1953 Gibson les paul Goldtop with wraparound tailpiece is compared to R6 with an ABR-1 tailpiece. The amp is a 1977 Marshall JMP 2204 plugged into a 4x15 Marshall model 1979A speaker cabinet.
The sad part is some people will watch this and still not hear the differences. 54 Goldtop is my favorite lespaul Standard to this day, love that wrap around.
I was very lucky to have a guitar built by a great luthier: Rainer Buschmann. I think he finally didn't know what he sold me. Old P90 with clear bobbins. I cannot determine exactly but they're probably built between '68 and '73. To anyone who never heard those P90s: They have an unbelievable magic to'em. They growl and scream and sing at the same time.
Back then it was trees from a the old world, no pollution to contaminate them, no pesticides or chemical fertilizer to grow it, rosewood was Brazilian rosewood, the wood has seasoned for 60 years, magnets have weakend, the finish has become thinner the whole thing breathes better, OSHA has changed what toxic metals can be used in current production guitars from what i read, its new paint caps wire, glue and plastics. All made diferently then in 53, plus the wrap around tail piece, that will throw of the tone for better or worse, its a single piece of aluminum and may cause shorter string length yet still maintaining a 24.75 scale.
Wow, it suprised me how much clarity the '53 has. Really nice vid. I would take the '53 any day over the reissue, although they both sound surprisingly clear!
@@JohanSegeborn It's that thin (for a les paul) kinda sound that gives it the "Tele on Steroids" name. Articulate with big stones. Absolutly love P-90's on a Les Paul.
Ive recently bought a les paul gold top 1957 reissue, and dont give a dam if the colour, is not quite the same It plays fantastic, even better than my Strat which ive had for 24 years.
I like the sound of the older one better; seems less tinny and has more of a growl than the newer one. Don't get me wrong, I'd take either one in a heartbeat!! Great playing Johan! I like how you throw in the trills in the middle of your phrasing without missing a beat. New subscriber here brother!! Rock on...
The '53 has hotter pickups. The only real way to compare the guitars themselves would be to switch the same set of pickups between the two. They both sound great, though.
A guitar is not just a body, it's the whole thing, you know... Otherwise, the video would be titled "'53 LP Body&Neck VS 2014 LP Body&Neck Doctor Who FTW! Cheers
Nice demo! I think if one were to not see which guitar is on-screen and just listened we'd not be able to consistently pick out whether its the 53 or the R6 being played. I couldn't. I'll admit there might have been an occasional top end tipoff but they sound very similar for the most part (to me). Thanks for the video.
They sound insanely different. Sorry your ears suck. I doubt most could pick one out in a full band mix but even then i prob could. They are nothing alike....
About 2 minutes in I stopped caring which was which,I see this as how great Gibson's heritage is and how nice of a guitar you can get now (of course with lots of dough) but nice nonetheless
The 53 has a crisper bite to it, where the reissue's pickups are a little flatter sounding / more neutral response. Both look very good, but i prefer the early 60's neck, not a fan of the thicker necks. In the early 90's i played a Gibson 62 reissue, and fell in love with that guitar, but couldn't afford to take it home, but put many hours on it in the store...lol
The reissue sounds great but it's a gear behind the '53. There's something about those old magnets and 62 year old nitro finish, mahogany/maple & rosewood. But I think Gibson has done a great job with their reissues. I bet if you put in a pair of boutique low output P90s and changed out the harness to real PIO caps, matched 550K pots & 50s wiring in the reissue it would be a lot harder to distinguish the two. Thanks for posting!
Guessing, I would say the '53's pickups are weaker, which would account for the brighter, sweeter tone. Of course no 2 guitars are going to sound the same, but lots of vintage pickups are weaker, less D.C. resistance. And older wood on the '53. Both are great sounding, but I prefer the ;53.
On my 2014 Gibson Les Paul 'Special' in TV yellow, the stock P90 pickups were harsh/grainy, especially the bridge pickup, the neck was a toss-up. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan 'vintage' P90 pups. When I removed the stock Gibson P90's, I noticed that their construction wasn't even close to how a P90 pickup was originally manufactured. Also, the guitar had a circuit board for the pots and capacitors, which I replaced with NOS Centra-Labs pots and CRL .01 caps. IMHO, the Seymour Duncan 'vintage' P90 pups are more accurately constructed and the tone of them is substantially smoother than the stock Gibson pups. I found that using a lower height on the pickup worked for my application better as I play high gain amps. None the less however, the Gibson 'Special', is now a go to instrument for hardcore pentatonic riffs/licks and just sounds down right 'mean', in an ecstasy kind of way!
