I have a 1960 double cutaway that was my dad's and he gave it to me when he retired from playing in bands 30 years ago and I still have it and play it all the time. I run it through my Marshall JCM800 and that guitar is a BEAST! Simple, great tone and LOUD.
I’m a junior freak, own 3 myself (56, early 58 single cut, and custom shop tv).When I got the first I knew I wanted a 50’s jr and played about 40 before I found the “one.” It was refinished in the late 70’s, tuners replaced, and refretted twice and soon to be three. Def had thousands of hours on it before I came along, but man does it have a voice. If your the kind of player that uses the volume and tone knobs you don’t miss the neck pickup one bit, and I’m not a pedal guy either. From my experience if you grab a pile of random 50’s juniors (both single and double cut) the average double cut more than likely sounds better than the average single cut, but if you get the best single cutaway you can find vs the best double cutaway the single cutaway wins more often. I play mine with a fuzz face into a ‘71 50 watt marshall (the bass version) or a ‘69 marshall 2061 for smaller places. Sounds like the word of god. How do you like it into the 800? I never really loved 800s when I play them, but other people sound amazing with them. I always feel like for me personally there is a bottom end woof I can never dial out or ignore.
@Mark Wilson is my step dad's name, but I also have a USA Axl bulldog Jr and love it ! I also recently bought one of the new 2019-2020 Les Paul special double cut p90's cherry finish tribute myself for$460 brand new at guitar center and it's great ! Like a Les Paul special double cut meets PRS hard tail and it's almost beat my Juniors Gibson and Axl bulldog Jr. And it's beat my PRS custom 22 almost but the tremolo on PRS is outstanding ! I suggest if you can find one of these Gibson Les Paul special double cut T guitars for the price I got mine, get it !
Geoff here... I've been a P90 fan since my Guitar beginnings. I've tried a large variety of 90s... In an even larger number of environments. What I've learned about "tone"... The husk of the instrument has the greatest influence. One of my most favorite Jrs belongs to a dear friend... A quick over veiw... '58 Double cut, all original trons, the neck tenon is 3", 5lbs 3oz with perfect neck/body balance. The acoustic tone is bright & loud & you feel the husk as it resonates into your chest. The broadcast tone is "Special"! The original Dog ear 90 is 7.82 ohms. This Jr is where I learned about "henries" Ohm load may or may not effect "output". (output values are not measured by the "ohm load" of the winding's, "signal mass" is measured in "henries") There's a threshold to everything in life... Pickups are no different. Too much winding? not enough magnet pull? Bad combination! Reverse that, Too much magnet, too little winding? Another bad combo. Perfectly matched winding & magnet combinations, but too dense a potting wax? Again... Bad combo. Do ya think the "Re-issue" pickups are wax potted? Yep... They are... Think the old pickups were? Of coarse not... What a worthless practice "wax potting" is... If you build pickups & one turns out "micro-phonic". Take it apart, start over & increase the "drag tension" on the winding's... Back to the subject at hand... Frankly... Neither of the "re-issue" Juniors seemed to have a endearing quality to their tone. The "bloom" factor seems nonexistent. This is something I see every day. My player buds come to me with a new VOS instrument & think throwing a 10% "over-wound" Lollar pickup is going to cultivate a WoW factor... Sadly, it won't... So next they want a Bumble Bee cap... Still no WoW! Rid that plank of the 500K pots? This will help a bit. But still the WoW factor eludes the instrument. (I use 300K linear for volume & 250K audio tapper for tone on all single coil pickups) What next? Well... Dicky Betts told me over 45 years ago... "I only choose well balanced guitars that have a bright & present acoustic tone... I can always stick my pickups in it..." And that's where the truth lies... I had a '09 VOS single cut Junior on my work bench last week that weighed almost 9lbs... What a TERD! $2500.? Come-on... This is where I say... From my experience... Find a guitar you want to "sing along" with... We can stick any kind of pickup you want in it... But probably won't have to...
Thanks for uploading this video, as someone who has played for 20+ yrs. & never handled a vintage instrument I was pleasantly surprised that I preferred the single cut reissue.
Superb video, demonstration, and playing! I loved how all of these guitars sounded, and it goes to show, that, most of the time, it's the archer not the arrow.
In response to Addy Adderson's question, we define "ballsy" in a guitar as having high output pickups like a LP Junior compared to a guitar with lower output like a Strat. We prefer the former to the latter but that's just us. D&P
By that definition a 1959 Burst isn't ballsy because it was low output. What makes a guitar ballsy is mainly the tone quality. You can get dynamic range from a low output pickup. Same principle as phono cartridges. There are $5000 low output cartridges and $10 high output ones.
