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tjon901 « Les Paul Standard with a thin neck »
Published on 08/11/11 at 12:40In the early 60s Gibson was looking to make their guitars a bit easier to play. Fender was out selling them with their guitars so they had to change up the feel of their guitars. This eventually led to the Les Paul being replaced by the SG but before that they tried to fix some perceived problems with the Les Paul. This early 60s style Les Paul has a super thin 60s profile neck. Which is found on most SG guitars. This guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top. The set neck is mahogany with the mentioned 60s profile neck. It has a rosewood fretboard and a cool black finish. It has vintage looking aged green tuners. It has a set of Burstbucker pickups and the standard controls.
UTILIZATION
These guitars are very playable because of their 60s neck profiles. The body shape is standard Les Paul so most of it plays like a normal Les Paul. The 60s neck profile is something you find more on SG guitars. Gibson Les Pauls with these necks are pretty rare but when they make them they play really well. With these thinner necks you can really wrap your hand around them. These guitars have a really nice setup out of the box due to Gibsons Plek process. A Plek machine is a machine that uses a laser to level the frets on a guitar to crazy accuracy. This means the out of the box setup on these guitars are very good.
SOUNDS
This guitar has a great Les Paul tone. It has a full bodied mahogany sound which is what you expect when it comes to a Gibson Les Paul. The neck pickup is nice and smooth like you want with a Les Paul. The tone is perfect for blues or classic rock leads right out of the box. The bridge pickup has a nice hot rodded sound to it. It has a good crunch going that could do heavy rock. With some clean tones the guitar is good for blues and Jazz. With these pickups I dont think it would cut the mustard for a metal tone. If you are looking for that kind of sound you may want to swap in some Duncans or a set of active EMG's if you want the ultimate in metal tone.
OVERALL OPINION
The Les Paul Standard is what people think when they think Les Paul. There are models above and below it but this is the workhorse that more people have used throughout the years than any other. And throughout the years it has gone through changes. This guitar represents a certain era in the guitars history where it had its unique style and playability that stemmed from the needs and requirements of a guitar at that time. A lot of those needs are things people still want today. People like smaller necks because more people find them very comfortable to play. This is this models strong point. If you are looking for a good standard Les Paul with a slim neck that you can really play Gibson has you hooked up right here.
UTILIZATION
These guitars are very playable because of their 60s neck profiles. The body shape is standard Les Paul so most of it plays like a normal Les Paul. The 60s neck profile is something you find more on SG guitars. Gibson Les Pauls with these necks are pretty rare but when they make them they play really well. With these thinner necks you can really wrap your hand around them. These guitars have a really nice setup out of the box due to Gibsons Plek process. A Plek machine is a machine that uses a laser to level the frets on a guitar to crazy accuracy. This means the out of the box setup on these guitars are very good.
SOUNDS
This guitar has a great Les Paul tone. It has a full bodied mahogany sound which is what you expect when it comes to a Gibson Les Paul. The neck pickup is nice and smooth like you want with a Les Paul. The tone is perfect for blues or classic rock leads right out of the box. The bridge pickup has a nice hot rodded sound to it. It has a good crunch going that could do heavy rock. With some clean tones the guitar is good for blues and Jazz. With these pickups I dont think it would cut the mustard for a metal tone. If you are looking for that kind of sound you may want to swap in some Duncans or a set of active EMG's if you want the ultimate in metal tone.
OVERALL OPINION
The Les Paul Standard is what people think when they think Les Paul. There are models above and below it but this is the workhorse that more people have used throughout the years than any other. And throughout the years it has gone through changes. This guitar represents a certain era in the guitars history where it had its unique style and playability that stemmed from the needs and requirements of a guitar at that time. A lot of those needs are things people still want today. People like smaller necks because more people find them very comfortable to play. This is this models strong point. If you are looking for a good standard Les Paul with a slim neck that you can really play Gibson has you hooked up right here.