Bonamassa has been preaching this for ages... Instead of ice picky full on bridge pick up, blend in the lower volume neck pick up in middle position and you have the best lp tone ever!
Not only is this genius (Thankyou for sharing) it’s actually made me realise why I love a no load tone pot on my telecaster. On its own, it sounds horrendously bright wide open, but in a double track pair, it gets it right out of the way of my les Paul. I always wanted to wind some of the top out of my Les Paul to compensate and this trick did it! Great channel! Subscribed!
Those P90s sound killer!! Justin, your insights and tips are greatly appreciated. It's also appreciated that you impart knowledge without any attitude. In other words, I think I could sit and talk to you about guitars and gear without being one of the "cool kids". Thanks for keeping it real and down to earth.
Funny thing is I just happened to catch your video totally at random! Something about tone and Les Paul's in the title...You mentioned Uncle Larry early on and then you talked about the setting and I thought, oh yeah, I heard about this around a year ago or so, and I've been searching my Les Paul's for something cool-sounding by rolling back the volume pot, but not hearing it because I wasn't sure what I was listening for exactly. Uncle Larry and another guy were just talking about it, but nobody actually demonstrated it on a guitar. After seeing your video, I can now get back to this tonight and find that spot. Most excellent, liked and subscribed!
100% same with me. I can feel other peoples gunk! And my hands are dry. I only change strings as soon as I notice they are not staying in tune. And my Les Paul hits that spot at 9, 335 is at 8.5. Thanks for the tip! Literally for the past couple days I have been using that as my primary sound.
I didn’t think there was anyone else like me who feels the same about other people playing my guitars. I have dry hands too and a lot of people leave slime on the strings . They don’t get it but you do! Thanks!
I have an SG Special that I switched out mini humbuckers for P90's. I have been having trouble getting a middle position tone that is not too harsh and trebly. Your trick worked like a charm. Thanks!
I noticed that "wha" in the past on my Les Paul standard and thought it was a defect. Lol.. I have much more appreciation for it now. 9 is the spot. Thank you Justin!
Great sound for sure! Definitely worth tweaking knobs to find unique blends. These really make a world of difference with different distortions too. Adding or removing low end information into a fuzz completely changes the character for example. Nice video Justin!
Thanks Justin. Having never really paid attention to having a specific setting, I have typically just grab and go with a little time spent finding the tone of the guitar to match the frequency of the song in my head. As I now zeroed in on the mixing and mastering parts I am finding it necessary to focus more on the settings to speed up the post production part. But sometimes man when the song hits and the creativity is flowing… sometimes ya just got lay down them tracks and kick up the dust before that moment of inspiration blows away with the wind into the horizon. Thanks for going over this…very helpful. Typically all knobs are just maxed to ten, but I’m hearing that same slight finesse when dialing down some knobs lately. Appreciate your channel.
7:35 Ha! I’ve been doing this since I bought my main 79 Les Paul Standard in 1992. I tried all the positions and settled on that one right away and never looked back. Bridge + neck at 10 is too woofy but neck rolled back just a bit is perfect. I thought I was the only one who does this!
Thank you Neck Volume on eight My favorite thing about Les Paul Guitars are the control knob settings I hope you make more videos about the insights you’ve discovered 😎🎸🎶☮️
@JustinOstrander I like the tone it gets. You're right about it cutting that high treble out of the sound, it gets quite strident with those pickups, so I also cut the tone knob back to 5-6 on the bridge pickup
I do something similar to this with my basses that have multiple pickups! Both full on usually scoops the mids more than I prefer, so I've found just feeling around (usually the reverse of this order, favoring the neck) changes the sound a way I like! Very cool
I do something similar with my SG's, but its a different purpose. I may have to try this specific trick though. I like how you suddenly get your highs back in the middle but retain the big bottom of the neck. What I do is dial in my dirty sound in the middle position, then switch to the bridge and roll it back until I have a clean tone. Then my neck is my clean, middle is my crunch and bridge is my lead.
We saw him back then too, but at the Santa Monica Civic with Mountain. At one point he had two Juniors at the same time, with one slung around his back that he swung around later to play - a legendary show.
Love this setting on my Ibanez AS93! As someone more comfortable on a tele with master volume, something I love about this is you can roll the bridge volume down for cleans, then back up for crunch without worrying about switching pickups and being surprised by whatever the volume is set at.
Thanks for sharing this one. I tried it with my 70s Tele Deluxe with Gibson P90s in it and had great results. I found a wonderful new tone I never knew the guitar had in it.
Thanks, I can’t wait to try it. Have a Gibson LP studio and 2 SG’s. Plus a newer Epi Sheraton 2 Pro which I’m still trying to figure out if I like at all.
