View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « The new chambered Les Paul »
Published on 05/02/11 at 15:44The Les Paul Standard has been updated for 2008. It still has most of the same features that you'd imagine -- a mahogany body with a maple top, a set mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, binding, two humbuckers, a hard tail TOM bridge, two volume knobs, two tone knobs, two humbuckers and a three way switch. However, the absolute biggest change would happen to be the new chambered body that they've used in the past with other guitars.
UTILIZATION
I really dislike the chambering that they did on the new Standard. Without a doubt, it relieved some weight from these things, and that's a good thing. However, I feel it took a hit on tone. I'll get to that later. However, I really like these tuners over the normal Les Paul Standard models. Every guitar should have locking tuners installed, even if it has a floyd. It just makes string changing so much easier. The locking Neutrik jack is also very cool. This model actually has an asymmetrical neck which tapers with the bass side being heavier. It feels much more natural in the hand than most normal necks, and it really adds to the playability of the guitar.
SOUNDS
Since it's chambered, it tends to sound "airier" than the old Standard. To me, that's a minus. It can sound good on strats, but Les Pauls are supposed to sound thick and huge. This has a softer top end and looser bottom end that leads to everything sounding not quite right. They also used a solderless pickup system or something in this, so replacing pickups generally means you're going to replace everything. That's not a huge deal for me, however, as I dislike the stock Gibson pickup and electronics.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Les Paul Standard, I recommend checking out the older models or the new Traditional model. It's a much better sounding guitar without the chambering. They sound tighter, thicker and just overall bigger. When shopping for a Les Paul, never forget to check for both tuning stability and fretwork as those are generally the two biggest issues with these things.
UTILIZATION
I really dislike the chambering that they did on the new Standard. Without a doubt, it relieved some weight from these things, and that's a good thing. However, I feel it took a hit on tone. I'll get to that later. However, I really like these tuners over the normal Les Paul Standard models. Every guitar should have locking tuners installed, even if it has a floyd. It just makes string changing so much easier. The locking Neutrik jack is also very cool. This model actually has an asymmetrical neck which tapers with the bass side being heavier. It feels much more natural in the hand than most normal necks, and it really adds to the playability of the guitar.
SOUNDS
Since it's chambered, it tends to sound "airier" than the old Standard. To me, that's a minus. It can sound good on strats, but Les Pauls are supposed to sound thick and huge. This has a softer top end and looser bottom end that leads to everything sounding not quite right. They also used a solderless pickup system or something in this, so replacing pickups generally means you're going to replace everything. That's not a huge deal for me, however, as I dislike the stock Gibson pickup and electronics.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Les Paul Standard, I recommend checking out the older models or the new Traditional model. It's a much better sounding guitar without the chambering. They sound tighter, thicker and just overall bigger. When shopping for a Les Paul, never forget to check for both tuning stability and fretwork as those are generally the two biggest issues with these things.