Andy Timmons tone via LP?

[amiller]

I’m a huge fan of Andy Timmons playing AND tone. I don’t want to actually buy one of his sig guitars but I am interested in swapping out pups in one of my LP’s to get closer to his tone. And yes, I do have a Mesa Lonestar Classic and a Exotic bb preamp pedal.

So, which Gibson drop-in pup would you guys recommend. My LP currently has the 57 classic\57 classic plus combo.

 

[Kidkramer71]

I think besides pickups , he tends to lower amp gain and use a pedal for boost.
plus he is just an amazing player !

 

[amiller]

I think besides pickups , he tends to lower amp gain and use a pedal for boost.
plus he is just an amazing player !

Yes, I understand all of that. There are many variables that go into his tone. I want to focus in on pups in this post.

 

[mixn4him]

Sorry but a maple top les paul will never sound like an alder body/maple neck strat. Scale length alone is gonna make a tone difference...Not sure there is a pickup that will change the voice of an LP enough..probably better to look into a great EQ pedal to really make a huge tone change like Billy G. does...

 

[shredhead7]

I have an Ibanez Prestige that has a maple top over mahogany body that I loaded Duncan Jb/59s into and I can get pretty close. I have a triaxis rig that seems to work best, but I can also get pretty close on my Marshalls with the BB+ in front. I think that if you are using medium output pickups, which I believe that you are, you should be able to get pretty close with your current setup. My guitar has a rosewood/maple neck, which also adds to the tone. To me the biggest part of his tone is his hands and how he slides into notes and does the Eric Johnson "hit a note higher, immediately pull off to a note lower and bend back up to the original notes pitch as fast as you can". Along the lines of pickups, I do think that the single coils in the middle and neck position definately make a difference for clean stuff, so I'm not sure how you can get around that without modding to a push pull wiring to split your coils. I have a super 5 way, that allows me to coil split, so and it helps a lot.

 

[mystixboi]

He also has a treble bleed installed so he doesn’t lose the high end when turning his volume down

 

[lespaul6]

somehow you will have to make the les paul sound a little stringy.. so I would say lower output asymmetrical humbucker with a single coil type tone would be best.

 

[codyjarret]

I through a DiMarzio Tone Zone in my LP and it does a pretty good Andy T tone.

 

[tripstan]

His sig pedal from JHS would probably help a lot. The Air and Eq knobs can really help a guitar sound thinner or thicker.

 

[amiller]

I through a DiMarzio Tone Zone in my LP and it does a pretty good Andy T tone.

I don’t know man, to my ears the tone in your vid sounds more like a kick-ass Satriani tone...only BETTER!

Great playing too.

 

[Mudder]

Timmons uses a hum in the bridge, a sig pickup but I think based on the jb. He also uses blades in the mid and neck, so maybe something like a bright humbucker, tv jones maybe?

 

[van hellion]

Sorry but a maple top les paul will never sound like an alder body/maple neck strat. Scale length alone is gonna make a tone difference...Not sure there is a pickup that will change the voice of an LP enough..probably better to look into a great EQ pedal to really make a huge tone change like Billy G. does...

this is the horrible truth for your tonal search. i have a plethora of different guitars, and to get into AT territory you definitely need a alder body maple neck ride. he uses that guitar more than any others. then from there any humbucker stacked sized single coil in the neck and middle, then a moderately lower output hum bucker in the bridge. with that cat it really is so dependent on what he puts into the amp. on top of that shorter scale length alters tone drastically. That glassy thing really kinda depends on longer scale length.

hope this was helpful and not depressing!

A Wood

 

[leftyaxeman]

Start here, these are what's in his axe:
neck pickup DiMarzio® The Cruiser® (H) neck pickup (Passive/Ceramic)
middle pickup DiMarzio® The Cruiser® (H) middle pickup (Passive/Ceramic)
bridge pickup DiMarzio® AT-1™ (H) bridge pickup (Passive/Alnico)

 

[paulyc]

Ibanez guitars are cheap, buy one and load it with his pickups. Done.

 

[amiller]

Sorry but a maple top les paul will never sound like an alder body/maple neck strat. Scale length alone is gonna make a tone difference...Not sure there is a pickup that will change the voice of an LP enough..probably better to look into a great EQ pedal to really make a huge tone change like Billy G. does...

this is the horrible truth for your tonal search. i have a plethora of different guitars, and to get into AT territory you definitely need a alder body maple neck ride. he uses that guitar more than any others. then from there any humbucker stacked sized single coil in the neck and middle, then a moderately lower output hum bucker in the bridge. with that cat it really is so dependent on what he puts into the amp. on top of that shorter scale length alters tone drastically. That glassy thing really kinda depends on longer scale length.

hope this was helpful and not depressing!

A Wood

Now, see what you went and made me do. I pulled the trigger on an AT10.

Actually, I’ve been thinking that’s the route to go but I’ve been putting off spending the $$.

Anyway, thanks for the great input.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

It's also worth noting that he uses the Cruiser bridge model in the middle and neck positions. Also, his main guitar had the Duncan JB in it for a long time before the Dimarzio AT1 pickup.

 

[amiller]

Well, after a little Fedex drama my new AT10PSB came today. The action was a little high and I wasn’t familiar with the term bar setup (online support manual sorted that out). I lowered the action to taste and plugged it in for a test ride. I liked the bridge tone right off the bat...big and still clear. The neck cleans are also nice and fat but also chimey.

I did some A/B comparisons to my std LP. I like the way the LP plays better than the AT, however, only by a little bit and that may be attributable to being more familiar with the LP. I definitely like the AT tones better for my style of playing. Although, I can hear where the LP tones will still be needed on some of my songs.

Overall, I like!

 

[gibson5413]

Congratulations on a great guitar! Andy is such an amazing player and person. The guy sure knows how to coax his tone out of anything he uses. Good luck and make some clips. Would love to hear how it sounds.

 

[mixn4him]

Well, after a little Fedex drama my new AT10PSB came today. The action was a little high and I wasn’t familiar with the term bar setup (online support manual sorted that out). I lowered the action to taste and plugged it in for a test ride. I liked the bridge tone right off the bat...big and still clear. The neck cleans are also nice and fat but also chimey.

I did some A/B comparisons to my std LP. I like the way the LP plays better than the AT, however, only by a little bit and that may be attributable to being more familiar with the LP. I definitely like the AT tones better for my style of playing. Although, I can hear where the LP tones will still be needed on some of my songs.

Overall, I like!

Congrats! The other thing to look at is lowering that bridge pickup pretty far. I remember one of the A.T . interviews/demos he showed the bridge pickup almost level with the pickguard or just below...