Gibson has been at the forefront of guitar innovation since the very beginning. Their use of all-American woods is unmatched by any other company, and they are solely responsible for harvesting, transporting, and ensuring their timber is of the best quality.
Authentic Gibson parts can make all the difference in your axe! These parts include everything from the control plate to the truss rod cover. For quality Gibson guitar parts, check this out.
Les Paul Pickguards
A guitar pickguard (also known as a scratch plate) protects the guitar’s surface from guitar pick damage. It is also used for decorative purposes, often matching or contrasting the primary guitar colour. Pickguards can be made from plastic, plywood, metal or mother-of-pearl/Pearloid and are available in various shapes and patterns.
Occasionally, a pickguard will be omitted from a guitar’s design to highlight the neck-thru design or give it a more sleek look. Classical guitars that are finger-picked don’t typically have a pickguard as they do not require any protection from aggressive strumming. Older celluloid pickguards can also shrink over time, causing them to curl and crack. It can cause stress on the wood beneath the pickguard and, in the case of an electric guitar with a plastic pickup frame, cause the amplification to become uneven.
To take the pickguard off your LP, first look for screws – there are usually two, but this varies from model to model. Unscrew these, and you should be able to remove the pickguard. For quality Gibson guitar parts, check this out.
Tuning Machines
A good set of tuning machines is one of the things that make a difference in your guitar’s performance. They are also known as machine heads, tuning pegs or tuning keys, and they do precisely what their name suggests: they keep your strings in tune.
The earliest tuning pegs were friction-type, but modern tuning machines are geared. This design makes them more reliable and consistent than friction-type pegs and much easier to use.
Tuners can either be open, with exposed gears or closed, with a case that protects them from dirt and debris. These locking machines are an excellent example of the latter and feature heavy-duty internals that will give you stability, precision and great tuning.
Bridges
The guitar bridge is a common point of failure on guitars. Strings put astronomically high pressure on the bridge, and the design must be carefully made for the best results. The materials must be hard and soft to allow the strings to slide over them without digging in, but also not so hard that they break. For quality Gibson guitar parts, check this out.
Many types of guitar bridges are available, and which one you choose depends on your needs and style. If you’re looking for a dramatic vibrato, a Floyd Rose or Kahler bridge is the way to go.
For a more straightforward setup, hardtail or Tune-o-Matic bridges are good choices. They’re less prone to tuning issues than other types of bridges and can be found in metal or plastic. Regardless of what kind of bridge you choose, American Musical Supply has the quality Gibson parts you need to keep your guitar in great shape.
Pickup Covers
Even the most minor parts can enormously affect your guitar’s tone and appearance. Gibson offers a variety of covers to compliment your pickups and give your Les Paul that unique look.
Typically made of nickel or chrome, pickup covers serve a few purposes. One of the most important is to ground your pickups, which can cancel out electromagnetic interference frequencies emitted by electronic devices and other magnetic fields. Covered humbuckers also have the added benefit of preventing dust from getting into the coils and potentially damaging them.
While some guitarists may believe that removing covers changes their sound, they do little to affect how your Les Paul sounds. Pickup covers are available in various finishes and can be easily installed by unscrewing your pickups from the pickguard and then screwing on the surface. These covers’ raw (no plating) versions can be sanded to create a brushed or aged look.