Gibson [Guitar of the Week #39] Les Paul Classic Custom

The GOW guitars were models that were released in limited quantities with more unique finishes. They're kinda like exclusive guitars for the masses. 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

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. Access to the upper frets is the same as every other Les Paul in that it sucks pretty hard. The neck joint gets in the way, but you learn to live with it as that joint is an important aspect in tone.

SOUNDS

I wasn't a huge fan of the stock pickups in this thing. Then again, I'm not the biggest fan of Gibson pickups to begin with. The bridge was powerful, but it lacked what I usually look for in a bridge pickup. I like the pickup to be clear and tight, but it seemed to be voiced more towards the vintage side of things. The neck sounded decent, but I'd like it to be more powerful and smoother sounding. I'm a sucker for those ultra smooth guitar tones for leads, but that's probably because I use them as a bit of a crutch for lead playing.

OVERALL OPINION

These can be harder to find as they were made in limited quantities compared to the other Classic Custom guitars. However, they're really the exact same but with a few cosmetic changes. Either will be fine, but I find that the cheaper versions of these are a better buy as there's not really a difference in terms of overall tone and quality/fit/finish. I'd replace the pickups, but aside from that, they're solid guitars.