How does this only have 2500 views? These vids are great, the algorithm clearly isn’t doing these justice and putting eyes on them. I sure appreciate them, best comparisons out there.
@JoePerkinsMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks mate :-)
@steveturner6770
3 жыл бұрын
Really enjoying listening to the story of this guitar....
@gavinleyfield3195
3 жыл бұрын
Nice man, big difference. Perfect job. Get in touch with Johnny Kincaid in Bristol for a refret. (He did Mick and Dan’s guitars from That Pedal Show and my strat last year, nice guy and a good job)
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Ah yeah, Johnny comes highly recommended! As & when I work up the courage (and funds!) to get it refretted I'll definitely drop him a line :-)
@mrjsings
3 жыл бұрын
Well done ! Completely support the upgrade
@brianh9529
3 жыл бұрын
Joe, I love your channel and level of guitar nerdism (not a word) that you share. The Monty’s Guitar pickups that I ordered for my Firebird arrived today. Keep up the great content. Cheers!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers Brian - hope the Monty's are working for you!! Nerdism is a word now ;-)
@enricopallazzo8510
3 жыл бұрын
The before and after is really like night and day difference. With all the upgrades the guitars sound more clear and defined. Thanks for the video and thanks for letting us know of James' Home of Tone, i'll be buying some cables for my guitars upgrades.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Definitely check James out - he stocks some really killer stuff & seems a really nice chap!
@christopherguzzi1316
Жыл бұрын
Great guitar. I too am a huge fan of The Darkness. Their latest music is amazing. I would have been inclined to leave it as is but I can understand ones desire to mod a guitar.
@sirstrongarm
3 жыл бұрын
That’s a pretty sweet guitar! Sounds like it has great bones. I’ve always loved swapping the electronics out first, because from there i can find out what the guitar needs in reference to pickups (resistance, magnet type, etc). Even sometimes I find the original pickups to be fine after a good rewire. I’d say you did a great job on this one
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Noah! I'm happy with it :-)
@dennisflock3958
3 жыл бұрын
As always, great video and information. Thanks, Joe!
@chanceterrill5346
3 жыл бұрын
Side note...... I wouldn't sell yourself short...... Practice fret leveling and nut slotting on a cheaper guitar.... You are an obsessive, meticulous, detail oriented guy, much like myself. These qualities mean you will inevitably learn to master whatever obstacle you approach..... It's in our hardwiring (pun very much intended)....I full heartedly believe you could and eventually will become a very competent luthier! Keep up the great work Joe!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Maybe one day I'll be able to afford the tools :P
@briancarter4729
3 жыл бұрын
A great video Joe! Very well documented and I like the overall improvement. A job very well done. I also try to get the best cleans out of my Les Pauls because you can always add drive and eq to make it sing but you can't remove mud if the pickups are powerful. Then again you know I use OX4's!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Hard to go wrong with OX4s :P Every single set I've bought have been pretty much the best pickups I've ever played!! heh
@OgamiItto70
3 жыл бұрын
Interesting project. After being an iconic rock axe since the late Sixties, it's easy to forget what the Les Paul was designed for: super clean Fifties jazz. You've certainly moved _this_ guitar in that direction. Comparing the end result (so far) to the starting point was like hearing a blanket taken off the amp's speaker. I wonder if you're going to get more sustain out of the guitar now that there are pickups in it with lower output and weaker magnets. I _definitely_ recommend you scrape some pennies together and get a fret job. Assuming it's done right, it'll make you fall in love with that guitar all over again. To me, the greatest Les Pauls are the ancient original '57 through '60 ones that were so instrumental (get it?) in defining the sound of rock records in the Sixties and Seventies. The one I've heard the most is probably the Peter Green/Gary Moore one. I think that what people think of as the "warm Les Paul tone" came more from the overdriven, distorting amps than the guitars and their pickups. Played clean, those guitars are surprisingly bright. And it's easier to dial out excess treble, if there is any, than to try to EQ treble in at the amp, mixing board or home or car stereo.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I'll get the frets done at some point soon, most likely...it's definitely getting to the point. But as you say, Les Pauls were originally designed to be clean...'proper' voiced PAFs are _bright_ things!!