@@aCloudOfHaze magnets pulling on strings myth has been busted, doesnt effect it at all even with a super high powered magnet , but i think the added mass by not cutting out another cavity might have something to do with it.
Phil X once said that he only puts one pickup in a guitar because the neck pickup's magnets affect the vibration of the strings....after watching this video, I tend to agree. Maybe that's why the Jr. sounds so much ballsier that the others
Yeah, agreed. I didn't give it much thought til I messed with the pole pieces in the neck pickup on one of my guitars. Pretty strong magnets! I'd say it affects the strings quite a bit. I'd love an old Junior. I still like having two pickups, especially on my SE Semihollow, because I use the middle position for clean a lot, but yeah. Pros and cons. It all sounds mean. ~fin
@@MrDrewseph I seen a video where a guy puts one of those super powered magnets near the guitar strings , then strums it to measure the sustain and there wasnt even a difference. So I dont think the tiney magnets in pickups do anything. And if you think about it, thats a lot of energy to move a string thats at tension, even more energy would be required to stop a wobbling one. I think the added mass buy not cutting out another cavity could have something to do with it.
..Diggin on what you guys are doin...just happened to find ya on here...LPJ's are my go-to guitars these days..Props for the straight ahead attitude and humor...Gonna be rifling through all the vids soon !!..Rock on,guys !!!
Other "Junior" players...Mick Ralphs from Bad Co. and Mott The Hoople and Ariel Bender [Luther Grosvenor] from Spooky Tooth and Mott. I have even seen pictures of Pete Townsend playing a yellow double cutaway in 1967 as well as Adam Ant's guitar player using one to great effect at Live Aid. Great show guys !
I got to see Steve and Dick play with Lou Reed on what became The Rock N Roll Animal Tour in 1974///Leslie play with West, Bruce and Laing in 1972...Ariel with Mott in 1974...and Mick Ralphs with Bad Co. in 1974....average ticket price $4.00....memories PRICELESS !!!!
james mcbride i bought a junior off Ian Hunter from mott the hoole $100 the biggest load of cheap crap i ever bought infact they never recorded with them. So i dont the big deal you see in them.
I did my own Junior experiment. Here's how it went. I took a '57 with a single dog ear P-90. Recorded. Did the same with a custom shop reissue of the same. The latter sounded lousy. Then swapped the electronics and recorded again. Conclusion: The old growth wood won both times. Trees that took 200 years to grow just always and without exception sound better than trees that took 75 years to grow.
That 59' DC had me weeping listening to that tone! Awesome! I wish we had access to fintage guitars like that over here in Aus :( Another great vid guys!
I had a 57 Junior, that I bought from George Gruhn for $350 in 1977. Just like the 55 you are playing. Balls Deluxe, but also hard to get around on. I eventually sold it and bought a Strat. Never really looked back.
right around the 6:00 mark i heard a little mississippi queen riff and it sounded just like the mountain version .love these jrs,ive had customs,studios in gibson form and briefly had an epiphone jr but it was nothing like these beauties. awesome playing and tone by the way,keep it up.
Hi guys. I just found your videos. Great stuff. I'm playing a 2001 Les Paul Junior I'm borrowing from a friend. I love this guitar. I had a 1957 TV model back in 1977. Somehow I let it get away. I didn't know what I had back then. This 2001 LPJ has the same kind of ballsy sound you're describing. I'm mostly a Fender player, Telecaster, but I'm really getting into this guitar and loving it.. Thanks for the video, it's great. peace out...
Another great demo by you guys! I don't have any Juniors but, I do like them. I got a 98 Special SL with 490/498 humbuckers that are very well balanced, on a very loud electric. I also have a 2012 Junior Special that just sings with the combination of P90s and, a bright snappy sounding baked brown maple finger board. You got to love a Les Paul. I got three of them.
I've just dropped a new Righteous Sound Pickup into a cheap jhs vintage lp junior copy. It sounded just like the red dc 59 you played. Thick, throaty and vowel tones all over it. Serious mids and perfectly authentic. I was stunned.
I recently got a 2019 Gibby LP Junior. It’s just the regular USA line, but it’s a great guitar. The neck profile is perfect. Kind of in between a 58/59 carve.
