Gibson Les Paul and the G-string problem

    The flosser idea is awesome. I was just changing strings yesterday and since my mind was on the nut and bridge I was wondering what the best way would be to clean them. Perfect!

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Hey, i own a bunch of les pauls, i have encountered this problem a bunch of times and finally figured out how to fix it.

    Get some 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper. the next time you change your strings gently run the 1k then 2k paper through the slot until it feels smoth, make sure you get the top and bottom edge... from a string perspective its just where the string lays on the nut itself.. I bought a jewelers loop and use it to check out the slots on guitars i buy, the slots are sometimes sloppy. Get a magnifying glass or something and check it out, dont spend money on string managers or any of that nonsense. That less paul nut is fine it just needs a bit of love and attention. 99.9999% of tuning problems on les ppauls is just the nut. I usually get a bone nut installed right away except on the 58's i have, i leave those as is.

    After 1 1/2 years of struggle and 3 different techs in I sold my LP because it just wasn't staying in tune like my other guitars.

    I don't know how bad my problem was in comparison to the normal LP.

    I still miss it sometimes because the sound was something special. But it just wasn't working for me as a gigging musician.

    I wondered about returning it in the first few weeks but I thought I could get it to work better and I was still in the honeymoon phase with the sound.

    It was a 2014 LP studio Pro btw.


    Maybe later in life I'll play another LP and keep it. It is just something totally different in a sound perspective. But also the weight, the shorter scale length and the poor upper fret access just make you play it differntly. At least for me.


    In summary I don't know what you should do. Just sharing some of my personal experience.

    Hope you sort your problem out. ;)

    Only thing that worked for me on my high end LP.


    1) i put the earvana nut on there (and used lube when putting new strings on

    2 I installed the string butler.


    That corrects the angle on the strings.

    Search

    earvana nut

    string butler


    They tested the string Butler. It works check the videos on YT.

    Thanks to MuddySludge

    who showed me this...because as of NOW...

    it fixed my prob.


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

    Like 3
    Quote from ashtweth

    They tested the string Butler. It works check the videos on YT.

    That's a very clever piece of engineering and looks nicely done.


    I have an 83 G&L Strat that came with a Kahler locking system, which has rollers on the bridge (Floyd Rose may also do this but I've never owned one). Having the circular guides makes a lot of sense as there has to be tension somewhere to correct the angle before the nut.


    My go to humbucker is a PRS, which doesn't have the extreme string angles, but I just bought a Les Paul a couple of weeks ago. I already have the Nut Sauce, but if it begins exhibiting problems I may well consider one of these.


    Many thanks to you and @MuddySludge for the tip!

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Like 2

    Guys, thanks so far for all the advice and opinions! Just to give you a quick update: Thomann offered to adjust the nut and 80 Euro discount for the scratch on the binding. Even though the offer is fair, 80 Euro won't make me a rich man and so I decided to send the guitar back and get a new one. Let's see if it's in better condition. I hope for the best as I really like my LP. It just makes me play better, at least this is my impression.

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

    Like 2
    Quote from Kempermaniac

    I hope for the best as I really like my LP. It just makes me play better, at least this is my impression.

    Many people coming from longer scale Fender guitars to a Gibson scale fell to this illusion. :)

    I own both, and I must say I achieve my best tones with longer scale guitars.

    It is true though that you struggle a bit more.

    Otherwise the decision to send the guitar back was right.

    I'd expect a flawless guitar when I buy a Gibson.

    Quote from Ingolf

    Many people coming from longer scale Fender guitars to a Gibson scale fell to this illusion. :)

    I own both, and I must say I achieve my best tones with longer scale guitars.

    It is true though that you struggle a bit more.

    Otherwise the decision to send the guitar back was right.

    I'd expect a flawless guitar when I buy a Gibson.

    I had to ease into a Les Paul. Played Strats for ages, then a couple of years ago got a PRS. Has the fat Les Paul sound, but still some "twank." Just recently bought a Les Paul, and the differences between it and the PRS are subtle, but certainly less twank.


    I'm still trying to find an instrument that makes me play better. Everyone keeps insisting that I should just practice, but I'm sure there must be a better way. :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Like 3

    I currently own 50+ Les Pauls and have never had any tuning issues with any of them... not a single one. IMHO if they are set up properly they will work as advertised.

    The older I get, the better I was.

    Like 1
    Quote from Ingolf

    Many people coming from longer scale Fender guitars to a Gibson scale fell to this illusion. :)

    I own both, and I must say I achieve my best tones with longer scale guitars.

