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Charlie Starr on What Makes a Great Les Paul

charlie starr

Rhett and Zach go granular with Blackberry Smoke leader Charlie Starr on the elements—both real and imagined—that make certain Gibsons stand out from their peers.


In the annals of Gibson Les Paul players, Charlie Starr is an under-the-radar aficionado. Starr’s stable over the course of his career with southern-rock group Blackberry Smoke has been stocked with some of the sharpest old-school LPs on earth, and he’s got a particular predilection for Juniors.

But what sets one Paul apart from another? Starr, Rhett, and Zach go down every rabbithole in their hunt to nail down what makes a particular Gibson great, including misconceptions around P-90s and their relationship to PAFs, Juniors versus Standards, and whether wood and total construction have a big impact on tone. Some players argue that the sound is all in the pickups; tune in to learn why the trio thinks that theory is bunk, right down to the last, least consequential cap.

Plus, find out when Starr thinks Gibson perfected the Les Paul’s neck shape and bridge positioning, how top-wrapping impacts your sound, and a foolproof way to I.D. a legit, vintage PAF. (If it’s original, it’s gonna stink.)

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Balance: producer, hip-hop artist, movie sound designer, modular synth player, and member of Jogja Hip Hop Foundation.

While the pedal builders at Sehat Effectors are in the game for their love of the 6-string, they’ve since begun exploring what effects pedals mean to other kinds of instrumentalists.

This time, I’d like to share my perspective as a pedal builder on how our effects pedals—originally crafted with guitarists in mind—are experiencing an exciting evolution in use. Our customer base spans around the globe, and as it turns out, many of them aren’t guitarists. Instead, our pedals are finding their way into the hands of non-guitarist musicians like DJs, synth players, movie sound directors, and even drummers. Yes, a drummer once used one of my fuzz pedals in a drum miking setup—quite an extreme yet bold experiment! This made me wonder: How did such a phenomenon come about?

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The P-90 Sound: Vintage Meets Modern with Reverend and Rock N Roll Relics
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PG contributor Tom Butwin dives into the magic of P90 pickups with three killer guitars: the Reverend Jetstream 390, Rock & Roll Relics Starfighter, and Reverend Contender 290. From vintage vibes to modern upgrades, explore the tones that make the P90 unique!
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Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small has been a lifetime devotee and thrash-metal expert, so we invited him to help us break down what makes Slayer so great.

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