@pierrederesistance
2 жыл бұрын
I've just done a really similar thing to my 01 custom (which I'd guess is about the same as Justin's except the colour 😂). Not quite as flash as I did CTS pots and orange drops, but really nice Sunbear PAFs and the Faber lightweight tailpiece and Abrn. It's made the world of difference and made a guitar I didn't play much any more back into my main guitar.
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
Ah nice! Yeah, the difference can be huge - I play this one all the time now, whereas before it was gathering dust!
@claudiosuarez1256
3 жыл бұрын
Great video! 🙂👍
@ryanstark2350
3 жыл бұрын
The upgrade worked. I have a Les Paul "Traditional" from 2009 and even that suffers from muddy problems. Old vintage Les Pauls are actually quite bright. The classic 57 pups in my Les don't help even although they are lower output. It also had 300k volume pots. However, then I got a Heritage H150 and never used the Gibson. I think the biggest improvement in your guitar is those OS4 pickups. I've spent some time looking and listening about this and I think those OX4 pickups are all really really great. However, even if I get OX4 pickups I may install them in the Heritage.
@chanceterrill5346
3 жыл бұрын
I liked it by far the best with all electronics replaced but with the Nashville Bridge....... It seemed like it was getting more and more airy, open, and present for the better with each change, until the bridge was swapped. It seemed like the tone took a 180* turn for the worst with the new bridge installed..... It got a bit murky, muddy, and dark..... Almost like it was when it was stock.....i would put the stock bridge back on, and keep all the upgraded electronics and pups in....it sounded amazing that way! Reminded me of a 60th anniv. 59 reissue...... And that's a damn good thing! Great video brother! U the man!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers mate - glad it was a video that was useful overall :-)
@recklesstoboggan
3 жыл бұрын
Wow. I figured the pickups would have made a difference, but the amount and quality of clarity, articulation, and balance that the new wiring and hardware really made much more of a difference than I'd anticipated. Consider me illuminated. Really great video Perky. Thank you. I have a year 2000 Korean (Unsung) Epiphone Les Paul Pro, I've done the wiring and the pickups and it sounds great (between you and me, it's put a few Gibson's to shame in its day)...but it still has never been quite where I wanted it to be. I think a hardware swap might be that final little something that will really get it where I want it to be.
@chanceterrill5346
3 жыл бұрын
That braided wire all the way up to switch and back and the 550k pot value are the things that seriously wake your guitar up..... I would re-rewire ur epi with either those vi pots, or 550k cts hi/mil. spec audio tapers with a 10% or 5% +/- tolerance, make sure they are 550k though..... And all braided wire for everything on your guitar adds just the right amount of capacitance and shifts the resonant peak down to the upper midrange, making everything sound super open and organic..... It's basically THE burst sound..... But you need all the components, I would also get the luxe bumble bees because they are the absolute closest thing to the actual Sprague bumble bees Gibson used in the bursts. Some people say the caps make no difference but I'm convinced I hear a difference and I actually preferred the tone of the luxe bees over actual NOS Sprague black beauties (used in sg, 68 les paul customs, basically all the 60s Gibsons).... But I would start there before swapping hardware....... Another very over looked area is picks..... Yes picks....... They make a big difference..... Thinner picks are brighter and snappier, thicker picks are warmer, fatter, bold etc..... Celluloid is brighter, delrin is warmer etc...strings also make a huge difference..... I use dadarrio balanced tension sets.....they sound and feel amazing because every string has the same tension instead of your g being way too loose and ur high e being super tight..... Ymmv
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Yep - going from 460k(ish) pots up to 550k will definitely open up the top end....the wire might make a small difference, but the pots are where most of the added brightness is coming from in Phase 2 :-)
@monkeybrains
3 жыл бұрын
Great vid. Thanks. Would have been interesting to just change the caps and see how big difference that would have made.
@curtahnlund3758
3 жыл бұрын
Very thourough and dedicated Guy this Joe. Perkins.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers Curt!
@paulstaffordcook8799
3 жыл бұрын
What a great video! I’d go so far as to say this vid is an important resource for ALL us “vintage tone chasers”. You clearly put a lot of time into this, so I’m sure the guitar community will be grateful for years to come. As to the results? Yes, it’s like you’ve taken a blanket off the amp. Definite improvement. And that guitar just looks even cooler now. I really thought the mis-matched coloured bobbins would go mad with my OCD, but they actually look very cool. Well done, watched every minute.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Paul - yep, guitar massively less muffled now. I wasn't a fan of the mismatched pickups at first - even tried fitting covers but didn't like the sound - but they're really growing on me now! :-) Cheers mate!!
