Glen Cunningham – Milton, Ontario

Freelance Musician, Guitarist formerly w/ Chyld with Pete Dove, Maddhatter, and more

Hey Smitty, a funny thing happened the other day. I have been playing that Dillion Paul I grabbbed a few years back. I put an old Duncan 59 in the bridge and tore everything else out. I played this same guitar at one of the jams a few years back. I have had it plugged into the same little Vox amp and thought it was quite good, I was very happy with the sound. I left the whole set up in my son’s room in hopes he would pick it up. He has not, the little s_ _ t!

Well, I moved that little amp back down to the basement where my Gibson Paul with MJS pickups is. I figured I might as well have it close in case I decide to make some noise. I did not change any of the settings on the amp. The other day I plugged my MJS loaded Les Paul not expecting anything different and my eyes raised and jaw dropped. I had forgotten how good this guitar sounded with the MJS combination of a Single Coil in the neck and Humbucker bridge. It was like eating a sandwich with the plastic still on then taking it off. In the bridge the highs were so clear and clean yet all the raw punch, balls and bottom end were still intact. Unreal.

The louder I cranked the amp the better it got. That muffled tone typical of ALL neck Humbucker Pick-Ups which I can not stand was not there. Yet the full, fat signing bottom was still there, this all coming from a single coil pick-up! The beautiful full tone without the “hand over mouth sound” I hate, was clear and clean. What a breath of fresh air. Combine the two Pick-Ups and you get a fat yet clean and balsy and rich….really the best of neck-bridge pick ups combined I have ever heard. Before putting your pick ups in this guitar I never used the neck pick up, ever. Combining the two was not even thinkable. I would have not believed it was possible to make this pick up combination work, especially to a metal head like me! Keep in mind my tone pots are disconnected and have been for years, I hate any kind of muffled tone. You have to hear this to believe it.

I may not be known to many people these days but once was known for always having a great guitar sound. I know tone. I have had over 40 different Marshall amps from Plexis to modern, modded high gain amps, probably 30 different good Les Pauls. I have tried just about every combination of pick ups out there and never found a neck-bridge combo that worked. I am very demanding when it comes to tone and not easily satisfied, but brother, you have nailed it. Hats off man!