Looking for the guitar that sounds like a les paul without the Gibson Bridge

There is a noticeable difference in feel going from a Fender to an LP and especially an SG. Part of it is the shorter scale long, but there's also something in where the neck meets the body compared to where it rests on your knee or hangs on the strap. It is very much like the whole length of the string is shifted a bit to the left. The brige is a bit further over, you have to reach a little further to get to the low notes, and I find that my hand finds the area of the twelfth fret a bit more naturally than on my Fender shaped guitars. It took a bit of adjustment moving from playing Strats and Jazzmaster style guitars to the SG, and I still prefer the Fenders most of the time.

What I personally hate about the LP is the placement of the pickup switch. I'm sure that more reserved players find it convenient not to have to reach too far, but you'll see a lot of pictures of people with those things just duct taped one way or another so they can't accidentally switch while banging away. I swapped the one on my LP for a rotary switch with a Tele-style knurled knob, so I get punished physically if I get too crazy with it.

My shortscale bass (one of those Teisco brands from the 70s) had the studs for an ashtray bridge cover, but no cover. That used to shred my right hand until I removed them.
 
I'll definitely go with bad technique, on this one. I can palm mute, with no problem/injury, with my Gibson Melody Maker and Gibson Les Paul Faded Double Cut, both having a stop tail piece/TOM combination.
 
I had to adjust my right hand due to those sharp Fender Strat saddle screws (years ago). Now I never notice them - same guitar, no mods. Just took time I guess, I can't say how it came about...
 
JDOD said:
Mate, I used to play a lot of metal and also have an Ibanex (RG570) as well as a Les Paul Style guitar but without the tuneomatic bridge. It's called a Washburn Hawk. Also mahogany with a pair of humbuckers. The tele FMT HH (look it up) has two Duncan humbuckers and is made of mahogany. Hey, if you're in the UK you're welcome to buy the Washburn or even the ibanez. Just not both.
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Haha, awesome. We live in the Netherlands, but a good guitar might be worth the drive... We'll keep it in mind, thanks for the offer anyways!
 
Maybe daft, but has he looked at the counterfeit Gibsons from China - their bridge design is different, with a recessed screw for bridge height. Might be kinder on the hands?
 
I've had a couple of bridges that have edgy saddles.
Take a finer grit Emery board (just like those they use for filing nails)...and dull out the edges until it feels comfortable on the top couple of saddles where your palm is going to possibly rest/hit the most.

Though...how the heck is he wounding his hand?
It would take a lot of hard pounding against the bridge for that to happen.
 
Maybe he's Doyle.

Doyle.jpg
 
Dicus said:
Haha, awesome. We live in the Netherlands, but a good guitar might be worth the drive... We'll keep it in mind, thanks for the offer anyways!
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The Washburn could be the ideal guitar for you guys, but it will be a pain in the arse to find one. Do a search for Washburn Wing series.
 
One thing you could try is top loading the strings, i.e. going up and over the stop tailpiece instead of stringing it the usual way. I do this on my Hamer SBFT and the bridge seems much easier to palm mute, and not as much of the saddles are exposed.
 
A solid-body dual humbucker guitar in the style of a Gibson, but with a Fender-style bridge. Sounds like you're describing a PRS to me. Mahogany body with maple top, mahogany neck, lots of dual humbucker models, but with either a tremolo or hardtail. I'm not a fan of their necks, with that wide/flat profile, so they feel pretty different than a Gibson. But they look and sound pretty darn good, and are definitely born of the same cloth. Might be worth checking our their SE line, which is their Korean-made budget line.
 
In the one and only post the guitar player in question made, he said he has a PRS.

If I'm reading correctly. He likes the bridge location on the Ibanez and the PRS but likes the sound of the paul. And the lp causes discomfort because of the bridge. Also he likes thinner necks.

Oh boy.

First off, probably the closest to what he likes is the PRS. Nice guitars, close but no cigar.

Nothing is going to sound like an LP.
It's a lot of wood. Period.
With the mahogany body and the maple top, you have about 2 and1/2:inches of wood at the highest point of the carve. (Where the bridge is)

Secondly the necks are usually beefier.
These are major contributors to the fat beefy tone of a les paul.

