Hey all.

 

I was playing my electric guitar and I realised, I really don't like the tone!

It's a cheap Jim Deacon Les Paul guitar that my dad got for me 3 years ago for about £140.

It's been through being dropped countless times, being painted on with acrylic paint, the pickup holders almost breaking off and one of the tone knobs coming off.

 

I basically want to improve it's sound.

 

I was wondering what I could do?

 

What sort of pickup do i get?

 

My main problems are:

The distortion is just fuzz

In the clean tone, whenever I play a lower string (6th and 5th) it sounds like I'm slapping them

The 5th string always buzzes no matter how I hold it.

 

That's really it. So, if someone could help me out in how i can change it, or if I should just get it set up that would be appreciated thanks! :)

90% of the time, the sound is mostly because of the amp. but your guitar sounds pretty busted up. if one of the pickups is damaged, thats probably your problem. I prefer having humbuckers (like jonny uses live) but many prefer single coil (like a strat).if your guitar is fixed and you still dont like the sound, try getting a new amp or playing around with it's settings.

90% of the time, the sound is mostly because of the amp. but your guitar sounds pretty busted up. if one of the pickups is damaged, thats probably your problem. I prefer having humbuckers (like jonny uses live) but many prefer single coil (like a strat).if your guitar is fixed and you still dont like the sound, try getting a new amp or playing around with it's settings.

 

yeah, I'm getting a Vypr 15 amp very soon anyways, and I was thinking about buying pickups, but I could not possibly install them myself! Could I get my guitar store to do it?

 

And I do try to mess around with settings, but It always turns out not the way I want it, but the problem is, I don't know what I want!!

Most guitar stores do repairs and installation. And as far as deciding what you want, just think of your favourite artists and what kind of pick ups they use on their guitars. If you want a sharper sound, I'd suggest humbuckers or something similar. If you want a smoother sound, go for single coil.

right yeah, I'm gonna see that, and also, do you know what sort of strings jonny uses? cause the ones I'm using now contribute to that 'being played too hard' sound y'know?

jonny uses humbuckers for his live performances

Most guitar stores do repairs and installation. And as far as deciding what you want, just think of your favourite artists and what kind of pick ups they use on their guitars. If you want a sharper sound, I'd suggest humbuckers or something similar. If you want a smoother sound, go for single coil.

 

I was going to suggest the exact opposite:P

 

Don't you mean if you want a smother sound, go for humbuckers, if you want a sharper sound, go for single coils?

 

Try 09. or .10 strings

I have seen some of the cheapest Les Paul copies on youtube (one of which does a good cover of Shiver) and to be honest, I don't think the pick-ups are all that bad at all in the copies, even in the numerous Strat copies, I know a guy that gigs with an Encore copy of a strat and he gets a great sound out of it. What I look for, and I'm big into getting a good sound, is an amp with wide speaker, 12" if possible, and I have also used a Kustom acoustic amp with a celestion 8" speaker with reverb for practising - great clear sparkly tone, great for U2 and Coldplay. I feel that if a guitar can sound good clean, that it will sound good over-driven. Small amps and practice amp that you get in guitar starter packages usually have poor overdrive sound so in that case it wouldn't be the guitar's fault.

very good very good, I'm getting a new amp anyway, it's a Vypr 15 amp it's epic. My friend has the 30 watt equivalent, but I don't need that monstrous tone for my stuff, I'll definitely post the status of the sound when I get my new amp!

yeah, and get your guitar set up properly, that seems the most important thing btw., why hasn't anyone noticed that? buzzing strings and stuff?

the guitar tech at your local store will know how to set it up right, means he knows how to adjust the truss rod, intonation and action properly.