How can I make my PRS SE sound more like a Les Paul?

Lewguitar said:
I read an interview with Paul McCartney where he was talking about his rare left handed 50-something Les Paul. He was excited to record an album with it but once they started recording, his 60’s Epiphone semi hollow body with P90’s always sounded better. Paul was bummed. But he still plays the Les Paul live.

I’ve never been able to get a great sound out of a Les Paul unless my amp was cranked. So when I was playing clubs Five nights a week I gigged with a Gibson ES-335 or ES-355. Sounded better.
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Kinda ditto for me. I never quite got an LP tone I liked. I think once I discovered PRS Singlecuts, I just never bothered with LP's again. They feel....clunky to play. I might be alone in that sentiment, but I dunno....just didn't fit with me.

Reminds me of another video I came across in my travels. It was Rhett Shull. I dont usually watch him, but this one was his bud trying to get him to give PRS a second chance, as he tried the entire spectrum of the line previously and seemed mostly unimpressed. He has the same complaint everytime, the same one you've heard a bazillion times by now: PRS has a lack of "personality". Translation: PRS make consistently fine instruments, but me like the clunk.
 
Lower pickups... play around with the screw pole pieces per string height wise after getting the overall pickup heights set to taste.
I get a LOT of variation on my guitars just doing that simple procedure. Well ... not always simple... LoL!
 
Glide-bpm said:
Lower pickups... play around with the screw pole pieces per string height wise after getting the overall pickup heights set to taste.
I get a LOT of variation on my guitars just doing that simple procedure. Well ... not always simple... LoL!
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Joe Walsh is a Les Paul player and he says he used to adjust his humbuckers as close to the strings as he could without the vibrating strings hitting the polepieces.

I used to adjust them that way too. All I wanted was as much output as I could get and that added sizzle I hear when the pickups are super close to the strings.

Now Joe doesn't adjust them that way and I don't either. I get a sweeter tone when they're a little further away.

I've tried to love Les Pauls and I've owned some really good ones, starting with a real '56 Gold Top that I traded a Fender Jaguar for when I was still in High School around 1967.

Eventually i always sell them. I guess I like a guitar that resonates a bit more. That I can feel vibrating against my body.

I prefer my old CU22 and ES-335. And my Mark Jenny Strat and SE Silver Skys.

The pickups have been changed in all of them.

Duncan Antiquitys in the CU22. Tom Holmes in the ES-335. Chubtones in the Silver Skys. Duncan Antiquity Surfers in the Mark Jenny Strat.
 
Lewguitar said:
Joe Walsh is a Les Paul player and he says he used to adjust his humbuckers as close to the strings as he could without the vibrating strings hitting the polepieces.

I used to adjust them that way too. All I wanted was as much output as I could get and that added sizzle I hear when the pickups are super close to the strings.

Now Joe doesn't adjust them that way and I don't either. I get a sweeter tone when they're a little further away.

I've tried to love Les Pauls and I've owned some really good ones, starting with a real '56 Gold Top that I traded a Fender Jaguar for when I was still in High School around 1967.

Eventually i always sell them. I guess I like a guitar that resonates a bit more. That I can feel vibrating against my body.

I prefer my old CU22 and ES-335. And my Mark Jenny Strat and SE Silver Skys.

The pickups have been changed in all of them.

Duncan Antiquitys in the CU22. Tom Holmes in the ES-335. Chubtones in the Silver Skys. Duncan Antiquity Surfers in the Mark Jenny Strat.
Click to expand...
What I gleaned from watching a number of YouTube videos regarding the classic Les Paul burst sound was that what made them so special and valuable was as much the players as it was guitars. Certainly the good ones had a great sound, but when played by Clapton, Beck, Walsh, Allman, Page, Gibbons etc. it became the holy grail of tone. My plan is to put my set of Seth Lovers in a SE Standard 22. And Joe says his signature PRS is perfect.
 
Torvald said:
What I gleaned from watching a number of YouTube videos regarding the classic Les Paul burst sound was that what made them so special and valuable was as much the players as it was guitars. Certainly the good ones had a great sound, but when played by Clapton, Beck, Walsh, Allman, Page, Gibbons etc. it became the holy grail of tone. My plan is to put my set of Seth Lovers in a SE Standard 22. And Joe says his signature PRS is perfect.
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Joe who?
 
Torvald said:
Walsh.
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Didn't know he had a signature PRS.

Joe always sounds like he's loaded. Don't think he is though. Not always. Maybe not at all anymore.

Do all Singlecut McCartys have these pickups? Or just the Joe Walsh Model?

Has a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with stainless steel frets!

 
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I don't know about the pickups. I don't think I'd have Joe do my measuring for me, but if he says it's got the " mojo", I believe him.
 
Lewguitar said:
Anybody know more about this ax?

Wondering if it has a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard like an old Les Paul.

Same body thickness and construction as all McCarty Singlecuts?

Same pickups?

It's $9000 new.

Gotta be something very special about it!
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Yes, Brazilian rosewood, 58/15lt pickups, says right on the PRS website. Only made 200 of them.
 
Lewguitar said:
Didn't know he had a signature PRS.

Joe always sounds like he's loaded. Don't think he is though. Not always. Maybe not at all anymore.

Do all Singlecut McCartys have these pickups? Or just the Joe Walsh Model?

Has a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with stainless steel frets!

Click to expand...
I saw him playing it with the Eagles last year, it sounds sweet.
 
Torvald said:
Yes, Brazilian rosewood, 58/15lt pickups, says right on the PRS website. Only made 200 of them.
Click to expand...

Lewguitar said:
Stainless steel frets too!
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It's a great guitar. I won't be letting go of mine anytime soon. They are SS frets, and they are a little smaller than what comes on the regular 594. See post #86 in this thread for fret measurements.

forums.prsguitars.com

NGD - JW Ltd

Alright. Joe Walsh Ltd landed Saturday thanks to @IshGuitars offering free overnight shipping. Initial impressions are that it is a little different that my DC 594. More mid-push due to the LT+ pickups on the JW. I can't compare it to another SC 594, but from what I recall from the 594 Shot Out...
forums.prsguitars.com forums.prsguitars.com

The 59/15LT in the SC are 58/15LT+. I can't remember what effect the + adds. Maybe a little more mid-push. I think Howard and Tim talk about it in this video.


 
bodia said:
It's a great guitar. I won't be letting go of mine anytime soon. They are SS frets, and they are a little smaller than what comes on the regular 594. See post #86 in this thread for fret measurements.

forums.prsguitars.com

NGD - JW Ltd

Alright. Joe Walsh Ltd landed Saturday thanks to @IshGuitars offering free overnight shipping. Initial impressions are that it is a little different that my DC 594. More mid-push due to the LT+ pickups on the JW. I can't compare it to another SC 594, but from what I recall from the 594 Shot Out...
forums.prsguitars.com forums.prsguitars.com

The 59/15LT in the SC are 58/15LT+. I can't remember what effect the + adds. Maybe a little more mid-push. I think Howard and Tim talk about it in this video.


Click to expand...
So, I guess it's fair to say that a PRS can sound like a good Les Paul, maybe even better.
 
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