Gibson Solid Body Electric Guitars

I wonder how in the future we will look back of the Gibsons of 2011 and think about them. With their trouble in getting rosewood they have gone back to maple as a fretboard material on their non ebony models. They used a lot of maple in the 70s in the Norlin era but no one likes those guitars any more. With these modern baked maple Les Paul they kind of look funny to me. Some of them have really dark maple like they are trying to pass it off as rosewood and some look like straight maple that you would find on a strat. This guitar caught my eye because of its finish. I am always drawn to the Les Pauls with the big Custom headstock. This guitar reminds me of the maple fretboard Les Paul Customs of the 70s. This is the Les Paul Classic Custom. Normally this would have a rosewood fretboard. This is like a Standard with the inlays and headstock from a Custom. This is the natural finish one. I think this finish suits the guitar best. You get a mahogany body with a maple top. The neck is mahogany in the fast 60s profile. The fretboard is baked maple with 22 frets and block inlays. The headstock is the big custom design with the split diamonds. The pickups are a set of Classic 57s with the traditional control layout. UTILIZATION Looks aside the baked maple fretboard is hard and smooth and feels a lot like ebony. The natural finish is still finished so it is very durable compared to like the Faded models. The 60s neck give you that thinner Gibson profile that everyone likes. The neck is nice as fast and has an SG feel to it. Other than this it is pretty much a basic Les Paul. The body is not chambered so you get full weight and full tone. SOUNDS Some experts might tell you that a maple fretboard is going to make a Gibson sound like a strat but dont believe them. An electric guitar once its plugged in the woods make little difference in amplified tone. In electric guitars amplified tone is effected by the construction of the guitar and the pickups. The Classic 57 pickups in this are some of Gibsons best. It takes a Les Paul Custom for them to put good pickups in a guitar. They have a very traditional PAF tone. The bridge has a spongy bite. They are not super high output but they hold their composure well. Both pickups how the vowel like sound you get on PAF style pickups. This trait makes them great for slow leads like blues and in jazz. OVERALL OPINION You can find these new Classic Custom guitars for less than 2000usd which makes them some of the cheapest Les Paul Customs for sale currently. A normal black Les Paul Custom costs close to double what these cost. If you dont mind the fretboard you are basically getting the same guitar. You could always dye the fretboard as well so it looked like ebony and it would look exactly like a traditional Les Paul Custom then. I do not expect Gibson to have to make baked maple guitars for much longer so it will be interesting to see if these guitars go up in value in the future. Maybe they will be seen as guitars from a strange period in Gibsons history and something to be collected.

Gibson has been experimenting with different technology lately. This is one of the products of their experiments. This is one of those computerized tuning guitars, and it's something that I'm really not a fan of. The guitar features a mahogany body with a marblewood top, mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets, special inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two pickups, a volume control, a tone control, special EQ, special switch, etc. UTILIZATION The guitar has tons and tons of technology thrown into it, and it's really annoying. First of all, the guitar will tune itself, and you can adjust the tunings you want with the touch of a knob. However, you really need a computer to deal with all of the technology that's thrown in here. I don't know about you, but I don't like to have to sit around a computer all the time when I want to adjust settings and other things like that. I find it more annoying than inspiring. The overall guitar is put together nicely, but that's really about all it has going for it. The guitar is pretty light because they're using chambered bodies, and I'm not really a fan of chambered bodies. The weight relief holes are fine, but once they start chambering them, I find that they lack something in the top end. SOUNDS The guitar is somewhat sterile sounding. The bridge is actually supposed to be a burstbucker, and the neck is one of their famous P90s. The burstbucker in the bridge is a decent pickup, but I'm not the biggest fan of it. Some people absolutely love them, but I find myself just wanting a JB or Custom. They seem to really suit these guitars better. The P90 in the neck was great for blues and rock, but if you want to play something heavier, you're going to be struggling a bit. There are also tons of different parametric EQ presets and all kinds of other sounds you can adjust, but you need a computer to fully utilize all this nonsense, and I don't have the time for all of that. OVERALL OPINION The guitar itself has tons of features, and I love that. However, I just dislike the way they're implemented. On top of that, this guitar costs a fortune for what it is. It's only an average sounding guitar plugged straight into the amp, and nothing is really gained with all of the technology they shoved in this. I'd rather have a rack and deal with that than deal with this stuff all in the guitar. That's the biggest gripe I have with this guitar.