@Lukecroydon
3 жыл бұрын
Interesting video... I found the original too muddy and the finished product too thin... I wonder how much difference removing the pickup covers made... I’d like to hear the finished product but with pickup covers, particularly on the neck... thanks for doing this vid though, I’m planning on buying a USA Les Paul next year and so this definitely helps inform my thinking! 👍🏻
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Glad it was a useful video overall! Covers vs. no covers is definitely a subjective thing - personally, I think that for an uncovered pickup to 'work' (for me, at least) it needs to be designed to be uncovered. I've never taken a cover _off_ and preferred the sound; but equally, I've never _added_ a cover and preferred it either. So how the pickup is designed is important in that respect, I think.
@toddzino58
3 жыл бұрын
Loved this one Joe!!!! Those Beanos sound amazing. This content and the amp ones are my favorites. Thanks for doing these. Nice cup of “Joe” and this amazing video made my morning!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Would need to be a pretty big cup to fit me in it ;-) haha! Glad you liked it Todd...cheers!
@BadMotivator66
3 жыл бұрын
I've had the same dilemma with my 2013 LPJ! I opted to leave it alone except for things that break. But i want to turn my epi into more a burst thing. and it's always good to 'meet' another darkness fan!!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Absolutely....Darkness fans are everywhere! ;-)
@garyeckel1656
3 жыл бұрын
I would put JUmbo Frets on it. swap the pups to 8.5ohm on the bridge and the neck to a 7.3ohm maybe toss on some nickel covers, but the white pickup looks like hell. maybe a custom truss rod cover www.ebay.com/itm/Truss-rod-cover-fits-Gibson-Les-Paul-SG-Vintage-Horror-print/352629955606?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
@jamesatkinson4386
3 жыл бұрын
Very enjoyable. Time just went, getting caught up with the whole project. So much difference to me. Listening with good earphones the original was muffled. Still very useable as it can be dialled but nothing like the instant clarity at the end phase. Main takeaway was the hardware sonic difference. Sceptical at first but made a difference, albeit subtle, to the overall sound. Very well done with the whole episode.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers James - as you say, it's a subtle difference with the hardware but definitely there! :-)
@martt83
3 жыл бұрын
Going to sit on the fence and say I really liked both setups. Like you already said, both are great for differing situations. Shows that the wood is good. Going to stick my neck out and say the raw materials Gibson USA were using in the early 90s were probably better/more seasoned than the stuff they are using on today's custom shops..
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
It really is a great sounding lump of wood, regardless of what's in it - it's just a phenomenal guitar all round! :-)
@mikeroadblock
3 жыл бұрын
You rock kind sir!
@wheelbarrow2779
3 жыл бұрын
Thankyou
@ryanstark2350
3 жыл бұрын
A tip with soldering. There are some laws in Europe outlawing lead solder but the lead free solder is absolute crap. You can buy lead tin solder on ebay.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
I only use leaded solder - much easier to work with 👍
@ryanstark2350
3 жыл бұрын
@@JoePerkinsMusic Yes, the problem with the other stuff is that you need a lot more heat. This usually means a hotter soldering iron and it doesn't flow as well. A hotter soldering iron is more dangerous in terms of potentially damaging parts. People who have not done soldering before and buy a soldering iron and that lead free solder may struggle with it. For anyone new to soldering I would always say to try to get the lead stuff. I also suspect that the silver type solder does not last as well.
