Gibson Les Paul Lo-Z pickups by EMG?

[uwe]

Another victory of truth and scientific evidence!

[doombass]

If you are talking what gets to the pots, they are high impedance, otherwise an external 'transformer' would be necessary to get EMGs to work with a typical bass amp input stage. EMG preamps are tone circuits.  Without the battery the pups around 4.5k ohms. This is not low impedance...it is around 500 to 1000 times the impedance of a Les Paul Lo Z pup if I'm reading the literature correctly.

But they do use pots matched for a low impedance signal. This quote is taken from this site: http://www.emginc.com/pages/whyemg

#
Low Impedence Output

The low impedance output of the EMG internal preamp provides other great features. You can run a cable for up to 100 feet (30 meters) without losing high frequency response. You'll also be able to get the same tone with a wireless unit as you do with a cable. The tone of your instrument will remain consistent when you change the volume control as well. Not only can you plug directly into your favorite amp, you can go direct to tape preamp (especially for acoustic guitar recording) or direct to a mixing console input without a direct box. You can plug into any portable cassette recorder, or even your home stereo auxiliary input, and play your instrument with incredible results.

[dadagoboi]

But they do use pots matched for a low impedance signal. This quote is taken from this site: http://www.emginc.com/pages/whyemg

Thanks for the reference.  I was wrong, by definition EMGs are low impedance.  Maybe LP pups should be described as 'super low impedance'.  Can someone explain what effect the different impedance values of LPs and EMGs have, if any?

[doombass]

My guess is the preamp in EMG's buffers the signal like most effects pedals do.

[hieronymous]

Someone just commented on Instagram on a picture of my Les Paul Triumph together with my Alembic Stanley Clarke that "Rick Turner designed the electronics in the Gibson before he worked at Alembic" - looks like an even more confused version of the Rob Turner/EMG story?

[Basvarken]

I still think it is most likely that Les Paul himself designed and developed the low impedance humbuckers of the Recording/Personal/Professional Les Paul Guitars and Basses.
When his entire collection of guitars, basses and amps were auctioned, a lot of very crude prototypes popped up in the catalogue. The low impedance pickups being cast in big oval lumps of epoxy sure matched the crude pickguards on the guitars and basses he used as a platform for his experiments.
The prototype that I own is exactly the same as the one he held in his collection.
By the way; that one has pickups that are not cast in epoxy, but held together with bits of cardboard ;-)

[Alanko]

There was that 'prototype' Les Paul that was floating around, and misinterpreted and misreported by the press, that looked like it had homemade low-Z pickups installed. it was (probably) an early '50s Black Beauty that had been machined entirely through the top to reveal a set of weird DIY pickups:



Looking at this, it is clear that Les didn't baby his instruments or ever really think about making his modifications pretty! Give him a 'burst 1958 Les Paul and he would have yanked out the PAFs, added some shonky home brew tremolo unit and probably fitted a connector for a gooseneck microphone somewhere. I've been watching old clips of Les Paul and Mary Ford, and it is interesting to see (apart from the passive sexism in pretty much ever clip) how whacked up his guitars are. You would think Gibson would require him to mime away on off-the-shelf guitars, not something he was clearly booglarising in his workshop.

I find Les Paul a fascinating mix of old-timey schtickmeister and absorbed electronics engineer. I do quite admire his iconoclastic approach. It is maybe worth remembering that he wasn't actually that happy with the design Gibson implemented, and liked the various iterations (including the bursts) even less! To him a Les Paul guitar should have had low-Z pickups, so those less loved '70s instruments were actually closer to his vision.

I thought EMG came to fame for basically making cheaper versions of Alembic designs?

[Dave W]

Agree with Rob. Over the years Rick Turner has done many interviews and written articles about his early days. Has he ever once mentioned this? Not as far as I can remember. Never heard anyone else claim he did it either. He only worked for Gibson briefly and that was in the late 80s.

[amptech]

It is maybe worth remembering that he wasn't actually that happy with the design Gibson implemented, and liked the various iterations (including the bursts) even less! To him a Les Paul guitar should have had low-Z pickups, so those less loved '70s instruments were actually closer to his vision.

It's also worth remembering that Gibson tried to talk to him about his pickups while developing the Les Paul Model, but he would not reveal any secrets. Imagine the gold top or standard with LoZ pickups to begin with

[Grog]

I may have posted this a few years ago, Dave Rogers had one of Lester's pickups in a display at his store. Note the missing logo...........




I didn't see it when I was there around a month ago...........

[hieronymous]

Thanks everyone - I think the guy had spoken to Rick Turner and got confused about what Rick Turner was talking about - he probably doesn't know as much about the Recording Les Pauls as you guys - well, I'd be willing to bet NOBODY knows as much about them as you guys!

[Grog]

While looking for something else, I stumbled upon this in my book..... "The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy 1968-2009" by Robb Lawrence. This edition of the two book set has the best reference to Low Impedance Les Pauls of any book I'd come across.



A few weeks ago, I emailed a contact that I had met on eBay many years ago. His mother had worked at the Kalamazoo factory. He seemed to know all of the retired people that worked there & who had what stashed away in their homes & garages. He was able to find just about anything I was looking for in oddball parts, including Low Impedance pickups. He move down south & no longer deals in guitar parts. I asked him if he had any idea if the Low Impedance Pickups were produce in Kalamazoo or if he might still know somebody that did know. He hasn't responded. If he does, I'll post his answer...........................