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Hatsubai « Maple fretboard Les Paul »
Published on 06/28/11 at 13:16This is probably one of the rarest Les Pauls out there, and it's pretty controversial. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top, a set maple neck with male fretboard, 22 frets, binding, two humbuckers, a hard tail TOM bridge, two volume knobs, two tone knobs, two humbuckers and a three way switch. That maple neck and fretboard would become synonymous with the "bad" years of the Les Paul, but these can really sound amazing.
UTILIZATION
The Gibson Les Paul Custom is an amazing guitar that sounds absolutely huge. The neck profiles vary depending on what year you buy, and the one I played had a fairly thick neck. Some people will dislike this, but it was never a huge deal to me. I seem to be able to adapt from super thin necks like the Wizards to extremely thick Nocaster necks without much of a problem. The flatter radius on this was wonderful, and it allowed me to lower the action lower than a normal Strat would allow. The tuners on this model aren't as bad as the older Standard model, but I'd still replace them with locking tuners.
SOUNDS
The Custom really excels in sound. Normally, Gibson Les Pauls are very thick sounding. This works great for most styles of music, but sometimes it lacks a tad bit of clarity for genres such as metal, especially once you start tuning lower. The maple neck and fretboard on this guitar helps add some sizzle and bite that allows the guitar to cut through the mix without sounding thin. I'm not a fan of the pickups, so I always replace both those and the pots. This really opens up the guitar and makes it not only more aggressive but more versatile as well.
OVERALL OPINION
It can be very hard to find one of these in good condition at a reasonable price. If you ever do find one, snatch it up. They sound amazing, in my opinion. Just be sure it sounds resonant as they didn't have the best quality during this period of time.
UTILIZATION
The Gibson Les Paul Custom is an amazing guitar that sounds absolutely huge. The neck profiles vary depending on what year you buy, and the one I played had a fairly thick neck. Some people will dislike this, but it was never a huge deal to me. I seem to be able to adapt from super thin necks like the Wizards to extremely thick Nocaster necks without much of a problem. The flatter radius on this was wonderful, and it allowed me to lower the action lower than a normal Strat would allow. The tuners on this model aren't as bad as the older Standard model, but I'd still replace them with locking tuners.
SOUNDS
The Custom really excels in sound. Normally, Gibson Les Pauls are very thick sounding. This works great for most styles of music, but sometimes it lacks a tad bit of clarity for genres such as metal, especially once you start tuning lower. The maple neck and fretboard on this guitar helps add some sizzle and bite that allows the guitar to cut through the mix without sounding thin. I'm not a fan of the pickups, so I always replace both those and the pots. This really opens up the guitar and makes it not only more aggressive but more versatile as well.
OVERALL OPINION
It can be very hard to find one of these in good condition at a reasonable price. If you ever do find one, snatch it up. They sound amazing, in my opinion. Just be sure it sounds resonant as they didn't have the best quality during this period of time.