If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

[ErikH]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

If I had an extra $4k, I wouldn't be spending on guitars right now. But, let's say I did, I wouldn't pay that much. I'd get a Soldano SLO and then see what's left after that. Since I'd be looking at used, probably the LP Trad Pro a buddy of mine has.

 

[Ascension]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

If I'd buy another Custom, it would be one from the Norlin years. If I had to buy new, for max. 3999,-, I'd look at the 2014 Traditional series and pocket the change.

Whats with the fascination with the Norlin era Gibsons? Those of us who were around then thought they were like the AMF era HD's and cut rate substandard junk compared to what was being built by Gibson before Norlin took over.
I worked for a Gibson dealer in that era for a while and saw some shocking bad stuff come out of the box that got sent right back and never reached our floors. On the other hand saw guitars stamped Second we could never find a flaw with.
Gibsons worst era IMO!!

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

If I had an extra $4k, I wouldn't be spending on guitars right now. But, let's say I did, I wouldn't pay that much. I'd get a Soldano SLO and then see what's left after that. Since I'd be looking at used, probably the LP Trad Pro a buddy of mine has.

I agree totally. If I was going to be spending 4K, I'd probably be able to get at least one good amp, one blingy guitar, a decent P bass and amp, and have enough for a decent workstation from Korg.

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

I have a Wine Red Les Paul Custom and the only other Custom I'd buy is a Silverburst.

I bought mine in the early 2000's for a little over 2 Grand at Guitar Center and can't really find pickups that I like for her.

The stock picups were too muddy. Then I went JB and 59 and the JB was too thin in that particular axe so I just kinda bent over and ended up with EMG's because I at least knew I'd get something familiar but they've never really sat right with me so now that it is a completely new era, I'm either gonna go Black Winter, Whole Lotta Humbucker or Alnico II's. We'll see what works.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Yep. I sure would. Only if they still offer the silverburst finish though.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Won't spend $4k on it but I do love this. So wrong, yet so right!

 

[uOpt]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Whats with the fascination with the Norlin era Gibsons? Those of us who were around then thought they were like the AMF era HD's and cut rate substandard junk compared to what was being built by Gibson before Norlin took over.
I worked for a Gibson dealer in that era for a while and saw some shocking bad stuff come out of the box that got sent right back and never reached our floors. On the other hand saw guitars stamped Second we could never find a flaw with.
Gibsons worst era IMO!!

The quality issues with Norlin were partially fixable. Bad fretwork and badly sitting bridges, bad nuts and the like are likely corrected over a 40 year lifespan as a guitar.

The weight, pancaking and maple necks are found to change the sound in a way that isn't clear negative. After people stopped and actually listened to the things some of the complaining stopped.



(personally I think that heavy guitars have their own sound and are less likely to be complete turds than lighter guitars. Both light wood and weight relief can easily produce a "pling" guitar, whereas the heavy pigs practically always manage to do something interesting in a reasonable length sustain)

 

[metlking]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

I like LP Customs....I have an 81' Ebony and a 78' Cream colored. For my $4000 I'd buy used and save about $1500. Shop around and find one that speaks to you!

 

[El Supremo]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Whats with the fascination with the Norlin era Gibsons? Those of us who were around then thought they were like the AMF era HD's and cut rate substandard junk compared to what was being built by Gibson before Norlin took over.
I worked for a Gibson dealer in that era for a while and saw some shocking bad stuff come out of the box that got sent right back and never reached our floors. On the other hand saw guitars stamped Second we could never find a flaw with.
Gibsons worst era IMO!!

My local luthier told me the same thing. I'm glad a lot of people think that way about Norlins. Made the purchase a lot cheaper for me
Mine already had a refret and the bridge and stop tail changed, but still has the fold out tuners though (very handy), so I can't really judge it like you could back in the day.

