I Didn't Think This Guitar Could Sound Better (I was wrong)

[@mickizzo]

Before soldering to the back of a pot, it’s a good idea to make sure the pot is turned all the way down. This way if the pot is accidentally overheated the carbon trace won’t be damaged because the metal wiper, which conducts heat, isn’t in contact with the trace.

[@viktortulbya2107]

Thank u!!

[@majick59]

Great tip!

[@Ten80pete]

This is a FANTASTIC point that I learned the hard way (I still have a '92 Epiphone LP that, when I turn down the neck to about 1, it cuts out, and then at 0 is at full blast). Soldering is an artform sometimes, but ESPECIALLY when dealing with guitar pots.

[@Hansguitars]

Very good Idea! Thank you!

[@georgemichael8742]

This is something people don't talk about enough! ~Most~ of the time you'll be alright. But why chance it? Kudos, friend.

[@surfrduede]

As a fellow guitar tinker… I get these changes for the sound and more importantly FEEL of the instrument. Feel = inspiration.

[@frankgeick3641]

I was surprised by how much the pot/caps change affected the tone. Watched other videos and the change was not so dramatic. This dude knows something.

[@thelongvirtuesignal8551]

"Feel" is also a great way to deceive people and make a lot of money because it requires zero evidence. I can make people "feel" all kinds of things...

[@surfrduede]

@@thelongvirtuesignal8551 Have you ever swapped out a modern wiring for 50’s style in one of your guitars? Or pickups that don’t fit your vision for one’s that do? Flatwounds vs Rounds, Brand new strings vs really old strings, an old tube anmp cranked vs a modern solid state…..these all have a different “feel” or player experience. Sometime subtle, but different. What’s so controversial?

[@thelongvirtuesignal8551]

@@surfrduede Yes, i did that to some of my used epiphones, not a 5k gibson.

[@surfrduede]

@@thelongvirtuesignal8551 I hear you and wrestle with value everyday so hopefully this comes across the right way. I think Rhett’s choices rub against your values…and that’s fine. He is trying to closely replicate the emotional feeling he get when playing vintage LP’s for a fraction in the cost….albeit a pricey instrument still. I have a friend who is really into whiskey and has been kind enough to let me taste very expensive bottles. I would not pay 2-3 grand for a bottle of booze, but I can admit the experience is different than even the “nice” bottles I have. 😊

[@chrisquick9219]

CANT CHANGE YOUR BALLS WE ALL KNOW THATS WHERE THE TONE IS

[@cpk313]

Do you end up with callouses or do they just get shredded?

[@rockrollmusicman1107]

Peter Green must have had super, lopsided balls and got that out of phase tone. 😂

[@TheMichaelseymour]

@@rockrollmusicman1107 yes....he called it "outa phase bone tone "

[@taleman730]

😂😂😂

[@robertfields1964]

They actually try that, didn't you know? you better beware!

[@donrepcon7704]

Awesome upgrades. I could hear the difference between the two and was very impressed. Really enjoyed your format on this video and learned a thing or two. I really enjoyed this and in regards to all the negative feedback you got, don't pay attention to it. Just keep doing what you do and enjoy making music.

[@gibsonfan159]

Despite whatever criticism the comment section is giving you for modifying that guitar it still serves the purpose of giving us insight into how wiring matters and the history behind it.

[@steveg.3022]

I’m digging. And I’m an electrical engineer.

[@davidreyes9007]

Exactly it’s so funny how people just spew bullshit on a video. Don’t like the video move on ! Hahhaaaa

[@robgreen4521]

@@davidreyes9007 Exactly. It's his guitar, if he wants to put different pickups in it, the interwebs can just screw right off. They can buy their own R9 and do (or not do) what they please with THEIR guitar. I found it very insightful about how the different wiring schemes, potentiometer values and how potted vs. non-potted pickups behave to be very interesting, and I may consider doing p'up swaps in one or two of my admittedly more modest) guitars.

[@viktortulbya2107]

@@gibsonfan159 he never did show the old wiring he supposedly did, anyone know what he is talking about?

[@JeffV]

To me this video is simply to help promote a friends shop and what can be done with his knowledge. That's not a bad thing I support that. As far as his guitar it is his do whatever you want to it. Great PR for a fellow friend and build his brand/company

[@LFDGeoff]

This was absolutely the best intro video for anyone wanting to seriously upgrade their guitar. Well done! :) KZbin audio aside, the difference was clear (and well explained!)

[@jamiemascola6614]

This "tech's" explanations are bass-ackwards. And it is almost immediately clear to me, as an electrical engineer, that his knowledge level is backed by misguided internet forum scavengery, and that he has absolutely no idea how even basic electronic passives work.

[@sundaynightdrunk]

I'd be really interested to see Tim Pierce play this guitar now, since he helped you choose it in the first place and loved the "stock" tone of it (which was amazing and better than all the other LPs you guys tried in that video). Really interesting video.

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

really , how cool. i think Tim is awesome

[@dimitrioskarastamatis4919]

@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 Tim plays a Heritage 150, Les Paul style, they are the best Les Paul's made!

[@bjdenil]

That would be a great video. I bet Tim would love this too.

[@reeveselectro]

For the player not the listener.... Im so glad this viewpoint is becoming a thing 👌

[@RoxanneSturgis]

it makes your buisness a lot more money that way :)

[@markusfinkler9625]

It's the feel. Have You ever Loved a guitar? Soo much You trampled in Payne... I know Clapton soung something else. But that's what it is. If Your guitar doesn't talk to You, you'll never get inspired like Hendrix, Schenker and all the Others.... The guitar and the player need to become a couple .... Jimi Page.....❤❤❤❤❤

[@joshuaraysummey7679]

I agree, that is a much more defined and less contencious (?) Way of bringing up feel :) Well stated

[@SHLODIE]

Same I have been struggling to install new tone pots In my prs, and this video actually helped a lot. I’m new to soldering and I only have a few nice guitars that I wanna upgrade but not ruin so the carboard thing gave me a good solution.

