Getting the most out of your Gibson

[Disasterrific]

So my non-guitarist friend has been given a guitar and is passing it on to me. I haven't picked it up yet, all I have to go on is that it's a black gibson and probably not very expensive if it's being passed around for free. At the moment I'm rocking a Jackson Stars with real Bill Lawrences and I'm looking for some more varied sounds. A satisfying Isis-esque crunch would be nice as would anything a bit more distinctive than your standard metal tone.

Anyhoo, what Gibson guitars do you have and how have you got them set up? What sound does it make? Any recommended pick-ups?

[Ouroboros]

Well, Gibson's make this sound called "shitty". I don't know, I think it's pretty rockin' personally.

[Ouroboros]

Seriously though, try looking at getting different pickups immediately, and getting the thing setup by a luthier. After a change to some good actives (APC, certain EMGs) or passives (Seymour Duncan), along with a tune-up, the thing will sound as good as possible.

[BZM]

Seriously though, try looking at getting different pickups immediately, and getting the thing setup by a luthier. After a change to some good actives (APC, certain EMGs) or passives (Seymour Duncan), along with a tune-up, the thing will sound as good as possible.

Whoa buddy... APC's aren't active ;). They just do everything actives do, and better, and with actual tone...without a battery.

If you want to go the passive route, I assume you want less kill-everything-metal like the Jackson stars with Bill Lawrences (very good choice btw, if they're real they're killer) (very nice guitar by the way! pics?)

Use Duncan Full Shreds in both positions... I think you'll like it very much. Are you an Opeth fan? These pickups will do both cleans and high-gain tones amazingly, and give you a really sweet overdrive tone... AND a badass solo tone. It's like a PAF except ballsier in the neck.

[Shred The Ganja]

I have a Gibson SG Standard......it NEVER gets played, which kinda sucks because it costs $1400. Once i discovered the wizard II neck design and bought an ibanez prestige slim body I never looked back......i just don't think they can compare to what ibanez has too offer in terms of metal.

But, if it's free the first thing i would look into is buying new tuner heads....gibson's sound like complete shit when you down tune and they dont even stay in tune when you do, especially if your playing ISIS tunes. If your into pickups like EMG's and such i would check the new dimarzio D activators pickups. The same pickup in the new ibanez xiophos. These things have a razor sharp thick tone. Every note is very clear and precise. There based on active pickups (EMG's (batterys) ) but they are a passive pickup so you dont get that hum.

[Ouroboros]

Whoa buddy... APC's aren't active ;). They just do everything actives do, and better, and with actual tone...without a battery.

Ah, thanks for the heads up. Either way, they sound incredible!

[BZM]

I have a Gibson SG Standard......it NEVER gets played, which kinda sucks because it costs $1400. Once i discovered the wizard II neck design and bought an ibanez prestige slim body I never looked back......i just don't think they can compare to what ibanez has too offer in terms of metal.

But, if it's free the first thing i would look into is buying new tuner heads....gibson's sound like complete shit when you down tune and they dont even stay in tune when you do, especially if your playing ISIS tunes. If your into pickups like EMG's and such i would check the new dimarzio D activators pickups. The same pickup in the new ibanez xiophos. These things have a razor sharp thick tone. Every note is very clear and precise. There based on active pickups (EMG's (batterys) ) but they are a passive pickup so you dont get that hum.

Sorry... but everything about this post is wrong. :emot-fail

[Shred The Ganja]

Sorry... but everything about this post is wrong. :emot-fail


How so?

Expalin yourself. Have a source. I see you post this on alot of people posts "sorry but your just wrong" but i never see you tell why or whats your opinion.

[BZM]

How so?

Expalin yourself. Have a source. I see you post this on alot of people posts "sorry but your just wrong" but i never see you tell why or whats your opinion.

I was just WAITING for you to make this post. It would be my pleasure to disseminate this.

