The "Billy Hell" Les Paul - a custom Gibson

Well it was a pretty long journey to this guitar. It all started because of a single P90 pickup. That sparked a guitar build project that took on a life of it's own. Here is a journal of how this guitar was conceived and created:

01-27-2012 06:24 PM
1 LP Body, 3 P90s and a Bigsby

So here is what I'm thinking:
Black Les Paul style body
3 P90s - GFS Mean 90
6 way switch or 3 volume knobs and 1 tone or push pulls
B70 or B7 Bigsby
All chrome hardware (not gold)
Chrome knobs
Chrome trim rings
Chrome locking tuners
GFS roller bridge
I'm basically going to pull everything off and rewire/rebuild the whole thing.

01-29-2012 11:23 AM
Here are some Photoshopped mockups I have made:

The "Black Chromey" with humbuckers

The Gold Top Humbuggy option:

Flat Black

Flat Black w/Pinstripes


02-10-2012 12:33 AM
I have decided the Gibson '60's Tribute had everything I want - flat laquer black paint, chambered body, routed for two P90s, perfect candidate for a Bigsby and Vibramate and it's a real Les Paul! I purchased one site unseen from a shop off the web and I'm hoping for the best!

03-04-2012 03:00 PM
So The Bigsby is done.
I ebonzied the neck to get it closer to the black body.
I ground down a mexican peso until it was thin enough to work as a poker chip.
Next week I'm supposed to get my dogear routes. I may go soapbar is the dog ears are going to be a pain to adjust but I love the look of dogears.
Some photos (the peso pic is before i dyed the neck)....

Pained the Bigsby red:


My mock up with dogears:


After I ebonized the fret board to get the neck to be as black as the body:


My Peso poker chip. This was a coin my Dad brought back from one of his many Mexico trips:

[hr]
Also - I was wanting some silver/chrome for the poker chip and could not see paying someone $15 for a chrome washer. After I had the peso idea I was on ebay and it hit me that after my Dad died I found a bag of coins in his closet. I dug it out and found a nice peso in there. So now there is part of my Dad in the guitar. Nice.

03-05-2012 10:49 AM
Pickups
I'm pretty firm on going with the VintageVibe P90s set of three. I like the whole magnet concept:


03-07-2012 02:18 PM
Routing the LP
Where it's at! So I dropped her off at Glasers today. 3 soapbars coming up. About to order the Vintagevibeguitars p90s.

I just got back from Glasers Instruments - the best luthiers in Nashville! They said it would be 2 weeks but it was only one day. The only thing left is for my VintageVibe Guitars P90s to show up. I'm going to bolt on the Bigsby and start the wiring this weekend.

03-09-2012 12:55 PM
Nick from Glasers did the routing:


The LP with the P90 covers slid in. I had to route the existing holes corner radius for the non Gibson P90s to fit:


There is no sign for Glasers but the mailbox gave them away:

Wiring (Les Paul, 3 P90s, 6 way rotary switch from Stewmac, push pull pots:
So Deaf Eddie came through again! I know I like P90s but I have never had 3 to play with before. Deaf Eddie hooked me up again! Go check out his site. Here is the schematic:



and here is what it does ala Deaf Eddie:
PULL the bridge volume, and it puts the bridge pup out of phase. This will affect throws 2, 3, & 4, you can make them spikey and/or sweet, but also nasally and thin, DEPENDING on how you balance the volume of the bridge pup with the other volumes. Lots of tonal variations here from working the volume knobs.

PULL the tone control, and it puts the bridge pup in series with the neck pup. This is a "brute force" tone (usually). This will affect throws 1 and 2, and the series combo should be BIG and FAT, and probably a tad louder - some players think they hear a little high-end rolloff, but it's just the bass coming on gangbusters. A side effect of series combos is that the bridge pup will "disappear" from throws 3 and 4, as it is shunted by the presence of the neck pup.