Thank you for the video. The 53 is more expressive, articulate..and noisy. The R6 sounds good, but it's lacking some honk and is too polite. It is quieter though. The wrap tail bridge vs ABR setup will be contributing to the variances we're hearing also. I'll take the '53 thanks.
They both sound good. The newer one sounds more bassey clear. The older older sounds more trebley and scratchy. I like the older ones sound better but if you messed with your amp and used the right pedal, they both can sound the same.
This video is a great example of how we approach a vintage guitar differently than its modern counterpart. I can tell Johan enjoys the old one more than the new one because it's reflected in his playing and as a result what we perceive as the tone. There is more psychology involved when it comes to vintage vs new than anything else in my opinion.
Had to come back to see and hear you Johan. Anyways I think they did an Absolute Fantastic Job on the Reissue, to me it sounds VERY Close to the Original. Love that worn look of the 53, and that GREEN TINT from the Bronze Flaking that's in the paint mix. I also Dig the way you put them through there paces.......I know you don't need to hear it again, but your an EXCELLENT PLAYER! Anyways Johan, always a pleasure to see your Vid's, so much so that I have to Subscribe. Well Keep-em Coming.......another Fan way out in the middle of the Pacific ( Maui ) 🎸💚
I love p-90's. The vintage p 90s have a more open sound than any of the current productions I have heard. This has been shown to me in many comparisons. I don't know why that isn't present in the new productions. They still sound good though.
Put the old pickups in the new guitar and the openness disappears, that’s because the quality of wood in the 53 makes the pickups resonate differently. Sure pickups have a bearing on the quality of sound you get, but nowhere near as much as the “spindoctors” of pickup manufacturing would have you believe.
Both are very sweet sounding guitars. The only real difference I hear is the high frequencies in the 53 seem a bit more accentuated than the R6. In a blind test I doubt I could tell which is which.
the early one clearly rules..zappa played goldtop one in later 60,s mothers a 52-4 i think.single tailpiece,killer great blues machine, the old ones are ssswweeet...the pickups,n wood combination what makes em $$$$$ n horded!!they need to be played..not horded....nice vid thnx..d. spook....
The most obvious difference is the more audible amp noise whenever the original is being played vs the reissue. For some reason the reissue is much less noisy.. And for some reason that makes it sound like it has less 'character' or 'mojo' or whatever. I definitely preferred the noisier original. Sound is the strangest thing.
Old instruments got something newer instruments don't: age, that's all, everytime I read comments of people saying: vintage is better and bla bla bla but I don't see the point in what they are saying, newer guitars have the same quality but they need to age and it takes time, surely they will sound great as well as those guitars we consider vintage now, that's why i think i'm gonna buy an R6 IMHO. Great video Johan Segeborn though, i'm your n°1 fan ;)
Thanks for this video Johan. Right now I'm trying to decide if I go with the wrap tail or ABR-1 for my Goldtop. I believe it will be a wraptail as it sounded a little more open and less compressed on the attack. Great video Sir
The mids on that '53 sound like nothing else. So dense and focused. Those P-90's are likely quite underwound compared to modern versions. Why can't somebody build new LP's to get this sound quality?
obviously the quality of the mahogany used in the 50s and 60s (now estinguished) is better and the nitro lacquer (now forbidden) respects the overall vibration of body and neck. other than that I really like the esthetics of the older headstock mechanics and the forgotten stoptail bridge
Great vid. I just bought an Epi P90 special with a view to upgrading the pickups. Are the pups on the reissue regular current production p90 pickups or are they customs for that Gibson model?
Johan, what do you think of the 1953 Les Paul bridge? More sustain or better tone without the ABR-1? It seems that a compensated bridge (like the Firebird I) would be the best compromise between the two formats. Great playing bro. :)
+AmDsus2Fmaj7Am Thanks, yeah a single bridge that can be intonated is probably optimal in mant cases. Thats waht PRS uses. Interesting how the ABR-1 is more widely occuring on Gibson Guitars than this one. Us guitarists are a consevative breed. Cheers
Well man... The noise from the vintage instrument is one of the reasons I don't actually care much about trying to find one. Now if my neighbors gramma had one in her closet for the last 60 years!!... Anyway, good video as always Johan. I kinda dug the new guitar because it sounded very similar and had less noise.
hard to say which one sounds "better" sounds like the 53 had more distortion hotter pickups setting the same on both?? the re sounded great clean lots of musical under tones on both though!!