[@ArchieOnEarth]

Right. The listen may not hear a fidelity/tone difference, but you hope they can feel a performance difference.

[@tadask.4931]

No, the pickups are just set too high. Thats were “compression” feel comes from. The sweet spot for maximum dynamic range on paf style humbuckers are literaly around 1 whole turn of the hight ajustment screw. The baseline depends on the pickup, but when you ballpark, the range between “weak sound” and “compresses too much” is about a turn or two usually. Unpotted pickups might have more interesting overtones in high freq which usually is described as “airy” tone - an outcome of parasitic vibrations in the pickup assembly. Potting has very little to do the the pickup feeling “compressed” as it is the property of the signal strenght at a given amplitude of the string vibrating in the pickups magnetic field.

[@Daddybell6957]

I got a set of ox4 pickups with A4 magss.... i found the neck pickup at 4 mm and bridge pickup height at 2.5 mm and thats set at both e strings... i get clarity and volume is the same on both pickups... im thinking of changing the bridge mag to a A3 or A2 to kinda take some of that bite out... but with doing that i believe i will have to raisr the bridge pup to get the volumes back at the same for tue middle position

[@Daddybell6957]

Also i gotta epi inspired by gibson firebird... i changed everything on that guitar and it sounds a plays better... even chisled out the bridge pup to drop a dogear p90 in it...

[@srh361]

@@tadask.4931 I'll have to disagree with you on this one but it is all about personal experiences and that's subjective. I've probably changed over 200 sets of pickups of all sorts and in my experience, even with height adjustment, potting has most definitely had a contributing role in the tone of the pickups being compressed. I don't have a certain height that I set every pickup set as that depends on the pickups them selves so I can say the most compressed sounding pups have been the potted higher out put ones. Output is another defining factor in pickups compression ( probably more than potting). I believe it's hard to assume that someone's personal experience with guitars will be everyone's across the board. I'm not saying you're wrong but I'm not saying you're right in all instances either and really neither am I as it's all trial and error depending on each individual pickup.

[@jessejordache1869]

It's an interesting POV at least -- it's almost universally considered that unpotted pickups are more responsive: the "parasitic" vibrations you mentioned being a counterargument. You lose information if the poles aren't held in a stiff position like they are if they're, say, embedded in wax.

[@freto_cognito9001]

Sorry, I'm trying to understand. Are you essentially saying that potting has no effect on the signal strength, and therefore has no effect on the compression? ... Is it not possible that potting has an effect on the magnetic field, however slight?

[@IamMusicNerd]

I guess I’m in the minority. I thought the original sounded better, but they are very close. Usually I just adjust the pickup height to get variance in the microphonics, dynamics, etc. However, I do love the idea of a wider taper on the volume pots.

[@rfleisher1]

I thought the original sounded noticeably better also. Nice fuller, woodier tone.

[@bobbymauro3721]

You aren’t in the minority. The original pick ups sound better. I would’ve just changed the pots to get a wider range. Just my opinion…

[@Aspi-Ration]

You are not in the minority. I prefer the original too. It was a great sounding guitar.

[@DanielSilvestriProd]

agree

[@axelovingguy]

I prefered the originals - the pots I can definitely agree seem like a much better "user" experience. I also like the option to have the out of phase sound

[@DerSilvano]

"It's like having an 1176 on it" *puts other set of pickups in it* "It sounds great now. Let's record it and put it into a mix" *puts 1176 on it*

[@AlaxyGalaxy2]

😂

[@CSkein]

@@DerSilvano given the next video concerning the pedalboard my assumption was he wanted something that would play well with his pedalboard with the option to compress later down the signal chain. However, the joke is 👍.

[@DavidLavine]

I went through this process and I can tell you it’s a worthy upgrade! I went with VIP pots and then found some Ron Ellis - Frissel PUPs and wholy shizz! Night and day! Great vid guys!

[@thegolfnut812]

I have a pair of Ron Ellis pups that I am installing in my LP. I decided to go with Throbak's pots and caps. Work in progress for the holiday. Found the original Gibson pots were not even 500k and each one varied. No wonder the guy wanted to sell it. I've put Kluson tuners on it so the G string doesn't slip and changed the bridge.

[@soapboxearth2]

I like the VIPots. Nice taper and my set were all above 550k. I went with Brandonwound pafs. A huge difference in my traditional, cs the potted 57 classics

[@JohnShalamskas]

@@thegolfnut812 Usually the root cause for "strings slipping" is that they are binding in the nut grooves and then releasing pent up tension when you don't expect it. "PING" The solution is to file the nut so that there's a smooth 3D curve that ends up pointing at the tuning machine post the string is connected to. And a little lube in the nuit groove.

[@JarickL]

Really good detail on how to properly re-wire a Les Paul! Awesome work by Zach to demonstrate and explain everything.

[@user-xp3wq1id8s]

Love this video man. People love leaving 5-10% of their guitars potential on the table and then whining when other people chase it.

[@austinentertainment3916]

I love how in depth Zach went in describing how the electronics work (I’m an electrical engineering student)

[@csharp57]

I don’t know anything about anything of that, but I like Les Pauls so I love hearing every little detail.

[@justinhodges1628]

These comments are wild lol. At the end of the day, it’s your guitar and you do whatever makes you inspired to play it. I own both potted and unpotted pickups. They are NIGHT AND DAY different when you play them. In a full mix with a band, maybe it’s harder to hear the difference. No amount of pickup height adjustment is going to give you the unpotted “feel” on a potted pickup. Unpotted pickups almost have a “bloom” effect when you hit the string, and Potted feels more consistent and “compressed”. Keep up the great work man. That’s a killer Les Paul!

[@mistersniffer6838]

Decisions ....... decisions........

