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Rockmonster
Published on 03/28/08 at 19:36
Gibby Gibby Gibby. Made in the USA. Goldtop. 22 frets, Tune-o-matic bridge, "aged" (greenish) inlays, 2 volume, 2 tone controls...60's slim taper neck (SWEET). 500T bridge and 496R pickups...
This is the classic Les Paul look. Perhaps one would prefer mother of pearl inlays...maybe Grover tuners instead of the old Kluson style... but this is still a Les Paul...through and through.
I made the following modifications to my guitar... PRS Dragon ll pickups..with push-pull coil taps and a Gotoh aluminum bridge...and Graph tech string saver saddles to replace the G,B,E strings....But..I DO remember what it sounded like stock...so...I will base this upon the original incarnation of this guitar. This is a legend. Has to get at least a 9 for "Icon" status..
UTILIZATION
Great neck. Built for speed. Maybe not as fast as an oiled maple neck Ibanez or Music Man..but ready to rip. Compared to some of the sculpted heel set or bolt on necks (great modern innovations, for sure) and neck thru body guiars, the access to the highest frets may be a struggle.. especially if you have small hands.. The heel is definitely a dovetail joint with a bulky heel...You still have access, but it certainly does not compete with the modern engineering we guitarists enjoy today. this is a guitar yo play for the vibe. Ergonomics? Who cares. It is a Les Paul. Classic rock sounds. Anything from Les Paul.. Jimmy Page.. Gary Moore.. Zakk Wylde. Especially with the hot ceramics the classics carry.
SOUNDS
Suits my style. This guitar... can really play anything except for quacky funk. Fat jazz, blues,rock,heavy rock.. metal. All of it.
I use this with a Boss GT8...Voodoo Labs Preamp... Digitech GSP 2101..VHT Pitbull 50/12 2-12 combo.. the list goes on. Right now I mostly run it thru the Voodoo Labs Preamp with a Carvin T100, and 2 1-12" cabs with Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers.. sounds sweet.
When I had this with the original pickups, I was running it into V30 cabs and thru my Digitech preamp... this was a bit shrill... but the original pickups through Greenbacks or some other smooth toned speaker would be great. Sounded super thru the P50's in my VHT combo. Nice and fat. The Bridge pickup(500T) is very very high gain. Easily overdriven.. but not too opaque clean... kind of an oddity really...the neck pickup (496R) is fat, fat fat. Really a wonderful high gain rhythm pickup. Yngwie runs with lots of gain are no problem here. Just bring ability. You will be rewarded with fat,clear tone. Favorite sounds? Hmmm.. it had lots of great tones. Blues are yummy... heavy rock.. super for heavy rhythms.. with smoother speakers, very good for lead lines. I have had a constant struggle walking the line in the search for "my" tone...always looking for a mixture of Eric Johnson and Randy Rhoads.. lol.. Good luck, right?
OVERALL OPINION
Had this guitar for 7 years...2001 model. Love the vibe.. feel.. look. Nothing I truly dislike about it. Have tried and owned many, many guitars.. nothing but a Les Paul is a Les Paul. You don't need to try anything else to know you want one.Value... ha ha ha. These guitars are not a "value" per se... Unfortunately, there is the status symbol element to buying one. So.. there are technically better guitars for less than half the price. But..they are timeless instruments for a reason.
Would I make the same choice... hmmm. Let's put it this way... I will always own at least one Les Paul while I can afford it.
This is the classic Les Paul look. Perhaps one would prefer mother of pearl inlays...maybe Grover tuners instead of the old Kluson style... but this is still a Les Paul...through and through.
I made the following modifications to my guitar... PRS Dragon ll pickups..with push-pull coil taps and a Gotoh aluminum bridge...and Graph tech string saver saddles to replace the G,B,E strings....But..I DO remember what it sounded like stock...so...I will base this upon the original incarnation of this guitar. This is a legend. Has to get at least a 9 for "Icon" status..
UTILIZATION
Great neck. Built for speed. Maybe not as fast as an oiled maple neck Ibanez or Music Man..but ready to rip. Compared to some of the sculpted heel set or bolt on necks (great modern innovations, for sure) and neck thru body guiars, the access to the highest frets may be a struggle.. especially if you have small hands.. The heel is definitely a dovetail joint with a bulky heel...You still have access, but it certainly does not compete with the modern engineering we guitarists enjoy today. this is a guitar yo play for the vibe. Ergonomics? Who cares. It is a Les Paul. Classic rock sounds. Anything from Les Paul.. Jimmy Page.. Gary Moore.. Zakk Wylde. Especially with the hot ceramics the classics carry.
SOUNDS
Suits my style. This guitar... can really play anything except for quacky funk. Fat jazz, blues,rock,heavy rock.. metal. All of it.
I use this with a Boss GT8...Voodoo Labs Preamp... Digitech GSP 2101..VHT Pitbull 50/12 2-12 combo.. the list goes on. Right now I mostly run it thru the Voodoo Labs Preamp with a Carvin T100, and 2 1-12" cabs with Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers.. sounds sweet.
When I had this with the original pickups, I was running it into V30 cabs and thru my Digitech preamp... this was a bit shrill... but the original pickups through Greenbacks or some other smooth toned speaker would be great. Sounded super thru the P50's in my VHT combo. Nice and fat. The Bridge pickup(500T) is very very high gain. Easily overdriven.. but not too opaque clean... kind of an oddity really...the neck pickup (496R) is fat, fat fat. Really a wonderful high gain rhythm pickup. Yngwie runs with lots of gain are no problem here. Just bring ability. You will be rewarded with fat,clear tone. Favorite sounds? Hmmm.. it had lots of great tones. Blues are yummy... heavy rock.. super for heavy rhythms.. with smoother speakers, very good for lead lines. I have had a constant struggle walking the line in the search for "my" tone...always looking for a mixture of Eric Johnson and Randy Rhoads.. lol.. Good luck, right?
OVERALL OPINION
Had this guitar for 7 years...2001 model. Love the vibe.. feel.. look. Nothing I truly dislike about it. Have tried and owned many, many guitars.. nothing but a Les Paul is a Les Paul. You don't need to try anything else to know you want one.Value... ha ha ha. These guitars are not a "value" per se... Unfortunately, there is the status symbol element to buying one. So.. there are technically better guitars for less than half the price. But..they are timeless instruments for a reason.
Would I make the same choice... hmmm. Let's put it this way... I will always own at least one Les Paul while I can afford it.