Gibson Les Paul Axcess with Floyd Rose

This is pretty much the standard Axcess, except that this model has the ebony fretboard on it instead of the normal rosewood, hence why it's called the Custom model. 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, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar was about as perfect as you could get. The frets were amazingly level and had a perfect crown to them. This is vital to achieving low action without fretting out. I was able to get it down to about 1/32'' while still being able to bend a full step on every fret. The ends were done nicely, and they didn't slice up your hand at all. To top it off, the locking nut means that Gibson can't mess up the filing process. The guitar held tune like a champ. However, this is not the case with all of these guitars. I've played a few that were absolutely horrible, so be sure to check yours before buying it if you can.

SOUNDS

The guitar sounded pretty good, but I couldn't help think that it wasn't quite as "Les Paul" sounding. The bridge has some nice bite to it while remaining fairly thick sounding. You could easily do everything from blues to heavy metal with this thing. The neck pickup had a nice vowely tone, but I prefer hotter and smoother neck pickups. Rolling down the tone knob helped get the fattness I wanted, but it still didn't have that "oomph" that I like. The floyd on this really changes the tone, and it might not be for the better.

OVERALL OPINION

The biggest issue with these guitars is that they cost a fortune and then some. If they were cheaper, I'd be recommending this guitar to nearly every shredder out there. The neck joint, the floyd, etc. They're great features, but the thing just costs way too much. If you can find a good deal on one used, jump on it.