[@midnighthour4299]

Glad your happy with it, always best testing and swapping the pots first and if modern wiring swapping to 50s wiring. On the other hand, I am amazed how many people swap components on a guitar with old strings, then restring it with new guitars and say how more responsive , or how brighter it is, and never associate that to the new strings. :)

[@GhostpainOG]

Well done, guys. Really loved you guys talking through the process. The difference in wiring they talked about is typically referred to as "Vintage/'50's" versus "Modern/'60's" wiring and has to do with which lugs connect the tone pot to the volume pot. The other mod I recommend considering, is called "Independent Volumes" (as opposed to "dependent") where the volume pots no longer effect on another. So if you turn one all the way down, it doesn't completely kill the volume for both pickups. Also, any PIO cap will do. It doesn't have to be vintage or NOS or anything like that. MojoTone sells Vitamin Q, IIRC, caps that will do just fine for under $5. The values make a bit of difference, and I found I like a .01 in the neck and a .022 for the bridge, but that can vary for pickups and the tone you're looking for. As well, he was dead on about the pots. You don't have to get the fancy 30% taper pots, per se, but I found audio taper for the volumes and linear taper for the tone worked best for me. And yes, meter your pots if you buy cheap so you can put them to better use in specific guitars/positions. Any kind of 24AWG hookup wire works, I ended up using teflon in all of my projects because I got tired of burning the plastic, if you don't care about "authenticity". I'm of the opinion that unpotted pickups work **great** for recording or low volume venues, but can **SUCK** for loud/rock settings, so I think its situational to specific guitars. I had two personal LPs set up accordingly. Now, if you've got 4 conductor buckers, the easiest way to get the full Jimmy Page mod for maximum switching versatility is to get two Tripleshot pickup rings and two push/pull volume pots. The Tripleshots handle all of the individual switching via little switches on the rings, series/parallel and selecting either slug or screw coil and the two push/pull pots handle series/parallel and phase when both pickups are selected. This is **way** easier than wiring 4 push/pull pots. Ask me how I know. :) This requires not being a hamfisted picker/strummer however as you can damage the switches in the rings. The second easiest way is to get a pre-wired 4 push/pull harness. Let your budget and handiness decide. And finally, unsolicited opinion, for that classic hard rock tone with an LP, the SD Pearly Gates neck is ridiculously good. Pair it with the SD CS Brobucker bridge and you are shredding 70s/80s rock god tone. For unpotted tonal bliss, the SD Antiquity buckers are the shit. (I got them before they became CS only) But again, your budget is the deciding factor. Again, excellent video guys.

[@thegoodguy44]

You forgot to mention Peter Green or “Greenie”. Epic fail.

[@GhostpainOG]

@@thegoodguy44 And I never will. I'm one of the few guitarists, apparently, that doesn't particularly like the Greenie, or even the more typical reverse polarity tone (they aren't the same thing, btw) which I did mention. That's the "phase" or "out of phase(OOP)" part of the wiring scheme. I mean it isn't awful, but it's nothing special. Or Claptons "woman tone" for that matter. That, OTH, is ass.

[@douglasdort]

*

[@cometsuch]

I love the two of you guys just nerding out over this stuff

[@groovetodaddy]

is this the same les paul he got with tim? the one that was perfect?

[@robmcd]

Yep.

[@J.marrrr]

jajajaja totally. I think that when you have a lot of money to spend no guitar is perfect

[@juicekicksup]

Lmaoooo

[@52Tele]

A video titled “I made a big mistake!” with a classic thumbnail of palms on his face will come out next year.

[@stevekirkby6570]

Great job by Zack - and respecting the original spec. with the caps and un-potted p-ups. Loveit Rhett. Good choice; it's a musical tool, not a museum piece. I'm also impressed by the hand selected pots.

[@Tony_Leonardi.]

I loved this video thank you two!

[@madsenamplification]

The articulation and sound is definitely improved! Plus love what Zach said about no matter the cost of the guitar, you should make the guitar sound and play how you want it too.

[@joshigh]

This is real close to a Mr. Rogers episode. Your friendly neighborhood boutique guitar mod shop. You play a good Mr. Rogers, Rhett.

[@EvanBNW]

Great job! I had a 2010 LP with 57 Classics which was a great guitar. But when I upgraded to an R8 a few years later with Custom Buckers the difference was huge.

[@conartist267]

I love the way you interview Rhett. You never pretend that you know as much as the person you’re interviewing or cut them off. Well done. Love from Australia 🇦🇺

[@AnthonyR-c3q]

This is a terrific video. I’ve learned a ton on KZbin and love finding the tone I’m after by changing components. I like to start with a guitar that sounds terrific unplugged. Then I listen to what I have and decide what I want to achieve. I just did 4 good Bourns 500k pots and tried a few different tone caps. The result was awesome! This guitar has Mojotone 59 PAF Clones and I like them for their clarity and balance. In one guitar I have a Mojo 59 Clone and a stock Gibson bride pickup, and that combination was perfect for this guitar. I appreciate you sharing your experience with the parts and doing the work. I’ve built a few amps and am very comfortable working on the electronics on my 2013 Les Paul Standard. It’s a fun hobby and the quest for tone changes over time. Great stuff Rhett. It’s your guitar. I saw a picture a guy posted on Facebook a few years back and the photographer made the guitar look like it was in the snow. Everyone went ape-shit and I was amazed at how many people said that the dude shouldn’t be allowed to own his guitar. The poor guy explained that the guitar was protected and that he didn’t hurt it (it was an R9). Others said he didn’t deserve to own his Les Paul because he didn’t treat it as one should. People are crazy about this stuff. I thought the results you achieved sound great. I would love to see a shootout between the throw-backs and the Joe Bonamassa 335 PAF’s that he sells from Seymour Duncan. Please do a shootout of those! Great channel and great videos. You and Lyle from Psionic are two of my favorite KZbin guys. Thanks for all the great videos!

[@kapstersmusic]

Mike Lull (rest in peace!) did pretty much the same pot and capacitor changes to my Norlin era LP custom and it completely opened up the sound. I had played it for over 30 years with 200-250k pots and what a difference! The old parts are in the case, for anyone that would ever care.

