Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

[Dr.K]

I don't know where to start and what exactly to look for.

-There's neck profiles

-Reissues, is this what R(insert number) means?

-Custom Shop

-Traditional

-Standard

-Studio

-Weight relieved

-Chambered

-Norlins

-Fingerboards

-Tops

-Pickups

-Binding

-Whatever else

What are some of the years of these variables and different options. For a guy that doesn't know much about them, this is a daunting task to try to figure any of this out. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

This thread on the MyLesPaulForum should have all the info you are looking for....

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les-pauls/50210-gibson-les-paul-101-a.html

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I'll try to take on the list:

-There's neck profiles: Two basic styles: 60's and 50's. 50's are usually fatter. Theoretically the 'older' the fatter (a 54 would be fatter than a 60 which is skinner than a 58) but there is a lot of variation because they're all hand-sanded...sometimes a 60's neck spec guitar comes through feeling kinda chunky and sometimes you'll feel some slim 50's necks. If you can't play it first you can't really be sure.

-Reissues, is this what R(insert number) means? Yes. A R6 is a 56 Reissue.

-Custom Shop: The Custom Shop is a completely separate division of the Gibson company, located in a different building from the factory where most guitars are made. They use much higher quality wood, more traditional specs and building methods, and utilize a smaller workforce.

-Traditional: What the Les Paul Standard was until 2008. Weight-relieved (NOT CHAMBERED) body, chunkier neck, traditional tuners and electronics.

-Standard: Since 2008 this model has had a chambered body, locking tuners, Bournes knobs and Neutrik jacks. Whether or not you like how this changes the Les Paul sound is up to you...most people I know can't really tell.

-Studio: The stripped-down Les Paul...not flashy but gets you the tone. No binding, usually not a maple top, usually not flame maple if it is...the newer ones are chambered, the older ones aren't.

-Weight relieved: A bunch of holes are drilled in the body before the top is put on. They've been doing this since the late 70's or early 80's and nobody noticed until that guy took his in to get x-rayed a couple of years ago.

-Chambered: The body is mostly hollowed out before the cap is put on top. They used to save this for only really high-end guitars and it doesn't seem to hurt the tone to me -- it changes it, but it doesn't necessarily change it in a bad way.

-Norlins: Gibsons made from the late 60's til the mid 80's (i think 86 or 87 was the last year of the Norlin era.) Wayyy off from vintage specs, you'd see 3-piece MAPLE necks instead of 1-piece mahogany; you'd see 'pancake' bodies where body blanks were stacked as many as 3 deep...still decent guitars especially if you find a "good" one but vintage purists and guys lookin for that unobtainable 59 Les Paul Beano Page Pearly Gates tone stay away from 'em.

-Fingerboards: Ebony is brighter and snappier than rosewood. There are expections.

-Tops: Maple is brighter and snappier than mahogany. There are exceptions.

-Pickups: Get 57 Classics or Burstbuckers and you'll be fine...or some Duncans down the road, usually one used Gibson pup can get you one and a half used Duncan pups :smokin:

-Binding: It's plastic wrapped around the guitar. I think it looks totally awesome and gladly saved for an extra few months to be able to afford a 5-ply double-bound Custom...but that doesn't mean I wouldn't buy a great-sounding great-playing Studio if I could. Basically just an aesthetic thing that's really time-consuming to do the 'vintage' way so it costs a ton of money to add.

-Whatever else: Just go play a ton of them and find one you like!

The specs haven't changed that much over the years excluding the Norlin era...early 70's to early 80's you might find a maple neck or something. Shouldn't make or break the axe for you...lots of maple-necked Les Pauls sound good.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I'll try to take on the list:

-There's neck profiles: Two basic styles: 60's and 50's. 50's are usually fatter. Theoretically the 'older' the fatter (a 54 would be fatter than a 60 which is skinner than a 58) but there is a lot of variation because they're all hand-sanded...sometimes a 60's neck spec guitar comes through feeling kinda chunky and sometimes you'll feel some slim 50's necks. If you can't play it first you can't really be sure.

-Reissues, is this what R(insert number) means? Yes. A R6 is a 56 Reissue.

-Custom Shop: The Custom Shop is a completely separate division of the Gibson company, located in a different building from the factory where most guitars are made. They use much higher quality wood, more traditional specs and building methods, and utilize a smaller workforce.

-Traditional: What the Les Paul Standard was until 2008. Weight-relieved (NOT CHAMBERED) body, chunkier neck, traditional tuners and electronics.

