Les Paul tone for 594 bridge..?

[GavQuinn]

Hey Gav I think you are in Ireland?

The EU PRS 57/08 stock is gone (was looking recently), but there are some with retailers eg dv247 has them in UK, bridge is 201squid

Well Bai, correct, I am. Thomann has them for €250.

I don’t think it’s needed to spend that much. That’s a lot for one pickup.

 

[Guitpicky]

That's well for you! I can't afford another Les Paul.

As I see it, a man's spent a lot of time and effort trying to replicate a vintage Les Paul's tone in a modern format. That's why I and many others like the 594. I want that sound from the bridge pickup. I don't mind cloning that sound at all.

All the other tones, strangely, I prefer the PRS.

On that note I wholeheartedly agree... I consider myself very lucky to own both, and even luckier to find one of each that perfectly fits my own tastes. It’s not something usually in the normal realm of possibilities for me, but I really enjoy a well made instrument.

I was very lucky in that the stars all aligned for me to make it possible, the right guitars coming along at just the right time at a price I could afford. I did give up weed for a year for one and wine for a year for the other, but I do that kind of thing now and then anyway just to see how the other half lives

 

[Guitpicky]

That’s kind of Paul’s thing... to build a better mousetrap, or at least make you think he has. On the surface, they’re a bit more polished, but Paul has never been able to replicate what’s so special about a great LP and the harder he tries the worse it gets. This is because of something the brain can’t explain but our heart understands and Paul follows his brain almost exclusively. He’s not stupid and knows that modern society tries its best to get us to follow our brain and empirical data rather than listening to our heart.

What a great Les Paul has that no PRS ever will is “heart” but only people that truly follow their heart seem to be able to understand what that even is. The other thing Gibson as a company has is a well earned heritage. Gibson has a shared heritage with America and the music that shaped a nation, PRS has technical innovation and marketing. If it’s about what really moves people, Paul has a long way to go to catch up and he knows it

 

[GavQuinn]

That’s kind of Paul’s thing... to build a better mousetrap, or at least make you think he has. On the surface, they’re a bit more polished, but Paul has never been able to replicate what’s so special about a great LP and the harder he tries the worse it gets.

I don’t agree there, I think he’s captured much of the essence actually. I always liked the LP crunch tone but hated the guitar. It’s taken a long time for me to barely come around. I’d need a Custom Shop to get on board, I’d only want a real expensive LP. I have and Love a hugely overhauled and modded SE245 and it’s LP all over. It’s the final corksniffing part and I’m not sure I could even tell blindfolded on a bad day.

I also personally (just me) don’t give a toss about their heritage. They’re a huge company that’s changed several times over the last 100 years. Who they were in the 50s is dead and gone and what is it really to say that they’re spending all their time looking backwards trying to repeat the past anyway..? Fact is that we know more about making guitars than the guys in the 50s did, it’s a matter of choice that impedes them.

Neck pickup tone, clean, strumming clean tone, tuning, weight, balance, comfort - all things I can do without from a Gibson. PRS have that all solved.

 

[Guitpicky]

I don’t agree there, I think he’s captured much of the essence actually. I always liked the LP crunch tone but hated the guitar. It’s taken a long time for me to barely come around. I’d need a Custom Shop to get on board, I’d only want a real expensive LP. I have and Love a hugely overhauled and modded SE245 and it’s LP all over. It’s the final corksniffing part and I’m not sure I could even tell blindfolded on a bad day.

I also personally (just me) don’t give a toss about their heritage. They’re a huge company that’s changed several times over the last 100 years. Who they were in the 50s is dead and gone and what is it really to say that they’re spending all their time looking backwards trying to repeat the past anyway..? Fact is that we know more about making guitars than the guys in the 50s did, it’s a matter of choice that impedes them.

Neck pickup tone, clean, strumming clean tone, tuning, weight, balance, comfort - all things I can do without from a Gibson. PRS have that all solved.

You may disagree, but you just proved my point

 

[GavQuinn]

You may disagree, but you just proved my point

Yeah maybe, but sure look

 

[RickP]

I don’t agree there, I think he’s captured much of the essence actually. I always liked the LP crunch tone but hated the guitar. It’s taken a long time for me to barely come around. I’d need a Custom Shop to get on board, I’d only want a real expensive LP. I have and Love a hugely overhauled and modded SE245 and it’s LP all over. It’s the final corksniffing part and I’m not sure I could even tell blindfolded on a bad day.