+Leo Gonzalez Thanks Leo, I used the same settings on both. Usually hotter pickups are darker, but with the kind of amazing wood in the 53 the sum maybe briighter anyway. Cheers
I think the reviewer liked the old so much that he played it harder and better. Not a fair comparison. (As if it matters, as I am not going to see my house to get the old one).
Interesting. Sounds like the re-issue has less treble but quite a bit more bass response. I wonder what the true pot and cap values read on both guitars.
I don't know how to edit movies as you do, or what software I'd need, so I don't try to do those kinds of A/B comparisons. Your method is very good, I can hear the difference easily, and my own term I use to describe vintage guitars and or amps is that they sound more "musical". But I insist that vintage is better, at least it is to my ears, maybe it's because it sounds more like the music I was raised on from the era they were used to record them. But I can't see how anybody, evan if they are 18 could play both and think the vintage guitar doesn't sound better and inspire them to play better and sometimes even differently.
Good job, love the cutaway shots, shows up the differences well especially the heel ri looks better for access and headstock shape prefer the old to me the 53 was a bit brighter and had a crisp attack which is surprising as I'd've thought it would mellow with age but I would love either
jadefire1985 Thanks, yeah this kind of crispiness isn't what usually is ascociated with vintage, but most 1950s LPs I've played have been very bright. Cheers Johan
Is it my ears or do they both share much the same tonal similarity? The reissue seems to have a noticeably more subtle tone whereas the original has a harder edge. Any thoughts?
This shows there’s no substitute for good wood like in the 53. If you don’t start with the right stuff the rest is tinsel. Don’t wait for years to pass by hoping that your guitar will mature with age ‘cause it won’t. Of all my guitars I only have one with the wow factor, and it’s not my R6. Sure they still sound great just not WOW. The same in this video, they both sound great, but the 53 was made with WOW wood and no matter what you do after that to try and duplicate it you won’t.
What is the year of Reissue? I'm dissapointed. I don't like Reissue at all. Dead sound with sharp attack. Oroginal sound softer. But I noticed that the original has much more overdrive. Does it have higher output?
Andrew Zeleno Hi Andrew, It's a 2014, and it's quite a good guitar, but you know when when you A/B test anything with something better it sounds worse than it would otherwise would appear to. I think that they have about the same output, but the '53 has tons more of high end. Cheers Johan
Nice video. It looks like the vintage one wins. The price/convenience thing is another factor tough... Just a question: are the pickup heights similar for this video? If not, do you think that's something important to make a comparison? (Honest question not trying to be sarcastic).
Hi Johan. I have JMP 2203. Whtat's the diferences between 2203 and 2204? What's the tubes you use on preamp and poweramp? I've used a marshall cabinet 1960A with 2 greenbacks G12M25 China and 2 news creambacks G12M65 in x pattern, but i don't have same sound you have, almost near. Maybe be speakers you use pulsonic celestions.
The reissue sounds great, fair to say but there seem to be a bit of more of everything with the older one, call it depth, whatever... i would be curious about the acoustic sound of the two, and bet the older is more resonant.
Thank you Johan for this very informative video. The '53 is to die for, more organic and musical. But this is not a perfectly fair comparison to the reissue, which is a very nice guitar. The pickups are not the same, and the '53 has a wrap around stop bar. I have always favored the stop bar with P-90's, just something about how it produces a fatter sound and singing sustain. \
R6 doesn't have centralab pots, bumblebee's, different chemicals in paint, pickups aren't wound the same, doesn't have Brazilian board, and has an abr1...so yeah it's going to sound different.
Setting aside sound considerations.. it just seems like you enjoyed playing the 53 a lot better.. and it seemed to inspire you to perform better.. that was my impression... Please correct me if I am off base.. It could have been the other way around.. don't get me wrong... The small variations in manufacturing of yesteryear... gave this leeway.. for minor differences that may or may not gel with a player.. when they did they did big time.. today things are so exactly specd.. it's now like buying an appliance.. anyone will due. Nice Vid
Surprised with the sound of the P-90's. Had a '68 SG and the bridge pickup sounded like Godzilla. Never was able to find another newer guitar with that same sound but these pickups sound pretty great
Johan Segeborn I think they sound similar. I guess if I heard it through a looper pedal it would have the exact same playing dynamics and it may be different. It looks like you were having more fun and putting more energy into your playing with the 53.
