Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

[SirJackdeFuzz]

http://www.themusiczoo.com/product/16652/Gibson-LPJ-Electric-Guitar-Rubbed-Goldtop/

https://www.google.com/search?site=....1.26.img..11.19.1536.g-vcbP1S000&safe=active


Has anyone tested/tried, or owned any of these entry level Les Pauls ?

I played with one in the Seattle Guitar Center a few weeks ago, (the Gold Top model) and i really liked the feel of the guitar.
Did not care too much for the tuners or pick ups though.

What do you guys think about these guitars ?

 

[CTN]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

they look pretty solid.

Tuners and pickups can be changed. Pretty sure the tuners are the new style Klusons by Tone Pros which have the same dimensions as Schallers, Grovers etc. Should be a direct replacement if you wanna switch to Grovers. (except for the screw hole location)

 

[Securb]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

It looks solid. The pickups are a 490R and 498T set which is a pretty nice set of PAFs. I am not sure what kind of tone you are looking for, pickups can be very subjective. It looks like a guitar I could play right out of the box. I dig the vintage burst a little more.

 

[snmusicman]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Looks like this guitar just has a rubbed in oil finish on the wood with no nitro-cellulose lacquer over the top. I think this would seriously affect the traditional Les Paul sound as there isn't any finish on the wood to trap the sound of the wood or the resonance of the pickups. Gibson probably didn't apply any finish to keep the cost down and it looks like a similar attempt at re-issuing the Melody Maker line by Gibson to put a more affordable guitar out there.. The original pickups in the guitar are probably pretty good. If you have the resources to apply a final finish (Clear polyurethane or a clear Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer) the sound of the guitar would probably improve. New tuning keys are easily obtainable, I go thru Stewart-McDonald to get hardware like that.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

I like the 50's rounded neck profile, most of the new Gibsons have the slim 60's neck that I don't care for. I agree with you on the black pickup covers and keys, I'd change those out, but it looks like a pretty nice guitar for the price. It has the regular "swiss cheese" holes weight relief, I wonder how much it weighs?.

Al

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

It almost looks as if Gibson is aiming for an ESP/Hetfield vibe.

+1 for changing hardware. On the Goldtop, any combination of nickel and cream plastic parts would look better than the Nunmore Black theme.

Finally, never confuse the 490R/498T humbucker pairing for PAFs. Never, ever, ever!

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

I love them. More so the SGJ. What makes it better is they are very inexpensive!

I played them through a Vox Night Train, and was very happy with the sound, even with the 490R/498T pickups. Very Mob Rules/Dehumanizer Tony Iommi sounding for the SG. Haven't extensively tried the LPJ yet, but I picture it being similar in quality.

The feel is incredibly smooth, and I really like the finish (or lack of thereof), look - including the black hardware -(especially for the white SGJs but all of that is just me), and that the SGJ has 24 frets (now I can make use of that usual space between the neck pickup and fretboard on a regular SG! ).

I think Gibson hit a home run with the LPJ/SGJ series.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Looks like this guitar just has a rubbed in oil finish on the wood with no nitro-cellulose lacquer over the top. I think this would seriously affect the traditional Les Paul sound as there isn't any finish on the wood to trap the sound of the wood or the resonance of the pickups. Gibson probably didn't apply any finish to keep the cost down and it looks like a similar attempt at re-issuing the Melody Maker line by Gibson to put a more affordable guitar out there.. The original pickups in the guitar are probably pretty good. If you have the resources to apply a final finish (Clear polyurethane or a clear Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer) the sound of the guitar would probably improve. New tuning keys are easily obtainable, I go thru Stewart-McDonald to get hardware like that.

I am way too lazy to type out a full response about this post, so I'll just quote myself from an earlier posting.