I also personally (just me) don’t give a toss about their heritage. They’re a huge company that’s changed several times over the last 100 years. Who they were in the 50s is dead and gone and what is it really to say that they’re spending all their time looking backwards trying to repeat the past anyway..? Fact is that we know more about making guitars than the guys in the 50s did, it’s a matter of choice that impedes them.

Neck pickup tone, clean, strumming clean tone, tuning, weight, balance, comfort - all things I can do without from a Gibson. PRS have that all solved.

This has been an interesting thread, and pretty interesting to hear everyone’s input. I’m not one that much subscribes to Gibson or PRS or anyone else having magic wood, metal, or means of making a guitar. It plays and sounds good or it doesn’t, and I’ve played glorious and garbage old Les Pauls. Gibson and Fender made some incredible guitars with wildly varying parts and construction. Man, when they hit it, they hit it out of the park. That’s the difference I have seen in PRS core guitars in over a decade of gigging them. No voodoo, just incredibly consistent construction from Paul’s greatest advantage... a desire to know how and why the good ones sound good, and finding a way to replicate it over and over.

It’s good you know the sound you’re looking for! Can’t wait to see what gets you there.

 

[dogrocketp]

I played nothing but Gibson through music school. I’d been out and about a few years before Paul sold his first guitar. The Gibson’s I owned were wildly inconsistent in tone and quality. There was no mojo in them to my ears. I can’t hear mojo. I can hear proper intonation, balanced sound, and different pickups. Not to mention tremolos that actually work. Why should a PRS sound “like” a Les? Take a similar formula, use better ingredients, and listen to what you get. It can supersede the original on a consistent basis. The word is consistent. By the way, the last Gibson was sold 10 years ago. It was a 1965 L7C with an original dearmond I bought in 1969. After two fret jobs, that wouldn’t stay in tune. McDonald’s has been making hamburgers longer than any other chain. Are they better? They must have mojo.

 

[Rider1260]

I was underwelmed with the LTs also the 58/15mt in my Special Semi is killer.
I am also a fan of the McCarty ( have these is a CU22 ) , Mira/245 ( Have these in my SCT and had in my DGT ) , 57/08 these are just great pickups and are very PAF with more much than the LT

 

[jxe]

you have no heart.

i’ve had bad to great gibson guitars, not recently of course.

I played nothing but Gibson through music school. I’d been out and about a few years before Paul sold his first guitar. The Gibson’s I owned were wildly inconsistent in tone and quality. There was no mojo in them to my ears. I can’t hear mojo. I can hear proper intonation, balanced sound, and different pickups. Not to mention tremolos that actually work. Why should a PRS sound “like” a Les? Take a similar formula, use better ingredients, and listen to what you get. It can supersede the original on a consistent basis. The word is consistent. By the way, the last Gibson was sold 10 years ago. It was a 1965 L7C with an original dearmond I bought in 1969. After two fret jobs, that wouldn’t stay in tune. McDonald’s has been making hamburgers longer than any other chain. Are they better? They must have mojo.

 

[88prs]

Wow, getting hot in here,,, I have to say, I spent as much as a 594 Artist on an R8 that looks spectacular. I hate that guitar and would sell it if I wouldn't take such a beating. Rock on PRS!

 

[Guitpicky]

It's not a vs thing for me, I love both guitars based on their own merits. Thank God I don't have to hate one just to love the other, that's too small a box for me to fit into. A lot of it comes from knowing myself and WHY they both appeal to me in different ways. Part of knowing yourself is knowing where you came from and what shaped you, and that's where heritage comes into the picture. Guitars aren't just shiny objects, they're also symbols that represent who we are and how we identify ourselves. I'm very much into both apsects, and very lucky that I found guitars that fit ME and fulfill my needs on both levels

 

[Guitpicky]

Wow, getting hot in here,,, I have to say, I spent as much as a 594 Artist on an R8 that looks spectacular. I hate that guitar and would sell it if I wouldn't take such a beating. Rock on PRS!

An R8 is one of those you really have to do some homework on to make sure that's what you're after, especially if you're concerned with resale value because they're so over-shadowed by the R9. It wouldn't be my own LP preference and if it were I'd buy used mint rather than take the hit on a new one.

