NGD - New year, new guitar!

[Rex_Rocker]

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Man, I'm loving this thing!

So the story is I decided I just was never gonna love the tone of my Strat, so I traded it in at the store for this. This was on sale, so I didn't have to pay full price. I feel like the full price new is way too steep, but in reality, these are great guitars. Mine rings out LOUD acoustically, and has a similar kinda high mid snarl as my Tribute. The neck profile and the finish make the feel of the neck be just perfect. The Tribute I always liked the feel of the finish, but it's so damn chunky. This is way more moderate and middle of the road. Not too thin, not too thick. It's also super light.

I'm setting it up with 11-56's in Drop C as we speak. Fretboard can use a wipedown and hydrating. But otherwise, I'm not even sure why it was discounted. I preferred the color of the red one, but I wasn't gonna pay 400 CAD extra just for that! And this is pretty classy too!

The stock pickups I'm really digging! I already knew I like the 498T, but I was dubious of the 490R. It's not too bad, honestly. It's not as scooped as the '59 nor as dark/smooth as the Air Norton. Very middle of the road. I'm not gonna say it's fantastic, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Kind of a generec-y decent neck pickup that I'm in no hurry to swap out.

So all in all, I'm happy. This is my second Gibson Les Paul, and I love it! It's not a white Custom with gold hardware or an ebony Classic, but I'm getting closer.

 

[jeremy]

i like the guitar! cool look, what model is it?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

i like the guitar! cool look, what model is it?

Thank you! It's a Modern Lite. It's a thinner and slightly more stripped down version of the Studio Modern.

 

[Masta' C]

THAT is a great looking guitar! Kinda timeless in a subtly modern way. I dig it!

 

[Mincer]

I was looking at the Modern Lites myself. Your picture is better than anything Gibson produced- it is hard to get a sense of this model from their website.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I was looking at the Modern Lites myself. Your picture is better than anything Gibson produced- it is hard to get a sense of this model from their website.

Thank you. In person, the best way I can describe how they look is sort of if you took one of those classic Gibson see-through Mahogany finishes, but made them satin and kept the wood grain tactile. Have you played one of those Warwick Wenge necks? They feel sorta like that. They look cool, but they don't tend to use those finishes on the highest-end Gibsons, so people associate them with the lower end Gibsons like the Tributes, the Fadeds, etc. I personally like them a lot. They feel very smooth and slick to play and they let the guitar breathe and resonate. They have a reputation for having a sound, and my experience with my two LP's with that finish seems to agree.

FWIW, I tried a Standard 50's at the store as well just out of curiosity as to what a higher-end Gibson feels/sounds like, and unplugged, this one sounded louder, and the neck profile fit my hand better.

THAT is a great looking guitar! Kinda timeless in a subtly modern way. I dig it!

​Thank you! I feel like it's gonna take on mods as well, LOL. I don't feel like anything needs changing right off the bat, but image how it would look with black hardware haha. Or covered pickups. Or if I dyed the fretboard black, which BTW, did darken up quite a bit after I conditioned it.

 

[jeremy]

black hardware could look cool

 

[Rex_Rocker]

black hardware could look cool

I used to have black hardware on my Tribute at some point. The problem I ran into is no one seems to make an aluminum Nashville bridge in black, and I kinda like the sound of that stock bridge. I used the Schaller STM bridge (zinc with brass rollers) in my Tribute for a while, and it looked cool, and maybe it was just in my mind, but I felt like it just didn't sound the same. It wasn't really a deal breaker, though. The guitar sounded good either way, just different. So maybe I will in the future. Who knows.

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[Seashore]

Not every guitar would look right with a Hipshot Tone a matic, but I think this one could pull it off. I do like mine even though I like the Resomax better.

Having said that, I like the chrome hardware on this, and if it sounds good and intonates properly, well, there you go.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Congrats. Not a huge Les Paul fan personally. My thing is superstrats. But they do look pretty and sound great. Enjoy!

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Not every guitar would look right with a Hipshot Tone a matic, but I think this one could pull it off. I do like mine even though I like the Resomax better.

Having said that, I like the chrome hardware on this, and if it sounds good and intonates properly, well, there you go.

The Resomax bridge sounds great, but mine has started collapsing.