Why would nitro make it sound any better? Nitrocellulose is a very broad term these days and each brand/type of nitrocellulose is entirely different. This is partly due to many regulations on how to make and use nitrocellulose for the effects it is supposed to have on the environment, and nitrocellulose from the '50s isn't nearly the same as today's nitrocellulose. More and more plasticizers are being added to the solvents, and cotton is replacing the cellulose (yet it is still advertised as nitrocellulose). So the argument of "nitrocellulose enhances sound because it is made of the same type of cells as wood, therefore letting it breathe" isn't valid.

Next the argument "nitrocellulose rubs into the wood" or something similar to that. It simply does not. If you feel any thinning, that is simply wear by friction, or more of the solvents evaporating. If there is any form of sealer or filler, nothing is getting into the wood. Also, yes, nitrocellulose is a flexible finish, but just like polyurethane it will react to changes in the wood. the visibility and visual results are simply different.

Finally there is no empirical evidence to suggest it has any change in sound. Any 'evidence' in the cases of nitrocellulose affecting sound is only of subjective human perception, and human hearing adjusts to sound over time which makes something as small as the finish material of lesser importance. What it comes down to is feel and practicality. Nitro works great as a clear finish, but it boils down to if you like the feel and aesthetics.

I have also stripped the entire finish off of a good sounding Epiphone Les Paul, Everything was down to the bare wood, and the previous finish was a few millimeters thick (so pretty damn thick). There was absolutely no change in the sound. It didn't sound more alive, more resonant, or any of that. Finish is just a looks and aesthetics thing until you start globbing on buckets of the finish. I think buckets of finish would be stiff and not flexible, and act just as a bullet-proof (not literally - but maybe, I haven't tried/seen someone else try ) shell. At least we would probably agree on the buckets of finish being a bad thing.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

It looks solid. The pickups are a 490R and 498T set which is a pretty nice set of PAFs. I am not sure what kind of tone you are looking for, pickups can be very subjective. It looks like a guitar I could play right out of the box. I dig the vintage burst a little more.

View attachment 45995

I am more of a Duncan A2P kind guy . . . or a BK Black Dog type of tone.

Looking at the internet pic's i love the chocolate brown version, but when i saw the gold top in person, it looked sooo much sexier than my old Epi LP gold top that i had in 2002.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Looks like this guitar just has a rubbed in oil finish on the wood with no nitro-cellulose lacquer over the top. I think this would seriously affect the traditional Les Paul sound as there isn't any finish on the wood to trap the sound of the wood or the resonance of the pickups. Gibson probably didn't apply any finish to keep the cost down and it looks like a similar attempt at re-issuing the Melody Maker line by Gibson to put a more affordable guitar out there.. The original pickups in the guitar are probably pretty good. If you have the resources to apply a final finish (Clear polyurethane or a clear Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer) the sound of the guitar would probably improve. New tuning keys are easily obtainable, I go thru Stewart-McDonald to get hardware like that.

Thanks for the info !

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

I like the 50's rounded neck profile, most of the new Gibsons have the slim 60's neck that I don't care for. I agree with you on the black pickup covers and keys, I'd change those out, but it looks like a pretty nice guitar for the price. It has the regular "swiss cheese" holes weight relief, I wonder how much it weighs?.

Al

WOW . . . really ?

The one i played on felt pretty bloody hefty to me !
In fact, i felt heaver than my brother's 2006 LP Std.
I would have never said it had any relieve holes in it.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

It almost looks as if Gibson is aiming for an ESP/Hetfield vibe.

+1 for changing hardware. On the Goldtop, any combination of nickel and cream plastic parts would look better than the Nunmore Black theme.

Finally, never confuse the 490R/498T humbucker pairing for PAFs. Never, ever, ever!

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

I love them. More so the SGJ. What makes it better is they are very inexpensive!

I played them through a Vox Night Train, and was very happy with the sound, even with the 490R/498T pickups. Very Mob Rules/Dehumanizer Tony Iommi sounding for the SG. Haven't extensively tried the LPJ yet, but I picture it being similar in quality.

The feel is incredibly smooth, and I really like the finish (or lack of thereof), look - including the black hardware -(especially for the white SGJs but all of that is just me), and that the SGJ has 24 frets (now I can make use of that usual space between the neck pickup and fretboard on a regular SG! ).