PULL BOTH, and the bridge is in series/out of phase with the neck pup. On almost all the axes I have - single coil or humbucker - throw 1 will be a stinging solo voice, and I like it a lot. Sounds best with some overdrive/crunch. Throw 2 will be a tad mellower, and the other four throws will again be missing the bridge pup.

The red chicken head will point down at the neck pickup. With this wiring here is how that works ala Deaf Eddie:
"the sweep is all on the "neck" side of the arc, with "up" as the neck and go clockwise "down" as the bridge"

03-10-2012 10:48 AM
I put the Bigsby on and the knobs just to see how she looked. I think the Bigsby bar looks better than the Chet bar but I have found a Bigsby with Chet bar is a lot more controllable for me. It comes close to Strat trem with the Chet bar. The Chat bar also stays in the perfect place for me. I don't have to go hunting for it when I need it.


03-15-2012 10:02 AM
1. She looks killer!
2. For the first time ever I got the wiring right on my first try! (I had one ground that popped off but after a resolder all was good!)
3. Where the Gibson P90s were like, "that sounds pretty good!", the VintageVibeGuitars.com P90s were like, "WOW!"
4. I got to play it for a while with some throw away strings and now it's off to my friend and luthier JFK at Virginias Music Center. He is going to make sure the frets are good and round them off, do a setup and make her right.
5. I'm going with .10s

I should have her back tonight!

Changes - The volumes are dependent so I think I will rewire it to be independent this weekend.

To do:
If I can bring myself to do it it still needs to be pinstriped but man it's looking good the way it is!

(She isn't fully put back together in this photo but she is fully functional!)


03-25-2012 12:41 AM
She is finished just in time for guitar night. The only thing left are the pinstripes and I'm going to have to warm into that idea. I like so much right now I don't think I can stripe it just yet!


It was passed around quite a bit at my guitar pull last night and even the guys that didn't want to like it ended up playing it for a long time. The chambered body of the '60's Tribute seems to really add to the tonal characteristic of the guitar. You can almost get an acoustic sound out of it but it will also get severely gnarly as well. I was afraid after all the thought, time and money I put in the guitar I might end up not liking it but man do I love it. The action is also great - super fast. The B70 with Chat bar is also very smooth and responsive. And totally by accident the balance is perfect. I don't know the actual weight but after adding the extra p90 and Bigsby it is still lighter than my Epiphone Pro FX but now feels substantial like an LP should. My luthier commented that the combo of the chambered body and the Bigsby somehow really opened up the sound. Audio clips soon but today I have to do my first mow of the season!

One last song...

So my wife's Dad was running around back in the 60s with a guitar and head full of songs. In the late 90's he would visit us in Nashville and hang with our song writer/guitar picking friends. Nashville can be a hard place to hold your ground in that world sometimes but he always fit right in. He did this great version of St. James Infirmary Blues. After he passed away last year I really wanted to learn it. This weekend I was working on it and then remembered I had a recording of him singing and playing it. I ran his version through the PA and started playing behind the song on my Les Paul. After a few notes I got the chills. Then I realized I had to record it. It was like playing guitar with him again.
This is for Ang and her Dad...

A Bigsby of a Different Color

So I'm in the middle of my Les Paul '60s Tribute build. I have gutted the guitar and I'm working on what I want to do to her. Since the LP is flat black I have to work some red in there. Today I took on the project of painting the black part of a Bigsby B7 red. Good news, it looks just as badass as it it sounds!!!

Here is what I did:
First I tried to do it with One Shot enamel and my squirrel hair pinstriping brush. That did not work. I found a can of red spray craft paint that worked with metal and applied light coats.

Then I hit it with my head gun and sprayed it again. I put on four coats. My Bigsby cut out left a lot of black around he letters so I shot some of the spray paint into a plastic cup and then got my pinstriping brush out and painted around the Bigsby logo until it was pretty perfect. I'm excited that it came out so nice.
Pinsriping the guitar is in the works. I have a guy I use that has been striping since the late 50's and is probably around 80 now. If I get it all together and I love it then it will get the red and white pinstripes.