Gibson now has a seemingly standard series called the Raw Power series now. These guitars are made from all maple to give a unique and bright tone. This is the the Raw Power SG guitar. The one I tested had the natural Satin finish and it is super mapley. The natural version has a strange clear pickguard. You can see the routing on the SG through it. I guess this is Gibson showing off the cheap route they developed in the mid 60s that caused them to switch to the large pickguard SG guitars over the original small pickguard design. You get the standard SG shape with a maple body and a maple neck with a maple fretboard. Maple everywhere. The fretboard has 22 frets and white inlays that easily get lost in the maple fretboard. To keep up with the cost cutting it has a standard black headstock that matches nothing on the guitar. You get a set of Classic 57 humbuckers thankfully with the standard Gibson control layout. UTILIZATION This guitar plays a little better than your typical boat neck SG which isnt saying much. This is mostly due to the lack of excessive finish on the guitar. With the baseball bat neck it really fills your hand and then some. If you have small hands you may have trouble playing this guitar. As I said the dot lightly colored dot inlays get lost in the maple fretboard. After 5 minutes you are glad you can barely see the inlays because thats when you notice the inlay on the 12th fret is completely different than the rest. They threw in a trapezoid inlay in the middle of all the dots to change it up I guess. SOUNDS This is the Gibson for people who hate the tone of a Gibson. With the maple body maple neck and maple fretboard this guitar does not sound anything like any other Gibson you have played. Even the great 57 Classic pickups cant make this guitar sound like a Gibson. It not sounding like a Gibson doesnt mean it sounds bad. It is pretty bright and this gives the tone great clarity. I just dont know what Gibson player was wanting this guitar. If they wanted a guitar that sounded like this they wouldnt have been playing Gibsons to begin with. If you are playing it low tunings this could be a great guitar to retain clairty. A set of Seymour Duncan Blackouts would really even out the tone. A set of EMG's might be too bright for this guitar. OVERALL OPINION Im surprised Gibson is still making these. They have made so much good stuff in limited runs and you get stuff like this and the Zoot Suit SG that really have no place in Gibsons lineup for any lenght of time. If you are downtuning or dont like the typical Gibson dont but still want a Gibson I guess this is the guitar they are making for you.

The goldtop is what is probably most synonymous with Gibson. This is basically Gibson's equivalent to the two tone sunburst that the Fender Stratocaster has been known for. It's iconic in every single way, even to this day. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two P90s, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch. UTILIZATION The gold top models are probably my favorite looking ones. They just have this awesome sparkle that's signifies you're playing a Gibson guitar. The inlay work on this was done nicely. There were no fillers or anything like that in there like I've found in some lower end Gibsons. The nut itself was cut properly, although the string gauge that was put on this guitar was wrong. Someone put 11s on it, and they were a touch too big for the nut on the bass side. The fretwork itself seemed to be great with no annoying edges slicing your hand or uncrowned frets. SOUNDS The guitar just oozed with tone. The P90s are sort of like a single coil that's thickened up a bit and doesn't have that stringy treble tone going on. The bridge pickup had this real cool aggression going on, but it wasn't that over the top aggression that higher output pickups have. It was a controlled aggression that works just enough to sound pissed off without being overly hot like a JB or something. The neck pickup had a great woody tone that was to die for. I love that P90 neck pickup tone and really wish more guitars had a P90 in the neck for those great blues lines. OVERALL OPINION The goldtop finish on this is easily my favorite finish. It just sparkles and really stands out on a dark stage. While I'm mostly a metal player, I like to get my blues playing on from time to time. If I had to take a single P90 guitar, it would be this one, without a doubt. It was just simply killer.

