NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

[arath060]

Wanted a Les Paul Custom for some time now and I didn't want an Epiphone. Wanted to try something new, never owned an MIJ guitar and Orvilles seemed cool.


It's missing the pickguard and the gold is tarnished but I don't mind too much as everything on it works. The setup it arrived with was great and the action is low with no buzzing. The tuning keys are the smoothest I've ever used on a guitar and it plays incredibly well. The only addition I plan on doing will be the pickguard and it's an amazing axe if you can grab them for around $600.

 

[daenius]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

$600 is a total steal! Congratulations!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

The OrvilleByGibsons and most of the regular Orvilles have long tenon neck joints too. Worth checking. I'm told that even the ones with poly finishes are mostly long tenon. I have one of the last OrvByGib ever made, and one just-plain-Orville limited edition in cardinal red. They are both really excellent guitars. Congratulations!

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Very nice!

Bill

 

[BloodRose]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Very cool!! Good price!! I have a Burny and its a beast too

 

[arath060]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Thanks everyone. Since playing it last night I've noticed a few things things like the weight. It's heavy, heavier than my '56 goldtop and it feels great in the hands. I assume these weren't chambered to keep them closer to spec. When did gibson start making swiss cheese guitars?

 

[Aceman]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Dang - much much win!!!!! That's probably close to an Epi Elitist. Awesome!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Very cool!! Good price!! I have a Burny and its a beast too

My vintage Burny is pretty heavy also, a bit over 9lbs. It really smokes, and replaced a white '76 Custom. The mahogany neck on the Burny is noticeably livelier than the maple Norlin one was. Not ready to sell off all my Gibsons, but between the Burny and the Orvilles, I'm a MIJ convert!

 

[arath060]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Now that I've had it for a few days it's become my favorite next to my strat. The humbuckers sound excellent, no squeals or feedback, and it's overall an amazing guitar for $600. I wish I had gotten around to buying a MIJ guitar earlier.

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Very nice! Congrats. Some of those older ones came with Gibson HB-R/HB-L Circuit Board Back Humbuckers as well.

 

[devastone]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

To the best of my understanding, Orville was Gibson Japan, not a "clone" (although there were a lot of great MIJ clones too), there was some Japanese copyright or something on the Gibson name or they might have just been MIJ Gibsons. So, yeah, $600 is a great deal on a Japanese made LP Custom!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

To the best of my understanding, Orville was Gibson Japan, not a "clone" (although there were a lot of great MIJ clones too), there was some Japanese copyright or something on the Gibson name or they might have just been MIJ Gibsons. So, yeah, $600 is a great deal on a Japanese made LP Custom!

Yep, they couldn't use their name for products made in in Japan because the trademark was already owned by the Gibson refrigerator/AC company.

Interestingly, the other Gibson had pioneered onboard chorus in their fridges as early as the late 1940s...

[Sorry, couldn't resist when I was the pic.]

Anyway, these guitars were made to official Gibson specs but sold under the Orville brand (named for the company's original founder, Orville Gibson). The OrvilleByGibson line was a bit more upscale; these had US-made pickups and nitro finishes. AFAIK the plain Orvilles had Matsumoku pickups (pretty darn good sounding) and were finished in poly. Many were made in the FujiGen factory which also built high end guitars for Greco and Tokai; others were made in the Terada factory which later built the highly-regarded MIJ Epiphones before Epi production was moved to Indonesia. Build quality for both lines was very high- some say better than Gibson's high volume production in the US during the same period.

 

[devastone]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

Build quality for both lines was very high- some say better than Gibson's high volume production in the US during the same period.

That wouldn't surprise me for most of the MIA vs MIJ guitars during that period. Wasn't that around the same time as the original MIJ Squiers that were as good as the MIA Fenders at the time?

 

[arath060]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

That wouldn't surprise me for most of the MIA vs MIJ guitars during that period. Wasn't that around the same time as the original MIJ Squiers that were as good as the MIA Fenders at the time?

If I remember my fender history correct, yes. They were called the JV Series stratocasters and featured american made pickups plus some hardware but the the rest of the guitar was made and assembled in Japan. To my knowledge JV Squier Strats are super rare because they actually said Fender on the headstock with squier as a smaller print instead of the "OCB" sticker and were based off 50s and 60s designs. The SQ series came around 1983 and featured a 70's style stratocaster with all the classic appointments, 3 bolt-neck, large headstock, etc. Also pretty good MIJ guitar, but not nearly as desirable. Supposedly that's what drove the employees to buy Fender back from CBS and put them back on the map.

In regards to Gibson I presume the same. I had a 1992 Studio that I completely repaired/restored in another thread and I sold it off to buy the Orville custom. It was light, very light in fact, but it played fine and I loved how it sounded. I think Gibson has been changing their guitars drastically, and I find their newer stuff to be a bit boring.

 

[arath060]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

A bit of an update, I got the pickguard for it and I installed similar Grover tulip keys after one broke on me:

 

[LtKojak]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

It now only needs the "TREBLE/BASS" poker chip and witchhat knobs and it'll be just purr...fect!

 

[75lespaul]

Re: NGD: Orville Les Paul Custom

OMG, congratulations! I have always wanted an Orville. Heard that they are outstanding guitars! Way to go.