Emerson Custom Les Paul Prewired Kit & Treble Bleeds — The Best Guitar Mod for your Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic returns — this time with the Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Les Paul Prewired Kit installed. Here's what a wiring upgrade actually sounds like on a Les Paul. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the 2002 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic returns with its stock Gibson Burstbucker pickups now paired with the Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Les Paul Prewired Kit and two Emerson Custom Treble Bleed mods, into the Benson Amps Monarch via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact, R2R Electric Si Distorter TFK, and Effectrode Tube Vibe feature in the second half.
Get the Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Les Paul Prewired Kit: https://emersoncustom.com/products/eob-les-paul-prewired-kit-premier-pro?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG Treble Bleed Mod: https://emersoncustom.com/products/2017-treble-bleed-circuit-volume-mod?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG All Emerson Prewired Kits: https://emersoncustom.com/collections/prewired-kits
Emerson Custom wiring is in nearly every guitar on this channel — the exceptions are vintage instruments I don't modify. The quality of components matters enormously and the difference is audible: CTS pots built to Emerson's exact specifications and tolerances, paper-in-oil capacitors, and '50s wiring spec throughout.
'50s wiring vs. modern wiring on a Les Paul is a meaningful tonal distinction. Modern wiring connects the tone capacitor to the wiper of the volume pot — as you turn down the volume, more high frequency content bleeds to ground, causing the tone to darken as volume decreases. '50s wiring connects the tone capacitor directly to the output lug, keeping the high frequency content stable across the volume sweep and producing a more open, resonant character even at lower volume settings. The interaction between the two volume controls and two tone controls in middle pickup position also behaves differently — the tone controls no longer load each other, giving cleaner, more independent control.
The Emerson Custom Treble Bleed adds a further layer: a frequency-specific network on each volume pot that maintains high-frequency content as volume is rolled back. On a Les Paul with two volume controls, I've installed one on each pot — so both the neck and bridge volume knobs have independent Treble Bleed circuits. The volume knob cleanup explored from 06:18 and 10:32 is the direct result of that combination.
This is a direct comparison to the stock Gibson wiring covered in the first R8 Historic video — same guitar, same pickups, same amp chain. The improvement in volume knob response is the story.
🎛️ Emerson Custom: https://emersoncustom.com 🎸 Gibson Custom Shop: https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Custom-Shop 🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 2002 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic | Stock Burstbucker Pickups | Emerson Custom EoB LP Kit | P/O Caps | CTS Pots | '50s Wiring | 2x Treble Bleed 🎛️ Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact | R2R Electric Si Distorter TFK | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Benson Amps Monarch | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 12
