benji657
New member
I never thought I'd ever sell the les paul standard that i bragged so much about.
However, I did. I sold it for a PRS. I bet some of you might be going :eyecrazy:. I thought I was too.
Long story short, the les paul wasn't doing it for me. Each time i grabbed it to play, there was always one thing or another that would bug me (the bad nut, the terrible neck joint, the two seam back, etc.)
If you want to see what a production weight relieved gibson les paul looks like:
I'm sorry, but I'd rather not call that a solid body guitar.
My bigger problem is the neck joint.
the upper picture represents the production usa standards.
the lower tenon represents the historic line.
Because of that rather pathetic seesaw tenon, the neck angle on the production les pauls are all over the place. My friends custom has the stoptail cranked down all the way, but because my gibson's neck angle was way too steep, the action had to be set relatively high, and the stoptail had to be too (not to mention the fat nashville bridge contributing to the issue).
I had to be honest to myself. For that kind of mediocre (and i'm being very generous) quality, my 2300 bucks were wasted.
Looking back, I have to admit I bought the les paul for the gibson brand name, and not as an instrument of my own that i'd have for my lifetime.
And as a company who boasts the history of their 1950s les pauls, i have to say, the production les pauls sound nowhere close to the vintage ones.
I tried out multiple PRSs. Custom 24, Custom 22, Tremonti, Singlecuts, McCartys (trems/stoptails).
There was one that just vibrated like crazy. It was a McCarty 10 top with birds, in a natural maple (?) finish. Gold hardware, stoptail, and a solid rosewood neck to die for. I've never held such a gorgeous neck before. I dont know what the exact profile is, (do they call it wide-fat?) but it reminded me of my classical guitar that i prize highly.
Fit my hands like a glove. I looked over everything: perfect neck angle, spot on intonation, nice action, everything, even the pickup height. I could not find one single thing to ***** about, besides my fingerprints. Dare I say, i love the pickups as well (it was probably the sum of all the parts anyway). Everything i disliked about the les paul design was improved on the mccarty: the headstock angle, the neck joint, better quality wood, straight angle for the string to pass through on the nut, ability to split humbuckers via a push pull pot.
Most people say a production les paul should sustain longer than a mccarty should. The biggest thing i hated about my les paul was that while it would seem to sustain forever, the note just choked and died out so suddenly. The McCarty on the other hand, sustained forever, and when the note was close to dying out, it would feedback in a pleasant overtone.
The way I'm describing it seems like I'm exaggerating things a bit. However, i could assure you that i even had a stopwatch with me for the sustain test.
It was a hard decision to sell my les paul, but it was a no-brainer when i played the mccarty. It is much lighter than the les paul, and i think it's just as light as my fender strat. Maybe lighter. I have to say, PRS guitars are some of the most well made guitars i've ever played in my life. The playability is incredible. People criticize them for having no "soul," but I've got no idea what that means. Maybe it's too slick and perfect? I like my instruments to be perfect.
Heck, my fender mim strat stayed with me all these years. My gibson couldn't.
Here are the obligatory photos:
However, I did. I sold it for a PRS. I bet some of you might be going :eyecrazy:. I thought I was too.
Long story short, the les paul wasn't doing it for me. Each time i grabbed it to play, there was always one thing or another that would bug me (the bad nut, the terrible neck joint, the two seam back, etc.)
If you want to see what a production weight relieved gibson les paul looks like:
I'm sorry, but I'd rather not call that a solid body guitar.
My bigger problem is the neck joint.
the upper picture represents the production usa standards.
the lower tenon represents the historic line.
Because of that rather pathetic seesaw tenon, the neck angle on the production les pauls are all over the place. My friends custom has the stoptail cranked down all the way, but because my gibson's neck angle was way too steep, the action had to be set relatively high, and the stoptail had to be too (not to mention the fat nashville bridge contributing to the issue).
I had to be honest to myself. For that kind of mediocre (and i'm being very generous) quality, my 2300 bucks were wasted.
Looking back, I have to admit I bought the les paul for the gibson brand name, and not as an instrument of my own that i'd have for my lifetime.
And as a company who boasts the history of their 1950s les pauls, i have to say, the production les pauls sound nowhere close to the vintage ones.
I tried out multiple PRSs. Custom 24, Custom 22, Tremonti, Singlecuts, McCartys (trems/stoptails).
There was one that just vibrated like crazy. It was a McCarty 10 top with birds, in a natural maple (?) finish. Gold hardware, stoptail, and a solid rosewood neck to die for. I've never held such a gorgeous neck before. I dont know what the exact profile is, (do they call it wide-fat?) but it reminded me of my classical guitar that i prize highly.
Fit my hands like a glove. I looked over everything: perfect neck angle, spot on intonation, nice action, everything, even the pickup height. I could not find one single thing to ***** about, besides my fingerprints. Dare I say, i love the pickups as well (it was probably the sum of all the parts anyway). Everything i disliked about the les paul design was improved on the mccarty: the headstock angle, the neck joint, better quality wood, straight angle for the string to pass through on the nut, ability to split humbuckers via a push pull pot.
Most people say a production les paul should sustain longer than a mccarty should. The biggest thing i hated about my les paul was that while it would seem to sustain forever, the note just choked and died out so suddenly. The McCarty on the other hand, sustained forever, and when the note was close to dying out, it would feedback in a pleasant overtone.
The way I'm describing it seems like I'm exaggerating things a bit. However, i could assure you that i even had a stopwatch with me for the sustain test.
It was a hard decision to sell my les paul, but it was a no-brainer when i played the mccarty. It is much lighter than the les paul, and i think it's just as light as my fender strat. Maybe lighter. I have to say, PRS guitars are some of the most well made guitars i've ever played in my life. The playability is incredible. People criticize them for having no "soul," but I've got no idea what that means. Maybe it's too slick and perfect? I like my instruments to be perfect.
Heck, my fender mim strat stayed with me all these years. My gibson couldn't.
Here are the obligatory photos:
I love everything about that PRS (even though I normally don't really like natural finishes). Excellent buy!
