hopkinwfg Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 does the LP tone only excels on mahogany wood ? how about korina ? anybody do it with Heritage before ? whats the outcome with korina LP ?
davesultra Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I have never tried one before. But, yes Heritage has used Korina for some guitars.
Millennium Maestro Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 korina ? anybody do it with Heritage before ? outcome with korina ? Each and every wood piece has its own characteristics including different cuts or species of Mahogany. Yes Heritage has built Korina 150s, I have several being a Korina Junkie, some are Heavy and some are light. I am currently playing A2 magnet Duncans installing a set of Pearly Gates In a Korina 150 which will allow me to side by side compare 2 exact guitars... My opinion, if you have the extra money to spend on a unique guitar go for it, I do believe if you buy a guitar regardless of species used the pickup combination is the most important ingredient in getting the specific sound. I also believe if you are setting you tonal expectations on a Les Paul (LP) your expectations are low, Heritage is a whole other league, long since abandoned by Gibson. Heritage guitars are solid wood, Handcrafted, Utilize the best pickups options and Hardware available. No plastic pots, PC board or swiss cheese!
hopkinwfg Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 Each and every wood piece has its own characteristics including different cuts or species of Mahogany. Yes Heritage has built Korina 150s, I have several being a Korina Junkie, some are Heavy and some are light. I am currently playing A2 magnet Duncans installing a set of Pearly Gates In a Korina 150 which will allow me to side by side compare 2 exact guitars... My opinion, if you have the extra money to spend on a unique guitar go for it, I do believe if you buy a guitar regardless of species used the pickup combination is the most important ingredient in getting the specific sound. I also believe if you are setting you tonal expectations on a Les Paul (LP) your expectations are low, Heritage is a whole other league, long since abandoned by Gibson. Heritage guitars are solid wood, Handcrafted, Utilize the best pickups options and Hardware available. No plastic pots, PC board or swiss cheese! i have no idea too but i will eventually get one H150 or H175... no idea of how an LP would sound like..never been a LP fan but recently GAS has filled my mind for a Heritage LP... do you mind tell us how you find on a mahogany where a korina dont and vice versa? if so how you find korina to be justifiable on the extra cost which a standard mahogany build dont..
Kuz Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I generally subscribe that for an authentic LP tone (which is very subjective to the individual) that the wood for the chassis needs to be similar to the wood used in the icon vintage LPs. I have had single cut model guitars made with Honduras Mahogany, African Mahogany, Spanish Cedar, and Red Wood. All had a maple cap. I believe the Honduras Mahogany, Spanish Cedar (which is a derivative of Honduras Mahogany), and African Mahogany offered the "real deal" LP tone in the order listed. Now for the disclaimer... no matter what the wood no two guitars sound the same. But I believe the above generalizations to be true, Bottom line: If you are going for a '59 LP tone, '54 LP Tone, or a Black Beauty, why not try to build it with the wood & materials used to make the originals (if those materials are still available). I would not try to build a Korina 150 to make it sound like a Honduras Mahogany built '59 LP. Try to emulate the wood, materials, and manufacturing process of the original for the chance of getting closest to that tone. Just my .02
HANGAR18 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I would also decide which amp you think a Les Paul sounds best through and make sure you've got one of those too. Perhaps an all tube Marshall or comparable.
TalismanRich Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Remember that in the early days, the LP Custom Black Beauty could also be made with an all mahogany body, no maple cap. That happened from the mid 50 to the late 60s. That's going to add another tonal range when compared to the mahogany/maple versions. So now you have to ask what "flavor" of Les Paul sound do you want.
mars_hall Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Totonka has one of the few H150Ms, which is all mahogany. There used to be a pic of it in the gallery
HANGAR18 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Who was it that told me this story that I'm about to tell you? Anyway... The reason that the first Les Paul Customs were painted black was to hide this top secret brand new technology from Leo Fender... putting a Maple top over a Mahogany body. Yes, I know the first ones were all hog but that's how the story goes.
hopkinwfg Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 Who was it that told me this story that I'm about to tell you? Anyway... The reason that the first Les Paul Customs were painted black was to hide this top secret brand new technology from Leo Fender... putting a Maple top over a Mahogany body. Yes, I know the first ones were all hog but that's how the story goes. thats how a maple cap of the story begin huh ? to getta tighter bass response and aggressive tone ?
bolero Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I heard Les Paul wanted a gtr that looked like/matched a tuxedo, something classy black w/white highlights
HANGAR18 Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I heard Les Paul wanted a gtr that looked like/matched a tuxedo, something classy black w/white highlights I heard that too.
