Re: What Makes Vintage Les Pauls Sound So Good?
I'll add that I now have four LPs, and just bought a new '58 plaintop Historic Standard this weekend. Other than needing some minor nut work, it is an incredible guitar. I notice that it has more resonance than my two LP 1960 Classic Premium Plus guitars from 1996 and 1997. I recently mounted Antiquitys in one and the MF 50th Anniversary Seths in the other. There is a hugh difference in the factory pots between these guitars and those in the Historic, so an RS kit or two may be in my near future.
You can debate neck tenons, pickups and the differences in the decals until you are blue in the face, but the Historic LPs have a mojo that the Gibson USA models do not have. I missed out on buying the real-deal Pauls that I saw in pawnshops for $200 back in the mid-1960s, when I was learning to play. Oh, well, 20/20 hindsight.
And even though I think my modded Classics capture 90-95% of the Historics' mojo, (and they are fine guitars in their own right, make no mistake) I'm really glad to have joined the Gibosn Historic club.
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Martin has a 183 year history of building guitars...with that kind of longevity, they've had many "Golden Eras". I truly believe that they've been building some of the best guitars in their history of late. Many of the Limited, Special and Signature Edition guitars are exquisite pieces. Their Golden Era and Marquis guitars, which are an attempt to "build them the way we used to", may not be totally historically accurate in every detail; yet they are exceedingly fine guitars. Their new D-18 Authentic 1937 is a guitar of astonishing power and projection. Yep, it is expensive as-all-get-out--and probably worth every penny to those artists who crave tthe tone and feel of such an ultra-responsive intrument at their fingertips.
Still, for the the rest of us, I don't think there is a better value on the acoustic guitar market than the Standard Series D-28. (Feel free to substitute "D-18" in that last sentence if you're a Mahogany Fanatic!) Nobody makes a guitar for that price that has the tone, the cachet, the charisma, the sensuality of a simple D-28. You can spend a lot more on a guitar from a small builder, and maybe even have a better guitar. But there's somenthing about a Martin, something undefinable that many players never understand--until after they've bought their first Martin. And there's been many an estate battle fought over who gets Granddad's, or Dad's, old Martin.
I've played a few pre-war Martins; several from the Forties and Fifities; and probably hundreds from the Sixties and Seventies. A BRW D-28 from the 40s, 50s or 60s is a formidable guitar, indeed. You might not get that tone from a modern Indian RW instrument; but in all honesty, I truly believe that the modern Martin is probably better made than those guitars were.
Time wil tell.
Bill
