The CHEAPEST Les Paul Tone HACK? | Friday Fretworks

[@russhicksart]

Sucks that this was an hour long video after I listened to the intro 60 times.

[@Johnny1.0]

Seriously!

[@carlo1195]

same here.

[@willwragg9707]

Yup

[@DMSProduktions]

LOL!

[@bartderijck172]

😎 same here

[@darwinsaye]

A great trick I’ve seen for humbucker Les Pauls is to lower the pickups and raise the pole pieces. Clears the muddy tone right up and gives them a vintage sparkle. I think a lot of the chime of the old PAFs is from them being unpotted and over time becoming slightly microphonic. A bit of microphonics in a pickup can give a stunning acoustic quality to the tone.

[@jltrem]

Just did the same to my Les Paul, Epi Les Paul Special and SG per the Kris Barocsi vid. I agree, Really brought them to life. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2fVZH6gis2mrrs

[@edmiglia]

I've been fine tuning the pole pieces in my PRS 245 with a Seymour Duncan JB and a Jazz in the neck. It really allowed me to even the volume of each string, it's much brighter and has more mids. It sounds like a Tele on steroids now 👍

[@yetanotherbassdude]

Yeah, did the same on the bridge of my Epi after I read about it in Guitarist Magazine's Tone Manual. I went too far with it though, and it didn't sound good initially, but if you can get the balance right between the polepiece height and the overall pickup height below the strings you can really add loads of clarity and cut some of the mud without actually buying any new parts.

[@Deuce_Luminox.]

The pole piece trick is very effective. I have a 2008 R8 with Burstbuckers. I lowered the pickups flat with the rings and raised the pole pieces a couple turns and it brightened everything up quite a bit. The guitar is much more articulate and doesn't smack the front end of the amp quite as hard.

[@jltrem]

@@edmiglia "a Tele on steroids" is how Jimmy Page and others have described the perfect, original Les Paul tone.

[@primeDecomposition]

I suspect unpotted pickups and 50’s Wiring are a much bigger influence on the brighter and more articulate tones of the original bursts. Which is probably why Gibson now does this on the reissues.

[@fivewattworld]

Nice job Chris!

[@mikekavanaughdotcom]

I absolutely love your playing. Makes me wonder what the heck I have been doing to know so little after almost 40 years.

[@PartialS]

You've *got* to work on doing worse intros mate. I just kept skipping back to the beginning and now it's getting too late to watch the rest of the vid.

[@tangotango256]

wow ....i didn't see your video ...be nice !

[@shakey71]

To be honest I preferred the sound of the 300k pots, however that’s probably because you set up the pole pieces and pickup hight for the 300k pots. To my ears the 500k had a harsher shrill too end. Worth a mention is that if you wire you’re guitar with 50’s wiring 500k pots accentuate the affect you get from rolling the tone down with the volume down to get less low end, but then again so will the signal path/cable to the amp!

[@nathansantos.n8]

same

[@DMSProduktions]

Your.

[@kravitz1999]

300's for me as well

[@mikebingham7189]

All the comments are interesting. I spent a couple years working on this by changing various magnet combinations in the PU's and changing POTS and CAPS. It's a rabbit hole. Finally, I installed different PAF's got what I thought were better POTS from RS Guitarworks (510-530K) and different CAPS. I gutted the wiring and went to Vintage 1950's wiring. "Usually" my guitar volume is at 8-8.5 and my neck tone is at 7 and bridge tone is 4-5. Here's the thing, that's my guitar setting not yours....probably. It depends on the pickups and the amp. To me, the pickups, vintage 1950's wiring, and really good pots made a big difference. My guitar was muddy especially when you turned the volume or tone knobs down.....really bad. No control. Not now. But remember it also has to do with how you set the pickup height. Not too close and not too far away. I listen carefully, no numbers, and then slightly balance the two. But the amp is very, very important. It's very important.

[@switchbacksentence1244]

Every week, the intros are INSANELY GOOD! Your touch is like no other Chris 🙌🏻

[@LennyJohnson5]

@@martynsparkes7118 Nice reply, you bitter and envious tit.

[@switchbacksentence1244]

@@martynsparkes7118 I guess the readers of Guitarist Magazine disagree www.musicradar.com/news/the-10-best-blues-guitarists-in-the-world-today

[@Skybluetoo]

Martyn Sparkes and I guess you’re a ‘never bothered to run’? Chris is quite obviously one of the best guitarists around and has been identified as such

[@PatatoKeftes]

I've tried to make my R9 sound closer to old ones. Changed the pickups to Throbaks, changed caps to PIO ones. The changes did get to the right direction. However the biggest change came when I replaced the bridge and thumbscrews to faber ones. Honestly that made a more of a change than the pickups and the caps combined.

