Gibson Les Paul Axcess Standard with Floyd Rose

Finish: Gun Metal Gray
Carved Maple Top
Weight relieved mahogany back w/belly scarf
Single-ply Cream Binding on top
Chrome Hardware
Floyd Rose tremolo tailpiece
1-piece mahogany neck
22-fret rosewood fingerboard
Pearloid trapezoid inlays
Rounded neck profile w/contoured heel cut
24 3/4" scale length, 1 11/16" nut width
Floyd Rose Locking nut
Kluson Tuners
496R and 498T humbucking pickups
2 Volume, 2 Tone (treble tone/push-pull coil split)
3-way selector switch
Vintage .010 strings
Includes Certificate of Authenticity
Includes Custom Care Kit
Includes Custom Shop Case

UTILIZATION

It's about time! Gibson should have released this guitar years ago - the Floyd loving crowd is not a huge crowd, but they are fiercely loyal to their tremolo system of choice. That being said, it was only logical to put this trem onto a nice Les Paul, to get the best in virtuosity, tone, and styling. The guitar plays very well - it's a high end Gibson, so the necks are very comfortable, and the fretwork is impeccable. The Floyd works like a dream, with dive bombs, screaming up-pulls, all while remaining in tune. The pickups are very nice as well, as is the fit, finish, and overall craftsmanship.

SOUNDS

This Les Paul gets some serious tones. From rock, metal, jazz, country, rockabilly, alternative, indie...anything one can thing of, this guitar can definitely make happen, and convincingly. The guitar gets great sustain capabilities, and acoustically it feels very resonant.

OVERALL OPINION

So why am I rating this super-nice guitar that I've just highly praised a mere 7? PRICE. Gibson is asking a full $3500 street price on this. To be blunt, that's extremely arrogant on their part - it's as if they are charging a full 50% of the value of the guitar just for having the Gibson NAME on it. If this was a $2000, this would be an incredible value, and I'd be giving it all 10s. But, at the price higher than most people pay for a first car, I'd pass.

The Gibson Les Paul Axcess came about after many requests from players over the years who loved the LP design but wanted to see some changes to make it more friendly to a lead player who might be used to a superstrat. These included a lighter weight, hotter pickups, more contouring on the body (especially around the neck joint) and a Floyd Rose tremolo system. Eventually Gibson gave in and now we have the Les Paul Axcess Standard.The features overall are fairly unique and there are a lot of them, but for the most part the core features of a mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard, flamed top, Floyd Rose Tremolo, dual humbuckers with coil taps, 22 frets and some beautiful Gibson finishes, both in solid colours and stains. It is made in the good ol' USA in Gibson's Custom Shop, renowned for their quality and attention to detail.






UTILIZATION

This guitar solves a lot of the problems I had with other Les Pauls like the Standard or Traditional that were clunky and hard to get around. The Axcess is quite easy to play due to a few different factors. Firstly it's very light in weight and it sits on the body a little bit easier than a typical LP. Also, the contouring on the body provides a WELCOME change in the design of the Les Paul. Finally upper fret access is unrestricted, AND no longer does the back of the guitar dig into my ribs! Combine that with all the versatility that this guitar offers with it's tremolo, awesome Gibson pickups and coil splitting, and you have a true modern warrior's Les Paul!

SOUNDS

I've tried the Axcess models through various different American and British voiced amps. The cleans on this guitar are great. I'm not normally a huge fan of the cleans on a Les Paul unless I'm using more of a jazzier neck pickup sound. However, using the coil taps on this guitar really allowed me to tap into some inner Tele and Strat type sounds, which instantly made things more appealing. The dirty sounds were great as to be expected. I've always been a fan of the massive classic Les Paul sound and despite its chambering and removing even further wood for contours, this guitar certainly has great tone. Chords respond with a thickness and attack that you'd expect from a good Les Paul, and lead lines have near endless sustain, especially when mixed with usage of the Floyd Rose. The coil tap gives things a bit of a brighter and more trebly sound that works for jangly Fender-y textures. It does a multitude of styles well and I've been suitably impressed with this guitar for everything from jazz to shred... it's a true workhorse!


OVERALL OPINION

All in all I feel that the Gibson Les Paul Axcess Standard is possibly one of the best "tweaks" Gibson has ever done to the Les Paul's core design. They listened to players like myself who wanted these things, and they delivered in the best possible way. It takes nearly every feature I don't like about Les Pauls and improves upon it. The tones are stellar and you can go through many styles with ease. It's a fairly expensive guitar (about $3,500 new) but it's definitely well worth it. If you get a chance to check one out, do so by all means! It's truly the definition of a Les Paul brought into the modern age!