    Well, it maybe is an illusion. When I started playing guitar in 1983 Gibson guitars were known for chunky, wide necks. That's why I thought, ok I have small hands and short fingers...let's play strat-type guitars. And I never questioned this again, even though I was always yearning for a Les Paul.

    About 2 years ago my girlfriend started playing classical guitar (in the meantime she quit playing) and bought a guitar with the typical 52mm wide neck (at the nut). Because I always wanted a good classical guitar too I bought one as well. Of course I tested a few before buying. Because I still had my small hands and short fingers in mind I started with a 48mm wide neck and began to slightly realize that this is maybe too narrow for me. You have to fret more accurately on a classical guitar and that's the point where string spacing gets more important. I ended up with a 50mm wide neck.


    Then I saw this 2019 Les Paul Gold Top and fell in love. It has a 43mm wide neck, my main guitar (Music Man Luke II) has a 41,3mm wide neck. When I first played the Gold Top it felt like home and I thought that I played the wrong guitars for more than 30 years. The shorter scale and the wider neck just seems to fit me.


    I hope the story is not too boring because it goes on: Before buying the Les Paul I slightly adjusted my way of picking. It made the hell of a difference for me. When playing the Les Paul I was under the impression that this positive difference is even stronger.


    As you now know I did send the Les Paul back to get a new one. And I was "forced" to play the Luke again (btw it was perfectly in tune even though it was untouched for several days and there is no constant temperature in my room ). I picked it up and suddenly felt no difference regarding playing comfort. This brought me to the conclusion that by adjusting my way of picking I simply took the next step in playing guitar. That's why the really good guitarists on God's earth (not me!) can pick up any guitar and will sound good. They have the technique, they have the experience, they have the knowledge and that's enough for sounding good on any guitar.


    I guess the point is that playing guitar is a constant flow of insight. It never ends. One time you think a wider neck is better and the next time you realize that all the specs don't matter that much. What really matters is insight and adapting it to your playing.

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

    Like 1
    Quote from Kempermaniac

    When I started playing guitar in 1983 Gibson guitars were known for chunky, wide necks.

    I came up on Strats for a variety of reasons, and while my hands aren't that small there's no guitar neck on Earth that feels as good to me as a Strat. I actively avoided Les Pauls for most of my life. First, they used to weigh a ton, and I jump around a lot. And back in the broke musician days, I could buy three Strats for the cost of one Les Paul, and I could only afford one Strat. But Gibson necks used to be, as you say, chunky. I like that in a candy bar. Guitars, not so much.


    The Les Paul I bought last month is a 2011 Classic 1960 reissue. I don't know much about the various incarnations, but the first thing that jumped out at me when I played it was the neck. Much, much thinner than the other stuff I've played over the years. My guitar guy said something about, "yada, yada... neck profiles... 1960s... yada, yada" or perhaps something slightly more accurate than that. I don't know if the different feel of the neck is related to how they were made in the 60s or it's some other design era, but it's the first time one has ever felt good in my hands.


    Fortunately the cheesy "1960" stamped pick guard was cracked, giving me a good excuse to replace it with a normal one. I actually like the look of it better without the pick guard on it, but the little screw hole on the front of the guitar disturbs my delicate, OCD-enabled balance, so a pick guard it is.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Thanks for the detailed post, interesting read. :)

    The only thing I was wondering … you talk about more than 30 years of guitar playing and back then there wasn't much weight relief in Les Pauls. Since you don't mention the weight of the Les Paul at all, I'm pretty sure it has considerable amount of weight relief. Because a massive Les Paul vs. a Music Man Luke II would be something you would notice a lot. :D Massive Les Pauls can come in at 50% more weight than the Luke. Maybe back in the day this added to your uncomfortable feel about Les Pauls?

    Yeah, the LP is a lot heavier than the Luke. The thing is that you get different specs about the LP's body on the internet. Some say it's weight reliefed some say it is massive mahagony. My feeling is that it's massive. As I'm only a bedroom player at the moment a guitar's weight is not so important to me. Plus I own a really wide and expensive strap. What I found out in general is that you can compensate the guitar's weight a little by varying the positions when it hangs over your shoulder. Best position for me is: neck up, body down. But still im varying the positions while playing when staying/walking. I need to because of my small hands and short fingers. One part plays better in this position, the next part in a different position.


    But to answer your question: I never had an uncomfortable feel about Les Pauls because I simply didn't play one. Back in the old days it was just a decision based on my (now proven wrong) thinking.

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

    Like 1