[@samclemmons5373]

I just need to find someone to take about four pounds off of my Norlin era custom.

[@kapstersmusic]

@@samclemmons5373 Just use an extra wide guitar strap to ease the neck pain! The extra weight is to help break the headstock off when the strap gives out.

[@tadask.4931]

A lot of 2000s' and later Gibson standard models comes also with 330kOm pots and it does not do any favor to the humbucker pickups. Change them to any 500kOms and it takes a blanket of the top end of the signal. I have no idea TBH what the R&D team were thinking using 330 as a standard value for such a long time

[@kapstersmusic]

@@tadask.4931 I've heard somewhere that back in the 70s there were just using up whatever they had lying around in the factory. Not sure how accurate that info is, but just having the pots and caps changed out forever brightened the guitar. Mike left the original PAFs or whatever is in there, they sound good. He also put on taller frets and plek'ed it. No more "fretless wonder", have to work 1/2 as hard to fret it now.

[@sonnywolfblues]

I like the clarity and detail you gained from the mod. I was initially skeptical before watching the entire video thinking it is a bit nuts to mess with a Gibson Custom Shop guitar worth thousands of dollars but the improvement is undeniable. There is an old clip of Keith Richards in 1964 playing 'the last time' on a TV show with his 1959 Bigsby Les Paul and the tone he got out of it has this lovely clarity and bite that to me is what a great Les Paul should have.

[@TheOneZenMusic]

That was a great watch, thanks.

[@donknotts5625]

Tone is fluid. One day its the best ever, next day im changing levels on the amp. Accept it and hv fun trying to find a unicorn of tone

[@13adulte]

well said...

[@WatchesnguitarsDK]

It is so much fun to fool around with modding one’s guitar. And fun to watch, too! You can actually still use a pot where one shaft has been broken off. Just use a straw (in plastic) and use it to hold the two shafts together. If your know does not fit, add some adhesive sand paper with the grain on the outside. Not optimal, but it works!

[@metalliholic]

Imagine what the old guitar heads would say now if they were alive during the internet age. Where they could watch stuff like this all day.

[@kevinoconnor2921]

Extremely noticable difference for the better. I knew it would. I am shocked you didn't know about the "nerdy" tech stuff. '50's wiring is the only way to go on a Les Paul.

[@thegoodguy44]

If he had only changed the wiring, and not the pickups, you would have heard zero difference. Saying it sounded “better” is just your mind making you think that.

[@Ubu987]

The original set-up made a guitar sound like a saxophone, but the modified version makes it sound like a guitar. There is more going on, a lot more nuance. It must feel different to the player to have a greater range of possibilities to draw upon.

[@cadams1607]

​@@thegoodguy44 Should have changed the magnets.

[@canadiandream12]

Rhett, you’re evolving. I remember the video of you buying this guitar and you loved the creaminess of it. To me the new pickups sound less creamy. I think part of that is because you’re not digging in as hard as before. I’m glad you like the changes. I personally prefer the compressed sound more. I want the guitar to force me to dig in.

[@RobbieF]

I have potted AlNiCo 2 PAF style humbuckers from Dylan McKerchie in my LP. They provide all the dynamic range I could ask for. I can go from clean, to breakup, from quiet to extremely loud simply by adjusting my attack. I attribute the improved dynamics of Rhett's guitar to the new pickups, their "recipe" and winding, not the lack of wax.

[@eldoradoguitars6456]

Exactly. The myth of unpotted pickups is ridiculous.

[@scottyowen5300]

It's amazing what upgrading the pots can do to any electric guitar. While the upgrade to the 50's series wiring on my '78 & '80 LP Standards was awesome, I had an 80's P-bass that just wasn't right even with a new PU. When I replaced the pots, bam, there it was, the clear punchy tone that was being hidden by old dirty pots!

[@Robowx]

I just did all that to my Epiphone Les Paul! A "50's harness with Bourns pots and Orange Drop Caps, Faber 59 bride and stop tail piece, Swithcraft Pickup selector and a Pure Tone Jack, With Seymour Duncan 59 in neck and Custom 5 in the bridge.

[@p-Claud73]

@@Robowx and how much did all of that cost you?

[@allstopblue5717]

@@p-Claud73less than buying an actual Gibson I know they much

[@thegoodguy44]

@@allstopblue5717 Still $500 or more on stuff that goes inside a made in China guitar…. A Chibson.

[@EyeSky-d4c]

Awesome video. Thanks guys. Measured the pots in my 2012 R9 and shockingly, they're 400K. Also, I think they took the vintage angle of pickups being identical in wind (DC resistance). The neck and the bridge are nearly identical at 8K (neck) and 7.9K (bridge). I also had never considered the 30% taper. I usually just go with Bournes pots because they'r made in the USA and my grandpa used to work there.

[@stephenmarsh3986]

"...now it feels like 'my' Les Paul" says it all and makes the changes worthwhile. I've watched this video and the follow-up where Rhett addresses the online criticisms and I'm firmly in his camp. If the changes make the guitar more to the way you want it as a player then go for it. It can always be reversed provided you keep the original parts. If you have someone else doing the work insist you get all the original parts back, they belong to you. 🖖

[@pleasantlindsey33]

Rhett, great video as usual. That template trick is quite useful, so is the info about "30% audio taper."

[@EJ_Crough]

everytime Zach blows on a new solder joint I freak out a little

[@ZachBroyles]

I’m gently blowing the smoke out of my face. I’m not blowing on the solder joints.

[@Birbdup]

I’m blowing smoke from joints, no solder though.

[@MythosPedals]

@@Birbdup Hell yeah

[@thegoodguy44]

It’s not good because he is transferring moisture from his breath straight into the molten hot solder. This leads to an eventual failure of the joint. The bond is compromised by moisture. You don’t see real tech’s do this, ever.