Great video for anyone who’s never experimented with their volume knobs on a LP. My sweet spot is 9. But, I often run the neck volume down to 5, 6 or even 7. It still thickens the sound tremendously, but retains more of the bite. Try running the neck volume up from 1, slowly. Awesome bite with a bit more meat. I wish all guitar makers would make a volume pot for each pickup. My PRS has common volume and tone pots for both pups. I don’t play it as often as my LP for that very reason. And I put Duncan Pearly Gates pups on the PRS. It sounds like a million bucks. But, I use that sound so much that I find I always default to the LP. Thanks for sharing this trick. You’ve helped a ton of unenlightened players achieve a more unique tone.
Thanks for the tip, I’m going to try it out on my LPs and also see what happens with my 335. Like you I have very dry hands. I mostly change strings when they don’t feel or sound right but generally, they last a very long time.
I haven’t tried this yet BUT I have gone the other route and blended in a little of the bridge for a tighter neck pickup kind of sound for a solo, super cool
Have a sub for walking through this - I almost never use my mid setting, going to play with this and it maybe the new default. And if it is I'm going to feel stooopid :-D (that amp / guitar combo sounds absolutely amazing btw)
I did a mod to a Strat so that I could flip a switch and force the neck pickup on. Using this with the selector set to the bridge pickup (in this case, HSS) gives you a very pleasing sound, just like in this video.
The other thing I've experimented with on HH guitars is adding two switches to split the humbuckers independently. Running the humbucker in the neck with a split pickup in the bridge gives you a very unique sound. You get the warmth of the neck pickup with some clarity added back in from the bridge pickup.
I agree. Most of my electrics have just a volume and tone control with a 3-way selector (including P-90 and humbucker Specials, stock Tele, etc.) and honestly that's plenty good enough for what I play most of the time. But what you can do by blending volume and tone in 'both' position on a Les Paul or similar guitar with four knobs, well, yeah. Almost magic. It's like a motorcycle with the right pipes. When you hear it you just think, "that's it." Great discussion.
I’m obsessed with that sound. First figured it out in a 5-control, 3-pickup Rickenbacker, which allows you to get several shades of that sound, instead of basically one spot on the knob. Went down a rabbit hole to figure out how to replicate that level of control on other guitars. Invented a control that replaces the pickup volume you’re trying to attenuate. Works great. Uses the entire range of the control to go from full up to just below perceptibility in parallel with the other pickup. Also doesn’t load the attenuated pickup so you get usable sounds in any position of the pickup switch, with any pickup blend dialed in, without having to turn up the attenuated pickup.
Recent convert to this setting. I was almost entirely wide open middle position for years. On my 2012 LP Studio with Lollars - Novel T (Tele in a humbucker rout) at the bridge, and El Reyo in the neck, the neck down to 8 is perfect.
Dude, thank you SO MUCH! This tipp Changed everything for me and my Les Paul. I have a Classic 50-s Goldtop with Burstbuckers (Funny that its called classic 50´s considering that the burstbuckers came out early 90´s) but the mid-honk happens with it around 8,5 and it sounds just beautiful. and it turns the guitar in a way more versatile instrument for me. I leave the setting untouched till I like to solo the neck pickup with that typical creamy Les Paul tone. BUT....I´m a touring musician and professional for more than 20 years and the routing and the functions of the 4 controls on a Les Paul were always overwhelming for me. even tho I loved the classic Les Paul tones. but now I use it way more on a pop production and it sounds just beautiful. I can't wait to track some songs with that sound. Even my guitar tech didn't know about that and he's been around the block for over 30 yrs and worked with some of the greatest out there. what a great fact and idea. thank you so much for sharing. love your channel, man!
This is such a great advice. On my ES 335 it's at about 9.7, on my Les Paul R6 (P90s rule ;-)) around 8. On my SG i's the only way to tame the treble anyway. That guitar is so bright I have to roll the tone down to 5 or 6, then it's about 8 on the neck's volume pot. What I like about this setting is that you can "hide" playing rhythm and then pop out just by rolling down the neck's volume a hair.
Man oh man! 😊. I applied this to my SG, and solved a particular problem, I’ve been chasing for quite a while. So on the SG it was just below 8. For my Flying V, which is newer, It was 9.
This video feels like Christmas 🎄. Like the special Christmas, when you got something you didn’t know you were gonna get, but it ends up being the best thing you ever got. I just tried it on my Knaggs Kenai and it’s 8.5👈🏼
I've always used mixes on my 2 PU 2 vol guitars just to get different tones. On a self-build guitar with 3 PU I put a blend control and 6 way rotary switch acting on all 3 2 PU combinations. Saves on numbers of knobs, 1 vol, 1 tone, 1 blend. TBH I usually do it the other way, on 'both' dial the minor PU fully down then blend it in to suit the major PU. Usually brightening up the neck PU or adding low end to the bridge PU. Robbie Gladwell did an entire clinic on dialing in sounds just using the 4 knobs on Gibson an Epiphone guitars he was representing at that time.
What a great video with practical & immediate application. Thanks so much. Did my LP std, LP special with P90 and got great tones right away. Will see if this work with my Epiphone ES339 now. Made my day.
