For you Les Paul/SG is only good for distortion. Yes or No

[Matthew Sarad]

I plug my SG into a Tweed Deluxe.
One reverb pedal with volume at 3.

[Dadzmad]

I've got a 2019 LP Special with a fat 50's neck and zebras. Sounds great clean through a ss or tube amp.

[Gordon Currie]

To lump LP and SG together is like finding equivalence between Strat and Tele.

Oversimplification rules.

[s2y]

Are you cutting back on the vol+tone? A LP/SG/335 type should sound just fine with clean channel on all 3 positions if the guitar and rig are set up properly.

[Wardo]

I have a 50s Standard LP, an ES 335 and a 70th Broadcaster. Those are my main electrics and I get want I want out of them with a 57 Custom Champ and a 57 Custom Deluxe. Clean jazz tone to Neil young crunch.

[Bob Womack]

Oh, and one more thing: Try rolling the tone back to 5 or six on the bridge pickup to match it with the neck pickup. It makes a big difference.

Bob

[EZYPIKINS]

Oh no. For me to like any electric guitar, it has to sound good clean.

Which is why I don't play a PRS. Never heard one sound good clean.

Have bought Les Paul's on looks. Only to find out, when they arrive. that I don't like the pickups. So I either sell, or retrofit.

[s2y]

Originally Posted by EZYPIKINS

Oh no. For me to like any electric guitar, it has to sound good clean.

Which is why I don't play a PRS. Never heard one sound good clean.

Have bought Les Paul's on looks. Only to find out, when they arrive. that I don't like the pickups. So I either sell, or retrofit.

PRS now makes more of a traditional PAF pickup. That being said, you're not married to a guitar's pickups most of the time. I have an Ibanez with bland pickups. 99.999% of guitar forum people would send it back like the house merlot. I'll be ordering replacement pickups soon.

[FrankHudson]

I play everything from clean clean to furry fuzz. My moods and the needs of a piece mean I'm not after just one kind of sound.

If it was a ballot counting exercise, I think you'd find me playing single coils more often when I'm playing a clean part -- but not always. I think a good neck humbucker can sound glorious into a clean amp. For whatever reason I can't quite get into the sound of a typical Gibson full-sized bridge humbucker played really clean when I'm doing the playing. Obviously, many other players have pleased me with that configuration playing clean or straight into a cranked clean setting amp (such as Fender Twin) which adds compression as Bob Womack remarked upthread. Perhaps it's because I'm not usually dimed and loud these days?

My SG Special has Firebird style humbuckers. Offers a nice contrast to full-size models.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hm. I like 'em played clean.

[Russ C]

What made me want to start my P90 thread was their undistorted tone. Now that I have amp, speakers and brain working how my Les Paul needs them to work I just haven’t used one of my Fenders since .. and my beloved early 60’s Gretsch stays in its case too.
.. but I actually don’t find the overdriven tones working as well, or as easily, as Fender singles do it - they’re a bit barkier than I like because of the amp set up I use to get the clean sound I rave about.

So my experience (although limited compared with many because my P90 infatuation is still in honeymoon phase) is in disagreement with your opening question. I am more inclined to agree if it’s humbuckers we’re talking about. I reckon overdrive helps them with some things that P90’s do better - imo of course.

[PTony]

Not in my experience. That’s almost like saying Strats are only good for cleans, and Tele’s are only great for country twang and chicken pickin. If the tone and volume knobs are used appropriately, on both the amp AND guitar…one should never be limited to a singular tone based on a guitar type, style, or design. IMHO anyway.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Russ C

What made me want to start my P-90 thread was their undistorted tone. Now that I have amp, speakers and brain working how my Les Paul needs them to work I just haven’t used one of my Fenders since .. and my beloved early-60’s Gretsch stays in its case too... but I actually don’t find the overdriven tones working as well, or as easily, as Fender singles do it - they’re a bit barkier than I like because of the amp set up I use to get the clean sound I rave about...

If you're talking about the Celestion-equipped Twin you mentioned in your prior thread I'm not surprised: while P-90's can be a good clean/semi-clean combination with Celestions (think Rubber Soul/Revolver-era Beatles live performances) - the chime we both prize in our similarly-beloved Gretsch hollowbodies, with more midrange punch and overall power - keep in mind that they were originally designed around the lower-powered (under 20W) American amps/speakers of the postwar period, and unless you really need the massive headroom and raw power (not to mention the American Chiropractic Association-approved weight... ) of the Twin, you might be better off with something similar in either a vintage or modern-style combo. My own long-term go-to is an older "blue-light" Bugera V22 1x12" with surplus Soviet mil-spec tubes (the closest equivalent of the unobtainable American 7189 tubes, used as a heavy-duty 6BQ5/EL84 substitute in many older amps) and an ultra-high-efficiency (~102dB/1W/1M) Eminence Swamp Thang speaker - enough grunt to cover a 600-700 seat house clean as you need (or dirty as you want, with the pushbutton mid-boost and footswitchable OD), and if you've ever played a nice old blue-check Ampeg Gemini II you'd feel right at home with this setup. FYI there's been a recent price drop - they've also upgraded the OEM tubes (a major complaint among early owners) and the British-leaning Turbosound speaker is quite good in its own right - so it might be worth a checkout as a utility rig, and keep the Twin for when you need that specific tonality/power and nothing else will do...

Here's a link:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...tube-combo-amp

[Nama Ensou]

The whole premise of this thread is based upon nothing more than personal preference, or prejudice. Any guitar can be played any way, and it's ironic that the guy responsible for both the Les Paul and SG was primarily a proponent of playing without noticeable distortion. In fact, he was even named after one of those two guitars.

[Russ C]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you're talking about the Celestion-equipped Twin you mentioned in your prior thread I'm not surprised: while P-90's can be a good clean/semi-clean combination with Celestions (think Rubber Soul/Revolver-era Beatles live performances) - the chime we both prize in our similarly-beloved Gretsch hollowbodies, with more midrange punch and overall power - keep in mind that they were originally designed around the lower-powered (under 20W) American amps/speakers of the postwar period, and unless you really need the massive headroom and raw power (not to mention the American Chiropractic Association-approved weight... ) of the Twin, you might be better off with something similar in either a vintage or modern-style combo. My own long-term go-to is an older "blue-light" Bugera V22 1x12" with surplus Soviet mil-spec tubes (the closest equivalent of the unobtainable American 7189 tubes, used as a heavy-duty 6BQ5/EL84 substitute in many older amps) and an ultra-high-efficiency (~102dB/1W/1M) Eminence Swamp Thang speaker - enough grunt to cover a 600-700 seat house clean as you need (or dirty as you want, with the pushbutton mid-boost and footswitchable OD), and if you've ever played a nice old blue-check Ampeg Gemini II you'd feel right at home with tis setup. FYI there's been a recent price drop - they've also upgraded the OEM tubes (a major complaint among early owners) and the British-leaning Turbosound speaker is quite good in its own right - so it might be worth a checkout as a utility rig, and keep the Twin for when you need that specific tonality/power and nothing else will do...

Here's a link:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...tube-combo-amp

Thanks for all that Steve. I will take note of your advice as we seem to appreciate similar tones - and my back isn’t getting any younger.