[@MythosPedals]

@@thegoodguy44 Like I said, Im not blowing on the joint.I'm gently blowing the smoke out of my face, not blowing a bunch of air down onto the solder joint. I've soldered thousands of pedals and even more component connections and while I've had components fail I've NEVER had a pedal come back from a bad solder joint that I soldered. ;)

[@craigmarah3952]

I love watching both your channels separately, but when you both get together something magically nerdy and beautiful happens. I love it. Top content for a nerd like me ❤️

[@tennisnutts7370]

Close your eyes when you listen to the final result. Sounds like a strat and a huge upgrade.

[@JohnShalamskas]

It certainly sounded like a blanket was lifted off the guitar.

[@tennisnutts7370]

The rolled off highs is the gibson sound.

[@mikemcintosh9933]

Nice playing. Glad you like the way it feels and plays. That keeps you playing, which helps you play better :)

[@richardturk7162]

Good pots make a huge difference. I use the RSguitarworks pot upgrade kits. Glad to see you use them too. Roy and Scott are friends of mine. Proper caps make a big difference too. I have worked on lots of Gibson guitars and I have found the pots vary a great deal. Anywhere from 380 to 400k all the way up to 500 occasionally. They are not consistent at all. I use an old tennis shoe string to remove the knobs.

[@frankgeick3641]

I was surprised by how much the pot/caps change affected the tone. Watched other videos and the change was not so dramatic. This dude knows something.

[@davehall8584]

bullshit

[@jw_au]

Soldering is an art that I just cannot seem to ever manage…

[@Smart-Alex]

Zach, nice branding work on High Voltage. Looks very cool.

[@rolon-will3362]

I bought a 2004 USA LP Standard. The wood was lovely, good looking and 9lbs 5oz, but is felt a bit dead to play, very heavy rock sound, not at all open. I switched the pups, capacitors, did 50s wiring with vintage style pots (all read just over 500k, the old ones read closer to 450 and were more varied)and I changed the tail piece and bridge to a vintage style light weight and an ABR1. I did a whole set up and fret level and polish. It sounded and felt totally different. Turned into a blues machine, made me want to play completely different stuff. Totally worthwhile, it’s my favourite guitar now, as opposed to the quite boring feeling instrument I bought.

[@schreds]

550k pots for potted Humbuckers / PAFs always 100% of the time .the number one thing that has changed my tone and tonal response that i have done to any of my LPs

[@e.r.559am7]

Great info! Nerd out all ye want & chase that tone till you catch it.

[@KRHGuitar]

Sounds better to me with the original electronics and pickups. The guitar had a certain squeal to it with the OG pickups, that bridge sound in the Tim Pierce video was epic!. Its just a feel thing, I might be wrong. That being said, I would also like to add that the player and owner of the instrument always knows what's best for his/her instrument and for himself/herself.

[@Schlomovision]

Truth

[@dimitrioskarastamatis4919]

Tim Pierse uses the best Les Paul ever, a Heritage 150!

[@thegoodguy44]

Have you seen the bizarre and revolting things people have done to their guitars? I don’t think the owner of the guitar always knows what is the right thing.

[@JohnShalamskas]

@@thegoodguy44 EVH FrankenStrat, for example. Sure sounded great though.

[@buckwheat2002]

That was fun. you guitar sounded fine before and sounds great after the changes. I can see being happy with either choice of pickups/electronics.

[@joshigh]

Good luck finding this level of service at any guitar tech shop anywhere. Those guys want you in and out as fast as possible and look at you funny when you ask for certain mods or changes. I hate dealing with repair shops. I've had so much shoddy work come back from them I nearly refuse to visit them anymore. I've learned how to do so much of this stuff on my own. Maybe Nashville is a different story but the folks around Central Florida have been terrible in my experience. I wish I had someone I could trust that did good work around here.

[@ericp8256]

They don't fuck around here in Nashville. lol There's several places here in Nashville to find reputable, thorough techs. I'll go on record as saying the best you'll find anywhere...

[@RaptorV1USA]

Yeah I'd imagine any shop has ALOT of time for a guy with a decent YT channel who puts out content almost daily and is still growing.... As opposed to yr average picker.

[@Matt__bain]

Have never had a good experience with techs either don’t want to do the work you ask for or damage the guitar in some way and try and gaslight you into believing it was already like that 😒

[@curtisprice9806]

Had every "shop" butcher the job I asked for! Do your homework and ask how many of the asked job have they performed

[@joshigh]

@@ericp8256 I believe that. Guitar town is a real thing around there.

[@David.S.]

Good vid. Scratching the pot casings before soldering can help the solder adhere to them as well.

[@cunawarit]

The cool thing about guitar electronics is that there's nothing to it, everything is so big and chunky that anyone can work on it. You don't need amazing soldering skills.

[@allenmitchell09]

I learned that trying to solder on a ps5

[@grene1955]

Been playing for 50 years, and I just learned a lot! Thanks to you both!

[@WolfDaddy884]

This dude is awesome. He should do a tech series on here.

[@csharp57]

AGREED!!

[@mar-mj9vb]

Glad to learn about RS Guitarworks pots. I've found ti to be quite a challenge to source non-standard taper pots.

[@otaviosmartins1]

After my first set of Seymour Duncan Antiquity PAFs, I will sincerely put them on every humbucker guitar I get. Regardless of price

[@curtisprice9806]

EXACTLY....KILLER MOJO TONE.... DETAIL LIKE CRAZY

[@kristopherk5454]

I put a set of those in a friend’s Eastman 335 copy….it sounded good before but great afterwards!

[@michaelhotz7118]

I have them in my Les Paul. Great pickup. In an Explorer I have Pearly Gates. Also a great pickup but definitely different not better or worse just different. Not even going into the pots, wiring, etc. Modifying is cool. I will say, I have an original R9 and it’s not as articulate as either of the other guitars but I’m not fk’n with it.