Yup. I learned about that watching Snowy White play. Like you said, this technique also applies to SG's and 335 style guitars or basically any conventional Gibson-ish guitar with 2 pickups on it. On my 60's Tribute Gold Top reissue Les Paul it's about 7-1/2 where the magic happens. On my old 63 SG Custom (almost a Les Paul) it's 8 and on my CS356 it's also about 8. I did some wiring shenanigans on my SG so I could get a bridge and neck pickup selection. It's not possible with the stock switching configuration. The PAF's on the SG really speak when it's set this way. There is also some mojo to be had by messing with the tone pot on the bridge pickup on that middle selection setting if the amp/speaker combination is really bright and hard to tame. It usually doesn't take much of a roll-off to dial it in. I like doing that tone-pot-thing when using just the bridge pickup on the Les Paul as well. It helps takes that upper mid-range spike out of it. It also helps open up a hole where the vocal can peek through. Very effective when playing through something like a Twin Reverb turned up loud. They can get ice-picky very easy even when using an attenuator like an Ox Box. The good thing about the attenuator is that the Twin can get really dirty sounding when set at about 8 without blowing the paint off the walls. That also helps tame the top end.
Yes....tone is all over great with moving tone knob up and down on bridge pickup!! Especially down by four. Makes music much more interesting varying the brightness and woman tone
Great video! Thanks! I've got this 1991 pre-historic custom art 1956 Goldtop with P100s in it. I kind of do the opposite while searching for usable tones in a mix. So, the neck volume and tone are on ten, but the bridge volume and tone are on 3 or 4, and I get similar results. Now, obviously, I'm gonna try this!
You are spot on with this--I end the P90 in the neck to thicken and mellow the bridge humbucker on my Schecter S-1 (a Les Paul Special double-cut style model). I feel like the spot is where the boom from the neck is balanced with the high end from the bridge. The tone is key to finding the right balance in my setup (Seymour Duncan P Rails and Dimebucker pickups with independent volumes, 1 tone knob with a .22mF capacitor). Neck volume 9, bridge volume 8, Tone on 3 into a Marshall Plexi-style preamp.
Love this. My '78 LP Custom neck at 7.5...My '80 LP Special at 8 and my '82 335 at 7. I'll be using this, who knew ? There's a similar thing that happens with dialling in the tone controls on an amp - a spot on the travel where the pot seems to be at an optimal point - I hasten to point out that this is a trick I learned from watching Matt Scofield...unfortunately this is all I could learn from watching him...Keep up the good work Justin. Oh I'm very touchy about lending guitars too...
I tried it. The thing is I was playing it through a solid state amp turned down. It did sound different. It did sound kinda cool, even through my gear with my Epiphone Les Paul.
2:25 I used to let others "try my ax". After getting my neck, frets, strings and fingerboard grunged up a few times I started asking folks to wash their hands first. Certain guilty parties acted insulted and indignant about that so I made a new rule : "no one touches my ax". No more mister nice guy, no regrets. I used to know some purists that would actually have pots removed, with pickups direct wired to the output jack. Over time I discovered that none of my axes have a "sweet spot" at volume 10. I sometimes will max out tone controls (0 or 10) but never the volume controls. If you want more volume use the amp, that's why they're called "amplifiers". I'm thinking that Leo and Les never intended for 10 to be the default volume setting. Excellent demonstration, Justin. How about a demo applying to acoustics? The only acoustic I have that sounds better by hitting the strings super hard is a flamenco. Flamencos are designed for that.
Nice! Similar idea (different objective) on a strat wired with a master tone & blender pot: to get pretty close to a tele middle sound, I have the pu switch on the bridge pu, and roll back the blender to blend in only a portion of the neck. A 50/50 bridge-neck blend doesn't get nearly as close to a tele, needs to be more bridge than neck. Probably because in a strat the neck is usually stronger and in a tele the bridge is stronger, you can get close to the tele middle balance on a strat with a blender pot.
The result of this hack was amazing. I would love to be able to achieve this with a Tele, too. But I guess we can just roll off the highs on the bridge and get there...but still, I'd like to be able to do this from the middle position.
@@JerboFotius can’t work with a tele bc there’s only one volume control for both pickups…the les Paul has a volume control for each pickup…but with the tele you can use the tone control to roll off the highs from position two but it’s not quite the same result
Nice vid, Justin. I do this from time to time. learned it from Al Dimeola back in the 80's. He always had the selector in the middle on his Les Pauls and rolled one or the other pickup volume down. The only problem I have with it is if I want to roll down to clean up; just can't roll both volumes at the same time. Thanks again.
Hey Justin! Funny thing for me... I found this accidentally with my Les Paul custom a few months ago and now use it all the time. I had the same reaction you did. My neck setting sweet spot is 7.5. Thanks for posting... enjoyed it!
@kenwhisler That’s the first thing I thought of when I heard that. It’s all through Keaggy’s music plus Glass Harp. I keep forgetting about trying that option because in my mind you get the strongest output from one pickup wired in series instead of parallel with both pickups on.