Why do you hate it, is it the neck profile?

 

[Guitpicky]

I played nothing but Gibson through music school. I’d been out and about a few years before Paul sold his first guitar. The Gibson’s I owned were wildly inconsistent in tone and quality. There was no mojo in them to my ears. I can’t hear mojo. I can hear proper intonation, balanced sound, and different pickups. Not to mention tremolos that actually work. Why should a PRS sound “like” a Les? Take a similar formula, use better ingredients, and listen to what you get. It can supersede the original on a consistent basis. The word is consistent. By the way, the last Gibson was sold 10 years ago. It was a 1965 L7C with an original dearmond I bought in 1969. After two fret jobs, that wouldn’t stay in tune. McDonald’s has been making hamburgers longer than any other chain. Are they better? They must have mojo.

"Mojo" (a Cajun term meaning "hidden hand") by any name is not something you can see or hear, it's something you FEEL. Feeling depends on listening to your heart and in modern society our brain does its best to prevent that because of the process we're all going thru. A good example is love, we're all looking for it but never find it because it's not something we can detect with our physical senses. Would you say love doesn't exist because you can't see or hear it?

 

[88prs]

Why do you hate it, is it the neck profile?

The neck I like but the total vibe just doesn't suit me, it's clunky and just doesn't feel like home, like my PRS guitars. Ya, the tone is classic but the sweet lead voice of a PRS is hard for me to top.

 

[Guitpicky]

The neck I like but the total vibe just doesn't suit me, it clunky and just doesn't feel like home, like my PRS guitars. Ya, the tone is classic but the sweet lead voice of a PRS is hard for me to top.

I get what you mean by that, but I got lucky there. My first electric was an LP Standard and it was a great guitar but not as ergonomic as my 594. I didn't know **** at the time and I was following all the internet advice on neck size and all that. I ended up trading it in for a Modern Custom and wondered at first if it would be worth it. Boy was it ever, the instant I got that thing in my hands it "felt like home".

The neck filled my hand perfectly, I could feel every little vibration thru the neck acoustically and everything about it just felt right. In some ways it's more comfortable than my 594 and that's saying a lot. It's mostly a balance thing based on the body shape, the 594 has more of a tendency to slide off my lap but it only matters when I'm not using a strap.

I'll never give up either until I die or go broke because I don't think I could land anything better and my GAS ended when I got 2 electrics and 2 acoustics that really appealed to me on all levels. I feel like I've pushed my luck as far as it can go with guitars, any more and I wouldn't be so lucky to find the perfect fits that I have now. Part of getting lucky is knowing when to be satisfied and I'm there with all of my guitars

 

[Callan]

I had thought of that pickup on several occasions. Not many people seem to make a late PAF, when they changed the winding and mags.

Is it bright? I always imagined that it was the AC/DC tone, like it was real twangy and ideal for a mid heavy, darker guitar.

When you say thin; do you mean less bottom end thump when chugging...? For example...?

Yep, less bottom end.
Like when your turn off the subwoofer from a system, everything is still there except the low end.

It's not a bad thing as such, especially in a busy mix, just noticable compared to mules and others.

We did cover 'shook need all night' last weekend and the sc594+RiffRaff combo sounded great

 

[GavQuinn]

The neck I like but the total vibe just doesn't suit me, it clunky and just doesn't feel like home, like my PRS guitars. Ya, the tone is classic but the sweet lead voice of a PRS is hard for me to top.

The last 58 I played a week ago had a gigantic neck. If it doesn’t have mega jumbo frets I’m going to find that to be on the more difficult side to play..

I think there’s a machismo with huge necks but it’s bull****, there is such a thing as too big.

 

[pac90]

Bareknuckle are so good

 

[GavQuinn]

Yep, less bottom end.
Like when your turn off the subwoofer from a system, everything is still there except the low end.

It's not a bad thing as such, especially in a busy mix, just noticable compared to mules and others.

We did cover 'shook need all night' last weekend and the sc594+RiffRaff combo sounded great

What's the mid range like? Is there an upper mid crunch?

I'd considered one for my Starla for years. I found the Starla too dark with PAFs; like it had too much mid focus with overdrive. I'd want something that could brighten the guitar up.

Sorry for my questions, I've just gotten pickups wrong before and it's like a €165 gamble every time!! I'd get one for my Starla if I was sure it'd be bright enough.