Learn To Upgrade Your Gibson Les Paul

1
Learn To Upgrade Your
Gibson Les Paul
2
Introduction

• Many Les Paul players in the past were hesitant
  to drill holes in a high-end guitar, thus they
  avoided hardware improvements. Today, there is a
  wide selection of Gibson Les Paul bridge,
  tailpieces, tremolos, and tuners that will fit
  perfectly. You should be aware, however, that Les
  Pauls built in the US have hardware that is sized
  according to imperial standards, whereas those
  made in the Far East, such as Epiphones and the
  many Japanese lawsuit "replicas," need metric
  hardware.
• Here are top tips for modifying Les Pauls with
  guitar parts. Some are very costly while others
  are cheap, and many wont cost you a thing.

3
Get A New Jack Plate

• Every guitar design has its weak spots, and the
  jack plate is the Les Pauls because the slim
  plastic plate is all too easy to snap. The
  solution is simple a metal replacement. This is
  a cheap and reversible modification, but try to
  ensure the screw holes of the new plate will line
  up with the old one. If you want to keep the
  original look, simply install the plastic plate
  on top of the metal one.

4
Become A Top Wrapper

• This is one mod you can try easily for zero cost.
  Bonamassa says it gives the guitar a slinkier
  feel and makes a set of 11-gauge strings feel
  more like a 10.5 set
• In addition to providing an anchor point for the
  strings, the stop tailpiece ensures that the
  strings have a suitable break-angle over the
  saddles. However, when the tailpiece is screwed
  tight to the body, the angle might be too sharp,
  increasing the chances of string breakage. One
  solution is to feed the strings through the
  tailpiece from the pickup side and wrap them over
  the top of the tailpiece.

5
Swap Your Tailpiece

• In the 1950s, Gibsons stop tailpiece was
  originally made from aluminium. Later on, this
  changed to zinc, which remains stock on many
  current models.

• Some players claim aluminium gives extra
  woodiness and more treble with a wider dynamic
  range, while zinc fans argue that their preferred
  metal has more low end and sustain.

6
Lock Down Your Tailpiece

• The obvious way to keep the tailpiece fixed in
  position is to screw it flat to the body. Setting
  it higher softens the break angle, much like
  top-wrapping, but the tailpiece may need to be
  secured. TonePros locking studs provide an
  effective solution
• Traditional tailpiece studs do not grip stop
  tailpieces at all the only thing holding the
  tailpiece in position is the pull of the strings.
  Often, youll see tailpieces tilting forward, and
  its claimed that better tone can be achieved by
  fixing the tailpiece more securely. TonePros and
  Faber both offer retrofit means of getting your
  studs to grip, though the latters Tone Lock is
  the least cosmetically disruptive option.

7
Get A Nut Job

• Much is made of the type of material used for
  nuts. Traditionalists insist on bone, some prefer
  the slippery attributes of high-tech materials
  like Graphtech, while Zakk Wylde famously prefers
  brass. Currently, Gibson installs a variety of
  nuts depending on the model, including an unusual
  zero fret device that allows player to adjust
  string height.
• Even so, a nut can only affect the tone of open
  strings, so the main reason for installing a new
  nut would be if the slots are inaccurately cut or
  they prove to be too deep after a re-fret. For
  vintage authenticity, you might consider
  installing a 6/6 grade nylon nut. Pre-cut nylon
  nuts are available, but often at a steep price.
  Alternatively, you can buy a sheet of 6/6 nylon
  and make one up.

8
Change Your Pickups

• Due to the way that theyre mounted,
  pickup-swapping was never a big thing among Les
  Paul players chopping Fenders was always an
  easier and less scary proposition. These days
  things are simpler and all kinds of options are
  now available for humbucker- and P-90-equipped
  Les Pauls.
• If you want an early 50s tone, there are plenty
  of P-90s in PAF mounts or what about getting
  Gretschy with an English mount and P-90-sized
  FilterTron or DeArmond soundalikes from TV
  Jones.

9
Try Jimmy Pages Wiring
10

• Jimmy Page used a lot of trick wiring with his
  vintage Les Pauls for out-of-phase and
  single-coil tones. Any Les Paul with two
  humbuckers is actually equipped with four
  pickups two pairs of single-coils with each pair
  wired in series. When you think about the range
  of tones you can get from a regular Stratocaster,
  its obvious Les Pauls have a lot of un-tapped
  potential.
• Jimmy Page certainly thought so, and he had four
  push/pull switches fitted in his 1960 Les Paul.
  The push/pulls under the volume controls switch
  between regular humbucker and single-coil tones.
  The push/pull under the neck tone control is a
  series/parallel switch, and the one under the
  bridge tone control switches the pickups in and
  out of phase for Peter Green-style tones. If your
  pickups have vintage-style braided wires, theyll
  need to be replaced with multicore wires for this
  mod.

11
Install a Bigsby Without Drilling

• Filled holes in the tops of vintage Les Pauls are
  the evidence of long-removed Bigsby vibratos. To
  some, a Les Paul with a Bigsby looks just as
  incongruous as a Gretsch without one.
  Nevertheless, we think Lesters look the nuts with
  a Bigsby and you can now install Bigsbys on Les
  Pauls without drilling any holes at all, thanks
  to a company called Vibramate.
• A specially-designed bracket attaches in place of
  the stop tailpiece to secure the front of the
  Bigsby unit, and the strap button screw clamps it
  at the back. This do-it-yourself installation can
  be done within minutes, but youll need a fresh
  set of strings, too.

12
Replace The Bridge

• Early 50s-style Les Pauls and Les Paul Juniors
  had wrap over tailpieces, so intonation can be
  compromised. Fortunately, wrap over replacement
  bridges with adjustable intonation are readily
  available. Vintage fans generally prefer ABR-1
  style aluminium tune-o-matic bridges with brass
  saddles to the later all-zinc Nashville bridges.
• They can be swapped, but they require thumbwheel
  posts with a different diameter. Browns Guitars
  and Faber offer the necessary conversion posts.
  For replacement wrap over Les Paul bridge and
  ABR-1 replicas, try Wilkinson, Pigtail, Badass,
  Hipshot, Schaller, Gotoh, Tone Pros, Callaham and
  Gibson too.

13
Summery

• There is still lots of room for customising,
  personalising, and improving your Les Paul even
  if you don't like working with wood or soldering
  irons. In general, the categories can be divided
  into hardware improvements, electrical
  alterations, and cosmetic adjustments.