This SG is part of Gibsons guitar of the week series. With the guitar of the week series Gibson would make a new limited run of a guitar every week. The SG was first created in the early 60s to replace the Les Paul. For a few years this was marketed as the new Les Paul. They wanted this to replace the Les Paul with this model because it was cheaper to make with its flat top. Later on they brought back the Les Paul and called this the SG. This guitar is a pretty strange SG with 3 rain single coils. You can get some twangy sounds with this guitar but the pickups are not really in the right position to perfectly emulate strat sounds. It has a master volume and a master tone with a 6 way chicken head pickup selector. It has a 50s style neck with an rosewood fretboard and 22 frets. Other than the electronics it is your basic SG UTILIZATION The upper fret access on this guitar is as good as any SG. The double cutaways proide good upper fret access. The thin body is light and easy to hold. One problem SG's is that the neck is mounted far out on the body and with the body being thinner than a Les Paul the guitar is slightly neck heavy. When you are standing up and playing the neck may want to drop down and you may find yourself holding the neck up. And what a big neck it is. On this model they used the 50s neck profile. The 50s neck profile is called the baseball bat neck in the industry. It provides the best tone but it can be hard to play if you have small hands. With the unlabeled chickenhead knob you can sometimes forget where you are. SOUNDS The switching on this guitar is pretty crazy with the 6 way chickenhead knob. Position 1 gives you just the bridge pickup. It is super twangy as you would expect but has more bass than a strat bridge pickup would have due to it being farther away from the bridge itself. Position 2 gives you the bridge and neck like what you would get with a telecaster. This sounds pretty much like a telecaster with the big low end with the crisp top on it. position 3 gives you the bridge and middle. This is one of the most used strat tones. The middle pickup is further back than it would be on a strat so it sounds slightly different. The middle pickup is less bassy being closer to the bridge. The 4th position gives you just the middle pickup by itself. Older 3 pickup SG's and this would activate all 3 pickups. The 5th position is the neck and middle pickup and the last position is just the neck pickup. The neck pickup is the major difference between this and a strat. The neck pickup is placed way farther back than it would be on a strat due to the SG neck joint. The neck pickup is almost where the middle pickup would be on a strat. This means the neck pickup has way less bass than it would have on a strat because on a strat guitar the neck pickup is right next to the fretboard this one is a good inch and a half away. OVERALL OPINION I dont know many people who this guitar would appeal too. If someone wants a strat they would just get a strat and if someone wanted an SG they would get one that sounds like an SG. Even if someone wanted an SG that sounds like a strat this cant really do that because the pickups are not in the right place or positioned properly. If you want to get close to a strat sound with an SG this guitar is probably one of the few out there that can do that.

n the early 60s Gibson was looking to lower production costs of the Les Paul. To do this they redesigned it to have a flat top and double cutaways. What we know now as the SG was introduced as the new Les Paul in 1961. The new Les Paul Custom was an SG shaped guitar with 3 pickups like the traditional Les Paul custom. Later on the real Les Paul was re-introduced and the new guitar was renamed the SG. This guitar is a more moderately priced version of the SG Custom with some better features. The guitar features the classic dual cutaway SG body with a 22 fret neck. It features three humbucking pickups selected with a chicken head switch and a master volume and master tone knob. The switching possibilities with this guitar is what makes it better than a normal SG Custom. Sporting a chicken-head knob, Gibson’s exclusive rotary selector offers six pickup settings: bridge, bridge/middle, middle, middle/neck, neck, and bridge/neck. With the old SG Custom you could only select one pickup at a time. UTILIZATION The SG was designed in such a way to give better fret access than the earlier Les Paul. The neck is not mounted as deep into the body as is with the Les Paul. This design gives it a few problems. The neck joint on SG models is very weak compared to Les Pauls or even bolt on guitars. This weak neck joint makes some SG's prone to going out of tune. Gibson has all but fixed this on current models. With the neck mounted so far out on the body and the body being so thin and light, SG's are prone to neck dive. When playing an SG standing up you may find yourself holding up the neck due to this awkward balance between the neck and the body. With the chicken head knob and only 2 normal knobs you may have to get use to different knob placement. SOUNDS With the extra switching it is kind of like a strat. With their thinner flatter bodies SG's tend to have a tone slightly thinner than that of a Les Paul. Some people say it sounds more like a Gibson Flying V than a Les Paul. The smaller body also helps make the tone different than that of a Les Paul. Gibson pickups are mainly designed for classic rock. These pickups tend to offer a medium output. The classic 57 pickups are a bit bright but it fits with the guitars intended use. With the bridge position you get all the bite you are use to. With the bridge and middle pickups you get the bite with a little extra something from the middle pickup. The middle pickup and the neck pickup is a very popular position on strats and you can kind of emulate it now with this SG, and everyone knows what the neck position sounds like. OVERALL OPINION If you have been wanting an SG Custom but it was too expensive this guitar is perfect for you. Not only do you get the classy look of an SG with 3 pickups. You also get better switching capabilities than an SG Custom with the chicken head knob that the SG-3 comes with. They did not make many of these guitars so you will probably not see another so dont pass up your chance to pick one up.