 

[Aceman]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

In a New York Minute

* Based ONLY on the "you had the money" clause


Is it worth it? Oh hell no.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Whats with the fascination with the Norlin era Gibsons? Those of us who were around then thought they were like the AMF era HD's and cut rate substandard junk compared to what was being built by Gibson before Norlin took over.
I worked for a Gibson dealer in that era for a while and saw some shocking bad stuff come out of the box that got sent right back and never reached our floors. On the other hand saw guitars stamped Second we could never find a flaw with.
Gibsons worst era IMO!!

I remember 15 years ago when I started getting interested in Les Pauls, the Norlin-era ones were considered pure garbage but some foretold (I believe I was one of them) that "age" would turn things around and they'd start being highly regarded just because they'd get older... guess we were right.

 

[uOpt]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

I think in addition to my earlier posts I want to answer the original question more directly.

The currently made LP Custom is very expensive. But it is made pretty much the same way as the LP traditional, including the swiss-cheesing weight relief, questionable pickups and the Nashville TOM. The only difference is that it is being made in the custom shop, and the ebony board. It is really unclear whether being made in the custom shop has any practical value over whatever they call their other shop, but it is why it is so expensive new, and it is partially (only partially) being rewarded when trading used. So, there is nothing of substance here. The only thing that lifts it a bit is if your non-CS Les Pauls have construction issues you don't like such as laminated fretboards, PCB electronics or the like.

Now, for about the same money the Gibson CS also makes historic Les Paul Customs, the 57 and the 68, both with ABR-1s. The 57 has a carved mahogany top and should under no circumstances be bought without playing it first. The 68 is chambered. How that is supposed to be historic is a bit unknown to me. Owning a 1970 LPC I can assure you it isn't chambered. I rate this as a typical Gibson WTF moment. It is marketing. They had to make the 68 historic different from the non-historic custom and pulled a random stunt. How this deserves the "historic" brand is beyond me.

So, in a word, yes they are pretty, especially the wine red ones with gold and ebony, but things have been carefully stacked against the buyer to rip him off. Good guitars, but about the most overpriced currently being made.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Nope, I would buy two Traditionals instead.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

I'm starting to think I would, but I wouldn't play it. I'd put it away someplace deep and not reopen it until I needed a quick dose of semiliquid cash. Probably for a car for one of my boys.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

If I had an extra $4k, I wouldn't be spending on guitars right now.

+1


But lets say I had $4k to spend only on music stuff. I would spend it on some recording gear, an EVH 5150 III, and a Two Notes C.A.B. Then I would sell my current amp and buy a baritone guitar.

 

[AlexR]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Whats with the fascination with the Norlin era Gibsons? Those of us who were around then thought they were like the AMF era HD's and cut rate substandard junk compared to what was being built by Gibson before Norlin took over.
I worked for a Gibson dealer in that era for a while and saw some shocking bad stuff come out of the box that got sent right back and never reached our floors. On the other hand saw guitars stamped Second we could never find a flaw with.
Gibsons worst era IMO!!

I'd say now eclipses Norlin.
But what sort of flaws/problems did you have or see??? Or was it just that you expected them to sound like 50's era LP's??

 

[phil_104]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

Absolutely.

If I had the money, I would. I pretty much did this with my J200, and I don't regret it. I don't see why I wouldn't do the same for an electric.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

It all depends...

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

In the last 10 years, I've seen 70s Gibsons nearly double in selling prices. This was largely motivated by the "pre-Norlin" guitars going higher and higher. People want a used LPC, but the pre-Norlins are out of reach, so they start bidding wars for Norlins. More people want one, so bids go higher and higher. Eventually that's the new selling price, which was what they were willing to pay for pre-Norlins, but wouldn't give you half that for a Norlin.

Suddenly, Norlins aren't that bad.

A bad guitar is a bad guitar, even if it says Gibson on the head.

Today's crap is always crap, and old crap is always better. It's still crap, but it's old, so that, by virtue of age alone, makes it not as crappy as the new crap.

And a heavy guitar is not always the best for tone. Mass = sustain, but a heavy guitar also has a thinner tone. But as long as you're happy with it.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: If you had the money, would you spend it on a Les Paul Custom ?

It all depends...

. . . i'm listening