This guitar has some improvements or downgrades, depending on what camp you're in. Personally, I'm a big floyd rose user, so this guitar is a huge upgrade in my eyes. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, floyd rose bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The biggest thing you notice right away is that the floyd on this makes the guitar feel a good bit different than the other Les Pauls you may be used to. On top of that, you have some really sick upper fret access with this thing. The guitar was put together nicely, and that's a good thing for Gibson as their QC has been a bit iffy at times. The guitar had a properly cut nut, and as everyone knows, that's rule #1 for staying in tune. The frets were nicely leveled, the nubs were done correctly and they weren't sharp at all. I was able to get some pretty low action on this guitar despite it having a 12'' radius.

SOUNDS

The guitar does sound a little different due to the floyd that's installed on this, so keep that in mind if you're going to buy one. The guitar sounded pretty good stock. I'm not a huge fan of the Gibson pickups that come in this thing, so keep that in mind. The bridge is high output ceramic pickup, sounds thick and gives that standard Les Paul kind of vibe. The neck is a bit too bright for my liking, but it does the job. I like adding a JB/59 combo in these guitars. It's a bit cliché, but the combo really works well. With the JB in the bridge, you get that high output kind of vibe that really pushes the front end. The 59 in the neck is super fat and smooth. It allows for crazy legato while still remaining clear.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're a fan of floyd rose guitars but always wanted a Les Paul, you definitely want to check this out. However, it costs quite a bit, so be prepared to shell out some cash if you plan on getting one, even if you buy used. Try to search forums and get the best deal on these.

This is the Les Paul a lot of people were waiting for a few years ago but to me I still have some problems with it. Back in the day you saw some big name players that had Les Pauls that looked just like this. And everyone wanted one. Les Paul with a floyd rose and a nice neck joint. They were just super rare custom jobs. Now you can finally get one from Gibson with their perfect timing a few years after everyone was begging for one. The Les Paul Axcess is a big update to the Les Paul design. From pictures it may just look like a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose but when you play it the guitar feels way different than any Les Paul you have played. The guitar has a way thinner body that most Les Pauls I thought this was cool until I saw that it was still chambered. Why would you need a super thin body and chambering? Do all Les Paul players have bad backs from playing Les Pauls all their life? I would rather have just the thin body. A thin body is not as bad as turning the inside wood into swiss cheese like they do. There have been thin bodied Gibsons for ages and they were never heavy. Im just waiting for Gibson to start chambering necks now. The neck is mahogany also with a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. The neck join is very nice and highly carved out. I dont know why they dont just do this on all their guitars. If they can do it on this one why not all the rest. You get the normal maple top but there you see the biggest difference. This guitar has a Floyd Rose! Les Paul traditionalists everywhere are having heart attacks. With the Floyd Rose comes a locking tune for tuning stability. It has 496 and 498 pickups which are pretty disappointing. I would expect Classic 57s in a guitar that cost 3k. The controls are a bit more modern too. It has two volume and two tone controls with a splittable bridge pickup for series and parallel. I would have just put some coil splits on it I dont know many people who split series and parallel and actually use it.

UTILIZATION

This guitar plays great for a Les Paul. The neck joint is a huge improvement over what Les Pauls have had for 50 years. Again why dont they just do this across the board? The thin body is a bit more comfortable but I still wonder why it is still weight relived. How light does this guitar need to be. There are non chambered custom shop Les Pauls that are plenty light. Its like Gibson is chambering stuff to hide their poor wood choice or something. The Floyd Rose is a nice touch being an original Floyd Rose. The locking nut means your Les Paul will stay in tune for once.

SOUNDS

Its pretty crazy that this guitar has pretty much the same pickups as a Les Paul studio. The tone from these pickups are pretty mediocre. The pickups are standard Gibson pickups, but they seem to work for most. The bridge pickup has some nice bite to it, and it has some decent output. I find they lack the character for heavy metal, but they can work for 80s metal. The neck is a bit too bright for me. I like a thick, fat sounding neck tone, and these generally have a bit too much bite for me. However, they're clean sounding, and that works awesome for clean tones. If they are making a non traditional Les Paul why put the traditionally mediocre pickups in it. When are they going to start putting their GEM active pickups in more than 2 guitars. Come on Gibson you take one step forward and two steps back.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar would have been perfect if it came out about 10 years ago. People have moved on since then. You can get an ESP Eclipse with a Floyd Rose for half the price. And it has an ebony fretboard and non swiss cheese body plus active pickups. If you were one of the people who wanted a Floyd Rose Les Paul back in the day here is your chance. There are other choices out there if you are looking for a guitar with the same specs. The price on this guitar isnt great either. You are paying for the name on the headstock with this one.