[@daniellaudman8580]

See Stephen's design pickups on KZbin for the real deal replacement parts to get you to the original 59

[@nickvankempen]

@@daniellaudman8580 Royal Mount brass posts and thumb wheels and a Four Uncles bridge is what took my LP to more vintage specs and tone.

[@rjake61]

The Faber is a good sounding Abr bridge.

[@RAndrewNeal]

Without a reactive (specifically capacitive) element in the potentiometer itself, it shouldn't load down the highs more than it does the lows. They can interact with the tone filter circuitry, causing the cutoff frequency of the (low pass) filters to come down in proportion to the resistance. But at such high resistances and such small capacitances, the difference would be negligible; likely inaudible. The tone was subtly chimier, but that is most likely due to the higher resistance pots used in the _tone_ circuitry, as the cutoff frequency (assuming the new caps have the same values as the old) can now be adjusted higher than before. Installing different caps are a tone changer in themselves. Capacitors do have a real effect on tone because they are reactive. I doubt resistance of the pots have anything significant to do with tone. The tests would have been better-done if they were all recorded before the tone pot and cap swap, so as to remove the variables that weren't accounted for.

[@bayougtr]

Wire a pickup bypassing the whole circuit, straight in. Big difference.

[@RAndrewNeal]

@@bayougtr Seven months later, I realize that the pickups themselves are reactive (inductive). Higher resistance volume pots _will_ affect the tone by moving the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter formed by the pickups and pots higher. In my original comment, I overlooked the fact that pickups are inductors.

[@sim82]

Nice to see 50s wiring of the tone pot (aka. output loading). Makes a huge difference to the way the tone and volume pots interact (if you like that).

[@godfree2canada]

Tip: or just add a 100k or 220k metal oxide resister in series with tone cable. one never rolls tone all the way back

[@277southtombob]

That’s a good idea. I’ve used smaller value caps for tone too. Honestly I find a .022uf cap unusable all the way on, it’s just a muddy, mushy mess. I do use my tone controls though so it’s always a bit of a pain finding a sweet spot at a gig.

[@briancrabaugh6966]

It’s easy to dial anything out with an EQ pedal. This is a good solution if you plug straight in. Great video!

[@HELLCHILDFAN101]

I use an eq pedal only with my les Paul it’s so dark and sounds great but with the EQ I cut in the mix perfectly!

[@tonetwinstv2863]

Thanks for the shout out Chris. I think the difference is less apparent on You Tube than in real life, but a definite change for the better. And great playing as always - H

[@andybennett1026]

Pots in long are potentiometers!!! 500 deffo sound better especially with your astonishing playing!

[@danielgrubb9496]

Almost like Gibson wasn't even trying from the factory.. lol. This is an instamod on any guitar though.. get a multimeter and know what you working with first and go from there. Sound is vastly improved!

[@fender4brad]

There is just something special about a Gibson guitar. I know it is popular to bash on Gibson. I think people underestimate how the guitar makes the human interact with the guitar. I am not sure you can measure this factor but I believe it makes people gravitate to guitar/guitars. Gibson just makes you feel and play differently than any other guitar, that is a big deal.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

True but not specific to Gibson. Any guitar the player wants to love does that. I'm sure Chris feels this way about his red 62 Strat and I do about others I have.

[@fender4brad]

@@Leo_ofRedKeep I agree, I am a total Fender guy. My favorite Strat has taken on a personality of its own as well. I just saying a guitar makes the player interact with style of guitar in different ways. I think this fact is sometime overlooked as we talk of the hardware and woods of the guitar. This was a very interesting video by the way. Or my comment could be my excuse for having to many guitars. LOL

[@katylied8]

One good thing about the 300k pots is that they sort of keep the same sound as you turn down the volume. The 500k can go a bit dull when you lower the volume.

[@deuteronimus750]

Gibson Les Pauls guitars were also made of Honduran rather than African mahogany until 1975. Different wood density and degree of hardness.

[@thomaswalz3515]

I have a Strat that was not quite right. I tried 300k pots... now it sparkles... Will 300k be an across the board standard? I've a Tele with a 1meg volume, 250k tone, that does all things one would want for clean Tele tones. I like the 300k better for your LP on the higher register. More sparkle... and since I prefer cleaner tones, that is my bias. I appreciate this video. Back the laboratory...