Faskinating! 😀 Will try this on my '68 Custom next time I'm in the studio. I usually use middle position 'clean' and push neck or bridge for solo stuff but this sounds like fun - thanks for the insight. And the guy could have been a little more polite and just asked you to play with the volume . . . some people, I guess.
Did this on my Gretsch Semihollow, and it sounds great! There are no numbers on the pot, so I have to do it by ear every time. Thinking about my Cabronita-Tele with those amazing Jazzmaster-Pickups, the middle position is not that great. Since this guitar has only 1 Volume an 1 Tone Pot, I think I could change the Switch to an 5-stages-switch with the possibility to dial in the ratio between bridge an neck with little trim pots. It is worth a try!
Great lesson Justin. Where are your tone knobs on the respective pick ups? I’m guessing that’s gonna depend on your instrument, and etc. as well as the way you’re picking up her voiced but I’m just curious where yours live.
I changed from 50s wiring. Reverse the switch and pickup connections and pickups are decoupled in the middle position. This gives you even more flexibility. You can turn on pickup of in middle and the ohe stays on! So the blending is endless.
I have a 72 custom LP. It seems very dark. I’ll never sell it . But sometimes I have a hard time getting it to do what I want. I’m more of Strat guy. Thanks for the information.
Great video Justin! Ever since I've learned which famous players are using the middle position (Dickey, Randy Bachman, both Stones players) I've become a fan. I have an Epi '59 LP with Burstbuckers, it's good enough for me. I am trying this tonight to see if the effect is the same. I usually have the Bridge on 9 and the Neck on 7 or 8.
On my 1968 Les Paul Custom I do 9 on the neck 10 on the bridge but I also do the opposite. 10 neck 9 bridge. The first way gets rid of the shrill with gain lead sounds and the second way adds a little sparkle to the clean rhythm sounds. I never touch the tone knobs. Always on 10.
You just made me flip back the magnet of my neck pickup to the original position to try this. I made the Peter Green mod and, although it is very cool, it’s a very specific tone. I see myself using this trick more than the Peter Green mod. Thanks for the tip!
I did the Peter Green reverse polarity magnet mod on my LP ... so I dot think that this would apply to me! ... Great video Justin 👍👍👍 BTW ... in the 70's playing in pub rock bands in the UK ... we had virtually no FX pedals ... using the guitars volume and tone settings was the only way to control the monstrous amps !
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Bonamassa has been preaching this for ages... Instead of ice picky full on bridge pick up, blend in the lower volume neck pick up in middle position and you have the best lp tone ever!
NEck pick up tone 0 to 3, neck pickup volume 6 to 9 = "WOMAN TONE!"
And 335
Not only is this genius (Thankyou for sharing) it’s actually made me realise why I love a no load tone pot on my telecaster. On its own, it sounds horrendously bright wide open, but in a double track pair, it gets it right out of the way of my les Paul. I always wanted to wind some of the top out of my Les Paul to compensate and this trick did it! Great channel! Subscribed!
That p90 and deluxe combo is absolutely majestic…
Any Fender amp, imo. They pair really well.
I've had my Les Paul for 15 years and 2 days ago I just had this epiphany. Then you post this video lol.
Those P90s sound killer!!
Justin, your insights and tips are greatly appreciated. It's also appreciated that you impart knowledge without any attitude. In other words, I think I could sit and talk to you about guitars and gear without being one of the "cool kids". Thanks for keeping it real and down to earth.
Funny thing is I just happened to catch your video totally at random! Something about tone and Les Paul's in the title...You mentioned Uncle Larry early on and then you talked about the setting and I thought, oh yeah, I heard about this around a year ago or so, and I've been searching my Les Paul's for something cool-sounding by rolling back the volume pot, but not hearing it because I wasn't sure what I was listening for exactly. Uncle Larry and another guy were just talking about it, but nobody actually demonstrated it on a guitar. After seeing your video, I can now get back to this tonight and find that spot. Most excellent, liked and subscribed!
100% same with me. I can feel other peoples gunk! And my hands are dry. I only change strings as soon as I notice they are not staying in tune.
And my Les Paul hits that spot at 9, 335 is at 8.5. Thanks for the tip! Literally for the past couple days I have been using that as my primary sound.
Love it when you find new sounds on an old guitar..
I didn’t think there was anyone else like me who feels the same about other people playing my guitars. I have dry hands too and a lot of people leave slime on the strings . They don’t get it but you do! Thanks!
Same here.
Bonamassa himself said it - These knobs down here DO things. I tried this, and I love it - especially on my semi-hollow body....oh man....
I have an SG Special that I switched out mini humbuckers for P90's. I have been having trouble getting a middle position tone that is not too harsh and trebly. Your trick worked like a charm. Thanks!
I noticed that "wha" in the past on my Les Paul standard and thought it was a defect. Lol.. I have much more appreciation for it now. 9 is the spot. Thank you Justin!
This is something that the great late Dickey Betts did, God bless him,... I love those tones!!!
I’ll be using this, on my Les Paul
I kind of wonder if I can put a resistor and try to get this on my 2 knob B&G.
