What Les Paul would you recommend?
Hey folks. I think it’s time I got myself a Les Paul for work purposes (pickup reviews and demos, pics for my Gibson.com articles and Mixdown magazine column, stuff like that). And I thought I might throw it open to see if you can recommend a particular model to me. I can’t afford a super-mega expensive top shelf model right now (unless someone buys a whole bunch of ads), but I think that for my particular requirements I need a traditional-sounding mahogany body/maple top Les Paul with two full-sized humbuckers and traditional Les Paul ‘two volumes, two tones and a toggle switch’ wiring. Although I play a lot of Ibanez guitars with very thin necks, I quite like thick guitar necks too.
Here are a few I’m thinking of, each of which meets my requirements in terms of body woods and electronics configurations. Can you suggest any others or offer your opinion? Leave a comment below or here on the I Heart Guitar Facebook page.
Les Paul Studio 50s Tribute Humbucker
I’ve really liked the other Tribute models I’ve played, and Satin Honeybust looks pretty tasty.
Van Halen ‘A Different Kind Of Truth’ tab book now available
Great news for fans of the new Van Halen album A Different Kind Of Truth: the guitar tablature book is now available! Order it here from Amazon.com.
Here’s the press release:
Alfred Music Publishing, the official print music publisher of thousands of popular artists, songwriters, and composers, has released “A Different Kind Of Truth”, the album-matching songbook to Van Halen’s first studio album since 1998, and the first since 1984 with lead vocalist David Lee Roth.
REVIEW: Epiphone Les Paul Standard Ultra-II
Aah, the Les Paul. Is there anything cooler than slinging one down around your knees, slumping over like Slash and reeling off sleazy rock riff after sleazy rock riff? Well, yeah. Not having to put down your beloved axe to pick up a wimpy acoustic to play the ballad is cooler. Not being tied to one of those acoustic guitar stands for the songs when you need to play acoustic and electric parts is cooler. Now, Gibson and Epiphone are well aware of how to make a cool thing cooler – just witness the Gibson Tony Iommi SG or the Epiphone Goth 1958 Explorer for proof. So it should be no surprise that they’ve figured out the least obtrusive way yet to cram acoustic sounds (via a Shadow NanoMag pickup) into an otherwise all-electric Les Paul in the form of the Les Paul Standard Ultra-II.
REVIEW: Fernandes Ravelle Bass Deluxe
As a Fernandes bass owner myself I was looking forward to checking out the Ravelle Bass Deluxe, although it’s much more of a modern instrument than my vintage-style J-type bass. My beloved four-stringer is great for old-school R&B, Led Zeppelin riffs and the occasional Audioslave moment, and its modern equivalent is the Retrospect 4 X, an alder-bodied, maple necked bolt-on with single coil pickups.
In contrast the Ravelle is a much harder-edged beast, both physically and in musical intention. Shaped like its six-string guitar brother (also called the Ravelle), this bass has a sleek single-cutaway body with subtle bevelling and a few aggressive points that just scream ‘metal!’ The neck is of the bolt-on maple variety. It has a rosewood fretboard with a relatively flat 16″ radius, 22 jumbo frets and distinctively Fernandes pearl split trapezoid inlays, which will help you find your way while also linking the Ravelle thematically to other unique Fernandes designs like the Vertigo. The headstock features a hardy Graphtech Trem nut at 1 3/4″ spacing, and die cast tuning gears with buttons that kinda remind me of knee bones for some reason. Brutal.
REVIEW: Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo bass
The Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 bass is weird. If you’re used to more vintage-style basses, or even the legendary EBMM StingRay and Sterling models, the Bongo probably looks like it’s from outer space. It has an odd shape, unusual bevelling, a rather unique headstock… but as we’ve seen amply demonstrated time and again, Ernie Ball Music Man doesn’t make bad instruments, and they don’t make derivative instruments – everything they do has a purpose and a philosophy. And while the Bongo may have to fight extra-hard to win over some players due to the sheer force of its originality, you know before you even open the case that you’re in for something pretty interesting whenever you pick up an EBMM.
The Bongo 4 starts with a basswood body. Often used in hard rock and metal guitars, basswood has a relatively even tone with tight bass, and it tends to smooth over the edges of playing dynamics to a degree, which makes it especially prized by shredders who need even volume from note to note when playing at a bazillion miles an hour. The body is finished in high-gloss polyester, which will further even out the corners of the tone and dynamics if my limited understanding of physics is anything to go by.
Seymour Duncan: Wolf Tones, plus Jimmy Page wiring!
