Gibson Les Paul BFG with Tremolo

Mahogany body (chambered)
Maple top
Worn ebony grain textured satin nitrocellulose finish
Mahogany neck
'50s-style neck profile
Rosewood fingerboard
22 frets
Graphtech nut
Open coil P-90 neck pickup with Alnico V magnet
BurstBucker 3 bridge pickup with Alnico 2 magnet
2 volume, 1 tone controls with wooden BFG-style knobs
3-way pickup switch (in former treble tone control location)
Killswitch (in former pickups switch location on upper bout)
Locking 18:1 Grover keystone tuners
Schaller tremolo bridge

UTILIZATION

Let me say up front that I basically got this guitar for free, since it was sold to me at an extremely low price, and I'm quite sure it's going to end up being sold for more than I paid. I originally planned on buying to own it, but after having it a couple weeks I'm not sure. First off, the thing (at least to me) is ugly. Sorry but that's what I think. I can see some players liking it, but it's not my thing. It doesn't feel "aged" as Gibson would like me to think. It just feels cheap and unfinished. The fretwork is pretty bad. Action is a tragedy. I'm not a fan of whatever neck shape they went with. Wooden tuners look kind of comical to me.

The good: Well the tuners are solid. If it wasn't for the terrible nut cutting, the guitar might actually stay in tune. The bridge is pretty good. But how often can I use the trem when the guitar can't stay in tune to save its life?

SOUNDS

The BB3 sounds muddy and undefined. I am actually a big fan of the burstbucker series so this was a shock. I attribute it to the body woods, which are probably of cheap quality. The P90 sounds pretty good for cleans, not much else. I figured maybe changing the pots would help, but no. The pots Gibson used here are in fact pretty good, to their credit. No matter what amp I used, the BFG sounded bad. No lie. It's just a muddy terrible mess.

OVERALL OPINION

Here's the good news. I think with a new nut, a fret level, and some different pickups to clean up the tone, this guitar could be pretty good. But we're talking about $400 worth of stuff on top of the tag price, which is ridiculous. Personally I'm not spending that to save a guitar that I already think it really ugly. Call me crazy. My advice is to start looking for les paul studios. Don't bother with this junk. I owned another BFG before this one and it was more or less the same story, so it's not just the one I got.

This is a guitar that has a great array of features and a very low price that makes it a guitar for the masses. This guitar has a P90 pickup in the neck and a zebra humbucker in the bridge. This may a great variety of possible tones to have. Then you have a kill switch located within the control knob.




Gibson Les Paul BFG with Tremolo Features at a Glance:

* Top: Maple (Unsanded Carved Top)
* Back: Mahogany, Chambered
* Color: Worn Ebony Satin
* Neck Species: Mahogany
* Profile: 1950's Rounded
* Peghead Pitch: 17°
* Fingerboard: Rosewood
* Scale Length: 24-3/4"
* Number Of Frets: 22
* Nut Width - 1.695"
* Inlays: White Side Dots
* Hardware Plating Finish: Black Chrome
* Bridge: Schaller Tremolo
* Knobs: Two Wooden Volumes, One Wooden Tone
* Tuners: Grover
* Neck Pickup: P-90
* Bridge Pickup: Zebra Burstbucker 3
* 3-Way Switch (No Washer Or Cap)
* Kill Switch Toggle (No Washer)
* Gibson Gigbag

UTILIZATION

Details
Body Material Mahogany, Chambered
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Nitrocellulose
Color Worn Ebony Satin Finish
Neck Material Mahogany, Set
Neck Shape 1950's Rounded
Scale Length 24-3/4"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood, 12" Radius
Fingerboard Inlay No Fingerboard Inlay
Number of Frets 22
Nut Width 1-11/16"
Bridge/Tailpiece Shaller Tremolo
Tuners Locking Grover Keystone
Number of Pickups 2
Neck Pickup P-90 Alnico V Single-coil
Middle Pickup No Middle Pickup
Bridge Pickup Zebra Burstbucker 3 Alnico II Humbucker

SOUNDS

The thing I don't like about this guitar is that it is a chambered Gibson Les Paul. I few years ago Gibson I guess wanted to save money and lower their building standards to cheap us consumers out of wood by chambering the guitars. This means that they have routed out sections of the body to be hollow. This does change the sound and anyone who says differently is lying. They sound thinner and less resonant. I have played them up against solid Gibson Les Pauls and it really is a night and day difference. Allow your ears to be the judge.

Try it out on a Marshall amp of some kind to hear the difference. Try a Gibson that is used in the shop if they have one and you will immediately hear the difference. Let me be clear this is simply a tonal issue that I have personally and some guys will like the difference in tone. It is a preference issue and one that changes with each person you ask,

OVERALL OPINION

This guitars is compentatively priced which is a great thing. At new these guitars come in at around $1199, which for a Gibson Les Paul is a great price. This guitar has cool features like a P90 pickup in the neck and the zebra humbucker int he bridge. That sets for some interesting tones to be had.

I would recommend playing this guitar first if at all possible to get a feel for the chambered tone of the newer guitars. I have a Gibson Les Paul from '82 that will eat this guitar alive as far as girth and punch. The tone is thicker and the sustain is much better and natural rather than a hollow bodied sustaining feedback.