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Hatsubai « Crazy good looking...and crazy expensive »
Published on 05/02/11 at 17:32The Les Paul Supreme was a model that Gibson released to really show off what they can do. While the outside looks the same, it's actually a bit different. It still has a mahogany body, high quality flame maple top, set mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, 22 frets (gold colored), two humbuckers, two volume knobs, two tone knobs, a three way switch and a TOM hard tail bridge. The biggest and most significant feature would be the chambering in this guitar.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is absolutely gorgeous, and the flame on this thing is sick. The new inlays help show off that it's a bit different than your standard Les Paul, as well as the gold frets. The back on this is actually curved or beveled, so it feels a little different in your lap when playing it. It also has no control cavity on the back; it's a gorgeous piece of flame maple. The neck on this is your standard Les Paul neck, and the gold hardware on this really makes the guitar pop. Aside from that, the 12'' radius is also great for lower action and greater bending without fretting out.
SOUNDS
Given that it's chambered, this guitar will sound different from other Les Pauls. It seems to have a softer top end and a looser bottom end that may or may not be pleasing to your ears. One thing that really gripes me is that there's no rear cavity due to the chambering. Because of that, replacing the pickups is ridiculously hard. Since I'm not a fan of the standard pickups, this is an issue for me. However, most people seem to generally enjoy the standard Gibson pickups, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue for most people.
OVERALL OPINION
The Les Paul Supreme is quite different from the other Les Pauls out there, and it costs a ton of money. It's hard to recommend for most standard guitar players, but if you're looking for one of the most elegant looking Les Pauls ever released on the market, this is the guitar you want to check out. Keep in mind that this has no control cavity, so replacing pickups will be a huge pain.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is absolutely gorgeous, and the flame on this thing is sick. The new inlays help show off that it's a bit different than your standard Les Paul, as well as the gold frets. The back on this is actually curved or beveled, so it feels a little different in your lap when playing it. It also has no control cavity on the back; it's a gorgeous piece of flame maple. The neck on this is your standard Les Paul neck, and the gold hardware on this really makes the guitar pop. Aside from that, the 12'' radius is also great for lower action and greater bending without fretting out.
SOUNDS
Given that it's chambered, this guitar will sound different from other Les Pauls. It seems to have a softer top end and a looser bottom end that may or may not be pleasing to your ears. One thing that really gripes me is that there's no rear cavity due to the chambering. Because of that, replacing the pickups is ridiculously hard. Since I'm not a fan of the standard pickups, this is an issue for me. However, most people seem to generally enjoy the standard Gibson pickups, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue for most people.
OVERALL OPINION
The Les Paul Supreme is quite different from the other Les Pauls out there, and it costs a ton of money. It's hard to recommend for most standard guitar players, but if you're looking for one of the most elegant looking Les Pauls ever released on the market, this is the guitar you want to check out. Keep in mind that this has no control cavity, so replacing pickups will be a huge pain.