A few years ago I bought a R4 vos, didn't care for it that much, I had a LP special faded dc that had a better tone..go figure..$4000 for the r4, $600 for the lp special
Hello, Just seen this awesome video !!!! Could you give me gently the pickups height settings on this model especially ?the reissue.....please The distance between polepieces and the bottom of the strings ( depressed at last fret !) ...in .../64 inch , for both pickup, for both sides, bass and trebble , strings depressed at last one ! That would be great.....and so gentle to take a bit of your precious time for a French guitarist who loves and dreams about wildwood guitars and american blues and soul music :) !!!! Thanks a lot....
original sounds warmer and more "fat". Reissue has more braight tone and less narrow overall sound spectre. I would say original has more "bluesy" tone, while reissue tend to rocky tone - anyways - all it's very subjective
Can someone tell me what" tone difference" is there between a wraparound tailpiece and a "bridge-tailpiece " Les Paul P90 ? Are wraparound type LP in tune all the time ? I would like to buy one !!!
+Belo Rep This wraparound tail piece can not be intonated, so it will be less in tune than the bridge tailpiece. I think the tonal differences are very slight. The wraparound transfers the string enery/vibrations more efficiently into the wood, which in theory gives a more aggressive tone
best guitar channel on CZcams. amazing playing, recording, and concepts.
Thanks! Makes me really glad to hear that. Cheers Johan
The Reissue just sounds so "well behaved". The old beauty just wants to be played, I believe it was hard to put it down. That thing screams!!!
It was indeed, a living piece of wood :-)
They are both sweet my heart goes out to that 1953 adorable little sweetie.
The sad part is some people will watch this and still not hear the differences.
54 Goldtop is my favorite lespaul Standard to this day, love that wrap around.
Most people have actually really preferred the clarity and dynamics of the original
I was very lucky to have a guitar built by a great luthier: Rainer Buschmann.
I think he finally didn't know what he sold me. Old P90 with clear bobbins. I cannot determine exactly but they're probably built between '68 and '73. To anyone who never heard those P90s: They have an unbelievable magic to'em. They growl and scream and sing at the same time.
Cool, gonna check em out
Back then it was trees from a the old world, no pollution to contaminate them, no pesticides or chemical fertilizer to grow it, rosewood was Brazilian rosewood, the wood has seasoned for 60 years, magnets have weakend, the finish has become thinner the whole thing breathes better, OSHA has changed what toxic metals can be used in current production guitars from what i read, its new paint caps wire, glue and plastics. All made diferently then in 53, plus the wrap around tail piece, that will throw of the tone for better or worse, its a single piece of aluminum and may cause shorter string length yet still maintaining a 24.75 scale.
Thanks rolando, great feedback. Cheers Johan
Geez that original has what you’re lookin for! Those older p90’s are sick! Reissue is killin it as well.
This was most useful to me. Both wonderful guitars, and very nice playing. You play with soul.
Thanks, glad to hear that!
Wow, it suprised me how much clarity the '53 has. Really nice vid. I would take the '53 any day over the reissue, although they both sound surprisingly clear!
AscarinVin Thanks, Yeah the 53 is a monster. Cheers
@@JohanSegeborn It's that thin (for a les paul) kinda sound that gives it the "Tele on Steroids" name. Articulate with big stones. Absolutly love P-90's on a Les Paul.
Ive recently bought a les paul gold top 1957 reissue, and dont give a dam if the colour, is not quite the same It plays fantastic, even better than my Strat which ive had for 24 years.
I like the sound of the older one better; seems less tinny and has more of a growl than the newer one. Don't get me wrong, I'd take either one in a heartbeat!! Great playing Johan! I like how you throw in the trills in the middle of your phrasing without missing a beat. New subscriber here brother!! Rock on...
+dbrier72 Thanks! So glad to hear it. Cheers Johan
why oh why does that original sound so freaking good?!
The '53 has hotter pickups. The only real way to compare the guitars themselves would be to switch the same set of pickups between the two.
They both sound great, though.
A guitar is not just a body, it's the whole thing, you know... Otherwise, the video would be titled "'53 LP Body&Neck VS 2014 LP Body&Neck
Doctor Who FTW!
Cheers
youre the best!! what a performance! You can really show these fantastic guitars in perfection!
Bo Segeborn Thanks dad! I don't know about that. But I certainly learned from the best.
You have one of my absolute favorite CZcams channels!!!
Nice demo! I think if one were to not see which guitar is on-screen and just listened we'd not be able to consistently pick out whether its the 53 or the R6 being played. I couldn't. I'll admit there might have been an occasional top end tipoff but they sound very similar for the most part (to me). Thanks for the video.
Thanks! Yeah in a dense mix they'd be hard to separate.
