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Anyone who has known me and my guitar history may know I don't do Gibsons. I have never found one I like to play, sounds like I want to sound without constantly changing amp settings etc. I am a madman - a philistine of no use to man nor beast. The truth is I do have a healthy respect for Gibsons, and do understand why people adore them. However, I don't feel I can play them. I have to adapt...
There are various Les Paul copies - the MIJ Grecos and Burnys are gaining traction amongst the serious, but they are nearly as pricey as Kalamazoo and Nashville products now. I decided to try out a few Japanese home-market models - the budget options now Epiphone are all Chinese. This Triumph is a typical domestic market type of guitar - lightweight and gentle, fairly skinny neck and comfortable. A good base for a guitar that looks like a Les Paul, can sound like a Les Paul, but isn't a Les Paul.
Out came the pick-ups and controls, off came the tuners. A set of locking Gotoh SD90 replaced them. Everything else was fine - the parking knocks are perfectly acceptable for a 30 year old guitar. It seemed like a foolish and a terribly bad use of time to install the Jimmy Page wiring option on the new Irongear pick-ups. So I did that.
In standard Les Paul mode, the sounds from the humbuckers are punchy and loud - the neck doesn't obliterate the bridge, and they even clean up quite well. When split to singles, they don't replace any Strat, but they give you clarity and bite if you need - they work especially well with the opposing humbucker to thin the sound and stay out of the mud. Put them out of phase and there is the new world - these sounds encourage you to extend your imagination - put them into series if you want that but more beef. And now I like Les Pauls. Well, I like this one.
There is little point in trying to list out the tonal spectrum available from this guitar. This is also not trying to be a Les Paul - it is trying to look like one, admittedly. What this is, is something to ease you into Les Pauls, or accompanies the Les Paul you already have but don't like Fenders. Above all, it's fun and useable fun. So much fun to make as well - which is why we have 2 more in production now.
Details
The Look
Eagle eyes will spot the new shiney pick-ups, see that the pots are all switches as well, and the neat and tidy SD90 tuners - other than these things, this looks like it did when it left the factory
Headstock
Very high quality Gotoh SD90 locking tuners grip your strings and keep them gripped.
Neck
All original with the normal close attention paid to fret condition
Pick-ups
2 x Irongear Rollermill humbuckers - all splittable and nicely balanced between neck and bridge.
Bridge
All original
Controls
3 way Gibson OEM toggle, 4 x push push pots to control splitting humbuckers, series/parallel and phase reversal. In series mode, selecting the neck pick-up acts as a kill switch. The bridge tone control is reverse swept due to me "having an idea". Can be set to normal if required
Gallery
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