LP Sig vs. JC Sig

[uwe]

I think this vid of Hot Tuna (with Jack playing a Gibson LP Sig, not his Epi) epitomizes what I mean when I say that the LP Sig has a fenderish overdrive in the upper frequency range that I just don't hear with the Epi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBks7V3SzJo&feature=rec-HM-r2

To me, most Epis sound like this here, not necessarily bad, but wholly different:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=der177k1kHM&feature=related

A more trebly sound still doesn't offer the same characteristic as the Gibson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9K4LQ2Nh94&feature=related

Not even Jack gets his Epi to sound like that Gibson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su9A2EMy4_w&feature=related

The Epi pups just don't have that upper range even though they might possibly deliver a more consistent signal in the lower range.

[Grog]

From what I recall, my replacement part catalogs list the Gibson LP Sig pickups the same for the bass & the guitar. Low Impedance Super Humbuckers....

[uwe]

That might be an explanation, the Epi Electar pup is after all a dedicated bass pup.

[Highlander]

So many pennies to save...

Sound is such a subjective thing, and the amplification must come into it, but never having played either instrument I can offer no overall opinion, other than a desire to own  one of either or both of the instruments...

I have an issue with Hot Tuna... during the 70's I bought several records, and sold them on, and went back again, and sold them on, especially the live album... I have none of their material in my collection, but still feel that maybe I should...

[Grog]

I double checked my 1981 Replacement Parts Catalog. Both pickups in the guitar & the bass pickup have a part number of 13649. 

[barend]

Nothing beats his Guild Starfire tone. Ever since I saw this JE clip I am a Casady fan. I like their live stuff the best (the 'Blessed...' album). Hot Tuna I don't like, somehow I don't get it.

[Basvarken]

I double checked my 1981 Replacement Parts Catalog. Both pickups in the guitar & the bass pickup have a part number of 13649. 

Hmm... another option to upgrade a JCS then.
I used a Lo-z Gibson Les Paul Bass pickup for my modification on the JCS.
That's the pickup with the eight wires (three coiltaps)



But on the modified Pearl Export Bass I have, the bridge pickup is a Lo-z Gibson Les Paul guitar pickup (with only two wires). And although it is a guitar pickup it works perfectly fine on this bass.




So I guess it's very likely the Lo-z Gibson Les Paul Guitar pickup would also do the somewhat lame JCS a big favor too.

[OldManC]

Thanks for posting those clips Rob. I've got to get to it on my JC mod. I think it makes all the difference in the world.

[Grog]

"So I guess it's very likely the Lo-z Gibson Les Paul Guitar pickup would also do the somewhat lame JCS a big favor too."

One would think a LPR pickup would be much better than many pickups on the market today for bass. I have seen many eBayers trying to sell NOS guitar pickups as bass pickups. They were even sold in boxes right out of the Nashville warehouse labled Les Paul Triump Bass.
Does anyone know what the differences are between the bridge pickups & the neck pickups? The 1977 Replacement Parts Catalog lists both the same for the LPR (#13557) where as the 1981 catalog lists the back as a #13689. The LPT has a front as #13555 & a back as #13560. I have never seen any markings on any of these to tell them apart. Maybe the only difference is wire length??? 

[Basvarken]

As far as I know there is no difference at all between bridge and neck pickup.

[Pilgrim]

After listening to that clip, I don't see how you could get that little bit of OD without a pedal in between the bass and amp.  He's really not driving it hard at all.  I think my Badder Monkey could do that little bit of OD with no trouble.

[barend]

But on the modified Pearl Export Bass I have, the bridge pickup is a Lo-z Gibson Les Paul guitar pickup (with only two wires). And although it is a guitar pickup it works perfectly fine on this bass.




So I guess it's very likely the Lo-z Gibson Les Paul Guitar pickup would also do the somewhat lame JCS a big favor too.

I think your Pearl bass sounds a lot better than the JC on the soundsamples. Your JC doesn't have much low end. Did you use the same recording equipment and EQ for both samples?

[Basvarken]

Same equipment, same eq, same fingers.
But the big difference is in the fact that the JCS soundsample the E string isn't being used. Plus the left hand was very much near the topnut.
Whereas the with the Pearl I used all four strings. With the left hand around the fifth position.

In real life the Pearl with the bridge pickup soloed has less low end than the JCS.
But the Pearl does sound more dense because it's a solid body (a very thick log actually)
The JCS sounds more "airy".

[n!k]

I never knew the headstock inlay had so much to do with tone!

Kidding aside, I had a JCS for a long time and loved it, but the neck was never all that comfortable for me. When I got a chance to play a Les Paul Sig a few years later, I thought the tone was a little woodier and bassier, but not dramatically so.

[Mungi]

The LP lo-z pickup that is in the Triumph bass has coil taps to alter the tone. The Epi Casady instead got coil taps on the transformer. How about the LP Signature? Does it has coil taps in the pickup, which would mean the tone selector is just that - a tone selector? Or does it have the coil taps in the transformer same as the Epi Jack Casady bass?