New Les Paul owner..old question

[GHS]

Purchased my first Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro...used but mint and would like to know what amp do you folks brings out the best in these guitars. I have one of those 15w Monoprice tube amps offered a while back and it sounds great with single coil telecasters and strats, but the Les Paul sounds a bit muddy and dull when plugged in. I have listened to a few guys playing thru Vox amps at my GC and wow...amazing. Anything to that or is it just the player???

[paulp1960]

You will most likely have to dial in your amp differently when switching between those 2 guitars. LP will be louder and have less treble zing.

[maplebaby]

Originally Posted by GHS

Purchased my first Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro...used but mint and would like to know what amp do you folks brings out the best in these guitars. I have one of those 15w Monoprice tube amps offered a while back and it sounds great with single coil telecasters and strats, but the Les Paul sounds a bit muddy and dull when plugged in. I have listened to a few guys playing thru Vox amps at my GC and wow...amazing. Anything to that or is it just the player???

i'm sure you'll get as many different answers and suggestions as you have posters, my only response would be that for me i think a 10 inch speaker is great with my teles and strat..when i use a HB guitar i pull the 12 in speaker as i feel it has more low end thump than a 10 can provide.

The brand and power of the amp will get responses all over the map - but i feel that speaker size may be one of the most important factors.

[paulp1960]

Here's a guy playing a Gibson SG through the Monoprice 15 watt amp.
Sounds pretty good to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sokYbprJ7c

[rmp]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

You will most likely have to dial in your amp differently when switching between those 2 guitars. LP will be louder and have less treble zing.

THAT! play around a bit.. make notes of the current settings so you can get back.. eventually, you will just know what to do which switching.

[BallisticSquid]

Yes you'll have to dial the amp in very differently for the LP (humbuckers) vs. a strat or tele (single coils).

Personally, I find that single coils work best for clean/cleanish tones. Humbuckers really shine when amp gain is used perhaps with some overdrive. To my ears, clean humbuckers give a jazzier type tone because they are "darker" sounding, meaning they have less treble and sparkle.

Because humbuckers have higher output, they will drive the amp harder. So a setting that sound nice with single coils may sound distorted with humbuckers. You can compensate for this by rolling back the volume knob on the humbuckers.

[FrankHudson]

As the thread already notes, many players change their amp settings or other things in the signal chain when switching between "Gibson type" and "Fender Type" guitars. Many traditional Fender amp designs had a switch labeled "Bright" which some informally called "the Gibson switch" back in the day.

I won't knock that suggestion. Costs nothing, is "reversible," and you can do it today. Another free and reversible tactic is to try changing the pickup heights on your pickups. Requires only a small screwdriver tip and your ears. Even though Gibson type humbucker pickups can sit quite close to the strings without magnetic pull warble issues, I tend to like them farther away from the strings on my guitars.

I do find it curious that I (who have accumulated a nutty amount of electric guitars with different pickups) don't do this "change the amp settings" tactic much at all. I'm not sure why. It may be that I want the guitars to sound different, that's why I tell myself I have so many different ones. Some players are very concerned with getting one or maybe two very specific sounds "right." Anything that deviates from the desired sound is "bad tone" and is to be remedied. They're not wrong, it's just a different way to approach things.

Also sometimes I find that different sounding guitar/amp combinations cause me to play the guitar differently to bring out different timbres. to me that's a feature not a bug.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by BallisticSquid

Yes you'll have to dial the amp in very differently for the LP (humbuckers) vs. a strat or tele (single coils).

Personally, I find that single coils work best for clean/cleanish tones. Humbuckers really shine when amp gain is used perhaps with some overdrive. To my ears, clean humbuckers give a jazzier type tone because they are "darker" sounding, meaning they have less treble and sparkle.

Because humbuckers have higher output, they will drive the amp harder. So a setting that sound nice with single coils may sound distorted with humbuckers. You can compensate for this by rolling back the volume knob on the humbuckers.

"Darker" sound on the humbuckers...very good ...that sums them up, better "jazz" tone or heavy rock tone, not as bright as the telecaster. I will have to experiment a bit more. I had just read that there are certain makes of amps that really shine with the humbucker tone...just curious what folks here used..thanks!!

[BallisticSquid]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

As the thread already notes, many players change their amp settings or other things in the signal chain when switching between "Gibson type" and "Fender Type" guitars. Many traditional Fender amp designs had a switch labeled "Bright" which some informally called "the Gibson switch" back in the day.

I won't knock that suggestion. Costs nothing, is "reversible," and you can do it today. Another free and reversible tactic is to try changing the pickup heights on your pickups. Requires only a small screwdriver tip and your ears. Even though Gibson type humbucker pickups can sit quite close to the strings without magnetic pull warble issues, I tend to like them farther away from the strings on my guitars.