@eddiequinones3396
3 жыл бұрын
Love these videos! Question: I have a lefty Strat and want to “correct” my backwards pot tapers by re-soldering them to work like righty controls. (They now work counter-clockwise and barely taper at all; they’re more like on-off switches). I’m not even looking to tinker with different pots yet. I’m fine with the ones I have; I’m just desperate to experience a FUNCTIONAL set of Volume and Tone controls. I have a good guitar tech, and I’m not opposed to spending the money, but I would like to learn how to do this, so I can do it on any future guitars. I’m just nervous because I’ve never soldered before, I don’t want to damage anything, and Strat electronics don’t have their own neat compartment in the back like LP’s. Now, I have found some good general guitar electronics soldering tutorials on KZitem, but I can’t find one that details THIS specific mod. 1.) Do you have any tips on either what to do, or what NOT to do (even what kind of soldering iron / solder is recommended)? 2.) Is this fix really as simple as switching Lug #1 and Lug #3 on all 3 Strat pots? Is it physically feasible to leave the Tone capacitors alone while doing this, or will I need to unsolder / re-solder those as well? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Eddie :-) In theory, just swapping whatever is on the two outside lugs around should make the pots work the opposite direction but "re-reverse" the taper - if that makes any sense!! It's not a hard job with a bit of experience - and it's good to know how to do these things; saves a lot of money on techs in the long term! :P The few tips I would have: - Use a soldering iron of a good wattage - at least 25W. You can get lower powered ones but you'll risk overheating things by needing to leave the iron on for a long time. - When soldering pots, turn them fully open - if you leave them turned half way, you can cause damage to the wiper. - Heat the joint and then flow the solder in - but only leave the iron on the component for as long as is absolutely necessary...excessive heat _can_ damage things. - Personally, I prefer using leaded solder to unleaded. I _believe_ the legality of that varies from country to country: in the UK it's legal to buy it for personal use but you can't sell products commercially with it in. I find it flows better and it has a lower melting temperature...just much easier to work with. - If your Strat has a traditional wiring setup, you'll probably find it only has only one capacitor with a leg that goes through both the right hand lug of the neck pickup tone knob and the centre lug of the middle pickup tone knob. You'd need to un-solder that and move it to going through the left lug of the neck tone before the centre lug of the middle tone. Some modern Strats have a cap on each of the tone pots though - in that case, if the caps connect to either of the outside lugs on their respective pots, you'll need to switch those around. - A Strat is a good guitar to practice soldering on as (if you unbolt the jack plug) you can remove the whole scratch plate from the guitar and solder everything away from the body...that way, you might drop a bit of solder on the back of the pickguard but you can avoid getting any on your nice guitar finish :-) As you say, the pots will work the opposite way around relative to the guitar if you switch all the lugs around...but if they do have their tapers reversed, re-reversing them will at least give you a useable pot setup :-) Failing that...lefty pots are out there! Enjoy!
@eddiequinones3396
3 жыл бұрын
@@JoePerkinsMusic Thank you so much!
@GeordieGuitarGuy
3 жыл бұрын
I believe the Tone-pros hardwares essentially are Gotoh parts with a surcharge whacked on top...?
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Not sure...could be!
@markwright9352
3 жыл бұрын
Really enjoyable episode Joe, the pots and caps had the biggest difference for me, but no Grover tuners??🤪
@wheelbarrow2779
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for putting arge into rehab 👍
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Hah - maybe one day I'll treat it! :P
@JP-jy7sk
2 жыл бұрын
12-62 strings! Damn!
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
*12-64 ;-) They're basically pylon cables :P
@gainandpain
3 жыл бұрын
Early 90's gibsons are best. I own one , I have so many new gibson but not the same
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
It really is a great chunk of wood, for sure!
@ts31966
3 жыл бұрын
I agree with your assessment exactly Joe. I am glad the tone of the guitar has remained the same. It still has the tone of the Darkness in it. I do prefer the look of the pickup covers myself. I also prefer the metal tuners over the pearloid tuners. I am not sure what gave the guitar the clarity. It may have been the wire and tone pots. The stock pickups while being higher gain should have been clearer sounding.
@toddzino58
3 жыл бұрын
I wonder if the reason was that one pot that he measures which seemed out of tolerance. Not sure if it was a volume or a tone pot.
@BadMotivator66
3 жыл бұрын
the covers would play a part in that
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
It was the neck volume pot on the original setup that was reading a bit weird...not entirely sure why; very much doubt it was a 1.6Meg pot!!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
And yes - uncovered pickups typically have a glassier high end :-)
@curtahnlund3758
3 жыл бұрын
Hey, you should really try The Gibson historic ABR 1 bridge for more "Chirp" and a tad less sustain..... Had Faber but, found it less musical than The original!