So here’s something I’m really proud of: Seymour Duncan has just made me their Assistant Social Media Coordinator. As part of the job, I get to write cool blog posts like this one about the problem of ‘wolf tones.’ You might also dig this Tone Fiend article by Joe Gore about the versatile and mysterious Jimmy Page-style Les Paul wiring. If you’ve got a Les Paul or similar, give it a try! I know I will when I eventually buy a Les Paul (like this Les Paul Traditional in Iced Tea).
By the way, the pickups in the photo above are the Gus G FIRE Blackouts in my battered old Ibanez RG370. I really dig how these pickups have given the guitar a new lease on life (along with a killer fret job from Soxy Music). See my review of them here.
Tea Party Australian tour dates
Saturday 14th July – Palais Theatre, Melbourne (my birthday, woo!)
Tuesday 17th July – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Saturday 21th July – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tuesday 24th July – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday 26th July – Metro City, Perth
Tickets on sale 9am Monday 30th April
Angus Young: SG Master
Here’s my latest for Gibson.com. Enjoy!
There are few players – OK, maybe only Tony Iommi – who have done as much for the popularity of the Gibson SG as Angus Young. Sure, there have been other greats like Duane Allman, Gary Rossington and Robby Krieger who have taken the SG and made it their own, but if you show an SG to a non-guitarist, often their eyes will light up and they’ll say, “Oh! The Angus guitar!” The sleek contours, devilish pointy horns and no-nonsense electronics make the SG the perfect guitar for Angus’s blues-gilded rock and roll swagger.
Click here for the rest!
Listen to Rush’s new single!
Below is a teaser of Rush’s new single “Headlong Flight,” but head here to hear the whole thing! “Headlong Flight” is from the new Rush album, Clockwork Angels, which is out in June via Anthem/Roadrunner Records.
INTERVIEW: Dragonforce’s Herman Li
It’s always tough on fans when a singer leaves a band. Sure, Van Halen did fine with Sammy Hagar, and AC/DC didn’t exactly flounder when Brian Johnson joined, but there’s always that moment of “Oh jeez, will this work?” Post-Lane Warrant, heck, even post-Hagar Van Halen – there’s lots of scope for a misstep. Well the new Dragonforce album, The Power Within, will immediately shut up anyone who expects the band to lose some of its edge following the departure of ZP Theart. About a year after Theart walked, Dragonforce announced they’d enlisted Marc Hudson as their new voice. And what a voice. Dragonforce still sounds like Dragonforce, but even more musical, more powerful and more exciting. For a band who dishes out killer riffs and impossible guitar licks as easily as walking, kicking it up a notch is quite a feat. But The Power Within delivers.
Hi Herman! We haven’t met before but I remember you kicking around on the Jemsite forums back in the day.
Oh yeah! I still go to Jemsite. It’s got good information.
It’s been great to see forum regulars like you and James McIlroy (Cradle of Filth) going on to such big things.
Yeah! Actually James gave me the contact with Ibanez to get my deal!
No way!
Yeah!
Well, first question: What did the switch to Marc bring to the creative process?
With the switch of singer we definitely turned the whole recording process, the rehearsing, the whole band thing upside down and changed everything around. I think it was going to happen anyway, because after we finished the last album I wanted to really look back at the ten years we’d been doing the band – y’know, how we did it, how we wanted to change things, how we could make it better. So for this album and the recording process, I suppose I can almost say it’s completely different from the last album, the last two albums.
COOL GEAR ALERT: Line 6 StageSource L3t
I just received a press release from Line 6 about their new StageSource L3t powered loudspeaker, which is now shipping. At first glance this looks like a great PA-type speaker – and I’m sure it is – but it also offers some very interesting applications for the guitarist. It can serve as an acoustic guitar amp, which is handy, but it can also be used with Line 6 POD gear as a speaker system. So if you’re really attached to your ‘in the box’ POD settings and would like to use them onstage without running through a conventional amp, pair your POD with one of these and you’re ready to go.
Line 6 Ships StageSource L3t, the World’s Most Versatile High-powered Loudspeaker for Musicians
- Now available, StageSource L3t combines multi-function design with Smart Speaker modes, integrated mixer and digital networking for the widest variety of live sound applications -
CALABASAS, Calif. – April 10, 2012 – Line 6, Inc. proudly announces the availability of StageSource™ L3t. StageSource loudspeaker systems are built on a powerful new technology platform that enables a single enclosure to provide best-of-class performance in multiple live sound functions.
StageSource L3t is the most flexible loudspeaker available for musicians. Using six innovative Smart Speaker modes, the L3t optimizes its output for a variety of performance scenarios: front-of-house PA, floor monitor, personal PA, keyboard and acoustic guitar backline or with Line 6 POD® multi-effect processors as a high-performance electric guitar speaker system. Smart Speaker modes can be set manually or automatically via built-in orientation sensors that detect whether the speaker has been pole-mounted or rotated and tilted for use as a monitor.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com