I do find it curious that I (who have accumulated a nutty amount of electric guitars with different pickups) don't do this "change the amp settings" tactic much at all. I'm not sure why. It may be that I want the guitars to sound different, that's why I tell myself I have so many different ones. Some players are very concerned with getting one or maybe two very specific sounds "right." Anything that deviates from the desired sound is "bad tone" and is to be remedied. They're not wrong, it's just a different way to approach things.

Also sometimes I find that different sounding guitar/amp combinations cause me to play the guitar differently to bring out different timbres. to me that's a feature not a bug.

Excellent point.

For myself, it's not so much trying to make my LP sound like my Tele, it's trying to make the LP sound good or the way I want. The settings that get my Tele sounding the way I like my tele to sound aren't the same settings that make my LP sound the way I want my LP to sound.

A great middle ground between humbuckers and strat/tele style single coils are P90s. You get single coil clarity and sparkle with humbucker oomph...win/win .

[BallisticSquid]

Originally Posted by GHS

"Darker" sound on the humbuckers...very good ...that sums them up, better "jazz" tone or heavy rock tone, not as bright as the telecaster. I will have to experiment a bit more. I had just read that there are certain makes of amps that really shine with the humbucker tone...just curious what folks here used..thanks!!

I haven't used many different amps aside from the amp simulations in my Boss GT-100 or my Eleven Rack.

For my LPs with humbuckers, I would typically use a patch using a Marshall amp simulation for crunchy or heavy classic rock type tones or a Vox AC30 simulation for a clean tone...but not a pristine clean tone, a clean tone with a bit of hair on it.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by BallisticSquid

I haven't used many different amps aside from the amp simulations in my Boss GT-100 or my Eleven Rack.

For my LPs with humbuckers, I would typically use a patch using a Marshall amp simulation for crunchy or heavy classic rock type tones or a Vox AC30 simulation for a clean tone...but not a pristine clean tone, a clean tone with a bit of hair on it.

Yes...Vox and Marshall seem to be the amps of choice for the people I have seen plugged in at music stores. You cant always go with that as most are young kids making noise..but the few older guys seem to like the Vox sound on LP's...thanks for your input.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by GHS

...I have one of those 15w Monoprice tube amps offered a while back and it sounds great with single coil telecasters and strats, but the Les Paul sounds a bit muddy and dull when plugged in. I have listened to a few guys playing thru Vox amps at my GC and wow...amazing. Anything to that or is it just the player???

Once in a while you find an amp that gets you close to what you're after, but is just lacking that final je ne sais quoi that dial-twisting won't completely resolve. Given that you're dealing with what is essentially the well-regarded (and higher-priced) Laney Cub 12R in a generic package (I understand some of the TDPRI guys who have torn both of them down have said they're internally identical) you shouldn't have too much of a problem approaching a Vox tonality; that said, short of springing for a new amp the first option would be a tube/speaker swap...

TMK your Monoprice uses the same tube complement as the Vox AC15; I've been dealing with these guys for the last 15 years and they know a little something about how to swap tubes to achieve your desired tone - here's their recommended package for the AC15:

https://www.thetubestore.com/vox-ac1...-value-package

The right speaker can also help you achieve the classic Vox "chime" - one of these British-voiced replacements might be just the ticket:

https://www.eminence.com/guitar-bass...ze=12#speakers

If you're unsure what to choose after you read the published specs, their customer service is first-rate according to the reviews I've read - give them a call and tell them what you're after and what you've done so far (amp settings, tube/pickup swaps, etc.)...

Good luck...

[Jaden]

The first piece of gear I purchased after getting back into playing guitar was a piercingly bright, ice pick in the ear, new Fender Blues Junior III back in 2013. Sounds/ reads bad, doesn’t it? As it turns out it was an extremely fortunate purchase in that a high treble ceiling insures maximum colour and is a good indicator of touch sensitivity - rolling back the tone control smooths it out for the ear, but maximum headroom remains on tap. Try to find the brightest amp possible, and you will never be dissatisfied with quality PAFs. Don’t believe anyone who complains an amp is too bright - that’s what the tone control is for, and incidentally why the Vox top boost chime has been such a successful recipe. On the other hand, there is no way to brighten up an inherently dark amp.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by paulp1960

Here's a guy playing a Gibson SG through the Monoprice 15 watt amp.
Sounds pretty good to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sokYbprJ7c

+1. I subscribe to Lucas' channel.

GHS (OP): As mentioned, you'll need to dial in the amp's tone controls. In addition, an Overdrive pedal may help. Keep the gain low (unless you want more gain) and up the tone on it.

[GHS]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

+1. I subscribe to Lucas' channel.

GHS (OP): As mentioned, you'll need to dial in the amp's tone controls. In addition, an Overdrive pedal may help. Keep the gain low (unless you want more gain) and up the tone on it.

Thanks for the response...