Captain Beefheart's Ten Commandments For Guitarists

Captain Beefheart's Ten Commandments For Guitarists:

1. LISTEN TO THE BIRDS That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.


2. YOUR GUITAR IS NOT REALLY A GUITAR Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.


3. PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A BUSH Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread.


4. WALK WITH THE DEVIL Old delta blues players referred to amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts demons and devils. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.


5. IF YOU'RE GUILTY OF THINKING, YOU'RE OUT If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.


6. NEVER POINT YOUR GUITAR AT ANYONE Your instrument has more power than lightning. Just hit a big chord, then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.


7. ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CHURCH KEY You must carry your key and use it when called upon. That's your part of the bargain. Like One String Sam. He was a Detroit street musician in the fifties who played a homemade instrument. His song "I Need A Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another church key holder is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty making you want to look up her dress to see how he's doing it.


8. DON'T WIPE THE SWEAT OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.


9. KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN A DARK PLACE When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure to put a saucer of water in with it.


10. YOU GOTTA HAVE A HOOD FOR YOUR ENGINE Wear a hat when you play and keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a wet paper towel around it to make it grow.

By Don Van Filet/Capt. Beefheart

Two New Songs - "Apache" and "Sloe Gin Blues"

I have a thing for surfy, spaghetti type guitar playing. Maybe it was my western fixation as a kid in Texas. My Gretsch was built to sound nice and twangy for that very reason. So in the spirit of that I did my version of Link Wray's Apache. Who is Link Wray? Why he's just the guy that invented the fuzz/distortion sound and the barre chord. I think of Link as a big old cinder block in the foundation of rock. I also have a nice dirty Texas blues song call "Sloe Gin Blues". Please play them, download them and enjoy them. If you like them please sign up as a fan so you can see what else blows out of my head and on to the strings!

LINK TO BILLY HELL MUSIC:
http://www.reverbnation.com/billyhell

LINK TO "APACHE":
http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_6601717

LINK TO "SLOE GIN BLUES":
http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_6451515

Jimmy Page Wiring for my Les Paul

If the question is, "Billy will you try to do as many things as possible to one guitar as you can?" then the answer would have to be Hell yes. I can't really stop myself and I enjoy it so why should I? When looking for wiring schemes for my Les Paul Plustop Pro/FX I found out that the Jimmy Page wiring scheme is the most complicated and that was all it took. While rewiring a guitar can seem intimidating it really isn't. It's just a bunch of wires and all you have to do is make them look like the wires in the picture. Sure you need to know how to solder but that isn't very hard either. Making your wiring look pretty...now that is hard, and while I have done it a few times usually it looks more like multicolored spaghetti and I'm fine with that as long as my guitar works when I'm done. After my initial attempt I decided the tone knob wasn't working for my Pearly Gates Neck pickup. I took a look and realized I had left out the Russian oil and paper tone capacitor. I popped that on and BAM! All was well. The only issue I'm having now is I don't seem to have control of both volumes when I have both pickups running at once. I'm going to dive back in and see which wires might crossed. Other than that I'm really digging the Jimmy Page wiring. there are tons of tonal options (22) and while tonal options can lead to you doing nothing but fiddling with your knobs I still think more options are better than less.

A big thanks to Deaf Eddie and his schematic I used:
http://www.deaf-eddie.net/drawings/jp-lp.jpg

I miss one show and they call the cops!