It is a mid '60's AC10 Super Reverb Twin head running through a 2x12 cabinet with original 1965 12" alnico 15 watt Celestions also known as Bulldogs. The amp head is different than the combo amp of the same name and we talk about it a little more in the other shows.
great job guys totally enjoyed that and man they were all nice axes but the gibson at the very end with twin pups man that tone very hot guitar now id like that in my collection.
The single pup version double cut has a big neck tenon into the body, the special has a lot of wood removed there. That transfer through all that mahogany might do it. The JR's with the simple stop bridge plus a hot wound P90 spell BALLS! I like your playing too, it has feeling!
The absence of a pickup rout near the neck joint might have something to do with it, but I suspect that the dogear mount does play a role in the transfer of vibrations to the pickup. Also dogears tend to be up pretty high. I would check the pickup height on the soapbar.
Is that Marshall in the back (11:08) an old 2061 or a 2061 PA? Love Doug´s playing...4:20 and 7:10 are some cool ways of fusing baroque-ish licks and wonderful blues rock lead lines. Great job as always!
We record with no compression, no EQ, no reverb into Pro Tools with an AT 4040 because it gives us the closest sound on play back as to what we hear in the room while we're recording. The compression comes from the amp which those Juniors make them amps do unless you play them clean which we don't. D & P
I just bought an epi junior and that sucker is loud and rich and loud and beautiful and did I mention loud? These guitars are the best. I only paid 80 bucks too! 80 freaking dollars!
neck pick up places some pull on the strings even when not on so this will quite the special a little when compared to the single p-up Jr. giving it more balls... Nice vid!
The '57 Junior had a lot more clarity/top end than the Special in the comparison at the end of the video, which is kind of counter to what I would have thought given that the bridge pickup is lower output on the Special. So...we may be back to the original theory of the two pickups having more pull on the strings and messing things up. I would have to say that the addition of a toggle switch and double the pots and wiring on the Special is probably causing a LOT of what we're hearing. If you have ever disconnected the tone pot on a guitar you see how much it affects the tone.
I've heard that the beauty of a single pick up guitar as compared to a two or three pickup guitar is that the strings on a single pick up guitar are not impacted by the magnetic field (pull) that the additional pickups put on the strings. So in theory the tone is purely the one pick up interacting with the strings. Maybe that is why the juniors sound so amazing.
Oh didn't mention nice review of the guitars very informative and nice tones you get to really show why these guitars are special.you showed why these are great rock guitars.others channels guys talk and act silly while never getting a great tone.keep up good work its appreciated
Don't forget Mike McCready of Pearl Jam. I saw them in a baseball stadium last summer. I was literally two rows from the top of the stadium. Mike's tone was amazing. Played a couple of juniors that night.
Since there is no neck pickup in the Junior, there is no additional magnetic field to tug on strings. Some say 1 pickup = more sustain. I think it's true... Juniors always sound better than the equivalent Special to my ears:)
magnets pulling on strings myth has been busted, doesnt effect it at all even with a super high powered magnet , but i think the added mass by not cutting out another cavity might have something to do with sustain for sure.
To me, in these monitors I'm listening to this in, it sounds like the Jr has a bit more midrange bite. I wonder if the difference has to do with the mounting difference, or perhaps the magnetic field from the neck pickup dampening the strings a touch, or some mechanical thing like that.
I put a P90 into a 2011 Gibson Flying V Melody Maker that I bought new in 2012. The guitar even sounds great unplugged (very resonate) .. Now it's probably the best Aussie Pub Rock guitar that I have.. I think that I have about 34 guitars all up now. So saying that says a lot imo.. P90's ROCK !!!!
I thought you were joking a bit about the yellow Jr's being brighter sounding then the red ones....That was until I watched Premere Guitar rig run down on the band Social Distortion which had both original models of the Juniors. The guitarist said the yellow ones were brighter than the red ones and the red ones were more suitable for rock n roll.
The Tone of that original '59 DC was incredible! Big, ballsy but smooth. Its weird but to my ears the reissue didn't have the same warmth or presence, the original gibson pickups had something magic about them
the magnets on the pickup affect the tone of the guitar. they pull a little bit when the string is vibrating. so a guitar with one pickup has nicer tone and killer sustain
I was just wondering if you guys ever had this thought as to why the Junior's sound ballsier then the Specials, seeing as the Junior's have just one P-90, then wouldn't the fact that there isn't a neck pickup's magnet there make it so the sound of the bridge pickup is a true sound of the guitar? like the magnet even when it isn't turned on still has a magnetic pull of the strings, so without it, I personally think it has a more true sense of what the P-90 sounds like. Hope it helps! Cheers! :D
Your show is great. Just found you when looking for comparisons between vintage LP Jr's and the Gibson historic re-issues. I've owned several. Would you consider doing a review of the super low price AXL Bulldog (Fralin dog-ear P-90, TonePros hardware, etc)? Keep on it guys!