ridethatbike Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Reverend pretty much uses Korina exclusively. I hear that it is more consistent tonally and weight-wise. I know that my solid R8 weighs 7#, 14.8 ozs. There are some reissue Gibsons that weigh more than that (like north of 9.5#), so obviously there's a large discrepancy in weight/density of the mahogany. Here's a good read on Korina and Reverend: http://candormusic.blogspot.com/2011/08/reverend-guitars-korina-wood.html
TalismanRich Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Who was it that told me this story that I'm about to tell you? Anyway... The reason that the first Les Paul Customs were painted black was to hide this top secret brand new technology from Leo Fender... putting a Maple top over a Mahogany body. Yes, I know the first ones were all hog but that's how the story goes. The original LP goldtops had been around since 1952 with a maple top before the all mahogany Custom came out in '54. I think it took 2 more years before the Custom speced with maple tops, although who's to say they didn't take a body that was supposed to be a gold top and put a block inlay neck on it and paint it black at least a few times in the first years. I did hear one story that Les wanted to have a maple body with a mahogany cap, which would have weighed a bunch! McCarty refused to do it.
goSteelers Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 There is an article in the current issue of GP that says LP himself did not like the sound of the maple cap models. He preferred the sound of his all mahogany 54 Blacktop. The article implies that Gibson used the maple cap to brighten up the tone, whereas Les felt he could do better starting with the all mahogany tone, using full range, low impedance pickups to brighten the tone. I'm thinking that would be a custom order . . .
yuominae Posted February 4, 2015 Posted February 4, 2015 There is an article in the current issue of GP that says LP himself did not like the sound of the maple cap models. He preferred the sound of his all mahogany 54 Blacktop. The article implies that Gibson used the maple cap to brighten up the tone, whereas Les felt he could do better starting with the all mahogany tone, using full range, low impedance pickups to brighten the tone. I'm thinking that would be a custom order . . . Stupid question: what are "full range" pickups? Are they like fenders wide range? Does it mean they pick up a wide frequency range?
JeffB Posted February 4, 2015 Posted February 4, 2015 Stupid question: what are "full range" pickups? Are they like fenders wide range? Does it mean they pick up a wide frequency range?
rockabilly69 Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I heard Les Paul wanted a gtr that looked like/matched a tuxedo, something classy black w/white highlights This is the right story, the maple top/mahogany back was around long before the black customs!
yuominae Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Stupid question: what are "full range" pickups? Are they like fenders wide range? Does it mean they pick up a wide frequency range? Thanks for that, I'd seen recording LPs before and wondered about the pups, but never realised those where full spectrum ones. I think it's time to look it up on YouTube!
Spectrum13 Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Back in 2013 Marv pulled out this Korina board from the back room and said it was the lightest piece they had. He cut a couple of slices and put a maple top on and built my 147 with one staple and a Throbak p90. I guess it weighs 7 pounds. IMO there is more than one way to build an great LP. In general, korina will be much lighter than most of the mahogany stock in parsons street. I liked the way P90's sound on my korina 137 so I paid my money and took a shot. Back in 52 the formula was Maple top - Hog body on the goldtop. In 54 it was all hog on the custom. Gibson first used korina in 58 so if they used korina for the prototype in 51 the LP sound would have been maple top on a korina body. You never know unless you build it. My 2 cents
Gitfiddler Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 DSCN0528.JPG Back in 2013 Marv pulled out this Korina board from the back room and said it was the lightest piece they had. He cut a couple of slices and put a maple top on and built my 147 with one staple and a Throbak p90. I guess it weighs 7 pounds. IMO there is more than one way to build an great LP. In general, korina will be much lighter than most of the mahogany stock in parsons street. I liked the way P90's sound on my korina 137 so I paid my money and took a shot. Back in 52 the formula was Maple top - Hog body on the goldtop. In 54 it was all hog on the custom. Gibson first used korina in 58 so if they used korina for the prototype in 51 the LP sound would have been maple top on a korina body. You never know unless you build it. My 2 cents Very interesting. Your H147 is one of my favorites. You should have brung it with ya to the Bay Area!
Spectrum13 Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Very interesting. Your H147 is one of my favorites. You should have brung it with ya to the Bay Area! Tim, As it was, it took several hours to check out 1/3 of your collection. Like a museum you can't see everything in a day. We doing a PSP in 2015?
Hfan Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Just got my first Korina guitar, not a Heritage. Are there any generalities commonly assigned to Korina vs mahogany? Probably so many variations of both that it would be way subjective anyway to draw a conclusion. I had one of those LP Recording models back in high school for a little while..wheeled and dealed a lot back then. Now I'm old and sentimental and find it hard to let go of anything. Really was a little confused by the model in general. Traded a 1960 LP SG for it.
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