I’m gonna ask Tony Nobles
Great sound for sure! Definitely worth tweaking knobs to find unique blends. These really make a world of difference with different distortions too. Adding or removing low end information into a fuzz completely changes the character for example. Nice video Justin!
Thanks Justin.
Having never really paid attention to having a specific setting, I have typically just grab and go with a little time spent finding the tone of the guitar to match the frequency of the song in my head.
As I now zeroed in on the mixing and mastering parts I am finding it necessary to focus more on the settings to speed up the post production part.
But sometimes man when the song hits and the creativity is flowing… sometimes ya just got lay down them tracks and kick up the dust before that moment of inspiration blows away with the wind into the horizon.
Thanks for going over this…very helpful. Typically all knobs are just maxed to ten, but I’m hearing that same slight finesse when dialing down some knobs lately.
Appreciate your channel.
Haaa I guess I’m not crazy!! I’ve been doing this for years. For strummy stuff, for cleaner stuff, and for funkier stuff. Love everything you put out!
7:35 Ha! I’ve been doing this since I bought my main 79 Les Paul Standard in 1992. I tried all the positions and settled on that one right away and never looked back. Bridge + neck at 10 is too woofy but neck rolled back just a bit is perfect. I thought I was the only one who does this!
Me too! I feel super cool for having “bumped into” this many, many years ago!
This episode just might be the best I’ve seen, ever. So much valuable information and playing! Really dig what you’re doing 🤙🏽🤘🏽🎸👈🏼
Awesome, thanks a ton!
Thank you
Neck Volume on eight
My favorite thing about Les Paul Guitars are the control knob settings
I hope you make more videos about the insights you’ve discovered
😎🎸🎶☮️
I have tried this on my Les Paul and liked it! It also works with a Telecaster Deluxe with the 2 Wide Range pickups.
Very cool! I wondered about those Teles…
@JustinOstrander I like the tone it gets. You're right about it cutting that high treble out of the sound, it gets quite strident with those pickups, so I also cut the tone knob back to 5-6 on the bridge pickup
I do something similar to this with my basses that have multiple pickups! Both full on usually scoops the mids more than I prefer, so I've found just feeling around (usually the reverse of this order, favoring the neck) changes the sound a way I like! Very cool
Love the middle position and that setting is bad ass. Thanks Justin!
I do something similar with my SG's, but its a different purpose. I may have to try this specific trick though. I like how you suddenly get your highs back in the middle but retain the big bottom of the neck.
What I do is dial in my dirty sound in the middle position, then switch to the bridge and roll it back until I have a clean tone.
Then my neck is my clean, middle is my crunch and bridge is my lead.
Leslie West was a master of les paul tones. I saw him in the late 70's in a small club. He put on a serious clinic. Really impressive
We saw him back then too, but at the Santa Monica Civic with Mountain. At one point he had two Juniors at the same time, with one slung around his back that he swung around later to play - a legendary show.
Love this setting on my Ibanez AS93! As someone more comfortable on a tele with master volume, something I love about this is you can roll the bridge volume down for cleans, then back up for crunch without worrying about switching pickups and being surprised by whatever the volume is set at.
As a 40 year Les Paul player I have to say this is a great tip. The Middle position is most versatile.
1978 Ibanez Artist 2630 with Fralin PAFs sweet spot is 9.....great tip!
I thought for sure you were gonna show the "Cocked Wah" trick on a Les Paul. Awesome tip!
That one is very cool, too, but I don’t use it nearly as much. I use this all the time when tracking. Sits in a mix so much better!
@@JustinOstrander My "81 LP Standard does it at about 8-9. I hear the tone shift through my 79 Princeton and through my '91JCM900 pretty good
Thanks for sharing this one. I tried it with my 70s Tele Deluxe with Gibson P90s in it and had great results. I found a wonderful new tone I never knew the guitar had in it.
Eastman T-59 (aka ES-345) with Seymour-Duncan Antiquity hummers: Neck volume at 9.0 - full crunch sound !! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks, I can’t wait to try it. Have a Gibson LP studio and 2 SG’s. Plus a newer Epi Sheraton 2 Pro which I’m still trying to figure out if I like at all.
LOVE THIS. Found it on my 72 tele deluxe. Killer and useful sound. Thanks dude!
Great Video this was really interesting. You have a new subscriber. Best Regards Nik
Great video for anyone who’s never experimented with their volume knobs on a LP. My sweet spot is 9. But, I often run the neck volume down to 5, 6 or even 7. It still thickens the sound tremendously, but retains more of the bite. Try running the neck volume up from 1, slowly. Awesome bite with a bit more meat. I wish all guitar makers would make a volume pot for each pickup. My PRS has common volume and tone pots for both pups. I don’t play it as often as my LP for that very reason. And I put Duncan Pearly Gates pups on the PRS. It sounds like a million bucks. But, I use that sound so much that I find I always default to the LP.
Thanks for sharing this trick. You’ve helped a ton of unenlightened players achieve a more unique tone.
