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Hatsubai « The new Standard »
Published on 06/23/11 at 17:55Gibson has recently started chambering their Les Pauls within the past few years. This is different from the weight reliving they've been doing for the past 30 years now. In response to those who dislike the chambering, they made the Traditional. This guitar features a weight relieved (but not chambered) mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany set neck with 22 frets, a tune-o-matic bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
These guitars seem to help bring Gibson back to the glory days that they were known for. The biggest improvement that these guitars have is that they're PLEK'd. For those that don't know, that means that the frets are leveled with a machine. This eliminates any potential human errors that could occur due to rushing or other concentration errors. The nuts are cut nicely, but there are still a few out there with improperly cut nuts that need to be lightly filed. The guitars have some good weight, and they're all fairly resonant.
SOUNDS
These things sound pretty massive, just like a normal Les Paul should. The bridge has some nice bite, but it's pretty fat sounding overall. This gives a great classic hard rock and metal tone. However, I wish it would have more output and be a bit more clear. The neck pickup is fairly warm sounding, but it has some treble that I'm not entirely crazy about. My favorite pickup combo for these guitars is a JB/59 combo, so I'll probably swap that in when I get the time.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Les Paul, I highly recommend trying these guitars out. For the price, they're about the best you can buy. The R series is better overall, but they're also quite a bit more money. If you can afford one, by all means. I just feel these are the best bang for your buck Gibsons out there.
UTILIZATION
These guitars seem to help bring Gibson back to the glory days that they were known for. The biggest improvement that these guitars have is that they're PLEK'd. For those that don't know, that means that the frets are leveled with a machine. This eliminates any potential human errors that could occur due to rushing or other concentration errors. The nuts are cut nicely, but there are still a few out there with improperly cut nuts that need to be lightly filed. The guitars have some good weight, and they're all fairly resonant.
SOUNDS
These things sound pretty massive, just like a normal Les Paul should. The bridge has some nice bite, but it's pretty fat sounding overall. This gives a great classic hard rock and metal tone. However, I wish it would have more output and be a bit more clear. The neck pickup is fairly warm sounding, but it has some treble that I'm not entirely crazy about. My favorite pickup combo for these guitars is a JB/59 combo, so I'll probably swap that in when I get the time.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a Les Paul, I highly recommend trying these guitars out. For the price, they're about the best you can buy. The R series is better overall, but they're also quite a bit more money. If you can afford one, by all means. I just feel these are the best bang for your buck Gibsons out there.