It's nice that they've brought it back after taking it off the market. It would be nice to compare the 2015 to a vintage on of the same style (single cutaway). I don't know if Fender or Vox are good amps for an LPJ. They both favor the highs but Gibsons tend to go for a more midrange gutsier tone.
Some great playing and tones!! I'm wondering if the 55 has alnico 2 magnets and the 59 alnico 5 (from what I read, Gibson switched to the 5's in 57). The real vintage guitars in this video were clearly better than the reissues to me. Really thick, clear and biting tones. Thanks!!
Nice tones :) and a very nice true historic custom shop, but why did they not placed the vol and tone at the rigth place for those $3300, the original sits narroer to the scratshplate ;)
P 90 use 2 magnets under the pockup plate ,very little magnet pull! Big thing is they route through the slppir foot joint at neck,makes them weaker at headstock and different resonance!
i personally think juniors sound more ballsier than specials because there is no neck pickup rout. there is a strait wood path from the bridge pickup to the tip of the headstock. gives it its own unique "ballsy" sound.
I had a 1963 SG Junior when I was about 15. I had a brain storm (fart) and bought a Dimarzio humbucking P-90 and as payment, gave the original to the tech for installing it. That guitar went from great to paper weight in the blink of an eye.
I wonder if the Juniors sound hotter because they don't have the magnetic pull on the strings from a neck pickup? Great videos guys, really enjoy your youtube channel.
Les Paul Jr's are the best guitars ever made !!!! p90's rule !
I have a 1960 double cutaway that was my dad's and he gave it to me when he retired from playing in bands 30 years ago and I still have it and play it all the time. I run it through my Marshall JCM800 and that guitar is a BEAST! Simple, great tone and LOUD.
I’m a junior freak, own 3 myself (56, early 58 single cut, and custom shop tv).When I got the first I knew I wanted a 50’s jr and played about 40 before I found the “one.” It was refinished in the late 70’s, tuners replaced, and refretted twice and soon to be three. Def had thousands of hours on it before I came along, but man does it have a voice. If your the kind of player that uses the volume and tone knobs you don’t miss the neck pickup one bit, and I’m not a pedal guy either. From my experience if you grab a pile of random 50’s juniors (both single and double cut) the average double cut more than likely sounds better than the average single cut, but if you get the best single cutaway you can find vs the best double cutaway the single cutaway wins more often. I play mine with a fuzz face into a ‘71 50 watt marshall (the bass version) or a ‘69 marshall 2061 for smaller places. Sounds like the word of god. How do you like it into the 800? I never really loved 800s when I play them, but other people sound amazing with them. I always feel like for me personally there is a bottom end woof I can never dial out or ignore.
@Mark Wilson is my step dad's name, but I also have a USA Axl bulldog Jr and love it !
I also recently bought one of the new 2019-2020 Les Paul special double cut p90's cherry finish tribute myself for$460 brand new at guitar center and it's great ! Like a Les Paul special double cut meets PRS hard tail and it's almost beat my Juniors Gibson and Axl bulldog Jr. And it's beat my PRS custom 22 almost but the tremolo on PRS is outstanding !
I suggest if you can find one of these Gibson Les Paul special double cut T guitars for the price I got mine, get it !
