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Hatsubai « Extremely elegant, but pricey »
Published on 08/11/11 at 16:26In 1978, Gibson created what I think is probably the ultimate Les Paul ever made -- the 25/50 Anniversary model. This is a Les Paul and then some. The features on this are ridiculous, and it sounds even better than it looks. The guitar has a mahogany body with a figured maple top, a five piece figured maple neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets, unique inlays, a special fine tuner bridge, binding, a brass nut, a pickguard, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones, a three way switch and a coil tap switch.
UTILIZATION
Yes, this guitar had some wear on it with the finish. Yes, the gold plating was starting to pit. Yes, the frets were a bit worn. However, this is one of the best looking and best put together Les Pauls ever created. The guitar just felt perfect in every way. This was pre-chambering, and given the amount of maple put in this thing, expect it to be a bit heavy. The biggest complaint I have with this is that the upper fret access is weak, but that's the same with every single Les Paul out there.
SOUNDS
This is the only category where I'm rating it down, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the stock Gibson pickups. They work for rock, but I'm more of a metal player, and I find that I always reach for my trusty JB whenever I get a Les Paul. That said, they're still favored by quite a few guitarists out there. The bridge does that fat rhythm sound quite nicely, but the neck is a bit bright. I'm a fan of super fat neck pickup tones, so I tend to have to reach for the tone knob to get the tone I'm looking for out of these. The coolest features is the coil tap switch which gains some really cool coil tapped tones.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are extremely rare. They also go for quite a bit of money. However, I'm adamant that they're some of the best guitars that Gibson has ever made. The flame maple neck, the coil split feature, the figuring of the wood... Everything about this guitar is just about perfect in every way.
UTILIZATION
Yes, this guitar had some wear on it with the finish. Yes, the gold plating was starting to pit. Yes, the frets were a bit worn. However, this is one of the best looking and best put together Les Pauls ever created. The guitar just felt perfect in every way. This was pre-chambering, and given the amount of maple put in this thing, expect it to be a bit heavy. The biggest complaint I have with this is that the upper fret access is weak, but that's the same with every single Les Paul out there.
SOUNDS
This is the only category where I'm rating it down, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the stock Gibson pickups. They work for rock, but I'm more of a metal player, and I find that I always reach for my trusty JB whenever I get a Les Paul. That said, they're still favored by quite a few guitarists out there. The bridge does that fat rhythm sound quite nicely, but the neck is a bit bright. I'm a fan of super fat neck pickup tones, so I tend to have to reach for the tone knob to get the tone I'm looking for out of these. The coolest features is the coil tap switch which gains some really cool coil tapped tones.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are extremely rare. They also go for quite a bit of money. However, I'm adamant that they're some of the best guitars that Gibson has ever made. The flame maple neck, the coil split feature, the figuring of the wood... Everything about this guitar is just about perfect in every way.