They sound insanely different. Sorry your ears suck. I doubt most could pick one out in a full band mix but even then i prob could. They are nothing alike....
You got real passion and great taste Johan. Keep rocking man!!
Amazing as always, Johan. High time u brought out your album!!
+Aditya A Thanks man :-) one of these days ..
About 2 minutes in I stopped caring which was which,I see this as how great Gibson's heritage is and how nice of a guitar you can get now (of course with lots of dough) but nice nonetheless
Thanks for all the great vids, Johan!
+J Ca Glad you like them!
love it at 6:20- funky lick very cool got to get that down
***** Thanks, glad to hear that!
The 53 has a crisper bite to it, where the reissue's pickups are a little flatter sounding / more neutral response. Both look very good, but i prefer the early 60's neck, not a fan of the thicker necks.
In the early 90's i played a Gibson 62 reissue, and fell in love with that guitar, but couldn't afford to take it home, but put many hours on it in the store...lol
Nice playing with clean and light distorsion for comparing.
Thanks, glad to hear it
Fantastic sound and a Great player as always. ....
Brandon Hupp Thanks Brandon! :-)
Fantastiskt smakfullt spelat här Johan! Du får verkligen ut det bästa ur dessa två.
The old one has that resonant/woody open sound...give the Reissue about 50 years of playtime and eventually it might sound as good :)
The reissue sounds good, but the original quite a bit better. Clearer and more resonant
The reissue sounds great but it's a gear behind the '53. There's something about those old magnets and 62 year old nitro finish, mahogany/maple & rosewood. But I think Gibson has done a great job with their reissues. I bet if you put in a pair of boutique low output P90s and changed out the harness to real PIO caps, matched 550K pots & 50s wiring in the reissue it would be a lot harder to distinguish the two. Thanks for posting!
Thanks, yeah it certainly is the sum of many small things that creates the magic, but the wood is a very large part of that equation. Cheers
Guessing, I would say the '53's pickups are weaker, which would account for the brighter, sweeter tone. Of course no 2 guitars are going to sound the same, but lots of vintage pickups are weaker, less D.C. resistance. And older wood on the '53. Both are great sounding, but I prefer the ;53.
+Bobby Bowers Thanks, that seems like a correct assessment .Cheers Johan
I think the old one has more bite, I like them both but I would choose the old one. Thanks for the comparison Johan. Cheers from Canada!
Me too, the detail of that treble is fantastic. Cheers
Nice cover of the rain song
Thanks, it kinda comes out like that when I'm not in DADGAD tuning. Cheers
Yeah it’s floyd /zep hybridian!
On my 2014 Gibson Les Paul 'Special' in TV yellow, the stock P90 pickups were harsh/grainy, especially the bridge pickup, the neck was a toss-up. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan 'vintage' P90 pups. When I removed the stock Gibson P90's, I noticed that their construction wasn't even close to how a P90 pickup was originally manufactured. Also, the guitar had a circuit board for the pots and capacitors, which I replaced with NOS Centra-Labs pots and CRL .01 caps. IMHO, the Seymour Duncan 'vintage' P90 pups are more accurately constructed and the tone of them is substantially smoother than the stock Gibson pups. I found that using a lower height on the pickup worked for my application better as I play high gain amps. None the less however, the Gibson 'Special', is now a go to instrument for hardcore pentatonic riffs/licks and just sounds down right 'mean', in an ecstasy kind of way!
+Viking Mike yeah it's important to match guitar and pups
Thank you for the video. The 53 is more expressive, articulate..and noisy. The R6 sounds good, but it's lacking some honk and is too polite. It is quieter though. The wrap tail bridge vs ABR setup will be contributing to the variances we're hearing also. I'll take the '53 thanks.
They both sound good. The newer one sounds more bassey clear. The older older sounds more trebley and scratchy. I like the older ones sound better but if you messed with your amp and used the right pedal, they both can sound the same.
This video is a great example of how we approach a vintage guitar differently than its modern counterpart. I can tell Johan enjoys the old one more than the new one because it's reflected in his playing and as a result what we perceive as the tone. There is more psychology involved when it comes to vintage vs new than anything else in my opinion.
+Ernesto Del Baño I agree, it's what the guitars brings out of us players that makes the biggest difference. Cheers
The Reissue sounds damn good to me!
good demo,
& that's why the vintage ones are so much more expensive folks.
Jimmy Page is on his way over to your house to get the money you owe him!