[@rustisamust9079]

The 550K pots and new caps seemed to me to increase the brightness and clarity a bit, though it wasn't as noticeable with overdrive.

[@paulgizelt3381]

While I was expecting more treble with the 500K pots, what I'm hearing more clarity, volume and midrange from the 500K pots. Whatever, it definitely sounds better with the 500K, and I'm sure it's more noticeable in person than on recording.

[@Dartheomus]

Nice video and great tone comparison! I'd like to offer a couple additional thoughts. First, there rational between the coupling of a humbucker, which has double the output of a single coil, with a potentiometer that has double the resistance. This is why the strat only had a 250k pot. I would dig into this deeper, but it will turn into a long explanation. I have a couple other thoughts though: The tone controls and resistance values of pots and caps are all effectively doing the same thing. They are, *very crudely* shaping your tone by broadly dumping the lows and letting the higher frequencies through. They are simply a high-pass filter. As such, you can absolutely accomplish the same thing with an EQ pedal, but with *much* more precise control. There's no difference if your EQ is built in your guitar or on the floor, but I do understand the value to being able to quickly grab the tone pot for some "on the fly" adjustments. However, since a potentiometer exchange is more permanent, I would suggest users to simply opt for an EQ pedal for these circumstances. One additional comment: I did actually change the circuit on my 2014 Les Paul Studio Pro. I added a treble bleed cap. What this did was kept my full (muddy/modern) tone when at full volume, but as I dial back the volume, I preferentially dial away the low end while letting the highs "bleed through." This gives me a much more vintage tone at lower volumes. I have a PRS 594 that was designed to sound like a 59 LP, and I will say that when the volume on my 2014 LP Studio Pro is turned down to Volume = 6 with the treble bleed, the tone is absolutely IDENTICAL to my PRS 594 with volume at 10. Regarding the tone bleed, you don't need expensive caps for this either... In fact, and I know some will scream blasphemy, there is *absolutely zero difference* between installing a $0.03 capacitor in your guitar vs. a $25 capacitor as long as they have the same capacitance value. So, anyone can make this mod for the cost of a $10 soldering iron. =)

[@10sassafras]

I think this conversation is long overdue so thanks! There’s been talk forever about the PAF sound but without the same pot spec how can they be compared? I think of the difference as being like the tonal difference between running the volume on 10 vs 7 or so.

[@ChrisMartinsMusician]

Cleaner low end, brighter top end. Mids about the same. Much better overall tone IMO.

[@yetanotherbassdude]

Crazy the difference the pots actually made to me. I was expecting more top end, but the change in the bass and low mids was crazy! Almost like a different guitar. I have to say, some of the 300k stuff did actually sound better to me in isolation, especially some of the clips with more gain where those extra low mids really translated to a more complex distortion sound, but I can also totally see that in a live band mix that warmer tone with loads of lows and low mids just isn't going to sit well and is going to end up in mud city.

[@meadish]

Yep, those low to low mid frequencies he removed tend to be the frequencies where the bass guitar gets its definition, so for the overall band mix it definitely makes sense to remove them from the guitar sound. If the band has a barytone vocalist, it is even more important to do so.

[@sebastianfibes2126]

The Buckmeister shakes them string with attitude.

[@guyr.c.606]

Hi Chris love the uploads and playing, always a pleasure. So, this is what I know. (for what it's worth). The tone of T Tops and mini humbuckers fitted to the Les Paul Deluxe and Les Paul Custom we're brighter in tone than the PAF's guitarists we're used to. Gibson took it upon themselves to address the criticism by using both 100 and 300Kohm pots to soften highs and emphasising midrange. The issue IMHO was not so much with the 'buckers Gibson were making, but the fact that Fender and Marshall amps (to name just two) were not becoming warmer in their tone and voicing as the 70's progressed but brighter (Fender).. edgier, gainier.(Marshall)imo Gibson were just trying to stay in the game, as the Fender Strat became the dominant tone of the 1980's and with its 250kohm vol and tone pots, perfectly voiced for the brighter voiced amps of the period. Mercifully, as we know it didn't last and the Les Paul has regained it's rightful place as king of righteous tone.

[@thoroliversenmusic]

I was quite curious to how this would sound. To my surprise I found that the 300k sounded more musical than the new 500k ones. But I like how the 500k ones cleared up a bit of that low end muffle. I think in the end I would go back to the original 300k ones as it may be they made you play with an almost unnoticeable bit of more feel, and that came out more musical to my ears. Maybe what would be what could open these pups up is a Tweed amp or a Tweed amp style pedal of some sort to get those harmonics ringing in the "right" frequencies.