He could go a few ways.
1) Spend big bucks and have something
custom built
2) Get a 60s classic with the thinner necks and modify it.

Take off the tunamatic and stop tail piece and install a wrap around
(50s style)

3) Just keep trying out different guitars till he finds the right one

4)Try some different pickups in the PRS
to get closer to the tone he wants.

And with that, I'm out of here.
I find the whole premise of someone who supposedly has been playing for over a decade, and not finding the right guitar, ridiculous.

Edit: Just had a thought. I'm being hard on the guitarist. Maybe he's not the problem.
Maybe it's a tech oriented, controlling drummer trying to push the guitar player into something he don't get on with.
Not everyone digs Les Pauls, I get a that.

You like the other guitars? Play them. Fuck what someone else wants.
:D
 
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Haha, thanks dude! That's enough advice to help us get further. We'll probably start with your option three, playing lot's of guitars, he needs that anyway to find out what sound/pickups or custom guitar he likes!

Thanks for all the advice guys. We'll keep you updated!
 
Dicus said:
Haha, thanks dude! That's enough advice to help us get further. We'll probably start with your option three, playing lot's of guitars, he needs that anyway to find out what sound/pickups or custom guitar he likes!

Thanks for all the advice guys. We'll keep you updated!
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Glad to be of service. :D
Welcome aboard, you're in the nuthouse now.
Hope you stick around.
:D
 
RFR said:
I can't believe the laziness in the Internet age.
You, the drummer, are on a mission to find the guitar player a guitar that sounds like an lp but won't hurt his delicate hands.

Tell him to get off his lazy ass and go find a guitar that he likes the feel of and has the sound.

Its not that hard. Just go to a store and play different ones till he finds one that he likes.

If online research is needed, he should be doing it, not you.
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this.
 
^^^^^ haha. I agree with your assessment of my statement.
:D

But since we started down this rabbit hole, heres an easy remedy.

I'm assuming this les paul is not a high dollar reissue.
So most likely it has a Nashville bridge and not an ABR-1.

Get a Schaller tunamatic Roller bridge.

They are a direct fit and very smooth with no sharp edges. It is the smoothest most comfortable TOM made

Any terms you are not familar with you can google. :D

Ok, I'm now out of this thread for good.
 
RFR said:
^^^^^ haha. I agree with your assessment of my statement.
:D

But since we started down this rabbit hole, heres an easy remedy.

I'm assuming this les paul is not a high dollar reissue.
So most likely it has a Nashville bridge and not an ABR-1.

Get a Schaller tunamatic Roller bridge.

They are a direct fit and very smooth with no sharp edges. It is the smoothest most comfortable TOM made

Any terms you are not familar with you can google. :D

Ok, I'm now out of this thread for good.
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I've ordered one of them on my next guitar.
 
This problem can be solved in 3 easy steps:

step#1: finally admit that you have a playing technique problem

step#2: move your picking hand away from the bridge as there is no good reason to be touching it

step#3: enjoy playing any type of guitar without risk of injury
 
Try Wilkinson roller bridge - T.O.M. replacement. It is rounded and handy. Available for some $10-15 at eBay. Just small fraction from LP sound/tone comes from T.O.M. bridge. Generally it is sum of softer neck & body woods (mahogany), + neck & body construction, + humbucker or overwound P90 pickups, + shorter neck scale.
 
Found it! And that didn't take long at all. He picked up this guitar in the store and new it was the one.
It is the Taylor SBX-3, they do not make solid body electric guitars anymore but have made them for a while and it indeed has sustain that sounds more like a LP then a strat or telecaster and with the unique Taylor bridge it plays and palmmutes like a strat. Position of the neck is somewhere between the Fender guitars en the LP. And it sounds nice and rough, great pick-ups! The thing has a five way switch one for the bridge, one for the neck pickup, one for both and one for using the two outer single coils of the humbuggers, which sounds a bit more sharp and etchy (slightly like strats do) and one which uses both the inner single coils which sounds a bit like a huge humbucker which is awesome. Cool guitar...
He adores the guitar and I've played and love it as well. Who would have known that such a thing could exist...
Thanks again for all the help and advice!
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Taylor SB-X3-T Classic Review | Chorder.com
 
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