Music + Technology = Pete Lacis

In an effort to decode the mystery between high-priced Gibson Les Paul’s and their lower-priced Japanese siblings manufactured by Edwards, we are comparing a Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960 with a Edward Les Paul LP130.

We recorded four clips with each guitar, playing essentially the same riffs/changes through the exact same amp & volume settings in order to get a truly fair comparison. To that point, example 1 is a riff (same one that I used to demo the Egnater seminar head last February for Premier Guitar), example 2 is a series of distorted chords, example 3 is a brief solo/lick and example 4 features some changes played clean through the neck pickup (all other examples feature the bridge pickup). Each clip is short so you can go back and forth between them for comparison purposes.

Edwards Les Paul

http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-1.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-2.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-3.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-4.mp3

Gibson VOS 1960

http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-1.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-2.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-3.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-4.mp3

A few interesting points to note. First off, the Edwards was considerably lighter in weight and rang much more loudly when strummed acoustically. The body seemed to just resonate much more than the Gibson. To that point, when I bought the Gibson, it was after playing about 30 Les Pauls and this one was the lightest and most resonant of the bunch, so take that into consideration. The Gibson did feel more solid to the touch…..but dare I say it was like the “solid” you feel from late 70′s and early 80′s Les Pauls by comparison…..they’re solid, but they don’t sustain well acoustically. Point for Edwards.

The stock Burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups in the Gibson are clearly hotter than the Seymour Duncan Antiquities that are features in the Edwards, but I think that was certainly a plus for the Edwards (for my tastes), especially when the neck pickup was concerned. When plugged in, the Gibson appears to have more “ass” to the sound (i.e. low-end) which I found surprising, because I’ve found that guitar to sound much brighter and less “thick” than many other Les Pauls, and I have since been interested in finding a LP with more “ass.” I had recently played a Warren Haynes model that had the same pickups as my VOS 1960 and it just sounded so much thicker…..still kicking myself for letting that one go.

From a playability standpoint, the action and set up on the Edwards (out of the box, actually) was fantastic. The fretboard radius on the Edwards appears to be flatter than that of the Gibson. As a result, I’d dare to say that the Edwards played better with lower action than the Gibson could. At first glance, one concern about the Edwards was that the tune-o-matic bridge was set up rather high. However, after close inspection, it appears as if the neck angle on the Edwards is considerably more steep that that of the Gibson VOS. Not sure what that means….just found it interesting. You can see examples regarding this in the pictures which will follow below.

Bottom line is that I would be impressed with the Edwards if it was as $2,000 guitar…..but its a $800 – $1,200 guitar and that’s just fantastic. If anyone was hesitating to give these guitars a try, I don’t see what could possibly be stopping you now. I wonder if they make a non-reverse all mahogany Firebird!

[Show as slideshow]

audio clips, music, musical instruments comparision, Edwards, Gibson, les paul, VOS

Well, this isn’t the first self-tuning system to be available to the public, but its the first made available from a major guitar manufacturer. Since Gibson and Fender are essentially the GM and Ford of the guitar industry, I’m quite skeptical as to the level of quality made available through these mass producers. Then again, after many years of searching for a quality Les Paul I did purchase a 1960 VOS Les Paul Standard within the past year and absolutely love the instrument. I’ll reserve my opinion to when I actually have one in my hands.

Source: Engadget

music, musical instruments, musician, pete lacis, technology Gibson, les paul, self-tuning

After about a month in the shop, I received my newly modded Custom Audio Amplifiers OD100 Classic Plus (+). This is actually the third time this amp has been modded (was originally an OD100 Standard, then SE, now Classic Plus).

My first impressions on this amp are as follows: the character of the gain is still 100% Suhr. It lives in the same family as the SE version of the OD100, however through the conversion to the plexi transformer and the EL34′s some things have really changed.

Normally I would associate sustain with compression. The SE was pretty compressed, but only in boost mode, IMO. The CAA Classic Plus is a much easier to play amp. Notes just seem to sustain without sounding compressed. Everything just oozes out of this amp while still retaining the sound of the guitar/pickup. That’s how John’s described the amp and that’s why I went with this version. So far, I’m totally digging the change.

Special note should be mentioned about the DEPTH and FEEBACK controls. The tonal shaping that can happen as a result of these additions is really something else. If you want to have that “rounded” Dumble style tone, you can roll off the Feedback entirely.

One other thing that should be mentioned is that this is the first of the OD100 series where I feel the amp works equally well for single coils and humbuckers. That, to me, is one of the best parts of this amp. I just works!

Here’s a little sample of what the amp sounds like:

http://www.petelacis.com/clips/od100classicplus.mp3

Custom Audio Amplification OD100 Classic Plus through CAA 1×12 Eminence Governor mic’d with a SM57 just off center. Guitar is a stock Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960.

amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments, pete lacis, technology amp mods, caa, classic rock, custom audio amplifiers, dumble, les paul, od100 classic plus +, suhr, tone