[@JohnShalamskas]

My first electric guitar is a MonoPrice Chinese Les Paul clone. I replaced practically everything in it with better parts, which is probably a waste of money since the wood parts are low quality, but I learned a lot in the process. Every mod did something positive for tone and feel. It has Seymour Duncan Antiquities pickups, Switchcraft switch and jack, CTS pots, Kluson tuners, TonePros locking brudge, and a TUSQ nut. So my $150 guitar has around 800 dollars in it that I will never recover if I sell it. I bet everyone has one of those in their collection. It sure sounds and plays nicer than it did when it arrived. I think of it as my "learning to work on a guitar" project.

[@bjdenil]

Oh man! Those new pickups are killer. So open. Beautiful woman tone. I could see how that fits your style better. I loved the old ones. Loved the way your guitar sounded before, but this is your guitar and your sound, and this would be better for some stuff and probably better for you.

[@smoothguitarforever]

This is so weird... i just bought a 96 R9 yesterday and was thinking about doing literally all of these mods. This helps so much with the specifics

[@HuhWaitWhatNow]

For real?

[@Peppeblackmetal]

Hope this showed that they didn; makr any difference whatsoever. But I'm sure both of the guys in the video would hear the "difference" if even 1 fret of the fretboard was changed to maple. I'm sorry but there's no audible difference before pre and after pot changes.

[@smoothguitarforever]

@@HuhWaitWhatNow yea

[@m.charron]

@@Peppeblackmetal You can't hear it. Eventually your ears might develop enough that you can. It happens the same way with identifying intervals and chord progressions, or the difference between phasing and flanging.

[@smoothguitarforever]

@@Peppeblackmetal the pot change isn't really even about the sound for me i hate how severe the ramp of the change is, only 7.5- 10 is really usable to me, while I'm there might as well put better caps too

[@strawsparky33]

just went to Luxe and bought 2 Bumblebee Caps for my 50's standard les paul that already has unpotted burstbucker 1 & 2's and 500k CTS Audio Taper pots. also bought a 1950s style Strat capacitor, a CLR 3 way switch, and some 70th anniversary '54 strat pickups to put into my Squier that has 250k CTS Audio tapers. Basically gonna have my own homemade 1959 Les Paul and 1954 Stratocaster. great video Rhett. i think you should do more build videos of guitars you may have wanted to tinker or build on.

[@Doubtful-optimism]

Having to replace the pickups on a 10k guitar is pretty tough.....

[@Bsquared1972]

First thing I did to my R9. Wizz pickups, and RS Guitarworks electronics, wired 50s style. WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.

[@shinzontheta]

​@@Bsquared1972 Why buy the guitar then when your at that price point? Why not just by the regular les Paul standard and just mod it?

[@agalvin1313]

Sadly necessary for Gibson. Recently put throbaks in my 335 and it's night and day better

[@cooljp1531]

There is a better way. Buy a Yamaha Revstar and just put Gibson, Les Paul logo on Revstar's headstock. Best Les Paul ever made for $750

[@Toobzilla]

10k? for a typical R9 w no artist endorsement?. i got a like new one, chevron top, nicer than rhetts, 4.5k

[@petesie80]

Excellentvid showing jus how much this upgrade improves your guitar, I don't see this as a PR stunt, brilliant Rhett, thank you!

[@literal_lee]

The fine art of corksniffery and psycho-acoustics. Oh well.. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤭

[@mr.jerrygarcia3281]

Rhett, I love how your Les Paul’s tone and its harmonics bloomed. Gorgeous 🤤❤️

[@Worldwideguy96]

Sounded better before to my ears. Had that ''beefy tele'' sound.

[@tennisnutts7370]

well now it is a very expensive Strat.

[@Worldwideguy96]

@@tennisnutts7370 right!

[@JohnShalamskas]

@@tennisnutts7370 You can always add back the compression and darken the frequency response downstream.

[@tennisnutts7370]

@@JohnShalamskas but why go through it all?

[@JohnShalamskas]

@@tennisnutts7370 Because it is easier to subtract than to add something that wasn't there to begin with.

[@joeychuck]

Great vid. I'm a big fan of RS Guitar works too. Their drop in kits immediately improve most Gibsons.

[@travisarnett9558]

The potting material (wax) is not magnetic. It just freezes your windings in place, to keep them from vibrating thus inducing feedback. Over time a coil that is vibrating can wear into the enamel of the wire it is wound with and shorting out the coil completely, or just a few windings short and lowering your output. Just lower your pickups if you want less signal.

[@aleksandrnestrato]

2:52 Maybe it'll be interesting for someone. _"Vibrations essentially make your pickup work like a microphone"_ -yeah, but how? Sound waves (alternating air pressure) and mechanical vibrations literally shake the wire of the pickup's coil(s). That's it. That wire is located within the magnetic field of the pickup's magnet(s), hence when shaking it gains some alternating voltage in it. Wax holds the wire in place not allowing it to move. There are levels of pickup's 'potted-ness'. The less wax is in a pup the more the pup responds to a guitar resonance (thus you can hear more wood tone, more bridge tone, more nut tone, etc.) On the other end there are pups that are filled with resin in vacuum-extremely potted. Those pups respond to string vibration only. Fun fact. If a coil is round -say, there are six individual coils+magnets per each string- the wire of such coil goes around the bobbin at all wire portions. Such wire is better attached to the bobbing and hence shakes less. Circular coils can be little microphonic with no potting.

[@CSkein]

Honestly, wouldve just started with a pickup height adjustment.

[@RhettShull]

They were set how I like them.

[@BenNordVPN]

@@RhettShullClearly not though 😂

[@JohnShalamskas]

@@RhettShull I was going to bring up pickup height but I'm glad I waited. I put Antiquities (unpotted PAFs) on my 150 dollar Chinese Les Paul and they really sound great! Also 50s wiring and CTS 500k pots. But I don't get the sustain like on my 2015 Gibson Les Paul Classic.

[@jamesrogers9949]

You dont think they have ? Think about it.

