Are $8K to $10K CS Les Paul's really necessary ?

[eclecticsynergy]

Most of the tenon in "long tenon" is milled away by the CNC.
Not a huge difference really.

AFAIK the Historic Series LPs are still non-weight-relieved - except for the ones clearly designated as chambered, like CR8s or the or "Cloud 9" series they offered for a couple of years.

When they describe Historics as having a lightweight mahogany body, they mean solid wood that was selected for its light weight. That's always been my understanding, anyway.

I guess all regular production LPs are weight-relieved now, but I'm reluctant to accept that they're doing it to the R series.

I wonder if boat-anchor weights will soon become a selling point? "Here's your chance to get a Norlin-era Les Paul, 12 lbs!"

The T-tops that used to end up in the trash because people literally couldn't give 'em away are now collectible...

 

[Mincer]

Sometimes the features on the most expensive Gibsons trickle down to the lower-priced guitars. Thing is, I think things like weight relief, body contours, modern colors, and locking tuners are improvements. Vintage spec doesn't mean anything to me. There is a product in the line for me, and luckily, it isn't the most expensive! So let the collectors grab these reproductions, I see no problem with it, as it doesn't affect me at all.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Sometimes the features on the most expensive Gibsons trickle down to the lower-priced guitars. Thing is, I think things like weight relief, body contours, modern colors, and locking tuners are improvements. Vintage spec doesn't mean anything to me. There is a product in the line for me, and luckily, it isn't the most expensive! So let the collectors grab these reproductions, I see no problem with it, as it doesn't affect me at all.

Absolutely correct.

All the guitars I make are contoured to be comfortable, the necks are extremely playable, they all have bone compensated nuts and locking tuners, and they are chambered so they weigh less than 7 lbs. My primary objective is to make the most comfortable and playable guitar available. The secondary objective (which is really about the same value as the primary objective) is to make it unique and beautiful.

I've found that the chambering actually makes them sound much better, more articulate. You don't need a lot of weight to make a guitar sound good. And in fact a lot of times that extra weight just makes it sound muddy, as well as being a real/literal pain in the neck to play. Yes, you can keep your heavy look-alike production guitars at any cost. Not for me...I've got a lot of them and I love them all, but I'm through with buying/collecting any more of them.