300k vs 500k potmeter comparison, Les Paul with Burstbuckers. Can you hear the difference?

[@vikingbeard]

I've learnt from your videos to keep whatever pots/pickups are already in my guitars and speakers in the amps. You sound great whatever equipment you use, thanks for the beautiful music.

[@paullaughton6016]

Two things to try before the pickups: 1. Use an aluminum tailpiece and 2. Use 59 wiring. I would try these two first. Thanks for sharing your journey!

[@voornaam3191]

And when you are wise, you do a test recording first, and a second test recording after the mod. When you or your recording engineer can do spectrum analysis, then you MEASURE the effects of your modification. And, ehm, before you start buying new things, you could check the setup carefully. Or try different strings, lighter or heavier gauge than usual, try three brands, even if you THINK your usual choice is best, chances are, different strings might fit the existing components better. You don't know, if you don't try. Anyhow, it can take time, looking for the components you like best. Good luck, when you are in that situation, why not visit a good luthier, for help, if you can't quite get the sound you want?

[@davidcudlip6587]

Always first: Raise or lower pickup height and possibly pole screws. Can make a big difference with just a simple screwdriver and 5 minutes.

[@paroblynn]

Love the videos brother. Your playing is always fantastic. Your vibrato is next level.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thanks Robert, 😊 Cheers!

[@hanovergreen4091]

Very well done Sir! Thank You for the great comparison and analysis. Great service for the community! Best Regards and Best Wishes for 2024!

[@andrewdarnley4608]

I build my own guitars. I have Tonerider Humbuckers Alnico II Classics in one LP and Alnico IV Classics in another with nice tight highs. Yes there's lots of discussion of much more expensive pups but I'm convinced after a certain level of pup materials and build quality tone is in the hands of the player. Please don't go sanding the finish etc it won't change anything appreciably.

[@aperfecttool462]

I feel like "tone is in the hands" is such an underappreciated statement.

[@arthurrodriguez6878]

The 300k pots do sound a bit thicker. In my opinion the sound of the guitar is primarily from the wood and the frequency cancellation and or enhancement between the body and neck. This I find to be the main ingredient in the sound of the guitar. It is best to choose a guitar that first of all sounds good acoustically then you can enhance it with the electronics. When buying used guitars I stay away from the ones that have had alot of mods because it's usually the owners attempt to find a acceptable sound and it has failed.

[@garypannone7755]

You did a great job on that guitar. I really never noticed enough difference in potentiometer changes that I thought was worth it. I watched many videos and if there was a difference, to my ears it was hardly noticeable. Of course these are my personal thoughts. I actually like the sound of that guitar. It's very mellow. I do like like the P90 sound.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thank you! I will agree that it's marginal and a bit hard to notice the difference. Although I also find the mellow character in the tone quite nice as it s now, I long to hear a bit more clarity. Cheers!

[@muffinman3375]

I can totally hear the difference ! The 300k has a nice round attack but it may sound completely different in the room

[@Tone.Corner]

Hey Thor, I have 3 fretless slide guitars and tried around with them and then installed 2x 500 and 1x 250 kohm for the humbuckers without a tonepot. great video, happy 3rd Advent and best wishes 🕯️🕯️🕯️🎅🎄✌️🎸😎

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi Uli, good to see you around 😊Interesting to hear that you choose to go with no tone pot. All the best!

[@SwnkyTiger]

Have you already tried adjusting the height of the pole pieces? You may find some success there. It definitely can make a change, whether or not it can take these pickups to where you would like them to be is the question. There's an excellent post on the Les Paul forum but the TLDR would be adjust pickup to pickup output (bridge and neck height), then move your pole pieces to balance string to string output. The strings listed in most to least output (assuming an unwound G) is: G, E (Low) and B, A, E (High), then D. So with all pieces just above the cover as our starting point, we raise the A to almost double the Low E, we raise the D about that much above A, we lower G (about the same distance as we raised the A), and we raise the High E just slightly above B. Balance/Imbalance to your taste. If we raise the pole pieces on one side of the HB enough, we get a difference in output between the two coils and some describe the sound as being more single coil like (articulate, open etc). It's a free test and not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, I have worked a bit on the pickup heights and also some on the pole piece heights, but what you write here is very interesting. Thanks for this, I will definitely have a go at what you suggest. Cheers!

[@walkinginharmony]

This is great info and something I have been doing for a long time. Every time I see a neck humbucker with the low E polepiece screwed well down I know that note is going to be a "thud" and not ring out. Raising the polepiece and maybe dropping the pickup slightly allows it to ring out as it favours one coil more. You might not be able to make a dull pickup great but you can get the best out of it. Good luck Thor!