Gibson with their Guitar of the week series has been issuing a lot of cool guitars. With the guitar of the week series they retool their factory for a week to produce a special guitar just for one week. These limited run guitars instantly become collectors items. This guitar is a reissue of an early 60s SG with P-90s. The P-90 SG is a special guitar because back in the day it was used by many people in rock. In the early 60s Gibson was looking to lower production costs of the Les Paul. To do this they redesigned it to have a flat top and double cutaways. What we know now as the SG was introduced as the new Les Paul in 1961. Later on the real Les Paul was re-introduced and the new guitar was renamed the SG. This SG of today is exactly that, a copy of the original SG. It has the small pickguard that the SG originally came with. The guitar features the classic dual cutaway SG body with a 22 fret neck. It features P-90 pickups selected with a 3 way toggle switch and two tone and two volume knobs. UTILIZATION The SG was designed in such a way to give better fret access than the earlier Les Paul. The neck is not mounted as deep into the body as is with the Les Paul. This design gives it a few problems. The neck joint on SG models is very weak compared to Les Pauls or even bolt on guitars. This weak neck joint makes some SG's prone to going out of tune. With the neck mounted so far out on the body and the body being so thin and light, SG's are prone to neck dive. When playing an SG standing up you may find yourself holding up the neck due to this awkward balance between the neck and the body. The 60s SG also introduced Gibsons new slim profile neck. This neck is the preferred profile for Gibson guitars. It is a much slimmer design that can be played easily by everyone. The 50s Gibson necks were really big and many people find them hard to play. SOUNDS With their thinner flatter bodies SG's tend to have a tone slightly thinner than that of a Les Paul. Some people say it sounds more like a Gibson Flying V than a Les Paul. The smaller body also helps make the tone different than that of a Les Paul. Gibson pickups are mainly designed for classic rock. The P-90s are ideal for classic rock. They are single coils so they are about medium output and have more high end bite than a humbucker. Since they are single coils they may get noisy with high gain but this Gibson is pretty quiet. OVERALL OPINION This limited edition SG is a great guitar. I wish Gibson would make it a full time model. I prefer the small pickguard SG's because you can see more of the beautiful wood. The only P-90 SG Gibson makes all the time has the large pickguard. The SG is an iconic shape and has been played by many legends throughout the years. If you are looking for a classic sounding SG with with a great look and exclusivity this SG could be for you.