[@davidkenneth3983]

I had a 58 jazzmaster and it sounded with t top buckers and 350 or somewhere close pots like jimmy p.les paul sound they were unpotted p ups had been played in the streets of paris for yrs. But this guy got ahold of my guit. I said only replace the toggle switch it was straight r.t.no switches on guitar it sounded great no wax cloth 350 i think the pots were he replaced the pots 500 k the wireing all this crap i told him you idiot you just bought it it sounded nothing like it did the pups were slightly mocrophonic i loved it my favorite guitar ever sounded like jimmys sound through a dual recto trem o verb on sag exactly gave me better sound than ive ever heard noone believed it they said it was a 60s jag no i took off the neck sept 58 the pots im prettu sure were fender pots from the time era but my guitar sounded phenominal feedback cool as can be musical depending on were you stood and played the angle you pointed the headstock at amp i played communication breakdown it sounded dead on no pedals nothing and the feedback was monsterously musical i told do not touch it he did he fkd. It all up forever it sounded new brash stupid it had to do with those pots it was so killer and musical even mistakes sounded musical you couldnt hit a wrong note that didnt sound right because of the tonal difference i told him it took all those yearsvand mismatched components to get that sound he never even heard the difference at all i said uou bought it allmost cried it was perfect one in a lifetime sound. No microphonocs no character like a brand new piece of st. I was heartbroken and never have i gotten that sound again it souded stale lifeless buzzless it was like someone gave it a lobotomy it was treason to me to this day nothing even touches it but ive noticed the 2 buckers the unwaxed pups the lower 350 i think there was solder on them covering it somewhat it was 3something that was cool it might have been wired straight with no caps i dont know as he disposed of it as he thought this sounds like crap it sounded like nothing i ever heard like neil youngs black the mistakes gave it life now its just yuppy junk all perfect stale souless ill never know what it was i know chris what you mean about the inaudible difference i heard it plain as day he waschumiliated and said i was crazy i heard then whar people are noticing now theres something to the wammy too on a jazz or jag thats super cool i have wammys bigsbys etc on everthing as they ad colour to sound the shape responds to humbucks kurt co. And the neck is also real nice i want to try to build one simular no stale guitar teacher sound straight superhighcool factor monsstrosity i cant remember if the pots had caps or what kind it was like having a stepford wife after having janisjoplin as girlfriend i also didnt like how she got treated as she was a one off . Bad comparison but somehow relative. Take care play a old tonemaster tell me what you think bruce erafender.94 serious im curious as to your thoughts please man if i knew ya we would have fun in investigating things unique and important to us science of sound geeks ( not really at all) curious fellows mates in whats ticken as the sound is kicken.love ya keep it up your a good man engish.

[@davidkenneth3983]

Tweeds have a way with sound thats their own i dig the calitweed in the lowest setting best tone m bruce z. And vibro k. Phenominal also cant understand why there so fkn.great also i liked the victory 140 too calitweed needs a different spr. To make it a magic piece its a experience to plug into itll take you new places.spkr. needs tweek to get full experience cant put my finger on it . Bruce z. Era fend.s and on n on .peace b.

[@davidkenneth3983]

English.

[@AndrewCCM]

I put in 2 DiMarzio humbuckers into my tele. Found out later that the Cruiser worked well with 500k pots but the Chopper T hated the 500K pots. So unbelievably ice pick like. I ended up using a 470k resistor in line with the switch and to ground for the Chopper T in bridge. Fixed all my problems. Sounds infinitely better now.

[@legalsolutions07]

Good vid. Even my old ears can hear a difference😝. I never knew the pots can make such a tonal change.

[@wyldeslash2003]

You wanna take my picture? Cause I won’t remember.

[@iagobroxado]

500k has more volume and snap. You could achieve the 300k tone by lowering the vol and tone a bit. 300k often sounded just a lower volume, slightly muddier version of the 500k sections.

[@nathanmcaree1096]

nailed it

[@MarkusvanAardtBusinessComm]

If you roll the volume back to 8 or 9 - I predict the effect will be more pronounced

[@andydan3053]

Cozy would certainly be proud of a certain Bob Richards on that clip

[@dejct]

My SG has 300k pickups and the rest of my HB guitars have 500k pots... The SG is noticeably darker but it also sounds the best! Its so sweet, smooth and silky :)

[@DMSProduktions]

IF you like it, don't change it!

