Upgrade Trad to sound like R7

[Bruiser74]

Hi forum,

I am going to be purchasing a les paul traditional in the near future. I was hoping to gain from your expertise. What upgrades would you recommend to make my traditional sound closer to a 1957 VOS reissue? I'm already sold on the RS Guitarworks electronics upgrade kit. So, what's potentially left: tuners, bridge, nut, pickups, something else I'm not thinking of?

I'm only looking for upgrades that will make a noticeable difference in tone (again, a difference in the direction of an R7), and I'm not interested in aesthetic-only changes. Oh yeah, I'm not looking to spend more than several hundred dollars total. If you recommend multiple upgrades, please list them in order of perceived importance.

To head off some unhelpful, to me, posts: I understand that buying an R7 is the best way to get something that sounds like an R7, I also understand that I can buy a used R7 for something close in price to a new traditional. OK, with that out of the way, what upgrades do you recommend?

Thanks,
Jim

I have a 2009 Trad and a 2009 R7 VOS Darkback. I had my trad first and i knew i had to upgrade the electronics and pickups very early on. I liked the tones, but it was muddy and less articulate than i was looking for with no honk. I installed the RS vintage kit with Grey Tiger caps and a set of Wolfetone pickups at the same time. I went with Dr.vintage in the neck and Marshalhead (Alnico 2) in the bridge. The guitar was totally different tonewise, exceptional clarity with NO mud at all, lots of bite in the upper mids, great honk. It was a huge change, and honestly took a few weeks to get comfortable with it. But now i think it is fantastic. Trust me, its now a "biter". Its more of a rock machine.

A few months later i bought a 2009 R7. The tone from mine is thick, big..actually quite a huge sounding guitar, thick bottom-mids and still can bite too. I like it stock so far. Gives me a totally different feel than the Trad. The R7 wants blues to be played on it for sure, the neck pickup tone is smoking! The stock setup does have some muddyness, but its huge tone is bigger than the stock Trad no doubt, before and after the mods.

So, with this experience I can speak of my results and apply it to your questions.

Modifiying my Trad with the RS Vintage kit and Wolfetone pickups did NOT make it sound like my R7. The results were quite the opposite, but the results were quite positive. Since i changed the pots/caps the same time as the pickups, i cannot speak of the individual effects of each on their own.
I suspect that any changes to the Trad in terms of electronics will open up the tone more.

In the end, i have 2 totally different LP's and i love them both.

IMO, if i wanted to have my Trad sound like my stock R7, i would have to put burstbuckers in it along with the R7 wiring...and hope for the best.

If you are stuck on buying a Trad (maybe its the neck profile, or maybe you dont like goldtops?) well thats fine. And for what its worth, my used R7 was cheaper than the Trad.

Cheers,
B

 

[shtdaprdtr]

Well, really you can't do it. Every R7 sounds different from every other R7. And every Les Paul sounds different from every other Les Paul. All you can do is try to make the guitar sound ideal to YOU. That would include changing out pickups, caps, pots, strings, and hardware.

well said. R7,R8,R9,R0..all bullshit, I own many different examples and I can get a warmer more vintage tone from my 04 standard...stock with just a bridge change and 11 gauge Dunlops. As far as ABR change....not necessary, just get a Gotoh ABR and it will drop on the nashville studs...worked for me and sounds great and the nashville setup...while not as resonant feeling as an ABR-1...it is much more stable and plugged in with distortion the resonance wont do shit for you in MOST CASES.
Heres the guitar with the bridge...its an excellent upgrade and alternative to the ABR-1....and much cheaper too. You can see one of my R9's next to it and the edge of the bridges look identical..plus theres no wire. (historic rings and pointers etc...were added to lend a vintage vibe)
the traditional would be a much better buy if you can get a used one which I just missed out on one in a goldtop at my local GC for $1500...then you can mod it to hell.

 

[rideski]

I just threw on Antiquities on my Traditional and it made quite a difference. To me, it's clearer and has more bite.

 

[SKATTERBRANE]

Why not just buy a near mint used R7 off Ebay? There are always dozens of them to choose from. For the price you want to spend for mods, it would be cheaper in the long run.

 

[Jakeislove]

Why not just buy a near mint used R7 off Ebay? There are always dozens of them to choose from. For the price you want to spend for mods, it would be cheaper in the long run.

What would you change on an R7.... aside from pickups?

 

[focusbob]

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments; I've actually come a long way in deciding what mods I would hypothetically want to do (bridge, tailpiece, electronics).

The only one I haven't decided yet is pickups. Most likely I will keep the 57s, see if they bother me, and keep them if they don't. But for those far more experienced than me: I play high gain/distortion, rock/metal music (progressive/neo-classical type). Given this, do you think the 57s or the burstbuckers are more appropriate?

Thanks,
jim

 

[SKATTERBRANE]

What would you change on an R7.... aside from pickups?

If tone were my criteria, then the best pots and caps (to your tastes) a Pigtail stoptail and studs and a Callaham bridge. A bone nut. (not historically accurate I know).

Or go all the way, and send it to Dave Johnson!

Cosmetically speaking, there are a host of plastic changes I would make.

But my point is, if you want a Traditional to sound more "vintage" you would be money ahead buying a stock R7...used would SAVE you money from the get go.

If you are happy with a Traditional and want to save money, find a nice used 1990-1994 or so Standard and use the money you save from buying new and mod that a bit.

 

[Jakeislove]

If tone were my criteria, then the best pots and caps (to your tastes) a Pigtail stoptail and studs and a Callaham bridge. A bone nut. (not historically accurate I know).

Or go all the way, and send it to Dave Johnson!

Cosmetically speaking, there are a host of plastic changes I would make.

I'm slowly warming up to the idea of a bone or tusq nut. It's more or less down to which kind and how long I'm willing to be without a guitar during the replacement.

I just got new steel studs/bushings thursday from Retrospec but haven't put them in yet. Trying to figure out where I can have access to a drill press to push them in. I'm no expert but guess a rubber mallet isn't the best method, LOL!