The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar with an impeccable feel and sound. These guitars were made in the early 1970's and I personally haven't seen too many of them around. The L6-S has two humbucker pick ups with two volume knob and a tone knob if I'm not mistaken. It also has a unique pick up selector, with six different options to choose from, hence the name L6-S. The settings range from being able to use each pick up alone, to being able to use them in tandem in various different ways. Needless to say, there is more control over your pick up selection on this guitar than most. The L6-S has 24 frets and is in general heavily built. UTILIZATION The feel of the Gibson L6-S is one of my favorite on any guitar. In as good a way as possible, it has a unique action that is very low to the neck, making it easy to play all around the neck and is especially good for playing lead guitar parts. The weight of the guitar is above average, as it is definitely heavier than most from what I cam remember. Getting a good sound isn't hard, and there is a lot of room for experimenting with the pick ups due to the unique pick up selector knob. SOUNDS The sound of the Gibson L6-S is one that really rips and cuts through well. I can't think of any guitars that I would really compare it to, but I guess the closest thing would be something like a less crunchy SG, if anything at all. I've used the amp with a Fender tube amplifier and no effects or anything. In fact, we were really just using the guitar part as a scratch guitar with a full band. Nonetheless, the sound that we achieved with this guitar was still awesome even though it was a bare bones type of thing. I'd love to be able to experiment more with the pick up selector, as I think there is a lot that you can do with it. OVERALL OPINION I'm not sure how hard it would be to get your hands on the Gibson L6-S, but to me it doesn't seem like there are too many of them out there. They stopped making them before the 1970's were done and haven't made any of them since or even put out a reissue. Hopefully someday they will decide to reissue the guitar as I think it is a bit of a gem and that a lot of people would love it. Absolutely recommended for anyone who loves a great sounding and feeling guitar.

(Originally written by micka78/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - Where was it made? (USA, Japan, Mexico, France...) US-made guitar - How many frets, what kind of pickups and what is the pickup configuration? 22 frets - What kind of bridge (Floyd Rose, Wilkinson....)? Wraparound - Which controls (volume, tone, pickup selector...)? One volume control and one tone control. - What kind of neck? 60's-like neck... UTILIZATION - Is the neck comfortable? Yes and no! I'll explain myself: when I first tested it at the store, I found the neck rough because of the lack of varnish but after having playing it some time I now find it pleasant. - Is the access to the upper frets easy? It's ok. The guitar is rather light so you can allow yourself some acrobatics on the upper frets, but it wasn't really conceived for that purpose. - Is the instrument ergonomic (body shape, weight...)? I had never had such a light guitar before... - Is it easy to get the right sound? It depends on your setup. Personally, I got a quite fat, metal sound pretty easily and also a crunch sound. But I don't really like the clean sound. SOUNDS - Does it fit your music style? Yes and no! It does the job fairly good but I needed more versatility. - Which amp(s) or effect(s) do you use with it? At home, I use small 15-watts Fender and Vox amps. It is more than enough for training. I also used Line6 Toneport UX2 for demos. For rehearsals with a band I generally used a 100-watt Marshall or my 200-watt amp and I found the results really good. - What kind of sounds do you get and which settings do you use ("crystal-clear", "fat", ...)? Good versatility for distortion but the clean sound was quite disappointing. But it's a matter of taste. OVERALL OPINION - How long have you been using it? I bought it in June 2008. - Which feature do you like the most / the least? I liked the idea of owning a Gibson (even an inexpensive one). For a small price you get a guitar made in Gibson's Nashville factory. It's much better than its worthless Asian competitors. Thumbs up to Gibson for manufacturing this model again. - Did you try any other models before buying it? No because it was love at first sight with this model. - How would you rate its value for money? Excellent. It's great to own a US-made guitar for such a price! It's perfect for beginners but also for enthusiastic musicians and semipros who will most likely customize it (I wanted to add a mini-humbucker). Important thing: Mount straplock pins because the original pins are really bad. The guitar can easily fall down. - Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? Yes and no! Yes because it's easy to customize, which is one of its main successes. No because it's way too fragile (it has no varnish) and you'll have to spend a lot of money to customize it, like I did. I sold it and bought a Gibson Les Paul. But if I ever have enough time to customize a guitar I think I'll get it back

When you understand this guitar, you'll not need anything else... Turn off the active circuit (switch in centre position), have both pickups on and set vol to 10 on both - a typical full Les Paul sound. Then set the active switch to rear position - oh no! it will be all a bit overblown and not very musical. This is because the volumes need to be set to 5 to equal the non-active levels, 10 is far too much. I think this is the reason some people have doubts when they first encounter this guitar. For an ideal sound set the active switch to rear position, front p/u volume to 7 and rear p/u volume to 5. This gives that beautiful Les Paul scooped creamy mid sound (like Gary Moore on 'Still got the blues') but with an even longer sustain that goes on for ever without sounding falsely compressed. Leave the front vol at 7 but tweak the rear from between 4 - 8 if you want to change the brightness and attack depending on what or whether you a taking a solo. You'll get all those favourite LP sounds but with a little bit of extra goodness. The scale is long like a Strat so strings stay nicely in tune, the neck is very slim so allows really fast playing and this is helped by the hard ebony fingerboard with fat and low frets. Yes it's a bit heavy but it's a good shape for playing whilst seated so not a real issue. I have had this guitar since the early 80's and it's still the best in my collection and the one I always turn to.