Haha! :-)
I think Jimmy Page would rather go to Johan's department to have a couple of drinks with him and have a long discussion on amps and gear. =)
Had to come back to see and hear you Johan. Anyways I think they did an Absolute Fantastic Job on the Reissue, to me it sounds VERY Close to the Original. Love that worn look of the 53, and that GREEN TINT from the Bronze Flaking that's in the paint mix. I also Dig the way you put them through there paces.......I know you don't need to hear it again, but your an EXCELLENT PLAYER! Anyways Johan, always a pleasure to see your Vid's, so much so that I have to Subscribe. Well Keep-em Coming.......another Fan way out in the middle of the Pacific ( Maui ) 🎸💚
I love p-90's. The vintage p 90s have a more open sound than any of the current productions I have heard. This has been shown to me in many comparisons. I don't know why that isn't present in the new productions. They still sound good though.
+John Emery Thanks John!
Put the old pickups in the new guitar and the openness disappears, that’s because the quality of wood in the 53 makes the pickups resonate differently. Sure pickups have a bearing on the quality of sound you get, but nowhere near as much as the “spindoctors” of pickup manufacturing would have you believe.
Both are very sweet sounding guitars. The only real difference I hear is the high frequencies in the 53 seem a bit more accentuated than the R6. In a blind test I doubt I could tell which is which.
the early one clearly rules..zappa played goldtop one in later 60,s mothers a 52-4 i think.single tailpiece,killer great blues machine, the old ones are ssswweeet...the pickups,n wood combination what makes em $$$$$ n horded!!they need to be played..not horded....nice vid thnx..d. spook....
The most obvious difference is the more audible amp noise whenever the original is being played vs the reissue. For some reason the reissue is much less noisy.. And for some reason that makes it sound like it has less 'character' or 'mojo' or whatever. I definitely preferred the noisier original. Sound is the strangest thing.
you have some cool licks ~~~~
+e.g. Smith Thanks! Glad to hear it!
The 53' has that extra sizzle while the reissue had a bit more low end, I suspect this is because of the different bridge
The vintage is like taking a bite out of a Baby Ruth, and the reissue is like taking a bite out of something that looks like a Baby Ruth.
+zzubuzz :-) yeah even though the reissues are great on its own. Put back to back with the original it sounds kind of muffled.
53 all the wayyyyyy....but the reissue not too shaby!!!
Merry Christmas from nyc
+Rocco Astoria Merry Christmas my friend!
Johan Segeborn which do you prefer and why Johan??? love your vids...u are amazing!!
reissue guitar are better then i tought i would from now on go for it
Love them P90 tones
Old instruments got something newer instruments don't: age, that's all, everytime I read comments of people saying: vintage is better and bla bla bla but I don't see the point in what they are saying, newer guitars have the same quality but they need to age and it takes time, surely they will sound great as well as those guitars we consider vintage now, that's why i think i'm gonna buy an R6 IMHO. Great video Johan Segeborn though, i'm your n°1 fan ;)
Thanks man! I agree that vintage is certainly no guarantee of quality. People are just used to how some of them sound. Cheers
Thanks for this video Johan.
Right now I'm trying to decide if I go with the wrap tail or ABR-1 for my Goldtop.
I believe it will be a wraptail as it sounded a little more open and less compressed on the attack.
Great video Sir
The mids on that '53 sound like nothing else. So dense and focused. Those P-90's are likely quite underwound compared to modern versions. Why can't somebody build new LP's to get this sound quality?
obviously the quality of the mahogany used in the 50s and 60s (now estinguished) is better and the nitro lacquer (now forbidden) respects the overall vibration of body and neck. other than that I really like the esthetics of the older headstock mechanics and the forgotten stoptail bridge
Great vid. I just bought an Epi P90 special with a view to upgrading the pickups. Are the pups on the reissue regular current production p90 pickups or are they customs for that Gibson model?
tockusa It's only referred to as a P90 on their website, so they're probably standard P90s. Cheers Johan
Johan, what do you think of the 1953 Les Paul bridge? More sustain or better tone without the ABR-1? It seems that a compensated bridge (like the Firebird I) would be the best compromise between the two formats. Great playing bro. :)
+AmDsus2Fmaj7Am Thanks, yeah a single bridge that can be intonated is probably optimal in mant cases. Thats waht PRS uses. Interesting how the ABR-1 is more widely occuring on Gibson Guitars than this one. Us guitarists are a consevative breed. Cheers
Cheers Johan! Love the "vibe" of the '53 but the hum is rather disturbing. The RI comes across as more pleasant. Gr8 comparison :-)
+Jojimbo Usagi Cheers! :-)
Would be mighty cool to hear you launch a good Strat thru that same amp and 4x15 cab.