For one, Gibson guitars work JUST FINE for metal - the only difference is really preference in scale length - shorter 24" scale = lesser string tension, but lesser string tension also produces more "djent" and a higher impact when palm muting, which arguably can give some Gibsons a better brutal death metal tone than a comparable 25.5" skinny mahogany-bodied Ibanez S-series, for example. It's all about preference - a lot of players get suckered into thinking they'll never be able to play a Spawn of Possession song or a Psycroptic song if they play on a Gibson and that such a guitar will only limit them to "rock n' roll". They're not quite as responsive when it comes to picking dynamics (and this is coming from someone who also owns both), but if you have the fundamentals you can play whatever material you desire on any electric guitar. Period. As for the tuning problems, you're not off-base about that... but locking tuner heads are a good investment for any guitars, and it's not like Ibanez's stock tuners are any less horrible. One could also consider a Buzz Feiten tuning system retrofit, which using a compensated nut adjusts some of the intonation characteristics of your guitar and helps chords stay in better tune - these are available for all types of guitars and nut types, locking and otherwise.

Also, I think you've watched the video with Muhammed jocking the Xiphos one too many times, as if you take the D-Activator pickups by themselves, they're rather unremarkable pickups - they're like Dimarzio's take on the low-budget EMG HZ's, a low-end, low cost pickup specifically made for a Korean guitar. If D-Activators were anywhere near on the same level as EMG's, then Muhammed would never have thrown his away for the latter. The only thing they "base" on active pickups is the sterile, flat frequency response that causes their sterile, flat tone. If you're going to get a high-output DiMarzio, please threadstarter, throw in a Tone Zone or an X2N or something OTHER than a D-Activator. Or better yet, throw in an APC Persuader Lead... out of the several people I know personally that I have purchased these, not ONE of them has been anything less than ecstatic about the crushing metal sound they've gotten out of them.

[Shred The Ganja]

I was just WAITING for you to make this post. It would be my pleasure to disseminate this.

For one, Gibson guitars work JUST FINE for metal - the only difference is really preference in scale length - shorter 24" scale = lesser string tension, but lesser string tension also produces more "djent" and a higher impact when palm muting, which arguably can give some Gibsons a better brutal death metal tone than a comparable 25.5" skinny mahogany-bodied Ibanez S-series, for example. It's all about preference - a lot of players get suckered into thinking they'll never be able to play a Spawn of Possession song or a Psycroptic song if they play on a Gibson and that such a guitar will only limit them to "rock n' roll". They're not quite as responsive when it comes to picking dynamics (and this is coming from someone who also owns both), but if you have the fundamentals you can play whatever material you desire on any electric guitar. Period. As for the tuning problems, you're not off-base about that... but locking tuner heads are a good investment for any guitars, and it's not like Ibanez's stock tuners are any less horrible. One could also consider a Buzz Feiten tuning system retrofit, which using a compensated nut adjusts some of the intonation characteristics of your guitar and helps chords stay in better tune - these are available for all types of guitars and nut types, locking and otherwise.

Also, I think you've watched the video with Muhammed jocking the Xiphos one too many times, as if you take the D-Activator pickups by themselves, they're rather unremarkable pickups - they're like Dimarzio's take on the low-budget EMG HZ's, a low-end, low cost pickup specifically made for a Korean guitar. If D-Activators were anywhere near on the same level as EMG's, then Muhammed would never have thrown his away for the latter. The only thing they "base" on active pickups is the sterile, flat frequency response that causes their sterile, flat tone. If you're going to get a high-output DiMarzio, please threadstarter, throw in a Tone Zone or an X2N or something OTHER than a D-Activator. Or better yet, throw in an APC Persuader Lead... out of the several people I know personally that I have purchased these, not ONE of them has been anything less than ecstatic about the crushing metal sound they've gotten out of them.

ugh....so basically i'm not "wrong" in any way. We just have a difference of opinion is what i'm seeing.

The threadstarted also did mention it was a cheap gibson so i didn't think my recomendation of new tuner heads was a bad idea.

Whats up with what you were saying about neck designs? Notice my post says "in terms of metal". My SG has a great neck, it just doesn't work out as well when trying to play really fast metal. I use my ibanez for that, hands down.

