Hello Lee!
On 27 Dec 97, Lee Waun wrote to Rich Lockyer:
 LW> Well my prime attraction to this guitar is it has the ceramic magnet
 LW> pickups that a lot of the higher end gibsons have as opposed to the 
alnico
 LW> magnet pickups.
Alnico magnets are generally used on vintage style pickups.  Ceramic magnets 
are found on higher output pickups.  Two of the best medium-output pickups 
I've used are the Seymour Duncan 59 and ANP-2, both are alnico.
 LW> Do you  have any experience with this guitar.
I've tried a couple at the store.  The shape (body and neck) were the same as 
any Les Paul.  The tone is quite different though.  The solid mahogany bodies 
really make a difference.  I would say the tone is closer to a poplar or 
basswood bodied Japanese guitar like an ESP... it's simply not as warm as a 
Les Paul should be.  There's also a definite loss of sustain.  The ceramic 
pickups make up for the sustain loss to a degree when playing with distortion 
or compression, but they don't bring back the lost tone.
 LW> Even Gibson states  that the chromyte has the same sound properties
 LW> as mahogony. I don't think balsa could do that do you.
Nothing is going to have the same sound properties as mahogany with the 
possible exception of purple heart.  It's a simple matter of physics... 
lighter, less dense woods do not resonate the same way heavier, more dense 
woods do.  There's nothing that Gibson, Fender, ESP, Ibanez, or anyone else 
can do to change it.  They can fool you by tweaking the electronics by using 
different (or active) pickups or by changing tone cap and bypass cap values, 
but they can't change the way the body responds to the vibrating string.
The first thing I do when trying out a guitar I'm thinking of buying is spend 
about 15 minutes or so with it unplugged.  I feel the way the body vibrates 
while I play, and I listen to the tone of sound coming from the string and 
body.  If I don't like the way it sounds unplugged, I won't even plug it in 
unless I'm checking it out with no interest of buying.  If the tone isn't 
there before the pickup gets it, it's going to be harder to dial it in when 
you do plug in.  If the tone is great unplugged, you can plug into any decent 
amp, set all the EQ knobs on 5, adjust the gain and master, and get a decent 
sound.  Ask the guys in Portland how many effects I brought and how much 
twiddling I did to my amp at the Fidojam last October ~8-)
With the ceramic pickups, this guitar would be fine for hard rock or heavy 
metal, but it's simply not as good as it should be for playing clean or with 
a little crunchy edge.
C-ya! Rich
--- GoldED 2.40
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