Every year I make a show in Columbus, Ohio. This year I didn't go. No big deal right? Not according to this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9y022qtLNw

Modding My Les Paul Plustop Pro/Fx

I admit it, I like weird guitars. The Epiphone Les Paul Pro/Fx fits that description. The satin neck, coil split humbuckers, Floyd Rose, and allen wrenches mounted on the neck put it in that category for me.
So far I have:
Changed out the pickups - Neck Pearly Gates SD and bridge GFS VEH. I know the GFS should not be that great in comparison to the Pearly Gates but it is sounding pretty good. The Pearly Gates is everything I hoped it would be.

Paper and oil capacitors - This is my first try with Russian caps. I installed these the same time I put in the pickups so I can't really gauge how big of a change they made but for $14 I'll probably do this to all my guitars to grab that retro "Bumble Bee" tone. I will say this, usually I have my tone at 10 but with the new caps I am finding great tones all over the knob.

Brass Block - The block on that Floyd rose is thin and looks like pot metal to me. I have the brass block shipping my way and will get that in latter this week.

To do - I am going to go back in to check on the wiring. The humbuckers aren't sounding great split. I want to check and see if they have them wired in parallel. If not I'll wire them that way to see if it helps any.

Overall - Originally the guitar was pretty muddy and not what I would call a "go to" guitar. The new pickups really woke the guitar up and I am grabbing it a lot more now. I also put on .095 strings. I run them on all my guitars and they sound great on the Pro/Fx as well.

I could live with the guitar on the neck Pearly Gates at all times. It really does nail the Billy Gibbons tone but it also can sound "pretty" and has tons of sustain. The cheapie VEH GFS pu sounds pretty good and when used in conjunction with the PG brightens the sound quite a bit. Using the VEH by itself is a little brighter sound that I could use for our Lynynd Skynyd covers. I expected to rip it out immediately but wanted to give a shot since it was laying around and I'm pretty surprise how well it holds up against the PG.

In general it is built well, looks great, and plays great as well. I lowered the bridge height to get a lower action and did not run into any string buzz. That was a big plus that I didn't need to mess with the frets. The action is fine with me. I don't like the Floyd trem arm but I guess I'll have to learn how to like it. This thing is pretty amazing to be an Epiphone.

Billy Hell and Mike Wolfe from American Pickers!

So there I was, sitting in my high powered golf cart  at my show in Leipers Fork, TN. Tony D.  and I were on the top of a hill sipping a Budweiser when Tony D. proclaimed, "BILLY! That's the American Picker van!!!". He hadn't finished his sentence before I was hooking it across that field at 28 MPH with my over sized mud tires throwing up dust. Sure as Hell it was Mike Wolfe from my favorite show, American Pickers! He was picking up a nice 1963 VW bus with no windows. It looked like a blue submarine. Mike and I know each other from back before the American Pickers show began. About six years ago we spent a leisurely afternoon sipping a...you guessed it, Budweiser. He left sporting a Billy Hell t-shirt and I told my buddy Bryce Custer, "he's good people!' Mike was nice enough to come over to my annual air show and say hey to everyone. All 80 plus pilots were pretty excited he was there. We got him on some  FPV goggles (first person video) and flew a plane around the event so he could see it as the bird flies. He was gracious enough to accommodate the guys for photos. I brought out my pinstriped JimmyC Gretsch and Mike told me about a 1932 National he had just picked up. You can check out my photos and interview at the bottom of this post. I want to also give a big thanks to Mike for taking the time and hanging out with us He made everyone's day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAzM4c5NGzc

New Taylor Mini GS Guitar - Interview

So I was at my favorite guitar store,  World Music in Nashville, and I met Barney Hill. Barney is the district sales manager for Taylor Guitars. He had some high dollar guitars with him but I was curious about what he had strapped to his back. A big smile broke out on his face and he said, "This is the brand new GS Mini Taylor!" It is the size of a travel guitar but built around Taylor GS specs. My number one acoustic is a Taylor GSRC so I had to learn more. He immediately let m know this was his personal guitar but they should already be on the street. I did play the guitar and it doesn't sound anything like a "travel" guitar. It was nice and warm with good highs. I also approve of the neck. I think we all need one!