[@CSkein]

@@jamesrogers9949 I think there's some unintended misinformation being stated. His complaint of a compressed signal is fixed by height. Which means his real issue with these original pickups is output and/or resonance peak. Going with unpotted is not to fix this but rather to give a vintage response to playing dynamics. It's a conflation. The analysis was flawed.

[@louferraro6976]

Great mods ... so glad you share these with us.. sounds great !

[@nflrunes]

If I went to Normans rare guitars with Tim Pierce and tried every les Paul and picked by far the stand out tonally (confirmed by Tim) you would never catch me risking the mojo by changing anything!

[@RhettShull]

Why? It’s not like I threw the original pickups away, you can always go back to stock.

[@JohnSmith-in1tt]

Tim’s a recording guy. His ears are probably used to a more compressed mid range sound. Also best at Norms, doesn’t mean best in the world. Reissues have come a long way since ‘99

[@Fitzpa14]

Good thing it’s not your guitar then! Also just because it’s the best guitar tonally to Tim does not mean it’s the best guitar to ally for Rhett and his fingers/playing style or you and your fingers/playing style. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@nflrunes]

@@RhettShull it’s just personal superstition! And the fact that video blew my mind with how good this guitar sounded. It sounds great after the mods, I just would have been afraid some special combo of parts would be forever lost.

[@nflrunes]

@@Fitzpa14 you’re right all around. I’m not against modding guitars, just nervous when they already sound so good! Luckily I don’t think these mods lost any mojo

[@mmiller6873]

Such a beautiful sound. A lot do to your play style, but isn't always awesome to upgrade components on your guitar. Especially when you are doing the complete remake of the in's and out's with new pick ups. Well done Rhett and thanks for sharing. High Voltage Guitars and Mythos, how can you go wrong 🙂.

[@PawlikJJP]

Before you buy a new pots you can also drastically change the sound of your guitar just by changing the pickup height you can even fine tune it to specific strings buy messing with pole pieces

[@thegoodguy44]

He didn’t know this beforehand. 😢

[@mentalcog2187]

Well,.. this was an education I've enjoyed. Learned many things in many areas of LP electronics, parts and sound. Really enjoyed this video!

[@NateT0524]

The amount of butt hurt over a guy taking his own money to change the pickups in his own guitar is mind blowing.

[@RegisFontes]

Loved the video and how glad you are with results! It's your guitar after all, so it has to sound and feel the way YOU like it! Congrats, I enjoyed the whole video and learned a lot.

[@jips123]

Pickups matter, but for me the neck feel and acoustic resonance are way more important. That is: to spark creativity.

[@gcensing6351]

Once again, Rhett, you proved it is so much more about feel than about tone!! Thanks man!

[@seangourgaud8824]

I’m not so sure that was a stock R9. I don’t think any of the modern custom shop R9 ‘s have ceramic capacitors.

[@j.schaefer5622]

Normally they have fake bumblebees in it

[@RhettShull]

It’s from 99, not modern

[@wesboundmusic]

Sweet tones, man! I'm having my electronics rewired by a nice friend who's an electrical engineer and teaches it. It will reflect the 50ies wiring like here with treble bleed as well as allow for split coil tones in both humbuckers. (switched by way of the Freeway Switch 3x3-03). It's not an LP, but a semi-acoustic from one block of mahogany. So it brings some solid body qualities as well. After seeing this, I can barely wait to have it back, wire strings onto it, do the setup and - get cracking!

[@RobPierce103]

I have a 07 R9 that ive changed everything out on. Made it so much better. There are many many better options than stock burstbuckers. I added NOS caps, better pots, grovers, and custom spec pickups. Now the guitar is uniquely mine and it gives exactly what i need out of it.

[@k2rocksstl]

GREAT friggin video! Nobody explains pots, what they are and how they work, wiring, potted pickups or how to improve even an affordable guitar to make it the best it can be for what it is.

[@bysykler4959]

To be honest, the only thing that I am tone confident about is hearing the sound of money coming out of a wallet.

[@OscarBenben]

Basically the same video I did on my channel with my luthier. Same ideas, different moments and models. Good job Zaxh

[@GuitarsModsMusic]

Great video Rhett Shull. The potted and unpotted comparison is very helpful. Saved me the time of trying it myself. We are definitely stopping by Zach’s shop on our upcoming trip to Nashville. Play your guitar, mod your guitar and make them your own. Thanks ✌️

[@AkseSir]

Personally just I can't imagine buying a guitar this expensive and swapping everything. Apparently the vintage guitar "larp" has no boundries. But hey, as long as you are happy with the guitar. Insightful tech video, too.

[@RhettShull]

Why not? I still have all the original parts and could easily put it back to stock with a soldering iron and about an hour’s worth of work.

[@AkseSir]

@RhettShull Sure I get that. It's more about the costs and law of diminishing returns. Also this idea of "artificially" trying to get as close to a vintage guitar as possible without the guitar actually being old is just endlessly interesting to me. Like Dr. Frankenstein trying to create life in a lab. And I absolutely mean no disrespect with any of this. It's just an interesting and unique-ish thing to the guitar industry and community. The lengths we go, the cost we pay in chasing that vintage mojo even if artificially. Of course there is nothing wrong with this. As long as it helps and inspires you to play the best you can play.

[@michaeldavis4969]

​@AkseSir Pickup swap is probably the highest return of any change to an electric guitar. That and pots.

[@TMGQ]

@@RhettShull The seal has been broken! The solder will never be original again!!

[@beatmasterbossy]

​@@AkseSir yeah, he said it's markedly better... maybe it is. But I think there's always some cost-sunk justifications happening. Pickups: 750, everything else: 150. $900 to sound .05% better and have slightly more usable pot selections

[@studio0404]

Good video Rhett, that made a really nice difference in it's sound after the upgrade, and had noticeably better dynamics. Your friend definitely knows his stuff, I enjoy the nerdy fine details in guitar gear the same as you guys, I'm going to look for that different curve on the 500k volume potentiometer to put in one of mine.

