All user reviews of 4/5 for the Gibson [Guitar of the Month - April 2008] LP-295 Gold Top

GIbson set out to create a design that was kind similar to the ES but with the tone and playability of the Les Paul. What they decided to do was to put a Bigsby on their regular model and adjust a few minor things. It was met with some iffy success due to the fact that it had the trem on it. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, special inlays, pickguard, binding, Bigsby bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar had some weight to it which I wasn't really crazy about. I have a bad back, so these heavy guitars can be a bit of an issue for me. I also find that the heavier guitars don't resonate quite as nicely as the lighter ones do. The frets on this were nice and level. The edges were also nice and rounded off so they don't cut your hand when moving it up and down the neck. The bridge on this is something I'm really not a fan of, and I could never get into these. The nut also had some issues as I would constantly go out of tune with this, even with the strings stretched. Some graphite fixed it, but it really needs to be reshaped for the trem.

SOUNDS

I always found that the Bigsby trems took something away from that Les Paul sound. They seem to sound a bit flatter or something. I could never really jive with them like I could with a regular hard tail bridge or even a floyd rose. The pickups in this were the stock Gibson pickups, and they sound average. I'm not a huge fan of these, as I find they lack the qualities I tend to look for in pickups. I generally replace these with the JB/59 combo, but you may prefer the stock pickups yourself. The guitar sounded nice and resonant, so no issues there.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're a fan of the Bigsby trem, definitely check these out. I'm sure you'll love it. However, I'm not the biggest fan of those bridges. I just can't really get along with them, and I'm a trem player at heart. The guitar itself sounds pretty cool, so if you buy one out of curiosity, I doubt you'll be disappointed.