I read somewhere, years ago that page played a lot that way. Mid position . Bridge v 10, neck vol 9.
Been using that a lot fpr years.
Thanks for the tip, I’m going to try it out on my LPs and also see what happens with my 335. Like you I have very dry hands. I mostly change strings when they don’t feel or sound right but generally, they last a very long time.
I haven’t tried this yet BUT I have gone the other route and blended in a little of the bridge for a tighter neck pickup kind of sound for a solo, super cool
Have a sub for walking through this - I almost never use my mid setting, going to play with this and it maybe the new default. And if it is I'm going to feel stooopid :-D
(that amp / guitar combo sounds absolutely amazing btw)
Thanks a ton!
Noticed your handle-I’ve read lots of Tolkien to my kids before bed.
I did a mod to a Strat so that I could flip a switch and force the neck pickup on. Using this with the selector set to the bridge pickup (in this case, HSS) gives you a very pleasing sound, just like in this video.
The other thing I've experimented with on HH guitars is adding two switches to split the humbuckers independently. Running the humbucker in the neck with a split pickup in the bridge gives you a very unique sound. You get the warmth of the neck pickup with some clarity added back in from the bridge pickup.
I agree. Most of my electrics have just a volume and tone control with a 3-way selector (including P-90 and humbucker Specials, stock Tele, etc.) and honestly that's plenty good enough for what I play most of the time. But what you can do by blending volume and tone in 'both' position on a Les Paul or similar guitar with four knobs, well, yeah. Almost magic. It's like a motorcycle with the right pipes. When you hear it you just think, "that's it." Great discussion.
I do this on my tele 72 deluxe with wide range pickups. I love this trick
Great tip.
Thank you for sharing it!
Appreciate all your great work.
It took me some time but, I finally heard it and I'm going to try it on my Epiphone LP
I’m obsessed with that sound. First figured it out in a 5-control, 3-pickup Rickenbacker, which allows you to get several shades of that sound, instead of basically one spot on the knob. Went down a rabbit hole to figure out how to replicate that level of control on other guitars. Invented a control that replaces the pickup volume you’re trying to attenuate. Works great. Uses the entire range of the control to go from full up to just below perceptibility in parallel with the other pickup. Also doesn’t load the attenuated pickup so you get usable sounds in any position of the pickup switch, with any pickup blend dialed in, without having to turn up the attenuated pickup.
You've truly impressed me-well done!
The 4 knob set up has me so hooked to my Paul’s.
Recent convert to this setting. I was almost entirely wide open middle position for years. On my 2012 LP Studio with Lollars - Novel T (Tele in a humbucker rout) at the bridge, and El Reyo in the neck, the neck down to 8 is perfect.
Dude, thank you SO MUCH!
This tipp Changed everything for me and my Les Paul.
I have a Classic 50-s Goldtop with Burstbuckers (Funny that its called classic 50´s considering that the burstbuckers came out early 90´s) but the mid-honk happens with it around 8,5 and it sounds just beautiful. and it turns the guitar in a way more versatile instrument for me.
I leave the setting untouched till I like to solo the neck pickup with that typical creamy Les Paul tone. BUT....I´m a touring musician and professional for more than 20 years and the routing and the functions of the 4 controls on a Les Paul were always overwhelming for me. even tho I loved the classic Les Paul tones.
but now I use it way more on a pop production and it sounds just beautiful. I can't wait to track some songs with that sound.
Even my guitar tech didn't know about that and he's been around the block for over 30 yrs and worked with some of the greatest out there. what a great fact and idea. thank you so much for sharing. love your channel, man!
This is such a great advice. On my ES 335 it's at about 9.7, on my Les Paul R6 (P90s rule ;-)) around 8. On my SG i's the only way to tame the treble anyway. That guitar is so bright I have to roll the tone down to 5 or 6, then it's about 8 on the neck's volume pot. What I like about this setting is that you can "hide" playing rhythm and then pop out just by rolling down the neck's volume a hair.
Great video, I do the same thing on my vintage Casino in the middle position and it really makes things easier to record.
Man oh man! 😊. I applied this to my SG, and solved a particular problem, I’ve been chasing for quite a while. So on the SG it was just below 8. For my Flying V, which is newer, It was 9.
Cool can’t wait to try it
I’am having coffee now. I am going to try that on all my Hum-bucker guitars.
This video feels like Christmas 🎄. Like the special Christmas, when you got something you didn’t know you were gonna get, but it ends up being the best thing you ever got. I just tried it on my Knaggs Kenai and it’s
8.5👈🏼
Saw Dickey Betts mention this years ago. He said he always did it.
Fuckin rad dude! 9.25 on my Eastman SB-59. Thank you for this tip Justin! Peace.
Favorite setting for my PRS McCarty SE 594 Singlecut.
i play a Tele and i just subscribed to this channel. fascinating stuff here.