Geoff here... I've been a P90 fan since my Guitar beginnings. I've tried a large variety of 90s... In an even larger number of environments. What I've learned about "tone"... The husk of the instrument has the greatest influence. One of my most favorite Jrs belongs to a dear friend... A quick over veiw... '58 Double cut, all original trons, the neck tenon is 3", 5lbs 3oz with perfect neck/body balance. The acoustic tone is bright & loud & you feel the husk as it resonates into your chest. The broadcast tone is "Special"! The original Dog ear 90 is 7.82 ohms. This Jr is where I learned about "henries" Ohm load may or may not effect "output". (output values are not measured by the "ohm load" of the winding's, "signal mass" is measured in "henries") There's a threshold to everything in life... Pickups are no different. Too much winding? not enough magnet pull? Bad combination! Reverse that, Too much magnet, too little winding? Another bad combo. Perfectly matched winding & magnet combinations, but too dense a potting wax? Again... Bad combo. Do ya think the "Re-issue" pickups are wax potted? Yep... They are... Think the old pickups were? Of coarse not... What a worthless practice "wax potting" is... If you build pickups & one turns out "micro-phonic". Take it apart, start over & increase the "drag tension" on the winding's... Back to the subject at hand... Frankly... Neither of the "re-issue" Juniors seemed to have a endearing quality to their tone. The "bloom" factor seems nonexistent. This is something I see every day. My player buds come to me with a new VOS instrument & think throwing a 10% "over-wound" Lollar pickup is going to cultivate a WoW factor... Sadly, it won't... So next they want a Bumble Bee cap... Still no WoW! Rid that plank of the 500K pots? This will help a bit. But still the WoW factor eludes the instrument. (I use 300K linear for volume & 250K audio tapper for tone on all single coil pickups) What next? Well... Dicky Betts told me over 45 years ago... "I only choose well balanced guitars that have a bright & present acoustic tone... I can always stick my pickups in it..." And that's where the truth lies... I had a '09 VOS single cut Junior on my work bench last week that weighed almost 9lbs... What a TERD! $2500.? Come-on... This is where I say... From my experience... Find a guitar you want to "sing along" with... We can stick any kind of pickup you want in it... But probably won't have to...
Johnny Thunders (RIP), Paul Westerberg, and Keith Richards some of my favorite LPJ players.
Those are some of the cleanest vintage Juniors I’ve ever see. Wow! Man, I want one so bad.
Thanks for uploading this video, as someone who has played for 20+ yrs. & never handled a vintage instrument I was pleasantly surprised that I preferred the single cut reissue.
Superb video, demonstration, and playing! I loved how all of these guitars sounded, and it goes to show, that, most of the time, it's the archer not the arrow.
Just discovered this show. These guys are amazing! The '57 VOS Junior is my favourite
thank you gentleman... love watching your reviews
I have a mighty need for a junior
Thanks for all the great vids guys Rod Davies
Thanks for this. I just pulled the trigger on a '57 R.I. Junior based on this video. Keep up the good work....
In response to Addy Adderson's question, we define "ballsy" in a guitar as having high output pickups like a LP Junior compared to a guitar with lower output like a Strat. We prefer the former to the latter but that's just us. D&P
the neck pickup exerts a magnetic pull on the strings even when not engaged, which is why some prefer single pups ala phil x :)
By that definition a 1959 Burst isn't ballsy because it was low output. What makes a guitar ballsy is mainly the tone quality. You can get dynamic range from a low output pickup. Same principle as phono cartridges. There are $5000 low output cartridges and $10 high output ones.
Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke. Best Jr. player with best tone. Check him out.
@@aCloudOfHaze magnets pulling on strings myth has been busted, doesnt effect it at all even with a super high powered magnet , but i think the added mass by not cutting out another cavity might have something to do with it.
Phil X once said that he only puts one pickup in a guitar because the neck pickup's magnets affect the vibration of the strings....after watching this video, I tend to agree. Maybe that's why the Jr. sounds so much ballsier that the others
Yeah, agreed. I didn't give it much thought til I messed with the pole pieces in the neck pickup on one of my guitars. Pretty strong magnets! I'd say it affects the strings quite a bit. I'd love an old Junior. I still like having two pickups, especially on my SE Semihollow, because I use the middle position for clean a lot, but yeah. Pros and cons. It all sounds mean. ~fin
@@MrDrewseph I seen a video where a guy puts one of those super powered magnets near the guitar strings , then strums it to measure the sustain and there wasnt even a difference. So I dont think the tiney magnets in pickups do anything. And if you think about it, thats a lot of energy to move a string thats at tension, even more energy would be required to stop a wobbling one. I think the added mass buy not cutting out another cavity could have something to do with it.
That's why, on my Fenders, I dunk the front pickup as close to the pickguard as possible.
Really impressed with how good that little Vox sounds!
Just a couple of cool old cats hanging out playing guitars, hope me and my friends get too just chill and play like this one day 👍
..Diggin on what you guys are doin...just happened to find ya on here...LPJ's are my go-to guitars these days..Props for the straight ahead attitude and humor...Gonna be rifling through all the vids soon !!..Rock on,guys !!!
The 57 Special is one of my favorite guitars on the planet. It sings and covers so many bases. It was a home run for Gibson.