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
I had a Gibson ABR-1 on my ES-330 and swapped it out for a Faber...seemed to have a little more weight to it after (and actually made the feedback issue of a fully hollow guitar slightly better). For a guitar designed for a Nashville bridge (like in this video) it needs to be a special bridge as a standard ABR-1 won't fit...the spacing are slightly different. Faber do their ABR-N, which is an ABR-1 made to Nashville dimensions. :-)
@ryanstark2350
3 жыл бұрын
It's not that difficult to take the bushings out. All you need is a bolt with the same thread. You put the bolt through some kind of small tube with a washer on the end to hold the bolt. Then when you screw it in it will eventually pull the bushings out and you simply hammer the new ones in. No specialised tools needed.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Yep - I’ve done it a few times before and it’s always worked fine. Just didn’t feel overly necessary to do it this time, all things considered.
@mikebarnard2689
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Joe Did you wire the pots conventionally ie clockwise to go louder? or are these reverse log taper ... speaking of which are they vintage taper 25-30%? Are you happy with 0.022uF value caps? Personally I’m using 0.015uF in Les Pauls as I found 0-3 in the tone circuit too dull. Glad it worked out for you.
@JoePerkinsMusic
3 жыл бұрын
They're 'standard' pots wired conventionally - so they work properly, but turn the opposite direction to 'standard' relative to the guitar. But I run pots like that in all of my guitars so I'm very used to them working that way around...gives me more options when choosing pots :-) I like the 0.022uF caps - I don't go all the way down to zero too often, but having that sound available is quite nice :-)
@mikebarnard2689
3 жыл бұрын
@@JoePerkinsMusic yep, I’m a lefty to and wire my Fenders righty, ie clockwise is louder, can’t stand Fenders scheme of wiring pots backwards and losing the taper. Speaking of pots I’ve had terrific results from UK business Six String Supplies , their Premium pots are just that , tight tolerance, smooth winding, great taper CTS units.
@youssefkasim7556
3 жыл бұрын
The stock sounds muddier compared to the upgrades. At least to my ears.
@mikebarnard2689
3 жыл бұрын
Yep, lower DC pickups and higher value pots... gotta happen.
@johnmirabile3535
2 жыл бұрын
it looks very 59 as is.....i think 92 to 97ish is considered the good wood yrs....
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I've heard that early 90s was a particular good era for wood in Les Pauls! No clue why though :P
@johnmirabile3535
2 жыл бұрын
@@JoePerkinsMusic I think every 20 years or so they allow more harvesting for brazilian rosewood, houndoran mahogony and the good maple...Betwwen furniture guitars etc. we did a number on the good woods especially in the 1900's so they only allow so much every so often, or theyll be none left, seems like the whole world wants an era correct burst,,,This is why when we put a good set of pickups in the new standards they can compete with the new custom shops...but up againt alate 50;s you have to get really lucky..You have a good one there, i can tell i watched the video again...
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
@@johnmirabile3535 Ah yeah, that makes sense. It's such a killer Les Paul this one...it has ThroBak SLE-101's in it now and it absolutely rips!!
@johnmirabile3535
2 жыл бұрын
@@JoePerkinsMusic i bet, i put Dave Stephens sdpickups in my golt top...and they sound exactly like 50's pafs, hes known for being the paf guy, throwbacks are great too, how can they go wrong? they bought the gibsons winding machines from the 50s, and use all correct parts like my guy...If your ever in the market for pafs again, order from Dave, hes a genius...check out his videos..youll see why..
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
@@johnmirabile3535 I'm v familiar with Dave's work - would love to check out his PAFs, but I've been put off by his 'Pay now in full, receive pickups sometime, maybe' business model...for $650 + shipping I'd at least want to know how long the wait might be. I asked him and was just told 'some years' - whereas ThroBak could deliver the following week.
@gkulups
2 жыл бұрын
No 1 or 0 allowed and DAW running in background...
@JoePerkinsMusic
2 жыл бұрын
I’ll send you the reel to reel tape via a carrier pigeon.
@chanceterrill5346
3 жыл бұрын
First!
@kommi1974
3 жыл бұрын
Found the teenager.
@chanceterrill5346
3 жыл бұрын
@@kommi1974 no I'm in my thirties! I've just never been the first one before..... Yes I'm Ashamed lol
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