I've always used mixes on my 2 PU 2 vol guitars just to get different tones. On a self-build guitar with 3 PU I put a blend control and 6 way rotary switch acting on all 3 2 PU combinations. Saves on numbers of knobs, 1 vol, 1 tone, 1 blend. TBH I usually do it the other way, on 'both' dial the minor PU fully down then blend it in to suit the major PU. Usually brightening up the neck PU or adding low end to the bridge PU. Robbie Gladwell did an entire clinic on dialing in sounds just using the 4 knobs on Gibson an Epiphone guitars he was representing at that time.
What a great video with practical & immediate application. Thanks so much. Did my LP std, LP special with P90 and got great tones right away. Will see if this work with my Epiphone ES339 now. Made my day.
Yup. I learned about that watching Snowy White play. Like you said, this technique also applies to SG's and 335 style guitars or basically any conventional Gibson-ish guitar with 2 pickups on it. On my 60's Tribute Gold Top reissue Les Paul it's about 7-1/2 where the magic happens. On my old 63 SG Custom (almost a Les Paul) it's 8 and on my CS356 it's also about 8. I did some wiring shenanigans on my SG so I could get a bridge and neck pickup selection. It's not possible with the stock switching configuration. The PAF's on the SG really speak when it's set this way.
There is also some mojo to be had by messing with the tone pot on the bridge pickup on that middle selection setting if the amp/speaker combination is really bright and hard to tame. It usually doesn't take much of a roll-off to dial it in. I like doing that tone-pot-thing when using just the bridge pickup on the Les Paul as well. It helps takes that upper mid-range spike out of it. It also helps open up a hole where the vocal can peek through. Very effective when playing through something like a Twin Reverb turned up loud. They can get ice-picky very easy even when using an attenuator like an Ox Box. The good thing about the attenuator is that the Twin can get really dirty sounding when set at about 8 without blowing the paint off the walls. That also helps tame the top end.
My credit card says: Thank you for letting me know that I need another Les Paul with P90 loaded... 😵💫 Great tones Justin!
Another method is that I use the bridge pickup only and roll the tone off to about 4. It gets rid of the ice pick
Yes....tone is all over great with moving tone knob up and down on bridge pickup!! Especially down by four. Makes music much more interesting varying the brightness and woman tone
Sweaty handed gunk maker here 👋🏻 🤣 and I totally get it. My guitar was around 8.5 for the frequency scoop 🙌🏻
You share so much valuable knowledge and experience. Thank you!
Great video! Thanks! I've got this 1991 pre-historic custom art 1956 Goldtop with P100s in it. I kind of do the opposite while searching for usable tones in a mix. So, the neck volume and tone are on ten, but the bridge volume and tone are on 3 or 4, and I get similar results. Now, obviously, I'm gonna try this!
You are spot on with this--I end the P90 in the neck to thicken and mellow the bridge humbucker on my Schecter S-1 (a Les Paul Special double-cut style model). I feel like the spot is where the boom from the neck is balanced with the high end from the bridge. The tone is key to finding the right balance in my setup (Seymour Duncan P Rails and Dimebucker pickups with independent volumes, 1 tone knob with a .22mF capacitor). Neck volume 9, bridge volume 8, Tone on 3 into a Marshall Plexi-style preamp.
Love this. My '78 LP Custom neck at 7.5...My '80 LP Special at 8 and my '82 335 at 7. I'll be using this, who knew ? There's a similar thing that happens with dialling in the tone controls on an amp - a spot on the travel where the pot seems to be at an optimal point - I hasten to point out that this is a trick I learned from watching Matt Scofield...unfortunately this is all I could learn from watching him...Keep up the good work Justin. Oh I'm very touchy about lending guitars too...
I tried it. The thing is I was playing it through a solid state amp turned down. It did sound different. It did sound kinda cool, even through my gear with my Epiphone Les Paul.
2:25 I used to let others "try my ax". After getting my neck, frets, strings and fingerboard grunged up a few times I started asking folks to wash their hands first. Certain guilty parties acted insulted and indignant about that so I made a new rule : "no one touches my ax". No more mister nice guy, no regrets.
I used to know some purists that would actually have pots removed, with pickups direct wired to the output jack. Over time I discovered that none of my axes have a "sweet spot" at volume 10. I sometimes will max out tone controls (0 or 10) but never the volume controls. If you want more volume use the amp, that's why they're called "amplifiers".
I'm thinking that Leo and Les never intended for 10 to be the default volume setting.
Excellent demonstration, Justin.
How about a demo applying to acoustics? The only acoustic I have that sounds better by hitting the strings super hard is a flamenco. Flamencos are designed for that.
I always do that too!
Nice! Similar idea (different objective) on a strat wired with a master tone & blender pot: to get pretty close to a tele middle sound, I have the pu switch on the bridge pu, and roll back the blender to blend in only a portion of the neck. A 50/50 bridge-neck blend doesn't get nearly as close to a tele, needs to be more bridge than neck. Probably because in a strat the neck is usually stronger and in a tele the bridge is stronger, you can get close to the tele middle balance on a strat with a blender pot.