Other "Junior" players...Mick Ralphs from Bad Co. and Mott The Hoople and Ariel Bender [Luther Grosvenor] from Spooky Tooth and Mott. I have even seen pictures of Pete Townsend playing a yellow double cutaway in 1967 as well as Adam Ant's guitar player using one to great effect at Live Aid. Great show guys !
+james McBride Steve Hunter is my favorite LP Jr player. Errrr......except for Leslie West, of course!
I got to see Steve and Dick play with Lou Reed on what became The Rock N Roll Animal Tour in 1974///Leslie play with West, Bruce and Laing in 1972...Ariel with Mott in 1974...and Mick Ralphs with Bad Co. in 1974....average ticket price $4.00....memories PRICELESS !!!!
james mcbride i bought a junior off Ian Hunter from mott the hoole $100 the biggest load of cheap crap i ever bought infact they never recorded with them. So i dont the big deal you see in them.
Can't forget Johnny Thunders RIP or Martin Barre. Aqualung was all Junior driven.
Much respect for the Mick Jones reference! Good on ya, Doug!
A Junior is definitely in my very-near future. Great guitars and video. Thanks.
I did my own Junior experiment. Here's how it went. I took a '57 with a single dog ear P-90. Recorded. Did the same with a custom shop reissue of the same. The latter sounded lousy. Then swapped the electronics and recorded again. Conclusion: The old growth wood won both times. Trees that took 200 years to grow just always and without exception sound better than trees that took 75 years to grow.
That 59' DC had me weeping listening to that tone! Awesome! I wish we had access to fintage guitars like that over here in Aus :( Another great vid guys!
Great stuff guys. I have a 2011 Gibson LPJ, and it is bad ass. I love the P90 pup too. Thanks for the review.
You guys rock! Really enjoy your show.
I had a 57 Junior, that I bought from George Gruhn for $350 in 1977. Just like the 55 you are playing. Balls Deluxe, but also hard to get around on. I eventually sold it and bought a Strat. Never really looked back.
right around the 6:00 mark i heard a little mississippi queen riff and it sounded just like the mountain version .love these jrs,ive had customs,studios in gibson form and briefly had an epiphone jr but it was nothing like these beauties.
awesome playing and tone by the way,keep it up.
Hi guys. I just found your videos. Great stuff. I'm playing a 2001 Les Paul Junior I'm borrowing from a friend. I love this guitar. I had a 1957 TV model back in 1977. Somehow I let it get away. I didn't know what I had back then.
This 2001 LPJ has the same kind of ballsy sound you're describing. I'm mostly a Fender player, Telecaster, but I'm really getting into this guitar and loving it..
Thanks for the video, it's great.
peace out...
Another great demo by you guys! I don't have any Juniors but, I do like them. I got a 98 Special SL with 490/498 humbuckers that are very well balanced, on a very loud electric. I also have a 2012 Junior Special that just sings with the combination of P90s and, a bright snappy sounding baked brown maple finger board. You got to love a Les Paul. I got three of them.
"When I talked to Orville....." Great stuff here guys!
Loving those P90s 😍 .. The punchy sound ... Righteous tone
I've just dropped a new Righteous Sound Pickup into a cheap jhs vintage lp junior copy. It sounded just like the red dc 59 you played. Thick, throaty and vowel tones all over it. Serious mids and perfectly authentic. I was stunned.
Pat's right-the yellow ones ARE brighter!!
Love those bass tones, they didn't half rattle my headphones!! Neat!
The junior my favorite guitar of all time !!! Sounds great !
I recently got a 2019 Gibby LP Junior. It’s just the regular USA line, but it’s a great guitar. The neck profile is perfect. Kind of in between a 58/59 carve.
The Vox sounds amazing or as Pat says about almost everything, it's a nice rig. Doug and Pat
Is the “ 57 TV Model your playing at the end comparing to the Special, an old one or a new Custom Shop one ?
Good pickin, good music conversation, cool show guys!
IMHO TV model, note the Vox helps. Interesting information about the pick ups too. Great job again. Thanks
Lovin the way you play these guitars! A lot of people feel its all in the hands and i think this is serious proof of that idea :)
Whats the reading of the 59 jnr p90? Mines 8.45k and sounds great!
It is a mid '60's AC10 Super Reverb Twin head running through a 2x12 cabinet with original 1965 12" alnico 15 watt Celestions also known as Bulldogs. The amp head is different than the combo amp of the same name and we talk about it a little more in the other shows.
