Re: Chambered LPs vs. Weight Relieved...
Part II (continued)
Now when it comes to the tone of the chambered guitars, it's hard to get a handle on the situation. The Supremes have the ebony fingerboard and maple caps on both front and back. They seem to have a tighter, more focused attack than the Historics--they pretty much sound like a LP Custom, and that's basically what the Supreme is: a chambered Custom.
I don't hear much differerence between the chambered Elegant and the 1960Premium Plus Classics. The Grovers, the Nashville Tune-O-Matic, and the ebony board of the Elegant seem to offset it's chambering. All of these guitars have the short tenon, and Slim-Taper necks; but other than pickups there's not much to choose from tonally. (The Classics have ABR-1 bridges, btw.) The Elegant hits at 9.4 lbs., but the weight-relieved Classics hit at 9.1 and 9.2 lbs. Go figure.
The chambered Classic Antiques are where the fun starts. They just don't have the weight we associate with a Les Paul. One is 8.2 lbs, the other 8.7, yet they sound identical. They have the open-top Classic '57/'57 Plus pickups, and I think the '57 Plus bridge pickup is a great sounding rock and roll pickup. They have the 1960 Slim taper neck, and Nashville Tune-O-Matics. The lack of weight makes the feel..., shall I say, "cheap", but they have a great tone--Les Paul thick with great sustain and resonance.
What I find so interesting comes down to that one word: resonance. Pickup any one of the Historics and strum a chord. You'll feel the entire guitar vibrate. Touch the headstock and you can feel the guitar vibrate all they way out to the tip. That is one of the things I look for in an acoustic guitar, and I can almost instantly tell if a new guitar is going to be a great one. I played a BUNCH of Norlin-era Les Pauls a few years ago when I started looking for a new LP, and NONE of the them had any resonance at all. They just felt like dead, inert rocks. No thanks.
And the only Pauls that I have that resonate like the Historics are..., suprise: the very chambered, inexpensive Classic Antiques! They just feel like a Greyhound or a Thoroughbred horse that just wants to run. They are very lively, and fun to play. Yes, they will feed back under high volume, much like the ES-335 will, but it is very musical and controllable. It's not the focused, penetrating tone of a LP Custom. These have an open, airy, dynamic tone that works great for classic rock, blues and jazz. There's definitely some magic going on here.
I love the vibe of the Historics, and I think they're hard to beat. The Guitar Center G0 VOS guitars offer tremendous bang for the buck. I think the Historic LPs are the best Gibsons. The 1960 Premium Plus Classics with the LW tailpieces and upgraded pickups have about 90% of the vibe of the Historics. The Elegant is in a (very-upper) class by itself. The Supremes are just drop-dead gorgeous; and the Root Beer Supreme with the Seth Lovers can handle any and all of the classic rock, jazz, blues and country I can throw at it. The HCSB Supreme with the stock 490R/498T likes hard rock. I'd have to say that this one is the prettiest guitar I own, with just a fabulous top and back, and unbelieveable color gradient.
The Guitar Of The Week Classic Antiques may someday be collectibles, but they're too good to just sit in the case. Chambered or not, the Classic Antiques have some magic to them. The special GOTW finishes are fun, too. I was sad when Gibson discontinued the CA Series.
I think we often get too hung up about construction details, without looking at the whole picture. I've had guitars that should have been great, at least on paper, but were somehow less than the sum of their parts. I also have some inexpensive guitars--Ibanez, Hondo, Univox--that trancend their humble origins. It's all about finding the right guitar for your style, and finding the right guitar for the song--and don't worry about the price and the headstock label.
The real joy of playing doesn't come from the instrument, though I can't argue against owning a great instrument. The joy comes from deep inside of you. It's not about the chambering, trust me. It's important to play a lot of guitars, to discover what you like. But the process is so much easier when you know yourself, and you're happy with the person inside.
Bill
