Les Paul Classic

[Tadpui]

I started to reply to a post from Victory Pete in my Martin acoustic thread, but instead of veering off topic there, I wanted to start a new thread about the LP Classic.

I have a Les Paul Classic also, I love the high output 496R and 500T pickups.

You know Pete, you and I seem to be in the minority about the 500T and 496R pickups in the LP Classic. I played the Classic alongside a couple of LP Standards of the era (1999, so I'm not sure if they had the BurstBuckers at that point) and an old '76 Custom and I thought that the Classic sounded way more like what I consider a Les Paul is supposed to sound like. So I bought it that day and I've loved it like a child ever since. Some people like to talk just to hear their own voice, I guess i like to play just to hear my LP through my rig. It inspires me at a very fundamental level. I just love to hear it.

With the 500T, I like the bite when you really dig into the upper strings in 12th position. I love the way that the upper strings sound in 5th-9th position. The open A string has just a wonderful punch and growl when you dig into it. And pretty much across all 6 strings, 5th position sounds just awesome. I could see how some people wouldn't like the 500T because it's so focused on the midrange frequencies. I play a variety of styles, mainly everything but modern metal and country/western, and I'm a big fan of Mick Ronson. So I love the midrange focus of the 500T.

I play through a Traynor YCV80, which is an all-tube 2x12 combo with ECC83s in the preamp and 6L6GCs in the power section. I keep my amp on the crunch channel with just enough preamp gain so that it'll break up if I really dig in but it sounds pretty clean when I use a normal amount of force. I use a THD HotPlate so that I can keep the master of my amp up at about 8 or 9 so I can really push the power section when I want to. I use a TS9 Tube Screamer with everything at 12:00 when I want to saturate the power section, and I use a Boss CS3 Compressor/Sustainer when I want to hold my amp in its sweet spot of power tube saturation.

With the 496R, I love the Strat-like snap you get across all 6 strings in 12th position. Again, the open A string sounds so nice and beefy. The 496R is such a punchy pickup, with a huge dynamic range. With my normal amp settings (no TS9, no CS3), I am constantly amazed at how punchy that neck pickup is. Roll back on the volume and its almost squeaky clean with attenuated highs. Turn it all the way up and I'd swear it sounds like a single-coil but with a little more beef behind it. With the TS9 kicked on, its a pretty damn mean sound and with the CS3 added to the fold, its Trey Anastasio incarnate.

So Pete, how do you use your LP Classic? I'm curious as to what type of music you use it for. I was surprised that higher output pickups actually suited my non-metal, lower-gain needs so well. Higher output aside, I think they just sound more "Les Pauly" than the comparable Standards. But man those pickups really take a beating from reviewers. I get the feeling that one person ragged on them one time and everybody else just acts like parrots and echoes that sentiment without any real experience to back it up.

 

[Victory Pete]

I started to reply to a post from Victory Pete in my Martin acoustic thread, but instead of veering off topic there, I wanted to start a new thread about the LP Classic.



You know Pete, you and I seem to be in the minority about the 500T and 496R pickups in the LP Classic. I played the Classic alongside a couple of LP Standards of the era (1999, so I'm not sure if they had the BurstBuckers at that point) and an old '76 Custom and I thought that the Classic sounded way more like what I consider a Les Paul is supposed to sound like. So I bought it that day and I've loved it like a child ever since. Some people like to talk just to hear their own voice, I guess i like to play just to hear my LP through my rig. It inspires me at a very fundamental level. I just love to hear it.

With the 500T, I like the bite when you really dig into the upper strings in 12th position. I love the way that the upper strings sound in 5th-9th position. The open A string has just a wonderful punch and growl when you dig into it. And pretty much across all 6 strings, 5th position sounds just awesome. I could see how some people wouldn't like the 500T because it's so focused on the midrange frequencies. I play a variety of styles, mainly everything but modern metal and country/western, and I'm a big fan of Mick Ronson. So I love the midrange focus of the 500T.

