A good Les Paul... priceless

[Gtrjunior]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

And this is exactly the point - you SHOULD NOT even have to think about doing that.

A Les Paul should come with a bone nut, and something in the vein of a 59/Custom hybrid that would work well for mellow or hard rock in the bridge.


Pickups are of course, very very subjective. I get that people change - you obvious went through two sets. Still....

Agreed. Like you said pickups are one thing. We change them depending on a variety of factors that are mostly subjective.
But the materials used out of the factory...especially coming from Gibson, at their price point should be top of the line.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

I currently have four Gibsons. My #1 is not able to be evaluated fairly. It is #1 for many reasons. The first, it was my first electric. I played it for probably 15 years before I ever got another. It is simply the sound and feel that I love and it has grown to be a part of me. It has been upgraded over the years to awesome tuners, and a Distortion, etc...

I have NEVER bought a Gibson in haste/GAS/lust or any other mode than careful consideration. Jaci is my #2 - and was bought because of the feel. After playing her for an hour or however long, and passing the "boobie" test (search for it), I got that one. I also have a GEM Studio, and my Frehley 016. #1, Jaci, and the Frehley are all exemplary models of the ultra playability that a Gibson should be. The sound, the feel, everything. Note that none have the stock pups. Distortion, SuperDistortions, and Duncan P-90's.

I agree - Gibson CAN be awesome. But for the price, every one of them should be amazeballs - they are not. But never be confused that the average Gibson kicks the @$$ of even a good Epi/Agile/whatever. Worth the price? No way. Great guitars, mostly.

#1 - Rocked out, played out, bled on, beered on, wore out, used and abused - all in the name of love for music. Distortion bridge, original T-Top neck. Nothing feels like it to me. Where this guitar is, that's where I call home.



Down to the three piece maple - which is an awesome LP neck IMO


Complete with Belt Buckle chambering to lighten Fromm 11.6 to 11.5lbs



Jaci - A pristine 1973 w/ PAF/Superdistortion. Feels just like a brand new #1. Tuners suck. I have vintage freely ones I may replace one of these days.



Christine - This guitar is as much art as an instrument. "Pristinely damaged" was the best quote. Plays amazing - as long as you like only SuperD bridge tones. Who doesn't?



This one is a great guitar - but not what the others are. Duncan Vintage Bridge in neck, Custom neck in Bridge. For the $750 I paid for it, fantastic guitar. For the $2500 it would cost today w/ original P100's, Pffft - no way!

I think I have the hots for Jaci. She’s gorgeous!!

 

[Wattage]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Too many people with too much money and not enough sense. There is your reason right there. And based on Gibson economic status, I'd say there are not actually selling....

Whatever

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Complete with Belt Buckle chambering to lighten Fromm 11.6 to 11.5lbs

I totally dig that. Awesome turn of phrase.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

I currently have four Gibsons. My #1 is not able to be evaluated fairly. It is #1 for many reasons. The first, it was my first electric. I played it for probably 15 years before I ever got another. It is simply the sound and feel that I love and it has grown to be a part of me. It has been upgraded over the years to awesome tuners, and a Distortion, etc...

I have NEVER bought a Gibson in haste/GAS/lust or any other mode than careful consideration. Jaci is my #2 - and was bought because of the feel. After playing her for an hour or however long, and passing the "boobie" test (search for it), I got that one. I also have a GEM Studio, and my Frehley 016. #1, Jaci, and the Frehley are all exemplary models of the ultra playability that a Gibson should be. The sound, the feel, everything. Note that none have the stock pups. Distortion, SuperDistortions, and Duncan P-90's.

I agree - Gibson CAN be awesome. But for the price, every one of them should be amazeballs - they are not. But never be confused that the average Gibson kicks the @$$ of even a good Epi/Agile/whatever. Worth the price? No way. Great guitars, mostly.

#1 - Rocked out, played out, bled on, beered on, wore out, used and abused - all in the name of love for music. Distortion bridge, original T-Top neck. Nothing feels like it to me. Where this guitar is, that's where I call home.



Down to the three piece maple - which is an awesome LP neck IMO


Complete with Belt Buckle chambering to lighten Fromm 11.6 to 11.5lbs



Jaci - A pristine 1973 w/ PAF/Superdistortion. Feels just like a brand new #1. Tuners suck. I have vintage freely ones I may replace one of these days.



Christine - This guitar is as much art as an instrument. "Pristinely damaged" was the best quote. Plays amazing - as long as you like only SuperD bridge tones. Who doesn't?