Also, i noticed here in my new guitar world magazine that the d-activators have a huge write-up and got gear of the month award.....hmmm lets see who has a better opinion......people who work for GW and try every single piece of new gear known to man...or some punk kid on the internet eager to prove everyone wrong. Tough Choice.

And what's up with the beginning of your post?

"I was just WAITING for you to make this post. It would be my pleasure to disseminate this."...thats honestly a little creepy....the only thing i see in your post in another person with a different opinion....knowwhere in your post do you disprove anything i said. You simply just stated your own...no source included.

[BZM]

ugh....so basically i'm not "wrong" in any way. We just have a difference of opinion is what i'm seeing.

The threadstarted also did mention it was a cheap gibson so i didn't think my recomendation of new tuner heads was a bad idea.

Whats up with what you were saying about neck designs? Notice my post says "in terms of metal". My SG has a great neck, it just doesn't work out as well when trying to play really fast metal. I use my ibanez for that, hands down.

Also, i noticed here in my new guitar world magazine that the d-activators have a huge write-up and got gear of the month award.....hmmm lets see who has a better opinion......people who work for GW and try every single piece of new gear known to man...or some punk kid on the internet eager to prove everyone wrong. Tough Choice.

And what's up with the beginning of your post?

"I was just WAITING for you to make this post. It would be my pleasure to disseminate this."...thats honestly a little creepy....the only thing i see in your post in another person with a different opinion....knowwhere in your post do you disprove anything i said. You simply just stated your own...no source included.

No, your argument was saying that Gibsons "don't even come close" for metal, and my argument was that they work just fine for metal. How would you know, you hardly ever play yours.

lol, get mike gilbert in here, he'll back up pretty much everything I've said. Also, if you take Guitar World's gear reviews as being legit, that lone pretty much discredits your entire argument, as it's a known fact that they're not allowed to write reviews that are negative in any way - their reviews are nothing more than paid advertisements disguised as editorials, period. Again, you might say I might not have scientific "evidence" for these claims, but ask anyone who works on guitars for a living or is a gear nut, and they'll reaffirm everything in my posts. I know a -lot- about gear, and that doesn't happen overnight. It's not that your opinions are "wrong", they're just woefully misinformed.

[jacob shock]

Damn man, I dont know who you are, or where you came from, but your so right

[Obswalq]

Guitar World's reviews are a fucking joke... Guitar World is a fucking joke.

Also, I love how you conveniently skipped the part of BZM's post where he talked about actual string response due to the scale length, which has nothing to do with "neck shape or design".

[Shred The Ganja]

What was the point of making this new forum? Was to discuss nex gear and help peoples problems music related? or...

Was it for you to come in here and try to be the "elite" internet poster guy and type these big 5 paragraph responses trying to cut every one down.....

In my personal opinion i dont like gibson. Why are you crying over it?.. Are trying to change my mind? I also dont like lord worm, are you going to cry over that too? oh wait you already did.

[BZM]

No, it's my job to make sure people like the threadstarter get GOOD advice - this guy is getting a gibson, nothing is going to change that, it's free, and he wants to know how to make it sound the best that it can - you come in here and post that Gibsons suck and you never touch yours and go off talking about Ibanezes and horrible pickups and that he should try forcing his guitar to sound like the one he already has.

[BZM]

Not to mention you didn't even READ my original reply to your post because you were still crying about new tuner heads "still being a good idea" when I AGREED with you on that point, you were just too busy moaning about how I was being mean to you to hear some other good advice from me such as retrofitting a Buzz Feiten tuning system. Besides, you were the one that asked for this; I was going to leave it at "you're just wrong" - but you shouldn'tve waited until after I invalidated your entire post to pull your "omg thats ur opinion" card, and just told me it was my opinion anyways. Why should you have to know my opinion before it affects yours?

Disasterific- if you have any more questions regarding gibsons, PM me or contact me via AIM or MSN, I'd be happy to answer all of your questions.