The result of this hack was amazing. I would love to be able to achieve this with a Tele, too. But I guess we can just roll off the highs on the bridge and get there...but still, I'd like to be able to do this from the middle position.
Will it work with a tele or no?
@@JerboFotius can’t work with a tele bc there’s only one volume control for both pickups…the les Paul has a volume control for each pickup…but with the tele you can use the tone control to roll off the highs from position two but it’s not quite the same result
@@WSBM ahh yes
If you apply that same concept to 2 out of phase pickups, lots of cool tones to be had
Nice vid, Justin. I do this from time to time. learned it from Al Dimeola back in the 80's. He always had the selector in the middle on his Les Pauls and rolled one or the other pickup volume down. The only problem I have with it is if I want to roll down to clean up; just can't roll both volumes at the same time. Thanks again.
Hey Justin! Funny thing for me... I found this accidentally with my Les Paul custom a few months ago and now use it all the time. I had the same reaction you did. My neck setting sweet spot is 7.5. Thanks for posting... enjoyed it!
Re the front pickup taming the back pickup…..Phil Keaggy was doing that 40 years ago…
@kenwhisler That’s the first thing I thought of when I heard that. It’s all through Keaggy’s music plus Glass Harp. I keep forgetting about trying that option because in my mind you get the strongest output from one pickup wired in series instead of parallel with both pickups on.
It’s 8.5 for the Seth Lovers in my 335 (50s wiring of course). Absolute Magic!
Faskinating! 😀 Will try this on my '68 Custom next time I'm in the studio. I usually use middle position 'clean' and push neck or bridge for solo stuff but this sounds like fun - thanks for the insight. And the guy could have been a little more polite and just asked you to play with the volume . . . some people, I guess.
Did this on my Gretsch Semihollow, and it sounds great! There are no numbers on the pot, so I have to do it by ear every time. Thinking about my Cabronita-Tele with those amazing Jazzmaster-Pickups, the middle position is not that great. Since this guitar has only 1 Volume an 1 Tone Pot, I think I could change the Switch to an 5-stages-switch with the possibility to dial in the ratio between bridge an neck with little trim pots. It is worth a try!
that is awesome, never thought it would sound so different on the middle setting , gonna try it
Wow great tips- never knew the strings got flat spots on the back, makes sense though..
Super cool trick Justin....can't wait to try it on my LPs.
Very cool tone. I dig it. Thanks for sharing with us , much appreciated.
i own only one LP and it has p90s and i discovered this trick to thicken up the bridge sound to make it thicker. 😊
I tried this on my Telecaster Custom. Good idea
What a fantastic video have a wonderful day Justin also today is my oldest sister birthday ❤😊
Great lesson Justin. Where are your tone knobs on the respective pick ups? I’m guessing that’s gonna depend on your instrument, and etc. as well as the way you’re picking up her voiced but I’m just curious where yours live.
For this setting, I usually leave them wide open. It’s a different thing than just rolling the tone off the bridge pickup.
I changed from 50s wiring. Reverse the switch and pickup connections and pickups are decoupled in the middle position.
This gives you even more flexibility. You can turn on pickup of in middle and the ohe stays on! So the blending is endless.
I have a 72 custom LP. It seems very dark. I’ll never sell it . But sometimes I have a hard time getting it to do what I want.
I’m more of Strat guy.
Thanks for the information.
Man, love those P90s.
Great video Justin! Ever since I've learned which famous players are using the middle position (Dickey, Randy Bachman, both Stones players) I've become a fan. I have an Epi '59 LP with Burstbuckers, it's good enough for me. I am trying this tonight to see if the effect is the same. I usually have the Bridge on 9 and the Neck on 7 or 8.
Very cool! can be a really useful thing on jazz basses too (neck pickup at 10 and bridge at like 9.5ish)
Your video is brilliant as usual Justin, that is sometimes referred to as the "Quack point" on LP's etc
Brilliant, very cool thanks JO; gotta go try that now!
On my 1968 Les Paul Custom I do 9 on the neck 10 on the bridge but I also do the opposite. 10 neck 9 bridge. The first way gets rid of the shrill with gain lead sounds and the second way adds a little sparkle to the clean rhythm sounds. I never touch the tone knobs. Always on 10.
You just made me flip back the magnet of my neck pickup to the original position to try this. I made the Peter Green mod and, although it is very cool, it’s a very specific tone. I see myself using this trick more than the Peter Green mod. Thanks for the tip!
I did the Peter Green reverse polarity magnet mod on my LP ... so I dot think that this would apply to me! ... Great video Justin 👍👍👍
BTW ... in the 70's playing in pub rock bands in the UK ... we had virtually no FX pedals ... using the guitars volume and tone settings was the only way to control the monstrous amps !
I paid for 2 pickups so I’m using em both! lol
Les Paul 60's Standard with Seymour Duncan Erick Steckel signature "Candy" pickups. It's a 9 for me. Thanks for the tone tip.
Another great video!!! Your channel is fantastic!!!