Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

I sold my 93 LP Standard probably 10 years ago and went whole-hog over Jacksons. I've been considering "a trip to the dark side" recently - looking more at used Faded SGs and LP Studios to go along with my Marshall (despite the fact I have 30 Jacksons that work just fine). I've said before that Gibson punked out by having such a wide price difference between a bound-top Standard and an unbound Studio, especially since "everything else is the same", and that I didn't consider Studios to be "real" Les Pauls, but the Dark Side still calls.

Granted it is only cosmetic, and had no bearing on tone, but the thought had occurred to me that automotive trim tape applied around the outer edge of a Studio will at least partially resemble a Standard, from a relative distance.

Still, there's a bit of chicanery involved there, and getting called on something like "wow, you put tape around the edge of your Studio so other people would think it was a Standard when you played it out live?" echoes in my ears. So then I go look at the prices of Standards (even used) and close my Ebay page :lol:

 

[thespricket]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

The best deal you can get on a gibson is a 2013 SG standard. Which is basically a 61 RI. Now the new standards come with the horrid tuner thing, you certainly don't want that. The SG standard is right on par with the Trads and Trad Pros, just a grand cheaper. Idk, I guess a maple cap costs gibson a cool G to make and install on a les Paul.


Guitar->pedals->amp

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

The best deal you can get on a gibson is a 2013 SG standard. Which is basically a 61 RI. Now the new standards come with the horrid tuner thing, you certainly don't want that. The SG standard is right on par with the Trads and Trad Pros, just a grand cheaper. Idk, I guess a maple cap costs gibson a cool G to make and install on a les Paul.


Guitar->pedals->amp

I got one of those. Very nice, good sounding and playable guitar. I did replace the classic '57 pu's after a year though.

 

[Gerr]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

Going above the $1400 price point mainly gets you binding, more figured wood, better burst colors, and more bells & whistles. As far as tone goes, I don't see spending over $1400 giving you anything better, just more bragging rights. In the $1000-$1400 range you have the Studio's and the main difference is a satin finish & gig bag at $1000 vs a gloss finish & hard shell case at $1400. Gibson starts to take some shortcuts when you dip below $1000 which might change tone. For example, the LPJ has a maple neck instead of the normal mahogany neck they use in most other LP's.

There are other factors in getting a LP than just price & tone. Which pickups do you like? Which neck profile fits you best? How heavy do you want the guitar, ie which weight relief? What bells & whistles do you want?

The 2013 Tribute series was great for this as it gave you a bunch of different options. I for one am looking at the Future version as it has the nice 57 Classic pups and has the same asymmetrical neck the Standards do. I just have to change out those funky tuning heads and get it a good hard shell case..

 

[uOpt]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

While there are great studios and fadeds there are also really bad ones. I am convinced that Gibson has some ability to select wood that is more likely to sound good, so that the expensive ones have a higher probability to sound good, and the cheap ones have lots of turds. Then there is the issue of chambering and swiss-chessing.

My tips:

• If you don't need a figured top and like a thin neck, the LP classic is a good deal used
• If you are willing to do research, the old Made in Japan Les Pauls are great. The good ones are easily as good as any Gibson. Trick is identifying the good ones. Anything labeled "Burny Super Grade" and any Greco "EG-800" and higher number should get it done easy. I had no problems getting them from Japan
• Some Les Paul Customs in non-standard colors, namely sunburst, can be had at fair prices
• Some people believe repairs headstock breaks are a good buy, that buyers overrate the impact on sound

 

[uOpt]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

Here is a burny super grade in a real auction, no reserve.

It's in Japan anyway so it doesn't matter whether you are in the US or UK. Thingie looks kosher to me except for the headplate which probably has a distorted picture but might look a bit narrow. Can't tell whether it has ABR-1 bridge posts posts, which is my usual way to tell what the cool stuff is, aside from fret side binding.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Burny-Super...k-/281265848335?pt=Guitar&hash=item417cc0400f

 

[SFW]

Re: Gibson Les Paul, Best Value/Quality For The Money?

I have a 2001 Classic and a 2005 Standard. I purchased both used. Both a great guitars. Try as many as you can and pick the one that speaks to you. I like binding in a Les Paul- hence my choices in models. Find one that looks and plays like you want and rock it.