-Standard: Since 2008 this model has had a chambered body, locking tuners, Bournes knobs and Neutrik jacks. Whether or not you like how this changes the Les Paul sound is up to you...most people I know can't really tell.

-Studio: The stripped-down Les Paul...not flashy but gets you the tone. No binding, usually not a maple top, usually not flame maple if it is...the newer ones are chambered, the older ones aren't.

-Weight relieved: A bunch of holes are drilled in the body before the top is put on. They've been doing this since the late 70's or early 80's and nobody noticed until that guy took his in to get x-rayed a couple of years ago.

-Chambered: The body is mostly hollowed out before the cap is put on top. They used to save this for only really high-end guitars and it doesn't seem to hurt the tone to me -- it changes it, but it doesn't necessarily change it in a bad way.

-Norlins: Gibsons made from the late 60's til the mid 80's (i think 86 or 87 was the last year of the Norlin era.) Wayyy off from vintage specs, you'd see 3-piece MAPLE necks instead of 1-piece mahogany; you'd see 'pancake' bodies where body blanks were stacked as many as 3 deep...still decent guitars especially if you find a "good" one but vintage purists and guys lookin for that unobtainable 59 Les Paul Beano Page Pearly Gates tone stay away from 'em.

-Fingerboards: Ebony is brighter and snappier than rosewood. There are expections.

-Tops: Maple is brighter and snappier than mahogany. There are exceptions.

-Pickups: Get 57 Classics or Burstbuckers and you'll be fine...or some Duncans down the road, usually one used Gibson pup can get you one and a half used Duncan pups :smokin:

-Binding: It's plastic wrapped around the guitar. I think it looks totally awesome and gladly saved for an extra few months to be able to afford a 5-ply double-bound Custom...but that doesn't mean I wouldn't buy a great-sounding great-playing Studio if I could. Basically just an aesthetic thing that's really time-consuming to do the 'vintage' way so it costs a ton of money to add.

-Whatever else: Just go play a ton of them and find one you like!

The specs haven't changed that much over the years excluding the Norlin era...early 70's to early 80's you might find a maple neck or something. Shouldn't make or break the axe for you...lots of maple-necked Les Pauls sound good.

That synopsis is elegant in its simple but comprehensive detail.
Man, some Norlin Era guitars are great axes.

 

[donahue]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Nice Work Empty Pockets! That answered a few questions I had as well.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Empty Pockets did a great job.

Your questions are too broad to take on all at once. You need to do some reading to get you up to speed.

Tony Bacon's book, "50 Years Of the Les Paul" is a good start. "Beauty Of the Burst" by Iwanade is a must have book for anyone interested in the vintage sunburst Les Pauls. Paul Balmer's book "Les Paul Handbook" is good. One of the best is Robb Lawrence's two-volume set on "The Les Paul Legacy" , which covers the Early Years and the Modern Era from 1969-2009. Another book I recommend is Dan Erlewine's "How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great". Good for any guitarist, but there is some good LP info in here. Search for "Les Paul" in books at Amazon.com.

I have ten LPs, and I would say my favorites are my three Historics. One is a 1958 Historic Plaintop Reissue (an R8), the others are 1960 Tobaccoburst VOS reissues--a special run that the Gibson Custom Shop did for Guitar Center (with a G0 stamp, instead of R0). But I love them all. Don't let anyone tell you that Gibson's are crap and not worth the money.

Hang out over at the Les Paul Forum at www.lespaulforum.com and at www.mylespaul.com and you'll start picking up some of the terminology. Do some searches on this forum. Dont forget to look at Gibson.com. Do your homework, read the books.

When you have a good base under you, come back with more specific questions and I'll be glad to help you anyway I can.

Bill

 

[Bludave]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

If your looking at buying a Les Paul just go to a store and play a bunch. Don't worry too much about the details. Make sure it feels right in your hands, has a good setup & most importantly it sounds they way you want it to. looks have never really been to important to me. its much more about sound & feel!

BTW great post by empty pockets!

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I've personally never been a fan, but that's just me.

 

[Kam]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I've personally never been a fan, but that's just me.

