I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Gibson has dabbled with LP's from wood other than mahogany in the past and they just never sell well.

In addition to that there are several basswood + maple guitars out there...why step on that.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Gibson has dabbled with LP's from wood other than mahogany in the past and they just never sell well.

In addition to that there are several basswood + maple guitars out there...why step on that.

a) That is because Gibson is damned if they do anything that isn't the same as what they did in the '50s.

b) Some people would prefer the feel of a Les Paul to a superstrat.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Maybe they don't keep the model around long enough for it to catch on, or maybe it's a combination of that and them not getting the right price point or something. Basswood + maple top = beautiful tone. I don't know how Gibson could go wrong with that combination.

 

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Some people would prefer the feel of a Les Paul to a superstrat.

I used to. I still would, if I didn't have a bad back. There's that weight that you can't help but attribute to a quality instrument, even if it's just sub-par. I've been hearing guys on YT lately talking about how they love basswood. For some reason, I always associated it with inexpensive Ibanez rg's and things like that, so I always avoided it. Then I found out it's what the Wolfgangs are made of. I always thought they were mahogany until a few years ago. Does basswood have more midrange than mahogany?

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

I used to. I still would, if I didn't have a bad back. There's that weight that you can't help but attribute to a quality instrument, even if it's just sub-par. I've been hearing guys on YT lately talking about how they love basswood. For some reason, I always associated it with inexpensive Ibanez rg's and things like that, so I always avoided it. Then I found out it's what the Wolfgangs are made of. I always thought they were mahogany until a few years ago. Does basswood have more midrange than mahogany?

It is hard to really say. I think mahogany can be all over the place on the spectrum, even if it is the same species of mahogany from the same forest. I think it is pretty obvious different types of wood will make a difference, but I think "what is the difference" is the whole problem with little empirical evidence.

The basswood guitar I've had sounded huge and thick, just the way I like it.

 

[Brow]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

As both a Gibson and Fender player I really don't understand why some people get so eaten up by 'things staying the same as they always have'.

As far as I'm aware Strats etc have been made from Ash, Alder, Basswood, Poplar, Pine and don't recall seeing too much negativity from Fender purists, so why all the whinging from die-hard LP Players?

Maybe because I'm not really interested in being that anal about specifics that I've just never noticed the backlash about it?

As alot of you have said before there are plenty of high end guitars made from Basswood or Basswood/Maple, but maybe they've tried it and weren't happy with the results so never bothered to release it to the public?

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

My Jem is all basswood and cuts through everything...even if I tune down.

I think, at the very least, a basswood TOP is a great idea to try in a Les Paul.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

As far as I'm aware Strats etc have been made from Ash, Alder, Basswood, Poplar, Pine and don't recall seeing too much negativity from Fender purists, so why all the whinging from die-hard LP Players?

I think this is because even a bunch of Strats made out of the same wood sound quite different one from another, and because Fender switched woods early, even in the classic era, there isn't a single historic formula a Fender purist can latch on to.

On the other hand, Gibsons seem to have been a bit more consistent. More experimentation went on in the electronics than the body wood.

In my experience I typically have to play 10 Strats to find one good sounding one. But when I bought my Les Paul, I played a '60s, a '70s, an '80s and a '90s and they all sounded pretty much the same. I could have taken any one of them. The frets were worn on the older ones and the older ones couldn't play in tune as well, but they all sounded the same. So changing the body wood on a Gibson would be a more obvious and negative change in my opinion; a detraction from a design that happens to be well done and has lasted. Mind you I am equally a Fender and Gibson player. I almost always pair something like a Strat against a Les Paul or an SG and a Tele in my recordings. So it's not a whine, it's just the Gibson Les Paul sound is satisfying to me as is, so I am unlikely to experiment with Les Pauls made from alternate woods. To be honest, for me the Les Paul shape (and weight) is actually uncomfortable, so if I wanted to experiment with alternate woods, I would pursue an alternate guitar altogether.

 

[uOpt]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

On the other hand, Gibsons seem to have been a bit more consistent. More experimentation went on in the electronics than the body wood.

Well, mahogany has many species and even within the same species the sound is all over the place.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Well, mahogany has many species and even within the same species the sound is all over the place.

Yes, but the lore of the mahogany + maple alchemy is very, very deeply ingrained (tee-hee!) in the psyche of the guitar community. If you can't put the word "mahogany" in the literature, it's not a Les Paul (or so the logic goes).

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

The first series of Les Paul Studio guitars had Alder bodies. I cannot recall whether a maple cap was an optional extra or out of the question. The series bombed. Most people judge guitars by appearance and "provence" before playing and listening.

Similarly, the earliest PRS CE guitars were Alder bodied. Customers demanded flamed maple caps to resemble the Custom series. The CE became tarred with the Poor Man's Custom brush.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Well, mahogany has many species and even within the same species the sound is all over the place.

The point was that within the first 10 years of manufacture, the formula (e.g. mahogany + maple cap for Les Pauls) stayed consistent for Gibson, while Fender used a couple different body woods within the same period. As far as sounding all over the place, that hasn't been my experience with Les Pauls at all, certainly not compared to Fender. If the bodies are the same and the pickups/electronics comparable, two different Les Pauls will sound closer to each other than two Strats with the same bodies/necks and electronics, in my experience.

 

[uOpt]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

The point was that within the first 10 years of manufacture, the formula (e.g. mahogany + maple cap for Les Pauls) stayed consistent for Gibson, while Fender used a couple different body woods within the same period. As far as sounding all over the place, that hasn't been my experience with Les Pauls at all, certainly not compared to Fender. If the bodies are the same and the pickups/electronics comparable, two different Les Pauls will sound closer to each other than two Strats with the same bodies/necks and electronics, in my experience.

No, I disagree. To me two random Gibsons Les Pauls sound different with a very high probability. Especially if they are priced differently. Gibson seems to have some way to pick wood by sound, or maybe they pick by weight for the expensive guitars and the sound bias is just a result of the weight.

Fender Strats, given literally same tremolo and same neck construction (including truss rod etc), tend to sound more similar. I would go as far as saying that even switching between ash and alder is only about the random mahogany variance.

The tremolo with the sustain block is a big factor here, once it's there the quality of sound of the Strat is more dominated by the neck construction and wood. And I think that maple is actually pretty consistent. So two random Strats with same tremolo get little variance from neck and have the body's influence lowered because of the trem.

But a Les Paul also has the neck made from the highly variable mahogany. I think this is underrated as an influence.

 

[theycallmegio]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

I prefer that gibson keep their straying from the original formula to a minimum.

a les paul has always been a mahogany guitar with a maple top. If you want a basswood body go elsewhere.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

Just saw this on Craigslist. It's a homemade Les Paul with a basswood body.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/msg/3944587731.html

Unfortunately, that's about the worst stain job and finish I've ever seen on any guitar (or anything else for that matter).

Can anyone tell me what a 200k Orange Drop capacitor is?

 

[some_dude]

Re: I've Gotta Ask (Les Paul Question)

How many people will be willing to pay $2600+ for a basswood Les Paul?