bothners have some nice broad Levi straps, even better if it is padded.
That axe is going to rock when you get it back!
singemonkey
Awesome. I'm really excited to get it back. I didn't even think of doing the P90s out of phase until I saw some guy in a youtube vid. Very cool sound.
I've been listening to Danny Kirwin a lot on those early Fleetwood Mac records where he recorded most of his early stuff with his goldtop. Just love that sound. I'm excited to play that guitar again. Only problem, apart from the weight, is that the frets are very low. It makes bending for blues quite tricky next to my Tokai which has higher frets.
Foster said he can replace the frets, but I reckoned I'd just see how it goes first. Decide if I can live with the lower frets until they wear out, or whether I absolutely must have taller frets for all the bending.
Kalcium
singemonkey wrote
And then sometime next week, I'll have my favourite inanimate object in the world back and rearin' to go
:O Don't say that too loud...my guitars might hear you, they take offense at being called inanimate! ?
singemonkey
I'm hoping to go pick it up from Foster today. Almost like getting a new guitar. ?
vic
singemonkey wrote
I'm hoping to go pick it up from Foster today. Almost like getting a new guitar. ?
pics please !
Hammeron
@ Singemonkey, I'm sure you know good and well how to re-animate that baby 8)
singemonkey
Got my guitar back! While I should have been taking pics for you folks to go "oooh!" over, I was playing hell out of it instead ? Now I'm too damn tired and the light's faded too much to take pics today ☹
It looks beautiful with the Bigsby on. I've never seen another Les Paul, black, with Bigsby and cream P90s. And I look at a lot of Les Pauls. :?
Foster's raised the action a smidgeon - making it much easier to bend notes without the next string up slipping under my fingers. It's still a lot harder to bend than on the Tokai because it has these crazy flat-frets. Almost the whole, "fretless wonder" thing. Also the neck is quite a bit thinner making it harder and less comfortable for me to play. It will force me though to really start using all my fingers for vibrato instead of just cheating with one. You need more traction on the string when it's so near the fretboard.
But I don't care about any of that because the tone is un-be&%^$ing-lievable. It's the .11 gauge strings, and the bigsby tailpiece, and the Lollar pickups all doing their stuff at once. Damn, it roars. The bass notes are so tight. Just fantastic. Even acoustically it sounds quite a bit louder.
Once small oddity that I'll have to discuss with Foster. I had him have his wiring guy wire the middle position out-of-phase. Now it sounds incredible. Masses of quack. But I'm getting weird volume fluctuations in that position. What could be doing that? ???
The Bigsby was really weird to operate at first. It's got like, a tiny bit of play, before the bulk of the spring kicks in. So it's really easy to make it warble subtly, but you need to apply a lot of pressure to get a deeper pitch shift. Unlike other kinds of vibrato arm, you can't bring it up over the strings, so the entire technique is different. It's flat, so instead of grasping it, you extend your last three fingers and push the arm down with those. This is not an ergonomic device.
However, it works exactly as advertised. The vibrato is incredibly smooth and "transparent." You don't hear any change of tone when you engage it. It musically and glassily alters the pitch in a way that only these very simple vibrato tailpieces can. And unlike the tail-piece on my SG, it actually returns to pitch at the end of it ?
Hmm, maybe I should take a quick case-shot before Vic lynches me ?
singemonkey
Ok. It's not the best pic. Will post a jazzier one soon:
vic
Oh boy am I glad ( and I really mean it !) that you are at last happy with that guitar ...that's how it should be. Let's toast to that ! :goodtimes:
Wow...to that pic...absolutely a stunner !
singemonkey
Thanks vic. Really appreciate it (and one of these days I really will bring it round for you to marvel at how it's 3 times the weight of your '56 reissue)
The sound is great. You can say what you like about boutique pickups. But there's no doubt in my mind that they can add the extra 5% that takes the tone over the top. Not that I knew they were boutique when I bought 'em though ? Really magic.
Hammeron
Re-animated!!!!! ?
kayDUB
That is absolutely beautiful!
singemonkey
kayDUB wrote
That is absolutely beautiful!
There's something about a black Les Paul, huh? And yet they're not super-common.
@Hammeron: You betcha. The thing makes a very pleasing racket. A metal head like you might be interested to know that the sound of the guitar made me play power chords much more than usual. I suddenly found myself playing the main riff from Sabbath's N.I.B. for the first time in about ten years. Amazing sound P90s have. Thick and lush but clear and defined simultaneously. That's why I always think of it as a growl or a roar.
Hammeron
];0) \M/
[deleted]
Lawd... That be some seriously hot Les Paul prOn... Enjoy dude! ?
Jack-Flash-Jr
Gotta be honest, I doubted it's existence. Proof will only be accepted finally when I have my stick paws on it for at least three weeks.
JeremyE
That is pure beauty!!! I am incredibly jealous! You have created my dream guitar in the incorrect colour ? That in a wine red is my ultimate ?
makepeace
wow singe. beautiful. the p90's, bigsby, gold knobs and black all make for an amazingly tasteful and interesting look. nice camera skills too. congrats dude ?
