Gibson 1957 Les Paul Custom 3 Pickup VOS

Back in 1957, Gibson made one of their most iconic guitars that is now known as the Black Beauty. This guitar was known for its fat tone, versatility and stunning looks. It had a class about it that no other guitar at the time really had, and the attention to detail was bar none. This is the reissue version. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, three humbuckers, trhee volumes, one tone and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The first thing I should mention is that I absolutely hate the middle pickup on this. If I'm going to have a middle pickup, it has to be a single coil. I hit the humuckers too much when I pick, and I find they don't sound any good in the first place, so I never really understood the point. The ebony on this was jet black, and it really stood out as being one great piece of ebony. It was all natural black and not dyed like some of the lower end Japanese guitars you tend to see. The neck on this is really big, so if you like thin necks, I'd look elsewhere. Binding was done nicely. Fretwork was good, but the nut could have used a bit more work. I noticed that it was binding in certain slots, and graphite would only be a temporary fix.

SOUNDS

The pickups in this are like classic PAF pickups...mainly because that's what the original one had. The bridge is good for blues and rock, but it kind of struggles for metal. It can do metal, but I just think there are other pickups out there that do a better job. I really like how it responds to the volume knob. I can go from a nice, clean tone to a hard rock tone with just the turn of a knob. It's pretty cool, but you need to have an amp that'll allow you to do that. The JVM worked surprisingly well for that. The middle pickup sucks, period. Just not a fan. The neck is cool, but I tend to prefer to use it for cleans or some leads once I roll off the tone knob a bit.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're going to be buying this guitar, I have a feeling you have some deep pocket books. However, be absolutely sure you like the middle pickup in this. If you're on the fence about this, either go play one in the stores or just buy the two humbucker pickup one. If you notice you keep hitting the middle pickup, you probably won't want to play this, and it would be a big loss of money.

The Les Paul Classic has long since been one of the top of the line models that Gibson has ever made. This version is another take on it with three pickups instead of two. It has a mahogany body with a maple top, a set mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard and trapezoid inlays, 22 frets, binding all around, tune-o-matic bridge, three humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar was put together fairly nicely. There were no issues with the nut. The best way to tell is to simply play it. If you keep noticing you're going out of tune and it "pings" when you tune, that means the nut is cut improperly. The fretwork was also pretty good on this. I was able to achieve relatively low action without any real issues. The binding work looked nice, and the gold hardware didn't have any tarnish on it. The middle pickup, however, really got in the way of picking. That was pretty annoying.

SOUNDS

These pickups were definitely classically voiced. The neck pickup has the typical Les Paul sound. It could get nice and vowely when you wanted it to, and it does a great blues tone. The bridge pickup sounded pretty fat, but the ebony helped add some treble to give it some cut. That way, you're not totally lost in the mix and trying to battle other frequencies. The middle pickup was a let down, but I didn't expect much from it. I never really use the middle pickup, and I question why it was even here.

OVERALL OPINION

The middle pickup is really the biggest downer on this guitar. It got in the way of picking, and I couldn't really find a good use for it. I like HSH, HSS and SSS configured guitars, but I could never truly get along with an HHH configured guitar for whatever reason. I don't think humbuckers are meant to be in the middle position, personally. Then again, that's just a personal taste kind of thing.

USA
Channel bne
2 volume 2 tone, a micro switch chgt

UTILIZATION

The handle is comfortable trs.
Access in acute is not terrible.
Inconvnient major: is heavy trs [/ i].
Submitted central microphone does not intrt major, I myself even a Les Paul Custom Black (2 guitar mics 1976) is an excellent guitar, with his trs CHARACTERISTICS hot trs.

SOUNDS

With my LP Custom Black 2 microphones
Marshall 3 bodies, micro acute for heavy distortion style rock, hard rock, micro sounds serious blues
and the middle position for clean sounds too dirty

OVERALL OPINION

Since 1982
Plus the sound + the comfort of the handle, the less the weight, but you get used to.
I did everything with my Pigalle 4500 era of the Franks before buying it, (I tried the LP junior, standard, stratos, since I tried other guitars, but none for Use the same don 'sduit more.
Quality price ratio, this seems expensive today 25000 trs balls for a Gibson.
YES I would do this choice

YOUR custom shop model 3PU
see page builder
left handed version!
nothing to say at finish
RMQ: weight less than the LP version of custom (simple I would say)

UTILIZATION

Well it's a Les paul, big enough stick, significant weight and varnishes to monitor and maintain not to remain hanging in the Demanche ...

Otherwise we talk sounds all very good except for a flat clean sound, but playing on volumes and tones you get the roundness limit. In saturation, when it is torn, tjs playing with the volumes, we pass from the good heavy crunch on the same channel of the amp, a treat. Ditto on a channel saturated, it can be to have a clear sound not bad ...

SOUNDS

The collector's guitar, she can do everything but his record is the rock in general.

OVERALL OPINION

It's a great guitar at any point of view, despite the defects of a Les Paul (weight, acute attacks, varnished price!)
But as soon as the branch, one forgets the pleasure of playing this instrument is at the top response to the attack of the hand and the pick and grain of the tool.

It's still not cheap but the guitars like that we not buy every day!
Should enjoy the strong euro to console ...