Gibson [Guitar of the Month - April 2008] LP-295 Gold Top

The Gibson Les Paul guitars are fantastic instruments have a lot of character to play around with. This is the guitar that features a Bigsby bridge tremolo system. This allows you get the tone of a Gibson Les Paul but being able to have a little bit of versatility by taking the big speed tremolo and having that feature as well. The gold top is a beautiful gold top and it's really rich color and mystique. In this guitar you had to Gibson PAF humbuckers that really pronounce that 50s style tone. Another great cosmetic look is the double block pearl inlays in the frets. Usually you would see only a single block inlay but the blocks are doubled in each fret that it is used.

UTILIZATION

Gibson LP-295 Gold Top Specs:

* Gold Top finish
* Body Style: Les Paul w/Florentine Cutaway
* Top Species: Maple
* Back Species: Mahogany
* Binding: Single Ply
* Neck Species: Mahogany
* Profile: 50s Rounded
* Peghead Pitch: 17
* Nut Width: 1.695
* Neck Joint: 16th
* Fingerboard Species: Rosewood
* Scale Length: 24-3/4"
* Number of Frets: 22
* Inlays: Parallelogram
* Fingerboard Binding: Antique
* Neck Pickup: 57 Classic
* Bridge Pickup: 57 Classic +
* Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3 Way Switch
* Hardware Plating Finish: Chrome
* Tailpiece: Bigsby Tremelo
* Bridge: TOM
* Knobs: Gold Speed Knobs with Dial Pointers
* Tuners: Green Keys
* Pickguard: Hand Made ES-295 Style

SOUNDS


This guitar was made back in 2008 and they were only are about 1000 of them made at the time. They're not that hard to find but certainly a decent guitar if you can find it.
The tone of it is very Gibson Les Paul but you're not can have that true solid sound that you would with a fixed bridge. Since this is a floating bridge you're going to have that cool lack of sustained in my opinion.

The tone of this guitar sounds great and sounds pretty much like any Le Paul that you ever heard but a little bit thinner and a little more towards the Gretsch sounding guitars. That means that it's can have a little bit of a hollow tone but not quite what a hollow body would sound like. Primary is probably getting because of the bridge fixture that you get that tone and fuel from.

OVERALL OPINION


Overall it's a cool guitar if you can find one on the used market then there worth picking up if you really like the Bixby bridges. If you can score one of these I would take this over a Gretsch for tone wise. It won't have that robust hollow tone but the tremolo in a nice feature to have on a guitar of any kind.