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tjon901 « 60's Goldtop »
Published on 11/07/11 at 07:20If you want to have an old school Les Paul the Goldtop is the best way to go. The Goldtop was one of the first colors you could get a Les Paul in. Les Paul believed this color stood out best on black and white TV. This model is based on the later Goldtops. It has humbuckers and a 60s neck. Early Goldtops had P90s and a fat 50s neck. This model has a more modern feel to it. With this model you get a mahogany body and a set mahogany neck. The neck is the thinner 60s profile and it has a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. The current Les Paul standard model has some nice modern hardware on it. Up top you get locking Grover tuners and the bridge is a locking Tonepros Tune-o-matic. Ive been yelling at Gibson to start putting this stuff on their guitars for years. This guitar comes with Burstbucker pickups standard but the example I demoed has a set of 57 Classics in it. The controls are standard Les Paul with a volume and tone for each pickup and a 3 way toggle for the pickups.
UTILIZATION
Locking tuners and bridge on a Standard Les Paul finally. These features make the guitar more road worthy and easier to work on overall. The locking tuners keep everything in tune better when you are knocking the guitar around and the locking bridge keeps the bridge on when you are changing strings. The 60s neck is what makes this model unique. The 60s neck is quite thin by Gibson standards and they do not put out many Les Pauls with it. It is more of an SG neck. It is way more playable than the old 50s neck. The 50s neck is huge like a baseball bat. The 60s neck has more of a modern feel to it.
SOUNDS
Since this guitar has 57 Classics in it the sound is real Les Paul. I am not a fan of the Burstbucker pickups. I think they too hot for the traditional sound and not hot enough for a metal sound. The 57 Classics are perfect for the old school PAF tone. Its Gibsons best pickup and its pretty much just a modern PAF. The balance on these pickups is perfect. The 57's have just the right amount of sag in the tone so you can really work the dynamics like you would with a set of real vintage pickups. In the neck position is super smooth and when you throw in some tone knob you can get that sour tone like you have a parked wah on. In the bridge position it has a little more bite and spank to it. With some gain you can get good classic rock tones from the bridge pickup. If you have a Gibson and want real Gibson tone I would recommend you swap in a set of 57 Classics.
OVERALL OPINION
The combination of new and old school in this guitar is great. You get new school playability and hardware with old school Goldtop looks. Gibson has waited so long to add these features to their guitars I think they have missed out. Epiphone guitars had locking bridges before Gibsons did and thats not right. I think the Goldtop look is making a comeback. If you are looking for a nice playing Les Paul with road ready hardware but old school looks this Goldtop 60s neck Standard is a great guitar for you.
UTILIZATION
Locking tuners and bridge on a Standard Les Paul finally. These features make the guitar more road worthy and easier to work on overall. The locking tuners keep everything in tune better when you are knocking the guitar around and the locking bridge keeps the bridge on when you are changing strings. The 60s neck is what makes this model unique. The 60s neck is quite thin by Gibson standards and they do not put out many Les Pauls with it. It is more of an SG neck. It is way more playable than the old 50s neck. The 50s neck is huge like a baseball bat. The 60s neck has more of a modern feel to it.
SOUNDS
Since this guitar has 57 Classics in it the sound is real Les Paul. I am not a fan of the Burstbucker pickups. I think they too hot for the traditional sound and not hot enough for a metal sound. The 57 Classics are perfect for the old school PAF tone. Its Gibsons best pickup and its pretty much just a modern PAF. The balance on these pickups is perfect. The 57's have just the right amount of sag in the tone so you can really work the dynamics like you would with a set of real vintage pickups. In the neck position is super smooth and when you throw in some tone knob you can get that sour tone like you have a parked wah on. In the bridge position it has a little more bite and spank to it. With some gain you can get good classic rock tones from the bridge pickup. If you have a Gibson and want real Gibson tone I would recommend you swap in a set of 57 Classics.
OVERALL OPINION
The combination of new and old school in this guitar is great. You get new school playability and hardware with old school Goldtop looks. Gibson has waited so long to add these features to their guitars I think they have missed out. Epiphone guitars had locking bridges before Gibsons did and thats not right. I think the Goldtop look is making a comeback. If you are looking for a nice playing Les Paul with road ready hardware but old school looks this Goldtop 60s neck Standard is a great guitar for you.