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Les Paul Recording

Grog

Active member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
562
Yup! Those are from the last version. Notice they are built on a typical Les Paul body, reduced in size and shape as well as having a maple cap. The older all mahogany larger body was never seen again but the mahogany cap reappeared on that reissue/tribute a while back. Has anyone seen an all mahogany, (mahogany cap), version with the last, regular body size?

I’ve never seen anything but the maple cap version. They were very heavy beasts, some seemed heavier than my Les Paul Personal.
Here is a shot of the 1973 & then the 2013 reissue 40 years later.....

DnyDc5t.jpg
 

gibson-r8

Active member
Joined
Jul 15, 2004
Messages
574
Cool, are those really low impedance pups on the reissue or just lookalikes?
 

Maplehead872

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2003
Messages
187
I have a 1979 Les Paul recording and the original pots for the Volume , Treble, Bass and Decade are from 1976. The pickups that were put in the Les Paul recording ll are Hi Z pickups with a transformer in it to convert it to Low Z opposite of the original Recording model. The original machine that the low impedance pickups were wound on vanished from Gibson and taking one of the originals apart would not be easy at all.
 

Grog

Active member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
562
Cool, are those really low impedance pups on the reissue or just lookalikes?
It is nothing like the original. The pickups are high impedance. A Jensen transformer is in line with the low impedance jack to achieve the low impedance signal. The reissue does have a balanced low impedance output, the original was unbalanced. Original pickups are getting harder to buy & prices are going through the roof. The ohm reading is only 10 ohms on the guitar pickup, I’ve bought at least two sold ”for parts only, not working”, They worked great!
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
It is nothing like the original. The pickups are high impedance. A Jensen transformer is in line with the low impedance jack to achieve the low impedance signal. The reissue does have a balanced low impedance output, the original was unbalanced. Original pickups are getting harder to buy & prices are going through the roof. The ohm reading is only 10 ohms on the guitar pickup, I’ve bought at least two sold ”for parts only, not working”, They worked great!
they weigh what, 15lbs ea? I like the tone of the originals. They really do shine in the studio, and once you understand the controls they become amazingly versatile, especialy with modern fx, plug ins and recording daws.
Gibson did a half assed attempt with that reissue. They could have easily made a contempory modern low z recording model with active tone and useful decade filtering with series/parallel and phase switching.
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
So the originals were made for recording direct, into a desk ?
Yes, or the huge monster low z Les Paul Recording Amplifier, for best fidelity. Otherwise you could use the onboard transformer to use high z interface with regular amps. Low impedence allows for greatly increased fidelity, low noiseless operation and is really useful in todays modern recording technology. I'm a big fan.
 

Grog

Active member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
562
The amp is a real beast, not too portable......
HJldSxJl.jpg

Lester himself had a much smaller version. The head is a pre-amp & it needs a powered speaker enclosure.
vbtOYF3l.jpg
 

RocknRollShakeUp

Active member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
766
Yes, or the huge monster low z Les Paul Recording Amplifier, for best fidelity. Otherwise you could use the onboard transformer to use high z interface with regular amps. Low impedence allows for greatly increased fidelity, low noiseless operation and is really useful in todays modern recording technology. I'm a big fan.

very cool, thanks for taking the time to explain it!
 
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