anybody have an L6-s? got some questions. vintage-heads welcome in here, too..

[rollyfoster]

i have a major love/hate relationship with this axe. right now, i'm in a LOVE phase and she's back as my #1. it's ugly, rude sounding, and a general PITA, but she's my PITA.

i am having a couple of issues, though. the first being:

the bridge pup is way thinner than the neck. i like the bridge tone a lot but it just cranks way too high up when switching to the neck. any remedy suggestions for this? i can't really adjust the height of them since they're both so close to the strings, anyways.

secondly, and this applies to vintage guys, too: i never use the 6 way sounds. i'm really thinking about switching it to a 3-way toggle. i'm not worried about resale value since there isn't any, but i'm a little hesitant to make the adjustment, purely from a vibe approach. what would you do?

sleeping:

awake:

 

[rollyfoster]

anybody? bueller?

 

[JKjr]

I had one when they were new!! Never had an issue with volume between pickups, maybe you've got a problem there. It wouldn't surprise me if it's in the rotary switch. Our local guy had a box of them removed from various Gibbys under warranty.

 

[paintguy]

My first electric guitars was a L6-S just like yours. All maple, purchased new as well...

I don't remember any problem with the pup volumes either. I don't mean to offend, but have you tried lowering the neck pup or rasiing the bridge one?

I'd keep the 6 way myself, but it's all personal.

 

[Chris Rice]

Are you comparing position #5 to position #2?

1=both p.u. in series in phase
2=neck p.u. only
3=both parallel in phase
4=both parallel out-of-phase
5=bridge only
6=both in series out-of-phase

 

[stratzrus]

I bought one new when it first came out and never bonded with it.

If you're determined to keep it, I'd swap out the pickups, get rid of the rotary knob, replace the hardware (bridge, tuners and wiring) and go from there.

 

[ratkent]

I had one way back in the day and I swapped the pickups and ditched the rotary switch. It sounded a lot like an SG.

 

[musicofanatic5]

I had one way back in the day and I swapped the pickups and ditched the rotary switch. It sounded a lot like an SG.

Maybe a maple "SG". After you change the rotary switch, p.u.s, bridge, tuners, and wiring (as already recommened), change the neck and body, and you'll be all set! If you change to mahogany it might "sound like an SG", and weigh half as much!

 

[rollyfoster]

i got new tuners but i like the bridge and the tone of the pups. it's just that either the bridge is waaaaay thinner than any other guitar i've heard or there's some volume difference between them. i'll try raising/lowering again but i don't think there's much room for that.

 

[mc5nrg]

Unless the pickups are specifically wound to compensate for where they are (neck vs bridge) its normal for the bridge to have less output and a thinner tone because of its location. Have you measured the pickups resistance to compare them? When that guitar was made, pickups made for specifically bridge vs neck weren't common.

 

[rollyfoster]

i lowered the bass side of the neck pup and raised the bridge a tad and things seem to be much better balance. for some reason, i had it in my head that there wasn't any room to go with either of them...

 

[ratkent]

Maybe a maple "SG". After you change the rotary switch, p.u.s, bridge, tuners, and wiring (as already recommened), change the neck and body, and you'll be all set! If you change to mahogany it might "sound like an SG", and weigh half as much!

Whether it's made of maple, mahogany or space monkey bones, I am saying mine sounded very similar to my SG at the time. Not a great sounding guitar by any means but if I had to compare it to anything it would be a trashy SG. My advice would never be to get one as an SG substitute. I remember it was crazy neck-heavy and seemed to have a narrow finger board. This was easily over 25 years ago. It is one of the only guitars I took to a pawn shop and I remember going back 3 years later and it was still there.

 

[Soundhound]

Ooh I remember those when they came out. My one word review was, if I remember correctly: oy.

 

[Mattbedrock]

I like mine. It was my first Gibson, so it will always be special to me. Mine was converted to 4 knob/ 3 way switch before I got it. I've always been curious about getting a 6 way for it but have never found one. I really have no idea if a std 6 way works or if its some custom job.

 

[Chris Rice]

i got new tuners but i like the bridge and the tone of the pups. it's just that either the bridge is waaaaay thinner than any other guitar i've heard or there's some volume difference between them. i'll try raising/lowering again but i don't think there's much room for that.

Seriously, are you calling position number 1 the bridge pickup? 'Cause it isn't.

 

[rollyfoster]

no, i'm not. i know what the positions are. a lot of the issue was that the neck pup was too high on the bass side.