I would like to hear these LP Juniors side by side with the SG Juniors. Any comments about the SG Junior?
insane playing!! love the vids
The absence of the additional coil. Even though to coil is not used the magnetics are still pulling on the strings.
Woof!!!
you guys kick ass!! thx for more awesomeness!
would have been interesting to add a modern "standard issue" junior/special as well as the historic
another great video. Thank you, guys. : )
Have you guys done a comparison of a Gibson Les Paul Special with P90's vs a 1956 Reissue Gibson Les Paul with P90's?
great job guys totally enjoyed that and man they were all nice axes but the gibson at the very end with twin pups man that tone very hot guitar now id like that in my collection.
The single pup version double cut has a big neck tenon into the body, the special has a lot of wood removed there. That transfer through all that mahogany might do it. The JR's with the simple stop bridge plus a hot wound P90 spell BALLS! I like your playing too, it has feeling!
I'd say the neck joint is a big factor o the juniors
since there's no neck pickup, and the bridge pickup is not in the guitar, there's more wood too
The absence of a pickup rout near the neck joint might have something to do with it, but I suspect that the dogear mount does play a role in the transfer of vibrations to the pickup. Also dogears tend to be up pretty high. I would check the pickup height on the soapbar.
Do you guys know what vol and tone pots it is in Junior 50 and 60 org? is it A500 in volume and B500 in ton or what?
Pat ,You Have a Wonderful Guitar collection my Friend
Is that Marshall in the back (11:08) an old 2061 or a 2061 PA?
Love Doug´s playing...4:20 and 7:10 are some cool ways of fusing baroque-ish licks and wonderful blues rock lead lines. Great job as always!
Thanks, I sit corrected ! I don't know much about Vox amps. I enjoy your esoteric demos ! Awesome gear we just don't hear every day !
I saw Leslie West back in the day, he really had a great tone with that early junior.
Hi guys.That last p90 dog ear junior sounded incredible.My pick for sound and looks👌🏼
We record with no compression, no EQ, no reverb into Pro Tools with an AT 4040 because it gives us the closest sound on play back as to what we hear in the room while we're recording. The compression comes from the amp which those Juniors make them amps do unless you play them clean which we don't. D & P
awesome you're liking the keith urban tone too! That 57 he has sounds killer
I just bought an epi junior and that sucker is loud and rich and loud and beautiful and did I mention loud? These guitars are the best. I only paid 80 bucks too! 80
freaking dollars!
I like my Junior better than my Standard. Both the sound and the feel. I think it is the wraparound bridge that does it for me.
neck pick up places some pull on the strings even when not on so this will quite the special a little when compared to the single p-up Jr. giving it more balls... Nice vid!
Id take that Special and switch the neck and bridge pups around. You definitely want the 8.9 in the bridge. Maybe it was a mistake in the assembly.
Sounds really great guys
The '57 Junior had a lot more clarity/top end than the Special in the comparison at the end of the video, which is kind of counter to what I would have thought given that the bridge pickup is lower output on the Special. So...we may be back to the original theory of the two pickups having more pull on the strings and messing things up. I would have to say that the addition of a toggle switch and double the pots and wiring on the Special is probably causing a LOT of what we're hearing. If you have ever disconnected the tone pot on a guitar you see how much it affects the tone.
Which is entirely because of the wind and the magnets.
We love that guitar, it's a nice rig. Doug and Pat
I’ve just ordered an Epiphone Les Paul Junior inspired Gibson 2020, I can’t wait to get my guitar 🎸 plugged in 🤘
I've heard that the beauty of a single pick up guitar as compared to a two or three pickup guitar is that the strings on a single pick up guitar are not impacted by the magnetic field (pull) that the additional pickups put on the strings. So in theory the tone is purely the one pick up interacting with the strings. Maybe that is why the juniors sound so amazing.
Love it... great job guys!
Oh didn't mention nice review of the guitars very informative and nice tones you get to really show why these guitars are special.you showed why these are great rock guitars.others channels guys talk and act silly while never getting a great tone.keep up good work its appreciated
hey which vox amp did u guyz use to demonstrate those awesome guitar
Don't forget Mike McCready of Pearl Jam. I saw them in a baseball stadium last summer. I was literally two rows from the top of the stadium. Mike's tone was amazing. Played a couple of juniors that night.
Leslie West used to go into pawn shops and buy juniors for almost nothing.
