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This baby is as heavy as hell. I only had it a few days when I modified the top string anchors (where the headstock should be) so I could fit a set of decent strings to the guitar - it came fitted with 0.009"s - which are basically kiddy strings. Once the new string clamp was in place with a set of 0.011"s it started to sound a bit better. It's fitted with a H-S-S configuration and, as I was only interested in the humbucker, I lowered the two single coils out of the way so I can really dig in with the pleck.
At the first ANTHEM rehearsal with it I hogged the whole night. Lyndsay was tired, which was just as well as I hardly touched the bass neck. I ran through my complete collection of riffs from the past - Page, Iommi, Schenker, Nugent, Van Halen, George Lynch, Vai, Satch - with Mick seriously impressing me by not only keeping up but actually recognising what I was trying to do!
Anyway, it gets an occasional dusting down at rehearsals where I promise not to get carried away on the 'little neck'.
The Les Paul is a Standard model - in ebony. It's a beaut. When I first picked it up it felt like it was made for me - it was perfect. It came with the brown leather Gibbo case which is now falling apart so I've retired it. I've changed the machine heads for Klusons as I didn't care much for the Grovers which were fitted as standard. Some people have commented that this might affect the re-sale value - bollocks - it's a 1994 model not a fifties or sixties model. This is from the days when Gibson had just started to get it back together and CNC machines were churning out body and neck blanks by the thousand every MONTH. It's not from the days when luthiers with over 30 years experience lovingly assembled each guitar by hand from a carefully chosen pile of hand crafted parts and the annual factory output was 200. The other thing to bear in mind about these things is that they are TOOLS. They are not ornaments they are designed to be played and if you're not going to play it you may as well save your cash or buy a Rolex.
Two pictures because I need two basses (one for back-up) because you never know when you're going to need a spare. For mass produced basses they definately have their own personalities. The first one I got has a much darker maple neck and fingerboard than the second, although they both feel the same. I adjusted the two volume pots so that the markers line up exactly on the two different basses, giving me the optimum sound with the minimum adjustment between basses. I've found a sweet spot (blend) between the two pick-up volumes that give me just the sound I need and I've set the pot markers so that they are in line, pointing towards the 'v' in the scratch plate for this sound. This means I can get a bass boost or treble boost by increasing the volume of each of the pick-ups to max and quickly get back to my sound. I can also wind them both up for YYZ and Tom Sawyer. Bliss.
In combination with my radio pack I get the best sound I've had for years. Believe me these are great basses.
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