[@ottokirk2325]

Fun fact, a heat gun can remove almost all the wax potting. You'll need to de-solder the cover for removal. Then temporarily remove the cloth tape rap around the coils.

[@mikelevitt7365]

I make pickups and that absolutely will do nothing. There will still be a little wax that glues the coil together.

[@Toobzilla]

thats a sure-fire way to short the windings, heat guns dont do anything accurately or controlled. why wouldnt you just find the melting temp of wax then put em in an oven for + 5deg for hrs til the wax all came off?

[@graysonward5086]

Just buy new pickups😂

[@besnardphilippe7350]

Dear Reth Im totally with you on that mod,you end up with the sound you wanted from your guitar and it ‘s all that maters! Few years back I did all the same mod ,(plastic from area 59 included) and put Throwbak MT 102 in a 2019 custom shop anniversary R9,why? because first of all it pleases me,second during a trip to Tokyo I ‘ve played 4 original ,my fav was a 57 ,I sent a vid of that to Throwbak and they recommended the MT 102 with a slight mod,I ‘ve been super happy with that guitar for 5 years now.Moral of the story,if it pleases you, if it inspires you just Go for it + it made a great content for us all. Thanks Reth and Zack Phil (France)

[@transmundanemusic]

Yes, I don't know how we got to this point where people think that pickups don't have microphonic tendencies. They absolutely do, which is the entire reason they get potted to begin with. The obvious implication here is that wood does contribute to tone on an electric guitar. To what extent is the only real debate. I think it's clear that the percentage is rather small, but it is there regardless.

[@RoxanneSturgis]

does the mic holder of the mic effect the tone

[@transmundanemusic]

@@RoxanneSturgis That's a fallacious argument my friend. False equivalence. Pickups translate acoustic frequencies. This is easy to test. You can quite literally sing into pickups. It's how Scott Weiland recorded the opening to the song Dead and Bloated.

[@transmundanemusic]

@@216trixie Not just unpotted, literally any pickup. But the point is once the pickup is "activated", we'll say, by the vibrating strings, it begins to also translate acoustic signals. The mechanism doesn't matter, the point is it does translate more than just the electromagnetic signal from the metal strings.

[@ChrisEck13]

Play a KZbin video on your phone, put the speaker of your phone up to your pickups, it's very easy to prove pickups acts like microphones.

[@Billiamwoods]

​@@ChrisEck13My pickups aren't microphonic and they still do this. You know why? Because a speaker is literally a vibrating magnet. It's basically a reverse microphone. It's not that it's picking up the sound, it's picking up magnetic vibration. What's magnetic and vibrates on a guitar, hmmm

[@caesius248]

Sounds beautiful. Got into guitar in the fall of 23 and ended up going down the rabbit hole after I saw another youtuber play a 59 gold top back to back with a reissue. It was amazing. One of the big secrets is the "50s wiring" which actually raises output by putting the pots in series instead of parallel. The 50s wiring also isn't as harsh on your highs. ThroBak pickups were icing on the cake.

[@methanedirigible]

Hang on, you got into guitar a year ago and you’re focusing on which wiring adds a tiny amount of this or that to your tone? If I were you I’d be focussing on practising not all this cork-sniffer nonsense man. Being a decent guitarist is a never-ending journey amigo. Edit: Did you mean you got into guitar in the fall of _1923_ ? If so - glad you’re still with us. You actually predate the electric guitar by a couple of decades

[@lazyboyandtherockers8050]

Maaaaaaaan! I wouldn't mess with a R-9. That's what you paid for. Maybe a regular Standard or other LP. I have a 2019 R-9. It's perfect! I like to play right next to my amo when I play. My bridge pickup on my 64 335 was squealing all the time. I potted the pickup. I left it in the guitar. I just used painter tape on the body and dipped as much of the p/u in a can with hot wax. The guitar is totally awesome now.

[@mickthebandit]

Great video. I build guitars as a hobby and play in a band. I’m constantly modding and tinkering with my guitars and other peoples guitars. Love it 🥰

[@camilleduclos3452]

Funny how when you got that"Dream Les Paul" you said the pickups were sooooooo amazing that you wanted them to be cloned... and now you said the pickups were just so so and that guitar is so much better with the new pickups

[@mikedfurman]

There’s the phrase ‘grass is always greener’ for a reason!

[@JohnShalamskas]

Honeymoon is obviously over.

[@csharp57]

Loved the nerdy details. I wish I could hang around this guy for a few months. I’d just walk around and jot down everything he says.

[@looking_33]

Don’t mess with a good sounding guitar. I ruined one doing things like this. If you’re happy with a sound don’t mess with it because you can easily lose it!!

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

AND ... if you get it to where the LP sounds really good, take a measurement of the pickup and polepiece heights!

[@ericwright3646]

it's his guitar... who cares?

[@ebbyssis]

Pretty sweet love how you always share the intricacies of playing styles along with enhancements for all of us. Thank You and Happy Thanksgiving brother

[@spyderlogan4992]

If you're changing pickups on an R9 that you paid a small fortune for, then you bought the wrong R9, in my opinion.

[@gibsonfan159]

Yeah, I don't think people who buy these historic models are looking for modifications. I'd bet 90% stay in the case. But when you're an influencer trying to get views, you feature your expensive gear lol.

[@Nick-qq2nq]

It’s kind of funny that he made the video about a year or so ago proclaiming how this Les Paul was “the one” after playing a shit load of reissues at norms. Clearly not because he already changed all the electronics lol. Anything other than actually practicing though, am I right?

[@alec7364]

@@Nick-qq2nq Yeah, kind of ruins the Tim Pierce approval lol

[@simpwood4973]

@@Nick-qq2nqi remember when he said it had 57 classics my immediate reaction was: how can it be the one then? But I also change pickups in almost every guitar I own even if I like it.

[@felixayala05]

Yup. I would have left it alone.