[@dejct]

@@DMSProduktions good idea! Haha :)

[@darenwobensmith4868]

Im all new to s pot change .but i like the 300 better. Ive een using emgs gor a long time and m just getting back to passive pickups. Ivd picked up some dimarzios to stash in my guitars but this pot change has me really confused

[@davidkenneth3983]

My 300 k thing made the sound more even it lost volume it was a little darker but the chord sounded better like way better the bottom was equal it seemed like no harshness or stale the bottom was less volume the top sweet as could be i dont know any way to explain as it was a bit of a frankenstein but way better than anything i played since never let any one work on your ax without being there if you love it dont leave your wife backstage at a crew show. Ha its people will think they know better they dont know your ear your taste why you love it any nerd fk. Will fix the coolest sounding mistakes that you love cause thats what hes programmed to do fk. Up your ax fix it give it a lobotomy like all those dumb chicks backstage at a crew s. They will go i to auto fix mode i saw a guy leave his ax at a shop he said dont touch the frets whatever you do m.f. first thing he did tape off the finger board and start dremeling the frets i said that h.m.e. strat thats gold is green dont touch his frets man did you hear him hes gonna beat you with it when he comes to get it he said hell never know i touched them i said that guitars green itwas gold when you were born hes gonna beat you he wrecked the place the little fixer destroyed his ax far as he was concerned it was blastfomy needless to say that store had just opened never let a guy do work on it thats younger than the ax!

[@davidkenneth3983]

Exactly ! Keep it safe .

[@iuriatanasov]

Are you making a fool of us? It is clear that when the tone is open there is no resistance and the tone will be the same! It doesn't matter 500, 300 or 250 к

[@howardpayne3983]

I think that tailpiece, bridges, saddles, nut are all equally important. As Paul Reed Smith says: anything in contact with the string is critically important. For a long time Gibson have used metalwork that is very different to those original 58-60 bursts. Check out the videos from the crazy obsessive American guy who runs SD Pickups. He does AB comparisons of replacing modern metalwork for NOS originals and it’s night and day in terms of clarity and definition IMHO. Keep up the beautiful playing BTW 🙏

[@jerbear1601]

Pretty sad when you buy a pricey guitar and have to get aftermarket hardware to make it sound decent and stay in tune. I guess they are using some kind of cheap Chinadium?

[@VernLeRoy1962]

the Russian PIO are some of the best sounding to me , I use the .022uf 0.022 630v NOS Russian Military K40Y-9 Paper in Oil Capacitor Cap's in my Les Paul, with 2 Seymore Duncan's 1st. neck is a Jeff beck Jr. & 2nd is a Pearlie Gates in the Bridge. Also 500K VOL pots & 300K tone knobs. it really becomes a personal ear choice.

[@11calman]

Hi There Chris Buck, I noticed that Russ Hicks Implied that this sucked (He most probably didn't mean that) But i thought the comparisons were great, I have a few old Les Pauls, But I'm not sure that I would want to mess around with them, as always mate, your playing was great,,,,, Gib

[@gitarbangsatchanel8036]

I'm soldering PU neck straight to jack output and sound is amazing.. the cable pot to switch,to jack output.. thats the problem muddy came from,,too many signal cut from the original pickup

[@LeonvanBokhorst]

More focused lows... the new caps help as well? Your playing style, with subtle movements in tone and accents, actually sounded more integrated with the stock pots to me. That said, my ears don’t care... they just wanna rock. 🤘

[@stratologies]

It really depends on the guitar. I have a ca. 50 year old SG that sounds fantastic. When one of the 300k volume pots failed, I replaced it with a 500k. It changed the character of the guitar, much worse than before, so I installed a new 300k pot, all good again. In general, I found that Gibsons often sound better with the volume on 7or 8 than 10.

[@lukebaldwin3682]

Same my man. I also like to have the tone at 8 which gets that classic Clapton/Page goodness with the volume on 8 too.

[@jerbear1601]

3 Indeed lowering the volume on the guitar is a trick I use all of the time as it cleans up the signal and increases clarity. I just increase the gain on the amp for some more character in the tone. I also have a 70's Les Paul with 300k pots and I like the warmth it has. diming your guitars volume makes it breakup really hard and loses the sweetness. I like a volume control that decreases the gain but doesn't lose as much volume.

[@frankcarter6427]

gibson humbuckers are awful, sludgy and dark

[@LennyJohnson5]

Are you sure that's not three of the seven dwarves?

[@Aceroxx02]

2000's didn't see ALL 300k pots in non custom shop. The VOLUME pots are 300k while tone are 500.

