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Guitar: Strings and Picks?
I've Got an Epi Les Paul Special with stock everything. I'm looking to improove the sound a little, but throwing in a new pair of nice pickups would cost nearly as much as the guitar did. How much of a difference would new strings make in the tone? What kind of strings give what sounds, and do picks make a difference? I play classic rock, like beatles, who, kinks, so i like the warm tone of the Les Paul, but are there suggestions for changes in strings or picks to improove the sound or do they make too little of a difference?
Yeah... The strings that start with a .10 gauge are most popular now. Can sound a little more powerful, a little darker... Won't sound out of tune if you don't hit them just right. Lights that start with a .9 gauge can sound fine and are easier to bend for lead. Most guitars come with .9s installed. Also put less pressure on the neck and your guitar will last longer. I've been using D'Addario strings. You can usually find good deals and the quality seems good.
I've been liking the plain old Fender medium picks or the Dunlop1mm medium nylon ones (black) for a better grip and longer life. The nylon picks seem to have a slightly darker tone and are a little more forgiving of mistakes. The Fenders can really make it scream though and just seem to have better tone all around... Lighter picks (Fender Thin) are easier to manage. You can dig into the strings a little too much without it sounding bad or the pick getting "stuck". Good for learning and some strumming. Playing hard or fast with a light pick will tear it to shreds and the dynamics in your playing will be limited. Most really good guitar players will use a heavier pick. http://www.zzounds.com/prodsearch?form=prodsearch&cat=2554&cat2=3544
If you switch to .10s, the intonation on your guitar will need to be reset. You can do this yourself with an electronic tuner. Just play an open string and then play the note an octive up at the 12th fret. Adjust the saddle for the string forward or backward until the tuner shows the 12th fret note is also in tune when the string is tuned open. You can usually do far better this way than most guitars come set up from the factory. There are more advanced tuners and methods used by pros to get chords sounding even a little better. You could take your guitar in for a pro setup with the brand and gauge of strings you want to use... Would be a great time to have the pickups installed too if you don't want to try it yourself. You'll need to solder...
The relief in the neck (truss rod) will probably need to be adjusted too. Heavier strings require more force to bring them up to the same pitch as lighter strings. The neck will probably flex a little more with heavier gauge strings and require adjustment.
After some thought... the '59s sound like they might be the pickups for you. Still a little brighter / higher output than real vintage Gibson pickups and VERY versatile. The others would probably sound too bright, especially considering the bolt-on neck and smaller body of your Special. The only thing the '59s might be challenged by are some modern metal sounds... and there are boxes that will get that even out of the darker sounding vintage Gibson pickups...
To better answer your other question I saw about the differences between the Special, Studio, and Standard...
The special has a bolt-on neck and lighter body, no individual volume / tone controls for each pickup. The bolt-on and lighter body will give it a brighter tone and a little less sustain than a "real" Les Paul. Possibly less tuning stability due to cheaper hardware and the bolt-on neck. You'd be surprized how easy it can be to shift a bolt-on neck slightly in position, causing the guitar to go out of tune, even when the screws are TIGHT. I'm pretty much set on set-necks. I have a project guitar I'm working on with a bolt-on neck, Floyd-Rose trem and some Seymour Duncan Super Distortion pickups (just for kicks)... Might put a little glue in the neck joint (not in the screw holes, could cause them to strip).
The Studio is a stripped-down, "less dressy" version of the Standard for a little less money... Usually no pick guard... no pearl inlay of the brand name... It's solid mahogany with a set neck and should sound just as rich as the standard. May come with lower quality hardware / electronics than the Standard. Has the separate volume / tone controls for each pickup, allowing you to more easily flip the switch to a certain sound without fiddling...
The Deluxe is a Standard with a thin veneer of nice looking wood like quilted or flame maple on the top and finished with a premium transparent finish.
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