I'm afraid that my Paul is a mud slinger

Deacon Blues · Post by **Deacon Blues** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:42 am

damn...i just bought a tele and it made me realize what a mud slinger my les paul is. i love the look of this guitar and i've bonded with it...i don't know what to do. i've lusted over the new es 339s so maybe i'll sell it to finance the purchase of one of those.

the tele sounds incredible through my AD30, you guys were right about that. its like hearing a brand new amp

somedude · Post by **somedude** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:37 am

While I like Les Pauls, I've always found their necks pickups to be muddy, and any pickup that isn't muddy sounds kind sterile.

Except a P90.

Bridge pickups are different. While a PAF may be a bit on the scooped side for alot of styles, there's plenty of mid heavy and brighter pickups available that sound great in the bridge.

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:04 am

I haven't found a Les Paul that I like right off of any guitar shops shelf because they ALL come equip with Alnico pickups. Alnico pickups to me are very dark and bassy sounding. Especially on the Gibson Les Paul Customs.

I have EMG's in my Epi LP and it cuts very well. In fact, I find myself turning down the highs because they pierce too much sometimes. If you don't like EMG's because of their compression and preamp, look into some DiMario or Seymour Duncan pickups that have ceramic magnets in them. Should be a less "muddy" sound.

Seymour Duncan has pickups with all different kinds of gain structures and sounds. DiMarzio I don't know as much about but they seem to be really popular.

And don't forget all of the other options out there in the world. Ask some fellow members here for suggestions. They probably have some very tone savy advice.

Companyman · Post by **Companyman** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:13 am

I must play with less gain than everyone who complains about Les Pauls being muddy. I'm just not experiencing this problem. I have a standard with the stock 490r - 498t pickups and a Rocker-30...I love the sound of my neck pickup, nice bite in the pick attack and robust mids and bottem, just fantastic ... maybe my ears are screwed up !

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:15 am

You probably do. I play at around 6 with my RV50. And it's not muddy (my pickups explained above).

Companyman · Post by **Companyman** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:22 am

well I play mine at 6 as well...could be the difference between the 6v6 tubes in the RV50 and el-34's in the R-30... I don't know?

CD9266 · Post by **CD9266** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:24 am

Possibly a tube thing. Maybe your EQ is different too.

My general setup give or take is:

Gain - 6
Treble - 4
Mid - 6
Bass - 6
Volume - depends no the occasion, usually can't push it more than 3-4 though (I start to drown out my drummer... lmao)

Bluz57 · Post by **Bluz57** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:29 am

Deacon Blues wrote:damn...i just bought a tele and it made me realize what a mud slinger my les paul is. i love the look of this guitar and i've bonded with it...i don't know what to do. i've lusted over the new es 339s so maybe i'll sell it to finance the purchase of one of those.

the tele sounds incredible through my AD30, you guys were right about that. its like hearing a brand new amp

but of course it is, what did you expect

Companyman · Post by **Companyman** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:38 am

Deacon Blues wrote:damn...i just bought a tele and it made me realize what a mud slinger my les paul is. i love the look of this guitar and i've bonded with it...i don't know what to do. i've lusted over the new es 339s so maybe i'll sell it to finance the purchase of one of those.

the tele sounds incredible through my AD30, you guys were right about that. its like hearing a brand new amp

A 339 is probably going to be more muddy than a Les Paul.

Deacon Blues · Post by **Deacon Blues** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:55 am

A 339 is probably going to be more muddy than a Les Paul.

really? i hear people saying that it is pretty mud-free

ESBlonde · Post by **ESBlonde** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:01 am

It's not the PUs its the pots and caps.

Spend $40 at somewhere like RSGuitarworks or Dr Vintage and put in a set of proper quality pots and caps. It will retain the characture of that wonderfull guitar and open up the clarity like you've never heard before. Cheap and easy fix, Gibson should be ashamed of themselves for the disservice they do to the current stock guitars with sub standard electonic controls.

anolanbfg · Post by **anolanbfg** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:37 am

vintage low output pickups are what you need- I hated my Les Paul Custom until I installed Bare Knuckle PG pickups and all the muddiness went- I also think out of phase works particularly well on a Les Paul, not just because I'm a Peter Green fan but you can dial in a lot of use-able sounds that way just staying in the middle pickup position and using the controls.

I have a 335 with Classic 57's- I wouldn't say it's muddy, more that it's very warm and I think the pickups are a bit too high output for it.

yvon · Post by **yvon** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:44 pm

Deacon Blues wrote:damn...i just bought a tele and it made me realize what a mud slinger my les paul is. i love the look of this guitar and i've bonded with it...i don't know what to do. i've lusted over the new es 339s so maybe i'll sell it to finance the purchase of one of those.

the tele sounds incredible through my AD30, you guys were right about that. its like hearing a brand new amp

Can't get a guitar that is perfect for everything. LP's are fantastic instruments and for certain things, no other guitar can do better. Having said this, maybe you'd love your LP with single coil PUs (humbucker size P-90). Believe me, those sound amazing.

divadisvet · Post by **divadisvet** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:49 pm

Companyman wrote: A 339 is probably going to be more muddy than a Les Paul.

+1 --- I have an ES 137 that does have a more "muddy" sound than my LP... especially through my RV50... especially on the neck p/u.

I think this is a fascinating topic - in my relatively limited experience, this is really a matter of taste. I know some guys that love their single coil guitars and hate humbuckers... and vice versa. It seems like it would behoove every musician to be able to appreciate them all... within the appropriate context, of course...

wyldechild · Post by **wyldechild** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:47 pm

ESBlonde wrote:It's not the PUs its the pots and caps.

Spend $40 at somewhere like RSGuitarworks or Dr Vintage and put in a set of proper quality pots and caps. It will retain the characture of that wonderfull guitar and open up the clarity like you've never heard before. Cheap and easy fix, Gibson should be ashamed of themselves for the disservice they do to the current stock guitars with sub standard electonic controls.

Recommend me a set of good quality pots and caps for my Les Paul...

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