tonmazz « Gibson Les Paul - Great guitar period! »
Published on 08/08/12 at 10:52This review is for a USA made Gibson Les Paul I bought from a local music store. Mahogany neck and body with a maple top and rosewood fingerboard. Black with gold hardware, Gibson 490R and 498T humbuckers. 2 humbucker, 3 way selector switch and all the rest of your typical Gibson Les Paul features. Got this for a great price as the dealer was on hard times and needed to move stock. Wasn't in the market for this but couldn't resist.
UTILIZATION
I have to say that newer Gibsons get a bad rap from many guys I know. Maybe with the new fret boards I can see that but this thing is a great playing and extremely well made guitar with the old wood. I have another custom shop Les Paul and it definitely gives it a run for the money. Very good attention to detail compared to some I see sitting in some of the chain music stores for sure.
SOUNDS
The guitar plays perfectly but I will say this, I hate stock Gibson pick ups. Maybe for some styles of music, these are sufficient but for hard rock or metal, I definately needed something hotter than the stock pick ups provide. I swapped them out for a MotorCity Detroiter in the bridge and an Suhr Aldrich in the neck and holy moly this thing rips! I like the fact that it is significantly lighter than my other Les Paul but does not lose any of the great sustain and tone I can get from it with exactly the same pick up configuration.
OVERALL OPINION
Love everything about the look and feel. For the price I got it for, it was absolutely perfect and worth the money. I would never pay the $3,999 price tag that usually comes with these as no guitar is worth that kind of money. Being that I got it for a fair price, I will say it was well worth it. Having played many Les Pauls in the past, this is right up there with the best of them so in my own mind I put to rest the bad things that are said about newer Gibson products. As I said before, the pick ups weren't my thing so I swapped them out and now the thing is near perfect. In my case, I would easily recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a solid axe to play.
UTILIZATION
I have to say that newer Gibsons get a bad rap from many guys I know. Maybe with the new fret boards I can see that but this thing is a great playing and extremely well made guitar with the old wood. I have another custom shop Les Paul and it definitely gives it a run for the money. Very good attention to detail compared to some I see sitting in some of the chain music stores for sure.
SOUNDS
The guitar plays perfectly but I will say this, I hate stock Gibson pick ups. Maybe for some styles of music, these are sufficient but for hard rock or metal, I definately needed something hotter than the stock pick ups provide. I swapped them out for a MotorCity Detroiter in the bridge and an Suhr Aldrich in the neck and holy moly this thing rips! I like the fact that it is significantly lighter than my other Les Paul but does not lose any of the great sustain and tone I can get from it with exactly the same pick up configuration.
OVERALL OPINION
Love everything about the look and feel. For the price I got it for, it was absolutely perfect and worth the money. I would never pay the $3,999 price tag that usually comes with these as no guitar is worth that kind of money. Being that I got it for a fair price, I will say it was well worth it. Having played many Les Pauls in the past, this is right up there with the best of them so in my own mind I put to rest the bad things that are said about newer Gibson products. As I said before, the pick ups weren't my thing so I swapped them out and now the thing is near perfect. In my case, I would easily recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a solid axe to play.