Since there is no neck pickup in the Junior, there is no additional magnetic field to tug on strings. Some say 1 pickup = more sustain. I think it's true... Juniors always sound better than the equivalent Special to my ears:)
magnets pulling on strings myth has been busted, doesnt effect it at all even with a super high powered magnet , but i think the added mass by not cutting out another cavity might have something to do with sustain for sure.
Which p90 do you feel comes closest to a vintage (54-58) p90? 59 double cuts increased the output right?
To me, in these monitors I'm listening to this in, it sounds like the Jr has a bit more midrange bite. I wonder if the difference has to do with the mounting difference, or perhaps the magnetic field from the neck pickup dampening the strings a touch, or some mechanical thing like that.
I put a P90 into a 2011 Gibson Flying V Melody Maker that I bought new in 2012. The guitar even sounds great unplugged (very resonate) ..
Now it's probably the best Aussie Pub Rock guitar that I have.. I think that I have about 34 guitars all up now. So saying that says a lot imo..
P90's ROCK !!!!
I thought you were joking a bit about the yellow Jr's being brighter sounding then the red ones....That was until I watched
Premere Guitar rig run down on the band Social Distortion which had both original models of the Juniors. The guitarist said the yellow ones were brighter than the red ones and the red ones were more suitable for rock n roll.
The Tone of that original '59 DC was incredible! Big, ballsy but smooth. Its weird but to my ears the reissue didn't have the same warmth or presence, the original gibson pickups had something magic about them
Jr 😎
🍺👕👍
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How much is a Les Paul Junior from 1959 double cutaway cherry pristine worth today?
the magnets on the pickup affect the tone of the guitar. they pull a little bit when the string is vibrating. so a guitar with one pickup has nicer tone and killer sustain
I was just wondering if you guys ever had this thought as to why the Junior's sound ballsier then the Specials, seeing as the Junior's have just one P-90, then wouldn't the fact that there isn't a neck pickup's magnet there make it so the sound of the bridge pickup is a true sound of the guitar? like the magnet even when it isn't turned on still has a magnetic pull of the strings, so without it, I personally think it has a more true sense of what the P-90 sounds like. Hope it helps! Cheers! :D
Your show is great. Just found you when looking for comparisons between vintage LP Jr's and the Gibson historic re-issues. I've owned several. Would you consider doing a review of the super low price AXL Bulldog (Fralin dog-ear P-90, TonePros hardware, etc)? Keep on it guys!
It's nice that they've brought it back after taking it off the market. It would be nice to compare the 2015 to a vintage on of the same style (single cutaway). I don't know if Fender or Vox are good amps for an LPJ. They both favor the highs but Gibsons tend to go for a more midrange gutsier tone.
I love these guys !
fantastic videos! Keep it going!
Some great playing and tones!! I'm wondering if the 55 has alnico 2 magnets and the 59 alnico 5 (from what I read, Gibson switched to the 5's in 57). The real vintage guitars in this video were clearly better than the reissues to me. Really thick, clear and biting tones. Thanks!!
Lack of neck pickup on Junior equal less magnetic pull on strings equal different tone ?
Love you guys!
I have been playing mine through a Fractal, almost forgot what 60 cycle hum sounds like...
Im choosing between a 2010 les paul jr and a LPJ... are the 2010 models any good?? i heard that they're inferior to the 2001 version..
I Actually Owned A 58 Model Double Cut In TV Yellow. Man I Wish I Had That Thing Back !!!!! Te P 90 Pick-up Has The Best Tone Ever.
Nice tones :) and a very nice true historic custom shop, but why did they not placed the vol and tone at the rigth place for those $3300, the original sits narroer to the scratshplate ;)
Just saw koonce live in Hillsboro oregon tonight with that same guitar of his. It's sounded killer!
P 90 use 2 magnets under the pockup plate ,very little magnet pull! Big thing is they route through the slppir foot joint at neck,makes them weaker at headstock and different resonance!
i personally think juniors sound more ballsier than specials because there is no neck pickup rout. there is a strait wood path from the bridge pickup to the tip of the headstock. gives it its own unique "ballsy" sound.
I had a 1963 SG Junior when I was about 15. I had a brain storm (fart) and bought a Dimarzio humbucking P-90 and as payment, gave the original to the tech for installing it. That guitar went from great to paper weight in the blink of an eye.
Ouch, we've all been there...
I wonder if the Juniors sound hotter because they don't have the magnetic pull on the strings from a neck pickup?
Great videos guys, really enjoy your youtube channel.