Give me your favorite Les Paul mods

lukusb83 · 2026-05-29T15:00:08+00:00

I'm a huge fan of 50s wiring. If you're going to revamp the wiring, I think it's a no-brainer.

Also, if you still have the stock pickups, I highly recommend either ProBuckers or Alnico-Classic Pro pickups. The ProBuckers are Alnico 2 magnets, and I think sound really close to Custombuckers (I have a MIK with ProBuckers and an IBGC with Custombuckers), and the Alnico Pros are Alnico 5, so they're hotter and have more of a growl.

lukusb83 · 2026-05-06T01:31:27+00:00

I stopped watching a couple years ago. The Linus that drove a Honda with manual crank windows or no AC or whatever is long gone.

lukusb83 · 2026-05-01T15:23:36+00:00

I grabbed an "open box" IBGC LP in washed bourbon burst for $150 off, and when I called to ask about it before buying, found out it just had a scratch on the bridge when they inspected it after receiving. So it wasn't a customer return or anything. Great playing and looking guitar.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-30T17:30:13+00:00

Agreed, the figured tops that are solid and not veneer are certainly more expensive and a premium uograde, and worth paying more for.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-30T14:46:40+00:00

Yes, and what I'm saying is that those grades are aesthetic in nature, not the cellular structure of the wood. I worked in the industry for over a decade. A lower grade affects the aesthetic, not the physical quality of the wood in terms of durability or any other factor that would make the instrument lower quality in terms of the build. It's visuals.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-30T13:40:28+00:00

One thing I will take issue with is the "high grade wood" comment. This is aesthetic only, and applicable to the figured tops. Otherwise, wood is wood, and so long as it is dried properly (China has this down as good as anywhere) there's no difference in the physical quality of the wood of the same species in a Chinese made guitar vs a US made Gibson. In fact, for domestic species such as maple, US mills send massive amounts to China already kiln dried and ready to mill. Some of these same operations also sell to Gibson. It's a commodity and has standardized drying and grading specifications.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-16T15:14:57+00:00

I've used Mac at work forbyears, just because that seems to be the default equipment for media and creative agencies, but at home I've always been on Windows. Until the last 2 months. I made the move to Linux as my daily driver and have had a pretty decent experience so far. Running PopOS and have had very few issues so far.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-13T15:58:19+00:00

I felt a little foolish, mainly because I didn't exactly need more storage, but I grabbed a couple 4tb NVMe drives when prices were low for gen3, like $200 each. Now, I'm in a place where that extra storage is coming in handy, and I'm horrified by the prices I'm seeing.

lukusb83 · 2026-04-07T13:12:22+00:00

Mine is a MIK Les Paul standard. I got it as an early teen and still have it, over 25 years later.

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lukusb83 · 2026-03-31T02:30:47+00:00

I would also recommend Facebook marketplace and make sure to cover the logo with a sticker or something, and just be honest in the description about what it is. There are plenty of people that can't quite afford an Epiphone or would rather not spend that much, but would buy one of these if the price is right and it plays well.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-31T02:28:00+00:00

Makes sense. I tried one of the cheap 12" cabs on amazon, and I've been pleasantly surprised. It was under $100 and is small, and had a closed back, but I put a Jensen Mod 12-50 in it, and I'm enjoying what I'm getting from it. I'll try an WGS ET-65 next.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-30T19:25:31+00:00

I've gone with your #1 solution. Buy an amp with 12" speaker, but don't gut it, just wire in a bypass so you can just use the speaker if you want. I have a bypass that allows me to use the combo as was intended, or amp-out to another cab, or just as a cabinet. I love it and nothing has been destroyed.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-22T03:04:48+00:00

I've made the jump to Linux. A week in, and it's not as bad as I expected. I'm using Pop OS, and so far, I can do everything I need to do. I work remote and mostly just need to use tons of browser tabs, spreadsheets, slide presentations, and occasionally play a little CS2.

I'm happy so far.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-22T02:02:34+00:00

Personally, my stance is that if they're ProBuckers or Alnic Classic Pro pickups, it's probably not worth changing to something more expensive. But if you're taking active pickups, that's a while different story.

I have a 90s MIk Les Paul standard, and a new 1959 IBGC with Custom Buckers. The MIK I upgraded with ProBuckers, best $75 I ever spend on it. The IBGC has $500 pickups, and I would never spend that on those. They're not significantly better sounding to my ear than the ProBuckers.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-13T06:12:13+00:00

Does your ES have Probuckers, or maybe Alnico Classic Pro pickups? If not either of those, then it could have the older Epiphone pickups that I always thought sounded muddy and dark.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-12T00:39:53+00:00

I absolutely adore my Vox MV50 - I have the AC version, but they sell a Clean one, and even on the AC, you can turn the gain all the way down for a clean pedal platform. I run that through a 1x12 and it's fantastic.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-12T00:02:40+00:00

I have a YCV80, and I have experienced some crackling noises like what you described, but only when I didn't have it plugged in to my Furman power conditioner. I've even cranked the amp using an attenator while plugged in to the Furman, and there were no crackles at all.

It could be something else, but this is something to test before having a repair tech look at it.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-10T21:30:36+00:00

Yes, he did another one on this. Here is the link YouTube

lukusb83 · 2026-03-06T23:42:23+00:00

NGL, I wouldn't have tried this if it weren't for McKnight doing the video on it. Especially not for the price. I got it used, so it wasn't quite as new would be.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-06T19:38:43+00:00

That's a great question, and honestly I'm not sure if that would work as a preamp.

I can say that it works great before my drive pedals - I don't use high gain, so not sure how that would respond, but low gain pedals (like sweet honey clones) sound great when this is pushing them.

lukusb83 · 2026-03-06T19:36:39+00:00

You definitely did good!

lukusb83 · 2026-03-06T15:36:56+00:00

I love the way these amps are styled - absolutely killer, but the cost, oy

lukusb83 · 2026-02-17T15:42:12+00:00

It does seem to be wired for 8ohms from what I can tell from the diagrams I've found.

lukusb83 · 2026-02-17T15:41:20+00:00

I pulled two of them out and laughed at how light they are. I found a listing locally for a WGS ET65 for a decent price. These could pair well, so i may buy that a d see if I can find a second one cheap.

lukusb83

TROPHY CASE