 

[formula73]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I just laughed so hard I pooped a little.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Here's the collected wisdom of the internet, on Les Pauls: the heavy ones are crap, the light ones are crap, the weight relieved ones are crap, the chambered ones are crap, the ones with short tenon necks are crap, the ones with 50s necks are crap, the ones with 60s necks are crap, the ones with 60/30 necks are crap, the ones with asymmetrical necks are crap, the ones without binding all around are crap, the ones with too many layers of binding are crap, the one with faded finishes are crap, the ones with solid color finishes are crap, the Norlin-era ones are crap, the new ones are crap, the ones with quirky new features like robot tuning are crap, the ones that don't try anything new are crap...what am I forgetting?

I guess the most important thing to remember is that no matter WHEN you buy, they're never as good as they used to be.

 

[whatshisname]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

I've personally never been a fan, but that's just me.

Yeah, I've noticed that you don't own ANY Les Pauls!

Just remember what we've learned here, from a former forum brother. The headstocks snap on ALL of them, so BEWARE! utahere:

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Here's the collected wisdom of the internet, on Les Pauls: the heavy ones are crap, the light ones are crap, the weight relieved ones are crap, the chambered ones are crap, the ones with short tenon necks are crap, the ones with 50s necks are crap, the ones with 60s necks are crap, the ones with 60/30 necks are crap, the ones with asymmetrical necks are crap, the ones without binding all around are crap, the ones with too many layers of binding are crap, the one with faded finishes are crap, the ones with solid color finishes are crap, the Norlin-era ones are crap, the new ones are crap, the ones with quirky new features like robot tuning are crap, the ones that don't try anything new are crap...what am I forgetting?

I guess the most important thing to remember is that no matter WHEN you buy, they're never as good as they used to be.

ABSOLUTELY THE MOST BRILLIANT LES PAUL POST OF ALL TIME

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Also, on the flip side: the Quality Control is awful, so you've got to play a bunch to find a good one, yet magically, everyone who owns one -- even the guys who mail ordered -- loves theirs.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

ABSOLUTELY THE MOST BRILLIANT LES PAUL POST OF ALL TIME

I agree 100% with this. People get their panties in a bunch over LP features all the time, when they should just find one that sounds great, and play their guitar instead of worrying about details like weight relief and finishes.

When I bought mine, I had no idea what pickups where in it, and what the differences between a traditional and a standard were. I just knew it played great. Same when I bought my (now gone) PRS. I didn't even know what model it was when I got home, lol, caus the model was on the neck plate.

People need to know what they like, but they need to just play.

 

[formula73]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Also, on the flip side: the Quality Control is awful, so you've got to play a bunch to find a good one, yet magically, everyone who owns one -- even the guys who mail ordered -- loves theirs.

I think more than half the 'qc issues' relate to a bad setup and dead strings. The only new LP I ever played that really sucked was an Axcess in the San Diego GC. That's probably why it hung on the wall for so long, but I am also willing to admit the setup was crap and the strings were old as dirt.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

people like to act like they hate them, but once they can afford them, they're all about em

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

^
+1

NorLin. The N word!

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

Here's the collected wisdom of the internet, on Les Pauls: the heavy ones are crap, the light ones are crap, the weight relieved ones are crap, the chambered ones are crap, the ones with short tenon necks are crap, the ones with 50s necks are crap, the ones with 60s necks are crap, the ones with 60/30 necks are crap, the ones with asymmetrical necks are crap, the ones without binding all around are crap, the ones with too many layers of binding are crap, the one with faded finishes are crap, the ones with solid color finishes are crap, the Norlin-era ones are crap, the new ones are crap, the ones with quirky new features like robot tuning are crap, the ones that don't try anything new are crap...what am I forgetting?

I guess the most important thing to remember is that no matter WHEN you buy, they're never as good as they used to be.

You forgot to mention that Les Pauls are played only by incompetent/impotent/incontinent fools who aren't man enough to handle a Strat

 

[donahue]

Re: Could you all give me a crash course in Les Paul 101?

ABSOLUTELY THE MOST BRILLIANT LES PAUL POST OF ALL TIME

ABSOLUTELY THE MOST WORTHLESS LES PAUL POST OF ALL TIME !!!!!


fixed

Wasn't this thead a purely genuine and curious Les Paul thead? Not a sarcastic locker room Les Paul thread? Went down hill from post #7 on....does every ****ing thead on here have to be a sacastic joke? Do a Google search on Marshall amps or so and so and so pedal or so and so tubes, or obviously Seymour Duncan pickups. SDUGF theads come up towards the top all the time. Don't make yourself a dumb answer on the internet. Actually say something that is worth Googling!