+Rich Firyn I play a Strat and a LP through the 4x15 with a Super Lead here:
czcams.com/video/eGGipHjdnCA/video.html
Cheers
Johan
Right on Johan and thanks, very cool dude.
Both sound great but i know which one I would take given the choice !
Well man... The noise from the vintage instrument is one of the reasons I don't actually care much about trying to find one. Now if my neighbors gramma had one in her closet for the last 60 years!!... Anyway, good video as always Johan. I kinda dug the new guitar because it sounded very similar and had less noise.
hard to say which one sounds "better" sounds like the 53 had more distortion hotter pickups setting the same on both?? the re sounded great clean lots of musical under tones on both though!!
+Leo Gonzalez Thanks Leo, I used the same settings on both. Usually hotter pickups are darker, but with the kind of amazing wood in the 53 the sum maybe briighter anyway. Cheers
Hi, I think the old one sounds better..a lot more mojo:-) good vids johan!
Thanks! Me too.
I think the reviewer liked the old so much that he played it harder and better. Not a fair comparison. (As if it matters, as I am not going to see my house to get the old one).
Another factor was the wrap tail vs the Tune-o-matic.
53 probably has a thicker maple cap accounting for the extra brightness. I prefer the re-issue actually.
***** Thanks, interesting. I like both, but the 53 was just like a living entity. I used a very bright amp as well. Cheers! Johan
Interesting. Sounds like the re-issue has less treble but quite a bit more bass response. I wonder what the true pot and cap values read on both guitars.
WSR Brooks Yeah, me too. But even acoustically the 53 is bright and extremely resonant. Cheers Johan
I don't know how to edit movies as you do, or what software I'd need, so I don't try to do those kinds of A/B comparisons. Your method is very good, I can hear the difference easily, and my own term I use to describe vintage guitars and or amps is that they sound more "musical". But I insist that vintage is better, at least it is to my ears, maybe it's because it sounds more like the music I was raised on from the era they were used to record them. But I can't see how anybody, evan if they are 18 could play both and think the vintage guitar doesn't sound better and inspire them to play better and sometimes even differently.
Good job, love the cutaway shots, shows up the differences well especially the heel ri looks better for access and headstock shape prefer the old to me the 53 was a bit brighter and had a crisp attack which is surprising as I'd've thought it would mellow with age but I would love either
jadefire1985 Thanks, yeah this kind of crispiness isn't what usually is ascociated with vintage, but most 1950s LPs I've played have been very bright. Cheers Johan
Is it my ears or do they both share much the same tonal similarity? The reissue seems to have a noticeably more subtle tone whereas the original has a harder edge. Any thoughts?
This shows there’s no substitute for good wood like in the 53. If you don’t start with the right stuff the rest is tinsel. Don’t wait for years to pass by hoping that your guitar will mature with age ‘cause it won’t.
Of all my guitars I only have one with the wow factor, and it’s not my R6. Sure they still sound great just not WOW. The same in this video, they both sound great, but the 53 was made with WOW wood and no matter what you do after that to try and duplicate it you won’t.
Eight plus minutes of my life I will never get back. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What is the year of Reissue?
I'm dissapointed. I don't like Reissue at all. Dead sound with sharp attack. Oroginal sound softer. But I noticed that the original has much more overdrive. Does it have higher output?
Andrew Zeleno Hi Andrew, It's a 2014, and it's quite a good guitar, but you know when when you A/B test anything with something better it sounds worse than it would otherwise would appear to. I think that they have about the same output, but the '53 has tons more of high end. Cheers Johan
Nice video. It looks like the vintage one wins. The price/convenience thing is another factor tough...
Just a question: are the pickup heights similar for this video? If not, do you think that's something important to make a comparison? (Honest question not trying to be sarcastic).
Hi Johan. I have JMP 2203. Whtat's the diferences between 2203 and 2204? What's the tubes you use on preamp and poweramp? I've used a marshall cabinet 1960A with 2 greenbacks G12M25 China and 2 news creambacks G12M65 in x pattern, but i don't have same sound you have, almost near. Maybe be speakers you use pulsonic celestions.
The reissue sounds great, fair to say but there seem to be a bit of more of everything with the older one, call it depth, whatever... i would be curious about the acoustic sound of the two, and bet the older is more resonant.