And also the saddles are notched a bit too narrow for my 56. I could just widen the notch a bit, but I don't think it's worth it seeing the bridge is half collapsed.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Congrats. Not a huge Les Paul fan personally. My thing is superstrats. But they do look pretty and sound great. Enjoy!

Thank you! I'm the other way around. I appreciate Super Strats. I would love an ESP Horizon. But only Les Pauls sound like Les Pauls, and that's kinda my thang, LOL.

 

[Seashore]

The Resomax bridge sounds great, but mine has started collapsing.

And also the saddles are notched a bit too narrow for my 56. I could just widen the notch a bit, but I don't think it's worth it seeing the bridge is half collapsed.

Whoa, that sucks. Collapsing in the middle? I've had one on my Explorer for at least 10 years now and it's still great. I don't slam the tailpiece, don't know how much of a difference that makes in terms of downward pressure.

The Hipshot one is pretty cool. I do have some gripes with it (one hole for a set screw was stripped and it had burrs around the slots on top) but it's squared away and working fine. It looks technologically advanced. There's also the Babicz Full Contact (have not used that one), which comes with shims that go under the bridge, but the huge saddles and the massive BABICZ in block letters on the tailpiece require a certain aesthetic commitment.

 

[Mincer]

I tend to like satin finishes more, as I don't stick to them. I don't care that they aren't on the highest $ LPs, as those don't interest me much. They tend to test out the more modern things on the lower priced LPs anyway, like the modern heel and thinner necks (and lighter weight bodies).

 

[ehdwuld]

So about the neck

You say it's not to thick not too thin

My Epiphone Florentine has a slim 60s C
my Reptile Green studio custom has a slime 60s D

The D has a bit more shoulder making it fell thicker without being thicker

Would you say yours is the D?

 

[Mincer]

I like the thinner necks on Gibsons, and those always happen to be the more modern models.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Whoa, that sucks. Collapsing in the middle? I've had one on my Explorer for at least 10 years now and it's still great. I don't slam the tailpiece, don't know how much of a difference that makes in terms of downward pressure.

The Hipshot one is pretty cool. I do have some gripes with it (one hole for a set screw was stripped and it had burrs around the slots on top) but it's squared away and working fine. It looks technologically advanced. There's also the Babicz Full Contact (have not used that one), which comes with shims that go under the bridge, but the huge saddles and the massive BABICZ in block letters on the tailpiece require a certain aesthetic commitment.

​I'll look into the Babicz! Thanks. I don't mind costmetically-different bridges, honestly. And the Hipshot I've been wondering for a while, so maybe I'll look into that if I decide I wanna black the guitar out.

And yeah. It's kinda caving in towards the middle. I don't deck the tailpiece either. It just started doing it. It's a shame, really, because I love how that bridge sounds. The 2K thing they advertise the Resomax saddles doing is totally true. I love it.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I tend to like satin finishes more, as I don't stick to them. I don't care that they aren't on the highest $ LPs, as those don't interest me much. They tend to test out the more modern things on the lower priced LPs anyway, like the modern heel and thinner necks (and lighter weight bodies).

Yeah, this is definitely slick and non-sticky. I don't know how it will do over time, though. My Tribute started glossing up, but I remedied that with a scotch brite, and now it's slick again. I'm not sure how this one would take on that treatment, though, since there is actually color to the finish. Gloss finishes are not a deal breaker for me, but I do like the feel of satin, honestly.

The heel on this one is certainly way less blocky and in the way than the Tribute by far, but it's nothing modern either, honestly.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

So about the neck

You say it's not to thick not too thin

My Epiphone Florentine has a slim 60s C
my Reptile Green studio custom has a slime 60s D

The D has a bit more shoulder making it fell thicker without being thicker

Would you say yours is the D?

No, this is very rounded. I also had an Epiphone Les Paul Custom about two years ago, and that one had more of a D-ish profile. This is definitely rounded. Don't get me wrong, it is thin by Gibson standards, and probably leans more towards thin in the grand scheme of things, but it's certainly not like those 90's 17mm Ibanez Super Wizards. That's what I meant.

 

[ehdwuld]

My Epi is very close to the Wizard II on my RGs

Just without the flat spot down the middle