Watch my interview with Taylor district sales manager Barney Hill to learn more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCeQfV5c85U

New Fender GDEC 3 Vs. 1969 Twin Reverb!

I'm open minded. I love tube amps and all the "toney" goodness they provide. There is nothing like a cooking tube to get that perfect sound. I have also been open minded to modeling amps. Even the old modeling amps that were terrible I still found interesting. To me it's all sound. So when Larry at World Music Nashville said, "Billy, I have just the thing for you!" I followed. He led me down the road to the new Fender GDEC 3 modeling amp. Now some of you will immediately have a bad taste in your mouth as soon as I cross over to the electronic side of sound BUT WAIT! This just might be the best modeling amp out right now. I wanted to put it to the test and I did. My friend Brian B. is a tube amp man from way back. We decided to take his 1969 Twin Reverb and put it next to my Fender GDEC 3 30 watt amp and see how close this thing really was. I have never seen this done before, especially with this amp. After a long evening of A/Bing them we came to a conclusion. You can reach your own by watching the video....

Billy Hell Forced to Play!!

I travel the country going to various RC shows. These are shows where they fly radio control airplanes. These range in size from 46 inch wing spans to planes that are half the size of a full scale (real) planes. The costs are from $20 to $20,000! When the sun goes down I break out the grill, beer and guitars. You would be surprised at the caliber of pickers out there. My buddy Chris Hinson of Extreme Flight RC toured for years with the Blues Travelers. Bass player Peter Goldsmith went to high school with AC/DC. This year it was determined that we were going to play the world's largest outdoor electric RC event and to everyone's surprise we didn't suck! In fact we were pretty damn good. That led to two more shows at the world's largest giant scale event and dates for the coming year as well. Life is funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hWqfu04mOQ

Pat Green - "Jim T's Caddy" Revealed!

In a past life I was the president of a record label called "Groovetone". That job was just as cool as you would think it would be. So one day  I was in my 1976 Eldorado Caddy with the top down. I was waved down by a couple of yahoos who then invited me to lunch. It turned out that I was eating with Pat Green, king daddy Texas songwriter/performer and my good friend and Austin legend Walt Wilkins. It was great hanging with them and when our plates were clean I hit the road. Six month's later Walt sent me a CD and damned if they had not mentioned me in one of Pat's bigger hits - "Carry On". The line is "Walt why don't you jump in Jim T's Caddy, come down to Texas and drink with me a while". The great thing about this is friends of mine from the old days heard this song over and over on the radio. I have answered the phone many times to the question, "is that you in that Pat Green song?!" and my standard answer is, "HELL YES!". Another interesting part of this is Pat will change Walt's name in the song with artists he is singing with at the time. So in theory I have had Willie Nelson, Robert Earl Keen and other Texas notable in my Caddy. TOO DAMN COOL! Thanks to Walt and Pat for immortalizing me in a song, a dream come true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIq_V_aSfPg

- in this version Willie Nelson is jumping into my Caddy.

The Dead Ranch Hands - Twangeriffic!

I love to walk off the path of the music main highway and see what's down the dirt roads. This description applies to a pretty niche type of music I'm into right now. The best description would be "spaghetti western". The tone is almost surfy but distinctively "western". I remember the first flanger I ever heard and it... was in a western. This brings me to the Dead Ranch Hands. They have that pure "twang" tone and make me want to learn the songs and be a better paler. Give them a listen!

Kevin Welch - Patch of Blue Sky

Kevin Welch is a lot of things - an amazing songwriter, a talented musician and a man who can pull a crowd into his vision of the world to the level of hypnotism. I've sat at the Bluebird many a night and studied how enthralled the patrons were when Kevin started to spin his magic. He is also the godfather to my kids, and a good friend as well. Kev has a new CD out and it is great! But don't let me get long winded, take a listen for yourself!