I think Gibson hit a home run with the LPJ/SGJ series.

I am now seriously thinking of getting one, and replacing the hard ware with "better" quality items.
RS Guitar Works electrics, and Duncan/Bare Knuckle/Stephens Design, pick ups.

And i loved the way that neck felt in my hand.

 

[Securb]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Finally, never confuse the 490R/498T humbucker pairing for PAFs. Never, ever, ever!

My bad please forgive me. Still not a bad set of pickups the 498T is a well put together lead pickup, it has an alnico V magnet. I have a 490R in my SG and love it for blues and jazz. Seems like a well balanced set with a lot of variations in tone. The 50's neck is a huge plus also. I would pop off the black covers they are hideous, a swap out to chrome would be all that guitar would need IMO.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Never, ever, ever!

Like. Ever.

Sing it, if you like.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

The description on the Music Zoo page says it has the "traditional weight-relieved mahogany body", that's the "swiss-cheese" holes method they use on most of the production LP's. That's how they get away with using mahogany that would otherwise be way too heavy for an LP body, they've been doing that for many years now. The only Gibson LP's that are not weight-relieved are the Historics, which they save the best lightweight wood for, and also I believe the Traditional (possibly the only production LP that is solid wood, and quite heavy compared to a Historic LP).

By the way, your brother's LP is also weight-relieved, all of the Standards and other production LP's have been weight-relieved in some way for a long time.

Al

WOW . . . really ?

The one i played on felt pretty bloody hefty to me !
In fact, i felt heaver than my brother's 2006 LP Std.
I would have never said it had any relieve holes in it.

 

[Securb]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

The only Gibson LP's that are not weight-relieved are the Historics, which they save the best lightweight wood for, and also I believe the Traditional (possibly the only production LP that is solid wood, and quite heavy compared to a Historic LP).

I have a Traditional Plus they are weight-relieved mine is about 9 lbs.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

Just got this from a comment made on Amazon dot com ;-)



"This seems to be a very well built solid guitar, it's heavy around 9-10 pounds as are most Gibson Les Pauls, it is not chambered to reduce weight...nice sound even when using no amp...comes with a nice Gig Bag, but I bought a case with mine....just stained, no true finish on this guitar...still it looks great and smells great as well and made in the USA....Jim"



http://www.amazon.com/Gibson-Paul-G...TF8&qid=1378172251&sr=1-5&keywords=gibson+lpj

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

I think theres something you guys dont really get. Ive mentioned it before, but this is the last time i'll say it. The better the finsih, the higher grade the binding, and inlays, aad fretboard wood , the more choice tonewood is going to be used on the guitar.Maybe you dont value premium tonewood , but i do.

I say, if you gotta get a LPJ, then get it,m but it would be well woprth your while to wait for a nitro finished Gibson, a "real;" Gibson. The finish is fully 1/3 the cost of the guitar. Awhile back when the fool know it alls like TGoof WIF were punking everything I said , it got shot down, but its true, absolutely. And they use the premium woods for best tone on these guitars, absolutely.

Carry on with you delusions though, like the one that blackfaced Silverface amps are anywhere near as good as Blackface ( there are many many difefrences besides the simple circuit tweak on even the Deluxes)..don't let me stop you.Ignorance truly IS bliss.

Basically that is Gibsons most budget cut rate offfering- a "Maestro Premium" if you will.You wont be playing a premium traditional Gibson and the tone wont be there. Playability is a function of tone and the symbioses fo the tone and the action, so..Whats the point??

 

[Securb]

Re: Thoughts on the budget Gibson LPJ's ?

it is not chambered to reduce weight.

Weight-relieved and chambered are two totally different approaches to guitar building. If the guitar is weighing in at 9 lbs I would guess it is weight-relieved.

Weight-relieved

Chambered

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifesty...relief-gibson-les-paul-guitars-0615-2012.aspx