[@garyeckel8876]

If you wobble the Vintage Pots they cut out...use the newer Gibson or CTS....dont go Vintage crazy. ....word,

[@godfree2canada]

change the slope of tone cut by using other caps 47[3]=shit, 47[2] better, 33[2] ... just enough to cut back on very high microphonic feedback

[@curtrod]

negligible difference, still woolly or muddy, I had to coil split my Seymour Duncan 59s to change that, .018 bumblebee neck, .022 orange drop bridge helped too, 500k pots all around 😊

[@BillZad]

Nice video....the 500K are a little brighter, both sound nice.....Orange Drop- Polypropylene or Polyester caps.? Polyester are more musical if that makes sense @ 100V or 200V 223 J/K

[@Bigmike3406E]

Chris I use 500 k pots and orange drop CDE 6PSS22 .022UF-600V POLYESTER FILM CAPACITORs in my les Paul’s and I wire them 50s style.. Have you ever tried the orange drops ? If not you should .

[@theropavieja]

CTS is a good choice, I have a Gibson Les Paul standard with 500 xl CTS pots and it’s amazing sounds loud and warm!

[@mikeaustin4138]

In a truly random blindfold test, I doubt 99% of viewers could tell the difference.

[@morganghetti]

He could have left the original pots in and just said they were new 500k and people would be saying the new ones are "more pure and airy"

[@z2153]

I couldn't tell the difference.

[@PeterPug]

Very interesting...so, do you have to change the caps if you change the pot values? What is the contribution of the caps?

[@TheBlaggers-uv7vc]

The new pots allow all the frequency’s to breath.

[@MiguelMorenoGP]

The 300k pots thing is ridiculous. Any decently made Les Paul is snappy and bright acoustically. With the right pickups/wiring they sound like a supped up Tele.

[@moppie3]

Too muddy in the low end?? Too much bass??? Take an SG '61!! ;)

[@tangotango256]

Really !!! lol I Had one in the late 70's triple p/u all mahogany Ebony fret board translucent Red Almost a bright cherry got broke ;-(

[@JC-11111]

And here I am with 525k(measured) CTS pots across the board & .047 cap in my HSS Silvertone Strat. Lol. I figured I can, always turn the tone down, but I can't turn it up for more if I only have 250k. So I went for 3x525k when I swapped the humbucker in.

[@treishtrei]

The wooly sound comes more from the capacitor change and less from the pot value. It surely makes a dif, but trust me on the caps, they matter a lot

[@tangotango256]

As i watched the new 550k pots and Russian 22uf Caps installed i couldn't help but think just how bright it was gonna sound and the mids would be scooped and the highs a smidge Jangly ...and i was confirmed ...... i had a set of S/D's (Pegasus/Sentient set) I put in a Ibanez Iceman i built with a 22uF orange drop on the master tone (Vintage flying V ckt) going through a Laney AOR100 and a Marshall JCM 800 4/12 "A" Cab from the early 80's ....way too bright .... i swapped out to a Russian 33uF and found the sweet spot and it sounded Bigger and more robust without being dark on both pickups well balanced on either and you can roll off the tone a bit to get a fat smooth run on the upper frets on either P/U .. i think it's a shame Gibson Charges so much for less than stellar Guitars the old setup solder job was rough !!!!...in 1977 i had a Cherry Red 61 SG custom triple pickup i sure wish i had today ...My little brother broke the neck it was a horrible day to remember ....for both of us... Great Video !!! you are a true talent never stop playing for any reason ..Subscribed BTW ..God bless TT

[@udr3005]

Wizz PAFs with VIPots (centralab replicas) from Vintage inspired Pickups. 50s wiring, of course.

[@raymondtheriault2555]

With 500Ks, there is more of a sparkle on the B and high E. For the low end, on a video on KZbin, it's not as perceivable IMHO

[@edwardmonsariste4050]

My tone pots are fake. I have always used the volume only pot method. Plenty of tonal opportunities with just using the volume knob. 500K Bourns pots are my favorite. I like them better than CTS. I like 250K CTS in my Fender’s though.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

If your havinb to improve a Les Paul exponentially, then you shouldn't be having to improve anything kn a 2 grand guitar.

[@JimmyKay1976]

I changed all the electronics over to 50s style wiring, including the switch. My Les Paul has never sounded better. I used a prewired harness and switch from Toneman, the 59 LP with PIO (silver) capacitors. Bourns audio taper pots. Pickups are Seymour Duncan Slash signature series

[@HEZ63]

There are a lot of ways to optimize a Les Paul, some are more effective, others not so much. Pots are a good starting point, no doubt. But my personal - and for my taste most effective - favorite is, to change neck tone to neck bass-cut and bridge tone to master tone. Not only improves the neck pickup sound, while you do not lose the original sound, but also makes the combined pickup sound(s) much more flexible, as you get full bass control, which, if you use the right values, does not affect any mids or treble, so you do not need an additional Strat or Tele afterwards in my opinion, but also no new neck pickup.

