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tjon901 « 70s style Les Paul Custom »
Published on 11/15/11 at 09:49I wonder how in the future we will look back of the Gibsons of 2011 and think about them. With their trouble in getting rosewood they have gone back to maple as a fretboard material on their non ebony models. They used a lot of maple in the 70s in the Norlin era but no one likes those guitars any more. With these modern baked maple Les Paul they kind of look funny to me. Some of them have really dark maple like they are trying to pass it off as rosewood and some look like straight maple that you would find on a strat. This guitar caught my eye because of its finish. I am always drawn to the Les Pauls with the big Custom headstock. This guitar reminds me of the maple fretboard Les Paul Customs of the 70s. This is the Les Paul Classic Custom. Normally this would have a rosewood fretboard. This is like a Standard with the inlays and headstock from a Custom. This is the natural finish one. I think this finish suits the guitar best. You get a mahogany body with a maple top. The neck is mahogany in the fast 60s profile. The fretboard is baked maple with 22 frets and block inlays. The headstock is the big custom design with the split diamonds. The pickups are a set of Classic 57s with the traditional control layout.
UTILIZATION
Looks aside the baked maple fretboard is hard and smooth and feels a lot like ebony. The natural finish is still finished so it is very durable compared to like the Faded models. The 60s neck give you that thinner Gibson profile that everyone likes. The neck is nice as fast and has an SG feel to it. Other than this it is pretty much a basic Les Paul. The body is not chambered so you get full weight and full tone.
SOUNDS
Some experts might tell you that a maple fretboard is going to make a Gibson sound like a strat but dont believe them. An electric guitar once its plugged in the woods make little difference in amplified tone. In electric guitars amplified tone is effected by the construction of the guitar and the pickups. The Classic 57 pickups in this are some of Gibsons best. It takes a Les Paul Custom for them to put good pickups in a guitar. They have a very traditional PAF tone. The bridge has a spongy bite. They are not super high output but they hold their composure well. Both pickups how the vowel like sound you get on PAF style pickups. This trait makes them great for slow leads like blues and in jazz.
OVERALL OPINION
You can find these new Classic Custom guitars for less than 2000usd which makes them some of the cheapest Les Paul Customs for sale currently. A normal black Les Paul Custom costs close to double what these cost. If you dont mind the fretboard you are basically getting the same guitar. You could always dye the fretboard as well so it looked like ebony and it would look exactly like a traditional Les Paul Custom then. I do not expect Gibson to have to make baked maple guitars for much longer so it will be interesting to see if these guitars go up in value in the future. Maybe they will be seen as guitars from a strange period in Gibsons history and something to be collected.
UTILIZATION
Looks aside the baked maple fretboard is hard and smooth and feels a lot like ebony. The natural finish is still finished so it is very durable compared to like the Faded models. The 60s neck give you that thinner Gibson profile that everyone likes. The neck is nice as fast and has an SG feel to it. Other than this it is pretty much a basic Les Paul. The body is not chambered so you get full weight and full tone.
SOUNDS
Some experts might tell you that a maple fretboard is going to make a Gibson sound like a strat but dont believe them. An electric guitar once its plugged in the woods make little difference in amplified tone. In electric guitars amplified tone is effected by the construction of the guitar and the pickups. The Classic 57 pickups in this are some of Gibsons best. It takes a Les Paul Custom for them to put good pickups in a guitar. They have a very traditional PAF tone. The bridge has a spongy bite. They are not super high output but they hold their composure well. Both pickups how the vowel like sound you get on PAF style pickups. This trait makes them great for slow leads like blues and in jazz.
OVERALL OPINION
You can find these new Classic Custom guitars for less than 2000usd which makes them some of the cheapest Les Paul Customs for sale currently. A normal black Les Paul Custom costs close to double what these cost. If you dont mind the fretboard you are basically getting the same guitar. You could always dye the fretboard as well so it looked like ebony and it would look exactly like a traditional Les Paul Custom then. I do not expect Gibson to have to make baked maple guitars for much longer so it will be interesting to see if these guitars go up in value in the future. Maybe they will be seen as guitars from a strange period in Gibsons history and something to be collected.