Right on e. tienne....That's what I was trying to say but you said it better...peace!!
seems to me that old one really inspires Johan
Thank you Johan for this very informative video. The '53 is to die for, more organic and musical. But this is not a perfectly fair comparison to the reissue, which is a very nice guitar. The pickups are not the same, and the '53 has a wrap around stop bar. I have always favored the stop bar with P-90's, just something about how it produces a fatter sound and singing sustain. \
Thanks!
The harmonics are so much better in the old one
+Lars Thomsen yeah, it's got tons of highs
R6 doesn't have centralab pots, bumblebee's, different chemicals in paint, pickups aren't wound the same, doesn't have Brazilian board, and has an abr1...so yeah it's going to sound different.
I heard this 53 les paul was used by Link Wray to record Rumble. Amazing guitar
+Doctor Raider cool, that's a great riff
this is like music vs electric guitar
Setting aside sound considerations.. it just seems like you enjoyed playing the 53 a lot better.. and it seemed to inspire you to perform better.. that was my impression... Please correct me if I am off base.. It could have been the other way around.. don't get me wrong... The small variations in manufacturing of yesteryear... gave this leeway.. for minor differences that may or may not gel with a player.. when they did they did big time.. today things are so exactly specd.. it's now like buying an appliance.. anyone will due. Nice Vid
+Billy Vitale thanks! You're right, it was a joy to play the 53 :-)
Yep. He plays the old one harder. Kind of wrecks the comparison. However, for the difference in price, I'd let someone else mortgage the house.
Goldtop, WrapAround Bridge... what else do you need.. 🎸❤️
Wouldn't it be interesting if you actually ran the guitar signal through an acoustic spectrum analyzer pre amp and showed that in line with the video?
Surprised with the sound of the P-90's. Had a '68 SG and the bridge pickup sounded like Godzilla. Never was able to find another newer guitar with that same sound but these pickups sound pretty great
james madison Thanks, they sure do.
they sound a lot alike,guess weight doesn't change it much unless it was an 11 pound les paul vs an 8.1 pound would sound a lot different maybe
They sound the same, despite your different playing dynamics.
+Tom F Park Don't you think the 53 is a lot brighter?
Johan Segeborn I think they sound similar. I guess if I heard it through a looper pedal it would have the exact same playing dynamics and it may be different. It looks like you were having more fun and putting more energy into your playing with the 53.
brighter and warmer!!! woodier!
Love both but the original has more hair and the notes are just bigger sounding
Gary Coates Thanks, yeah it has tons of overtones!
The 53 sounds better but the reissue isn't far behind good vid cheers
+Chad rocknroller Thanks!
Luv the way you play laddie... I liked the tone in the old one...
a little dirtier, less civilized (:-p)
Thanks! :-) less civilized is a good thing indeed ;-)
You know it, bruddah!
I can afford the reissue and the tones on both are similar.
Old wood always has more balls and chime.
A few years ago I bought a R4 vos, didn't care for it that much, I had a LP special faded dc that had a better tone..go figure..$4000 for the r4, $600 for the lp special
Yeah wood is mysterious thing :-)
Hello,
Just seen this awesome video !!!!
Could you give me gently the pickups height settings on this model especially ?the reissue.....please
The distance between polepieces and the bottom of the strings ( depressed at last fret !) ...in .../64 inch , for both pickup, for both sides, bass and trebble , strings depressed at last one !
That would be great.....and so gentle to take a bit of your precious time for a French guitarist who loves and dreams about wildwood guitars and american blues and soul music :) !!!!
Thanks a lot....
original sounds warmer and more "fat". Reissue has more braight tone and less narrow overall sound spectre. I would say original has more "bluesy" tone, while reissue tend to rocky tone - anyways - all it's very subjective
Thanks Igor, it is indeed very subjective. At any rate, two great guitars
A pflaumenaugust he really is !
Can someone tell me what" tone difference" is there between a wraparound tailpiece and a "bridge-tailpiece " Les Paul P90 ? Are wraparound type LP in tune all the time ? I would like to buy one !!!
+Belo Rep This wraparound tail piece can not be intonated, so it will be less in tune than the bridge tailpiece. I think the tonal differences are very slight.
The wraparound transfers the string enery/vibrations more efficiently into the wood, which in theory gives a more aggressive tone
Like night and day.
the main difference........ you can't hear it !!!!!!! but you can sure feel it !!!!! its the scale lenght !!!!!!!!!!!!
+e.g. Smith Yeah, the angle of the strings on the bridge makes quite a difference
Great riff at 6:22!
Love me some JMP.
SOAMLE There is no substitute :-) JVM comes pretty close though ;-)