[@cliveburgess4128]

Hi Chris, there's a channel you might like, you may already know it, SDPickups, this guy is WAY!! into this stuff, I found it very informative and interesting, he goes into the difference of all the hardware also, it made me redo some things on my 67 ES 355, made a difference, worth checking out, great videos!, thanks, Clive.

[@277southtombob]

I prefer 500k with humbuckers. Mini humbuckers do work well with the 300k volume and 500k tone though but they are brighter and clearer anyway.

[@kuitaristi3003]

It depend is your guitar bright or dark toned already. Bright guitar = darker sounding pickups and vice versa. Lowering or raising vol and tone pot values makes difference too, yeah. No load pot is great because you can get like "no tone connected" like tone too so very bright and spanky and all others too just moving tone knop. I like vintage style bridge pickups without tone pot and neck with tone combo.

[@bedlam46]

As a side note.. i have Bkn nail bombs in my CS R8 les paul.. they are very hot, but roll them back and they are just amazing! if you every want to try a hotter pup... they are FANTASTIC

[@orbitaljellyfish808]

Cheapest you can get is the pick (or fingers). Fender cellulose 346 is the king of overtones vs every pick material I can find (variety of hardwoods, plastics and metals; including the silly demon pick from the Jack Black movie “School Of Rock” which does sound great but is awkward to hold). Something about the shape being less acute warms up the tone. If you have vintage caps and especially pots it just gets sweeter from there. But not cheaply.

[@SeasickSailor76]

I did the same mod to my 2006 SG. It made a very subtle difference. Yet, I still think it was worth it. (Five minutes later...) I'm giving up on attempting to verbally describe the change. :-D

[@gb5uq]

Has anyone actually got to watch this beyond 1.20 like 50 times?.

[@KennyLarvitz]

hahah I prefer the 300k pots !? the guitar sounds fuller ...

[@KennyLarvitz]

Exactly !

[@Mauitaoist]

Yes 500k in all humbucker guitars at my house and Seymour Duncan Seth Lover or pearly gates (both are PAF clones) pickups, I have a couple with 59 in the neck or JB bridge

[@johncarlo7395]

All sounds the same to me, none of them sound as good as my 1964 335 with original PAF pickups, I don't know what all the fuss is about Les Paul's.

[@dylans9405]

Another trick Joe walsh talked about raising G&B pole pieces on neck and bridge pickups. Did it to my 2014 r9 big difference, middle position Jimmy page clarity.

[@Buzzardsfield]

Even on my crappy phone speaker, definitely more fizz at the top.

[@michaelirons5662]

THE 500K WHERE MUCH BETTER.

[@therightisright8276]

Im tired of sounding like a mosquito on acid and chasing now the LP "chunky" tone rich in bass and mids, with a drier but heavier body, yet still giving lots of creamy highs and sustain. So I roll neck pu volume to 9 and tone to 5 and bridge pu volume to 9 and tone to 6, which for me equalizes well.

[@goodcitizen-rn9797]

I love my 2020 Gibson LP Standard. Its not very bright, but I like it’s warm quality more anyway. If I want a bright tone I play my tele.

[@STP-dh9gd]

Pu height makes a HUGE difference also. Try moving your bridge pu just a tiny bit higher..

[@superlead1002]

I couldn't hear a significant difference until the crunch tone...and then I heard the 500k sounding a bit more wooly to me.

[@Tehstroyer]

Would have to listen to a band mix comparison, but for the alone clips I think I actually preferred the 300k for rhythm and 500k for the solos.

[@Cre8tvMG]

I think Gibson sent them out with the 300k pots intentionally to make sure the custom shop models sounded just a little bit crisper. I think it was a cynical money grab.

[@conanbarbarus1850]

Really notice it most on the Bridge pickup. That tone alone was worth the effort. Actually rephrase that. The Bridge up towards the 1st-5th frets shows a noticeable difference. Middle (mostly) down below the 10th. Anyways wasnt' a waste of a day of solder.