[@SwnkyTiger]

@@GUITARSGIZMOS Figured I would pass it along, though it is rather condensed compared to the post I saw. I'd happily watch a video on the topic as well, there doesn't seem to be many.

[@Dang...]

You play very nicely. I didn't hear a huge difference between the 300 and 500 pots. Let's hear 1 meg pots before you strip any finish. Thank you.

[@mad24r45]

Well, I guess this was overdue, so thank you in behalf of the ppl obsessing with hide glue and vintage correct specs. 550k pots can help wonders in a dull sounding Les Paul, it doesn't make a Burstbucker a vintage PAF, but it's a "cheap" upgrade with a big effect for sure.

[@AIainMConnachie]

Lower pickups. Raise polepieces.

[@davidkelsey7937]

This exactly!! I measure and adjust the pole piece screws to each string and it makes a huge difference with clarity.

[@marcellosguitarcorner4004]

Hi Thor, excellent and very interesting video.....I think the tone is already very good, but you are the one playing that guitar, right ? You´ve already got very interesting comments and suggestions, so here are my two cents : how about experimenting with different capacitors (values, not material)? Take care and Happy Holidays!

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thanks Marcello! The capacitors are 0.022 , so should be on the bright side of capacitors (0.047 would be darker as typical in vintage guitars), but they really just affect the tone when it's rolled down. Or as I've just learned, if you remove the cap you might hear a difference on 10, but you won’t hear a difference with different value caps before you start rolling down the tone pot. But you are correct in suggesting this, as if the tone gets warm when you turn down the tone, you can go to a lower value cap. Happy holidays 😊

[@kameel68]

Removing the pickup covers will help too.

[@cgavin1]

Every piece of wood has a resonant frequency. Find that and then add or remove resistance to taste.

[@oldasrocks9121]

I would actually go up to 1M on the neck and trim it down to various values by jumping the outer lugs with resistors, down to 750, 600 and so forth.

[@voornaam3191]

Allo allo, listen care fool, there is a dug going to bait your lug!

[@Zacknorris-d5p]

That guitar sounds a bit darker indeed but you are playing through a Dumble style amp? Those amps are not bright by any means, specially the OS ones. Anyway I think it has more impact the pickups than pot values or hardware in general. At least that’s my experience.

[@sgmarshall3]

I thought it sounds beautiful

[@maplechill75]

Saying they are never accurate is not, well… accurate.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Yes, you are right. It came out in a kind of frustration and I meant to edit that out, but forgot 😅 Cheers!

[@Dang...]

Pots have tolerances of =/- 10% or more which means 500k can be 450 to 550. So, his statement that they're not accurate is actually...completely accurate.

[@maplechill75]

@@Dang... I’ve purchased many for my builds and I’m well aware of the tolerances on electrical components. That’s why I measure each one. When you buy quality pots in bulk, you definitely find quite a few that are less than 1% off and a some that are right on the money.

[@Dang...]

I realize that. I just don't understand why you'd contradict his statement. @@maplechill75

[@wolters1953]

My advice : stop messing around with guitars , play them ... When you play the same guitar a lot , the sound will get better , resonance will improve , the vibrations make molecules in the wood align , this takes time . In the mean time you will get used to her character , understand how to use her, get around her shortcomings or even use them to your advantage . At the same time the muscle memory will be fine-tuned , your left hand will get used to the neck . After making the hours you won't want to play an other guitar , you have become one with the instrument and feel confident with her . If all the time spent on messing with the instrument would have been spent on playing the dmnd thing , you would be a better player . The guitar is fine , it's you : your attitude is the problem .

[@Bairov]

How much does the Les Paul weight?

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, it is 3.4 kg. I used an online conversion table and it says it equals to 9.7 lb. Cheers!

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Sorry, I meant to say 4.4kg.

[@Bairov]

@@GUITARSGIZMOS No worries!

[@limerot]

Prøv å koble pickupene uten potmeterene, så vet du hvordan de låter.

[@LeeHoMusic]

Change capacitors

[@alladeb7569]

300k is better

[@voornaam3191]

No expert, but when the guitar is muddy, I'd check nut and bridge first. That is obviously where the strings lose some energy (or do you have "muddy" air in your house?) and who knows it is the mid frequencies that suffer. But okay, who am I?

[@CA10Z]

recommendation; Get a LP build kit and do all you different testing on it NOT this LP. I speak from experience.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thanks, this is actually a kind of kit guitar. I got it as a stripped project, and it is quite a budget friendly one as well 😊 If you're interesting in seing the initial process of how the guitar came to be, you'll find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3zTc5hphtNmprssi=NWTPC46BebM9xzAN

[@Liberty-hw9dh]

I like 300k pot for bridge humbucker