This is one of the Gibson Custom Shop's coolest creations in my opinion. The Zakk Wylde Flying V comes with an original Floyd Rose trem, Zakk's trademark EMG 85 and 81 pick-up set,Mahogony body with maple top, Ebony fret board, typical Gibson knob and switch set up. And most importantly the coolest paint job there is on any V...I say that as a huge Zakk fan boy. This was a limited edition piece but they are out there to be had on Ebay and some other places. UTILIZATION This truly is one of the best Vs I have ever played. Access up top is great, the thing is very light and feels a lot like an SG in that way. Very easy to play and has a great neck radius. It's easy to overlook the discomfort of a V when you see how cool it looks. Well designed. SOUNDS Ok my only disclaimer on the sound is that I hate EMGs so if they are your thing, you would have no complaints. Love the guitar for what it is and be done. As a Zakk fan that is exactly what I do but my sound rating is less than perfect for that one reason. It is perfect for the music of Zakk and sounds like it should for that and for modern music in general. I find a good humbucker such as a JB or Tone Zone a much better choice for classic rock tones. OVERALL OPINION Overall opinion is that this is a great instrument with a lot of mojo if you are a Zakk fan. I love the paint job, the feel, the weight, the fret board is superb and the Trem is a great feature. I have stated the opinion on the EMGS and the only other thing is that I wish it came with the unfinished neck like the Les Pauls with Zakk's name. This is a great feature and would have worked on this. The other downside is the price, yes it is a quality instrument and yes it is Gibson Custom Shop but holy moly $4,000+ is a lot of cash. That being said love the guitar for what it is and would say if you have the cash this is a good choice to display and play.

The Gibson Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom Shop is one of the finest Les Pauls Gibson has ever put out of their USA Custom Shop. With a Mahogany body and unfinished maple neck, this thing is as "Wylde" as it gets. It comes with the Zakk Wylde EMG set which consists of an 81 and 85. With the signature Zakk Wylde Bullseye design and decorated in gold hardware, it looks as great as it plays. Special touches like the gold truss rod cover, Zakk graphic on the back of the headstock and the beautiful unfinished maple neck make this guitar truly special. UTILIZATION This guitar is heavy, especially compared to the newer Les Pauls that I own. It's weight and mahogany body contribute to the overall chunky tones you can get from it. The active pickup configuration roars and is perfect if you are playing today's modern music. Grabbing a harmonic or generating massive downtuned tones comes easy with this Les Paul. The unfinished neck allows for very fast movement up and down the fretboard. SOUNDS This is the perfect match for an old Marshall JCM800 or JMP. Getting that 80s old school tone or ramping up to modern tones is no problem as this guitar can run with vintage and modern amps. I have played this through deizel, Bogner, Marshall, Fender and many other amps and never questioned its ability to get heavy tones on all of them. EMGs seem to lose tonality and warmth with cleaner playing which would be my only sound complaint. OVERALL OPINION Although this is an expensive Les Paul, it is well worth the money. Unlike some Custom Shop models, I really feel that they spared no expense when producing this guitar. The unfinished neck is by far my favorite feature of this guitar. It not only looks unique but also improves the playability of it. The appearance is also stunning with the gold hardware and custom paint scheme. Unlike some others that have played it, I like the weightiness of it and think it adds to the thick tonal quality. The only downside is the use of EMGs. Although it allows the guitar to rip and emulate the heavy tones of Zakk Wylde, every now and then it's nice to play something with a bit more tone. I find EMGs very sterile for this purpose. Once I swapped out the EMGs for a set of passive humbuckers, this became the perfect guitar. I would absolutely reccomend this guitar to anyone looking for a quality guitar.