I tried out a couple of Gibson 60th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard's today

Blaendulais

Good article by Chris.  I'm reassured the hang tags are correct but i have to laugh when so many other period features are deemed essential by Gibson but the lack of Brazilian rosewood is dismissed as having no effect on tone.   

xchrisv

Blaendulais said:

Good article by Chris.  I'm reassured the hang tags are correct but i have to laugh when so many other period features are deemed essential by Gibson but the lack of Brazilian rosewood is dismissed as having no effect on tone.   

The problem seems to be sourcing it in sufficient quantity, with the correct paperwork. Man in shed can get enough Braz to built a Burst replica but if you are cranking hundreds of these out of a factory every month it becomes a different ballgame. 

stickyfiddle

Skipped said:

If you were to put a camera in Gruhn Guitars, and record the reaction of guitar playing tourists, who are playing a 'Burst for the very first time, you would see lots of people expressing mild surprise at the brightness of PAFs (in a 50s Les Paul), when compared to their perception, which was based on listening to some of the greatest recordings of the past 60 years.

Joe Bonamassa has made an important contribution to this topic. A few years ago he recorded an album track which  featured an obvious and deliberate Bluesbreakers sound. This was achieved with one of his 'Bursts plugged straight into a period correct Marshall combo. I think the track demonstrates that Clapton was not using a treble booster on that iconic album.

Because there was no need to.

Yep. It’s easy to forget that a lot of the fatness on something like How the West was Won comes from a Marshall stack on full chat plus mics and a modern studio full of compression and eq at every stage.

HandwrittenHero

Not got anything recorded, but just going to put my 2 cents:

My first choice rig right now is a 8lb 3oz 2018 R9 (stock so potted custombuckers and should be the same as in Randall's '16 R8) into a Beano Boost into a Marshall 1974X. Currently on 9.5 gauge NYXLs (bit twangy at first, settled in) but they'll go to Nickel once it's time to change.

I'm more inclined to the sound with the Beano Boost kicked on halfway up. I find between the Les Paul and the amp things can be dark and woolly enough with the amp overdriving naturally that boosting it gives a clear roar and some brightness without it going nasal or thin. That's with a lightweight Les Paul and what I'd consider brighter strings.

I do see the use of the tone Chris was getting with the 60th R9 though - that'll definitely cut right through a mix. Got elements of the tele on steroids type of sound to it. Would say it's not a million miles from the Whole Lotta Love tone with a little tweaking (which I thought was a tele)

RandallFlagg

stickyfiddle said:

Skipped said:

If you were to put a camera in Gruhn Guitars, and record the reaction of guitar playing tourists, who are playing a 'Burst for the very first time, you would see lots of people expressing mild surprise at the brightness of PAFs (in a 50s Les Paul), when compared to their perception, which was based on listening to some of the greatest recordings of the past 60 years.

Joe Bonamassa has made an important contribution to this topic. A few years ago he recorded an album track which  featured an obvious and deliberate Bluesbreakers sound. This was achieved with one of his 'Bursts plugged straight into a period correct Marshall combo. I think the track demonstrates that Clapton was not using a treble booster on that iconic album.

Because there was no need to.

Yep. It’s easy to forget that a lot of the fatness on something like How the West was Won comes from a Marshall stack on full chat plus mics and a modern studio full of compression and eq at every stage.

I've played enough Les Pauls, owned more than I care to admit since the late 80s and I trust my ears. These new Les Pauls have thinner, brighter sounding pickups, that is a fact not perception.

My 2016 R8 had that sound and these new ones do not. Type as many words about amps and mic placement as you like but I recommend you try one of the new 60th Anniversary R9s, in person, in the room and see what you think.

TINMAN82

chrisv said:

It's really interesting – not everyone will enjoy the extended treble of unpotted pickups and one person's 'clarity' is another's 'bright and harsh'. I really like the voicing but everyone has a different ideal Les Paul tone in their head. I used the 60th Anniversary model we had in for this Marshall demo, should anyone fancy hearing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-tElpTRsHE

Sounds awesome to me. It does seem a bit brighter than my 2013 R8 (through a mini silver jubilee) but not in a bad way. 

RandallFlagg

scovell001 said:

Played 2 of these last week & 2 true historics. Yeah I think anyone who is looking for this kinda tone https://youtu.be/haH1Suh6zHs will be a little bit underwhelmed with the pickups in these guitars. They are very bright and neutral.

 I have the 59 tributes from ‘14 & they’re all over them ( and I thought the tributes were a little bit thin sounding). 

With that said, they would be great for pedal board use as they are so neutral sounding.

That's more like it! Nice tone.

crunchman

chrisv said:

Blaendulais said:

Good article by Chris.  I'm reassured the hang tags are correct but i have to laugh when so many other period features are deemed essential by Gibson but the lack of Brazilian rosewood is dismissed as having no effect on tone.   

The problem seems to be sourcing it in sufficient quantity, with the correct paperwork. Man in shed can get enough Braz to built a Burst replica but if you are cranking hundreds of these out of a factory every month it becomes a different ballgame. 

Even if they could get enough, they couldn't export it to the EU, given the EU's over top implementation of CITES.  The rest of the world seems to be ok with verified pre 1992 wood.

gringopig

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pmbomb

@chrisv really enjoyed that solo, no pick at all?

xchrisv

pmbomb said:

@chrisv really enjoyed that solo, no pick at all?

Thanks! First solo is neck pickup and fingers, second is bridge pickup and pick. TBH I had to watch it back to check as I play with fingers a lot these days...