I play through a Traynor YCV80, which is an all-tube 2x12 combo with ECC83s in the preamp and 6L6GCs in the power section. I keep my amp on the crunch channel with just enough preamp gain so that it'll break up if I really dig in but it sounds pretty clean when I use a normal amount of force. I use a THD HotPlate so that I can keep the master of my amp up at about 8 or 9 so I can really push the power section when I want to. I use a TS9 Tube Screamer with everything at 12:00 when I want to saturate the power section, and I use a Boss CS3 Compressor/Sustainer when I want to hold my amp in its sweet spot of power tube saturation.

With the 496R, I love the Strat-like snap you get across all 6 strings in 12th position. Again, the open A string sounds so nice and beefy. The 496R is such a punchy pickup, with a huge dynamic range. With my normal amp settings (no TS9, no CS3), I am constantly amazed at how punchy that neck pickup is. Roll back on the volume and its almost squeaky clean with attenuated highs. Turn it all the way up and I'd swear it sounds like a single-coil but with a little more beef behind it. With the TS9 kicked on, its a pretty damn mean sound and with the CS3 added to the fold, its Trey Anastasio incarnate.

So Pete, how do you use your LP Classic? I'm curious as to what type of music you use it for. I was surprised that higher output pickups actually suited my non-metal, lower-gain needs so well. Higher output aside, I think they just sound more "Les Pauly" than the comparable Standards. But man those pickups really take a beating from reviewers. I get the feeling that one person ragged on them one time and everybody else just acts like parrots and echoes that sentiment without any real experience to back it up.

I know, it is funny how people are when it comes to defending their guitars and sound. I bought my Classic off the wall, behind the counter at Junky's. I had them take it down and I began to scrutinize it carefully. In the 90's I had problems with Gibson and vowed never to buy one again. I was impressed with the guitar and bought it with out actully playing it through an amp. I did check all the pickups and controls with an amp. I have been made fun of before on this site, praising these pickups. I had no idea what kind of pickups where in this guitar untill a while after I had bought it. But the night I played it I was impressed. I could actually hear my leads with clarity. I use it for hard rock, classic rock, clean funk, almost country syle Neil Young, and anything else we like to try. I use it for everything. All you have to do is roll down the volume to sound like a 57 classic. I recently bought an LP standard that had the Burstbuckers. I HATED them. they had no balls. Also they are really noisy because Gibson with this Vintage nonsense purposely winds the coils with uneven wraps. This defeats the humbucking properties of the pickups. I am going to try a 498T and 490R in one of my Gibsons soon to see what they sound like. It is funny how when a Gibson hangs on a wall you have no idea what the specs are untill you buy it and call Gibson. They should all have a spec tag.
VP
PS Congrats on the awesome Martin!

 

[Victory Pete]

The 500T and 496R are high output Ceramic pickups. They yield more mids and highs than high output ALNICO pickups. As you increase the windings in ALNICO pickups you lose high frequencies, it is because of Inductive Reactance. Basically it is the resistance to high frequencies. The same thing can occur with more windings in Ceramics but they will always give more high's than a comparable ALNICO.
VP

 

[Bob Ross]

I think they just sound more "Les Pauly" than the comparable Standards. But man those pickups really take a beating from reviewers. I get the feeling that one person ragged on them one time and everybody else just acts like parrots and echoes that sentiment without any real experience to back it up.

ime it's just that the sound people expect from a Les Paul -- any Les Paul -- is somewhat iconic, and anything that deviates from that ideal is suspect. Not sure how the '76 you mentioned figures into the "comparable Standards", but since the iconic Les Paul sound was pretty well established before 1976, it may already have been too late.

People listen with their eyes.

 

[Victory Pete]

ime it's just that the sound people expect from a Les Paul -- any Les Paul -- is somewhat iconic, and anything that deviates from that ideal is suspect. Not sure how the '76 you mentioned figures into the "comparable Standards", but since the iconic Les Paul sound was pretty well established before 1976, it may already have been too late.

People listen with their eyes.

That is interesting!
ViP