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Hatsubai « Very old school »
Published on 06/25/11 at 15:41The Gibson Custom Shop Historic 1952 is a replica of the original guitar made back in 1952. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, special bridge like what was used on the original 1952, 22 frets, block/trapezoid inlays, a pickguard, two P90 pickups, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
This is totally old school. For one, you have this really odd bridge that's not found on many guitars. It feels different, and it can be very polarizing for today's guitarists. Personally, I'm not a huge fan, but I can't fault it for that. The fretwork on this was great. The frets were properly crowned, and had a nice bevel to them so they don't cut your hand. The nut was also cut nice, which is great. Fit and finish was top notch on this guitar.
SOUNDS
The sound is pretty amazing. These are low output P90s, and they really give off this vintage vibe. For those who have never played a P90, it's similar to a single coil. I like to think of them as the polite man's single coil because of how they act. They're a little thicker, and they seem to have that vowely tone in spades. I loved playing classic rock with the bridge in this guitar. The neck pickup was kinda hard to solo on, but I'm mostly a metal/shred guitarist, so keep that in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
If you have the money to get one of these and love the 1952 Les Pauls, it's worth getting. Aside from getting the actual thing and spending a life's fortune on it, this is about as close as you'll get. The pickups sound great, it resonated nicely and the fretwork on this was top notch. One of the few good things to come out of Gibson's shop within the recently slop of the Standard series these past few years.
UTILIZATION
This is totally old school. For one, you have this really odd bridge that's not found on many guitars. It feels different, and it can be very polarizing for today's guitarists. Personally, I'm not a huge fan, but I can't fault it for that. The fretwork on this was great. The frets were properly crowned, and had a nice bevel to them so they don't cut your hand. The nut was also cut nice, which is great. Fit and finish was top notch on this guitar.
SOUNDS
The sound is pretty amazing. These are low output P90s, and they really give off this vintage vibe. For those who have never played a P90, it's similar to a single coil. I like to think of them as the polite man's single coil because of how they act. They're a little thicker, and they seem to have that vowely tone in spades. I loved playing classic rock with the bridge in this guitar. The neck pickup was kinda hard to solo on, but I'm mostly a metal/shred guitarist, so keep that in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
If you have the money to get one of these and love the 1952 Les Pauls, it's worth getting. Aside from getting the actual thing and spending a life's fortune on it, this is about as close as you'll get. The pickups sound great, it resonated nicely and the fretwork on this was top notch. One of the few good things to come out of Gibson's shop within the recently slop of the Standard series these past few years.