Gibson 1960 Les Paul 0 8145 is from the final year of the model’s original-production era, and likely from one of the later runs.
These days it’s difficult to imagine any vintage Gibson Les Paul being a tough sell, but there was a time when 1960 ’bursts were considered less desirable than the ’58s and ’59s of legend—even though Clapton played a ’60 cherry sunburst in his Bluesbreakers days. Such was the case in the mid 1990s, when the family of a local musician who was the original owner of one of these guitars walked into Rumble Seat Music’s original Ithaca, New York, store with this column’s featured instrument.
Les Paul 0 8145 is a typical 1960 ’burst in most ways. A vibrant cherry color is prominent in the finish—which is a result of a change in dyes Gibson made when owners complained of their new ’58 and ’59 model guitars fading in ultraviolet light—and the neck is thinner than the late-’50s models, similar to what you’d find on the SG-body-style guitars that debuted not long after this 6-string left Kalamazoo.
This close-up of the guitar’s body shows it in excellent condition, and the sound generated by its humbuckers is terrific.
The maple top is hardly the most figured, yet neither is it plain. But one thing certainly jumps out on this guitar: The original owner applied a name plate on the top for all the world to know it belonged to “Johnny B”! Perhaps for this reason, or perhaps because Rumble Seat was never short on amazing guitars on display to compete for attention, the guitar we named Johnny B. hung on the wall for close to eight months.
Eliot Michael, Rumble Seat’s owner, insisted that what Johnny B. lacked in flame was made up for in spades via its monstrous sound. The two original PAF humbuckers are incredible. It’s now common knowledge that many of the best sounding ’bursts do come from the later run in 1960, but it took some convincing for one of my friends and good customers to finally plug Johnny B. in to hear it for himself. Upon doing so, he immediately declared it “the best sounding guitar I’ve ever heard.” And Johnny B. left the shop for a new home.
The back of the guitar also shows TLC—as well as its classic mahogany wood grain.
As tends to happen, the guitar eventually found its way back to Rumble Seat Music, after we moved the store to Nashville, Tennessee. Another friend and customer agreed with that assessment of its sound. His name is Joe Bonamassa. Johnny B. went to live with Joe B., where it took on a new chapter of life on the road and in the studio for several years.
Joe wielded this truly exceptional-sounding guitar in many shows across the U.S. You may have seen it onstage. While some Les Pauls are known for their sweet sound, Johnny B. wants to rock. This is one of the most aggressive, raunchy, and downright rude-sounding Les Paul Standards out there, which seems appropriate for an instrument sharing a name with a Chuck Berry song. It doesn’t get much more rock ’n’ roll than that!
As I mentioned earlier, guitars we sell have a habit of finding their way back to our store, and so it goes with Johnny B.–now returned to our walls after some serious adventures. Typically, good condition 1960 Les Pauls carry tags in six figures, and this one is no exception at $278,000. That’s within the same current range for ’58s and ’59s, since players and collectors have gotten hip to the virtues of 1960 models. And although it was initially overlooked, Johnny B. has earned its place as one of the most recognizable ’bursts around.
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Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
In general, it’s possible to use the Varitone/Tone Expressor system in any electric guitar as long as you have enough space to squeeze all the stuff into it. You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best. It’s also possible to use it the other way around and thicken up single-coil pickups instead of slenderizing humbucker tones, and in a future column I’ll talk about what I like to call the “reverse Varitone” system.
For a good and simple overview about all the details from last month, I decided to use a technical drawing to show the isolated Varitone system, so it’s easy for you to identify the individual parts:
Diagram courtesy of SINGLECOIL
This is the basic structure of the Gibson Varitone system with the original values Gibson used. The inductor is a 1.5 H choke. The Epiphone Tone Expressor system is identical but uses a 15 H choke as an inductor. There is a second version of the Tone Expressor system found on the Al Caiola model using the same structure but with different values for the parts. I think this was because different pickups were used, so here are the values for the version of the system in the Al Caiola guitar:
• 15 H choke as an inductor instead of 1.5 H
• Replace the single 100k resistor with a 33k resistor
• .0033 µF cap is used instead of the .001
• .01 µF cap is used instead of the .0033
• .022 µF cap is used instead of the .01
• .047 µF cap is used instead of the .03
• .1 cap µF is used instead of the .22
For best results, use the original Gibson Varitone values along with PAF-style humbuckers—the second version will work best with mini-humbuckers or similar pickups. Depending on the pickups you use, you can experiment and make your own custom version out of it.
“You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best.”
The differences are:
• Using a 15 H instead of the 1.5 H inductor will shift the notches of the filters created by the Tone Expressor system down approximately a fifth for a fuller and fatter tone. Because it is possible to combine several caps with this wiring, choosing a 15 H inductor was also a clever move to keep the tone clearer and more present. You can experiment with this, too. A choke with something between 7 and 10 H will be in the middle of both versions.
• Using a 33k instead of the 100k coupling resistor fits pickups with a lower output like the mini-humbucker perfectly, while the 100k is great for pickups with more output like a PAF.
• The different cap values also correspond to the combination of different pickups and chokes, e.g., for a twangy, Telecaster-type tone, you need a 0.22 µF cap along with a PAF humbucker, while a 0.1 µF cap will do the same along with a mini-humbucker.
So, here we go with the Al Caiola wiring, starting with how it looks in the original guitars from the ’60s. You can clearly see the big, silver-cased choke on top of the electronics as well as the caps, resistors, and the individual switches.
Photo courtesy of Bonfires Vintage
And here is the drawing of the Tone Expressor system I made for you:
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
All switches are DPDT switches, the tone and volume pots are both 500k audio, and the tone cap is 0.022 µF. A is the coupling resistor (33k or 100k), B is the five 10M ohm pulldown-resistors (one on each switch), which prevent popping noises when engaging a switch, and C is an additional 33k decoupling resistor on each switch that is necessary to decouple the switches from each other when you want to combine their settings. You don’t need that on the Varitone because you can’t combine several caps with the rotary switch.
Besides experimenting with the parameters of the choke, the caps, and the coupling resistor, you can enhance your tonal palette quick and easy by using a pickup selector switch that can engage both pickups together.
In closing, here is a scaled-down version of this wiring, in case you don’t want to use a choke or can’t find one.
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
As you can see, the coupling resistor (A) and the decoupling resistors (C) are removed. That’s because in the system with the choke (second order filter system), these are necessary, but without a choke, they’re not.
That’s it. Since we are still in the year of the Strat, next month we will have a look into the Fender Cory Wong Stratocaster, so stay tuned!
Until then, keep on modding!