This one is a great guitar - but not what the others are. Duncan Vintage Bridge in neck, Custom neck in Bridge. For the $750 I paid for it, fantastic guitar. For the $2500 it would cost today w/ original P100's, Pffft - no way!

Oh, man. That first one reminds me of my first Les Paul, the '82 Standard that got away. I wish I still had it. Don't ever let yours go, man.

 

[voggin]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Hey, Ace. Love the 3 piece maple neck.

I recently got a 92 Lucille, that has the same kind of neck. I don't know if it's the neck, or the ebony board, or both, but I find the maple neck gives it a brighter attack at the beginning of a note. I want to describe it as sounding piano-like (I know, talking about music, dancing about architecture), kind of BING then fade, vs. a mahogany biNG then fade, if that makes any sense.

Love Norlins. Some of the best guitars ever made. Not to mention some of the best recorded music ever made was made by Norlins.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

I think I have the hots for Jaci. She’s gorgeous!!

Careful there. Technically and legally speaking that guitar belongs to me. The catch is that I have to wait until Aceman passes away to claim it. At this point it seems that may never happen; LOL.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Careful there. Technically and legally speaking that guitar belongs to me. The catch is that I have to wait until Aceman passes away to claim it. At this point it seems that may never happen; LOL.

I’ll see you in court...lol

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Unfortunately, consistency (playability, QC, and less duds) is only found at the CS level. Doesn't mean a gem can't come out at the standard production line, but makes it difficult. Shopping used is always the best course of action. After years of resorting to Chibsons, epiphones, studios, and a classic, I ended up with a R8. She is a keeper.

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[RorySquier]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

I own 2 black Les Pauls myself. The one is a 2008 Gibson Studio with the 490R/498T pick up combo. I think the 498T is Gibson's hottest non-signature pick up. The only one that tops that is Gibson's AY (Angus Young) pup which is slightly hotter. I really like the sound of both pick ups and the 498T provides a real nice beefy tone being Alnico V while the 490R (Alnico II) provides a real nice clean jazzy tone as well as a rock tone. The body is chambered which gives it a real lively tone. I didn't even plan on buying a guitar that day when I was in my local music shop. I just went there to browse and played a whack of Gibson LP Standards which were real nice but the Studio really grabbed me. I set up the action of the strings and the intonation and it plays perfect.

The second LP is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard which plays pretty amazing after I did some setups. I installed a Graphtech nut which was a bit wider than the width of the neck so I had to file a sand both edges until the nut was flush with the FB. It sure made a difference in tone and the string spacing is a bit wider compared to the original nut. This makes chording more easier and the strings are nicely and evenly spaced throughout the whole fret board. I also did a pick up swap between my Epi LP and my Gibson SG Special which has the 490R/490T (both Alnico II's). The original pick ups sounded real good...very Led Zeppeliny. But now with Gibson pups in my Epiphone they sound awesome. I think it has to do with the fact the control pots are the Alpha 500K ohms while my Gibson pots are I believe around 350K ohms. The 500K ohm pots let the sound out more and these pick ups really nail the tone I've been looking for. They handle classic rock so easily.

I also sanded down the pick up rings on my Epiphone because I didn't like the cheap plastic look of them before. They look much better now like they were made of bone or something. I also installed Gibson Deluxe green key tuners which look real good on an Epi head-stock. I aged them plus the bridge and stop bar tail-piece from muriatic acid fumes for that vintage vibe. The guitar didn't have a pick guard on it so I had a Gibson PG lying around and used that on my LP. I soon discovered that Epi pick up rings are slightly larger than Gibson ones so I meticulously filed and sanded the PG for a perfect fit. The colour of the PG is that pinkish flesh-tone creme colour compared to the more yellowish creme pup rings and binding. Overall this guitar has MoJo and I'm very impressed on how it turned out.



;>)/

 

[esandes]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Thank God for Gibson. I love my LP and it's so mysterious. When I bought it the receipt had a different year than the marked masking tape on the case. I still don't know the year. It's a custom shop R7 with a serial number starting with 711. It has a custom shop badge for the toggle switch cover.

It's a ****in magical guitar. It plays every riff and lick exactly how it should sound in my mind. It's versatile. The stock pups are a mystery and they are mellow and humble.

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

"711..." should be a 2011 R7

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[esandes]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

Burstbuckers then.

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: A good Les Paul... priceless

More than likely. My R8 had stock burstbuckers instead of custombuckers. They aren't too bad actually.

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