[@charlesreohr6236]

I heard that Gibson switched to the 500k pots because they take away the back ground hiss and stay working without problems longer. Because they only compress high frequencies 98% of normal hearing can't tell very much if any differences between 500k and 200k. I honestly heard a very tiny difference coming thru my head phones. I think if the pots where worn or dirty change them. I also think 200k pots will make split pickups more strat sounding in split mode but allows more voice tones come thru giving the split pickups the microphonic sound. In standard humbucking mode it just sounds slightly more airy and most people won't hear the difference. So for the deep mucky sound first clean the pots with contact cleaner if that doesn't help replace them with the 200k pots. If you can say hey into your pickup and hear it from your speaker then you replace the pickups but only if it is humbucking mode. Capacitors are either good or they are burnt out. If they are burnt out you get no sound. A friend of mine spent $200.00 for a replacement pickup to find out a $1.00 capacitor went bad. Those little multimeters can save a lot of dollars mine cost me less than $20.00.

[@andrewsrea]

500K sounds better. The rabbit hole here is the higher the pot resistance, the faster the tone gets dark when you roll the volume down. Two mods I suggest: 170K 1/4 watt resistor in series with a 250pF cap for treble bleeds, and, replace the neck tone cap with the same type at 0.015 uF. Heaven, especially with your dark amp tones.

[@richsackett3423]

The Bourns pots are just better. I'm not going to buy anything else in the future. Been using the Russian PIO caps for about 15 years now. Those are truly the business. Like $5 each and genuinely interesting-sounding, unlike the Chicklet caps.

[@TheFlutecart]

If you buy four 500K pots, they will all be different values. Measure them and put the biggest one on neck volume and the next biggest on bridge volume. When both pups are on, the pot values parallel and the ohm value halves. The tones matter less because the cap is in line with it. For caps, I like a .015 on the bridge and a .01 on the neck on my SG. It's an ol' Nashville trick to use a 1M volume pot on a Tele to get that steel guitar effect, especially with a "B Bender". I can attest to it working well on anything to brighten things up but it can be too much as well especially with single coils.

[@johnmirabile3535]

I liked the monty's but they didnt have that fizz to them, atleast mine didnt, i swapped them out with the fabled, one and only Dave stephens pickups, Hes become a friend, So he gave me an old prototype to use for an album im working on....The mqn is a genius, and these are a set of his earlier work....Also a fantastin set i put in my 335? tyson tone precious and grace! My 335 had the ttype pups in it, they were too clear and level, no character or grit...Your Montys sound better then mine, he nailed the clarity but not the brittlness...

[@somebodyelseuk]

The key thing is to measure yer pots with a meter. Caps and pots very often are nowhere near what they are labelled. Brand names don't matter. CTS pots are no better or worse than "cheap Asian" pots. Theyre basically, overpriced cheap Asian pots. Cap types don't make any difference, the actual value does, but the cap isn't in line with the guitar signal. If you're really obsessed about pots, get VIPots.

[@mezzoca8110]

No major discernible difference through my speakers.

[@VFYTChannel]

I put on my studio headphones, really tried to ear a diference, and... idk if there is a diference, it is so small that the change is not worth it. maybe the 500k are very very slightly brighter, there were a few licks were I actually liked the lower mids on the 300k, and 500 were more airy not so meaty. but.. the diference is neglectable imo, could be youtube compression also but meh..

[@TeleCaster66]

Much better with the 500K pots. I still hate playing Les Paul's lol. I have a 79 Custom and I hate it.

[@Heatfarmer]

I hear the better definition, but also the decrease in the low end. Problem is, that you can't get them back, so thats not a win-win. Personally i feel that your amp doesn't give the test full justice. The highs are a bit constrained, reminding me of an Orange Tiny Terror or other low watt amps. Their OT doesn't really make the full frequency range come out like a 100 watt amp does. But nice to hear the obvious differences!

[@carltonrangemeister9610]

DID YOU CHANGE THE CAP VALUE? I HEARD SLIGHT DIFFERENCES BUT I NOTICED THAT YOU WERE PLAYING SOME 300K PARTS WITH YOUR FINGERS BUT THE SAME PART WITH THE 500K POTS WITH YOUR PICK, HENCE, IT SOUNDED SLIGHTLY MORE TREBLY!

[@sjorsvandermeulen4285]

I think you've lost a lot of separation and low end. What you actually did is narrowing your frequency bandwith - making it more midrange focussed. I personally would like to get as much information out of my signal as possible - then filtering it out with EQ or whatever to make it cut, or, as you say, 'give the top end more room to breathe'.

[@Forests0fFantasy]

I liked the neck with 300k, but the bridge with 500k. Enjoyed the middle position with 300k

[@geraldhills41]

Over the years I have come across Gibsons that sound dead and muddy .Pick up height adjustment or even pick up replacement doesn't improve the sound . Would have liked to have heard the unplugged sound .