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29K views 178 replies 52 participants last post by  kotornut 
#1 ·
I know a few people around here are into Les Pauls. Anyone care to discuss them? Don't get me wrong, I love Jems/UV's as much as anyone, but I think I have my fair share of em, and I have been gassing for a good LP for some time now.

Let's start out with your LP's please post pics and stories about yours! I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to hear about them. I know Elcid is into LP's, and I think Rich might even have one.

I'm thinking the G0 LP (Guitar Center '60 Reissue) seems like a good Paul. Anyone had a chance to try one out at t local GC? It looks like a good axe, and a good price on a RI just becuase it is a plaintop. Only thing I don't like is Gibsons new VOS finish, which is just an excuse for them not to finish the guitar properly imho. http://www.***************.com/prod...s-Paul-Vos-Plain-Top-Aged-Hardware?sku=514207
 
#118 · (Edited)
Isn't it a strange feeling waiting for the arrival of a guitar. I'm excited, yet nervous that I'll pull it out and be disappointed. Then I'll have to start the whole process of reselling it or just making myself accept it. I've bought guitars of the bay before. I think all but two were what I expected. For the most part. Still, I hope I have a short workday tomorrow, and that UPS gets here when I'm home, and I hope I dig the heck out of this Goldtop.

I went to see a friends band play last night. The one guitar player has only played LP's and had 2 of them there. A nice 80's Custom as his backup and a new Standard with Burstbuckers he was playing. And he was playing through a Marshall. It was the perfect thick cover band tone. They play covers from 80's to current, and they play them darn well. My buddy plays a Strat through a Mesa Express. Clean channel only with OCD and J/H for gain. The Strat and LP were perfect together tonally. Made me get that much more excited to get mine tomorrow.
 
#124 ·
I'm not sure if the Harley/Honda comparison is the right one.

Namely, I consider the '59 Les Paul to be the 'perfect' guitar. It has humbuckers, so there's no noise issues. The neck has excellent playability. The tune-o-matic bridge is very comfortable to play and delivers great tone and perfect intonation. And the overall tone is ofcourse great aswell.

Now, a Harley is a bike you like despite its imperfections, because of its heritage. But a Les Paul doesn't really have imperfections. I think the Harley/Honda comparison would apply more to a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster for example.
I would probably not like playing a real 50s Fender, and I'd want to change some things about the neck, bridge, tuners, electronics etc to make it play better, stay in tune better and be less noisy overall. But I have no idea what I'd want to change about a Les Paul. It just doesn't have any such issues to begin with.
 
#131 · (Edited)
My friend (who is in the same youth group worship team as me) has an Epiphone Les Paul 100. I know people may think that it's cheap and nasty, but one of our main guitarists owns a Gibson Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom, and he fell in love with the LP-100 when he tried it. I've tried both the Les Pauls there and I like them, but right now I'm sticking with my Ibanez. Sorry if this was a topic for Gibson Les Pauls only (in which case I may have made a mistake in mentioning the Epiphone).
 
#132 ·
Sometimes they work. The band "My Chemical Romance" uses them because they give a rounder, smoother sound in high-gain applications because of the lack of high frequency content. If you can find one that's in-tune across the neck, they (& some of the cheaper Gibbys) do high-gain pretty well IMO.
 
#144 ·
I mentioned very early on in the discussion:
"The 1959 model is what we now know as the archetypal Les Paul: tune-o-matic, two humbuckers, sunburst figured maple top."

I'm getting very tired of repeating myself because you try to put words in my mouth, and you won't bother to read all my posts and/or read them completely.
Do you have some kind of problem with me, or are you this annoying in general?
 
#148 ·
No problem with you specifically, just bullsht in general. I was just wondering why you specifically said the 59 Lp was the perfect guitar when the basics of the guitar haven't changed in 50 years. I thought maybe you had some real experience with an actual 59 to know that it was so much better than everything else. From 57 on they had tune o matics, and humbuckers, and from 58 on they had sunburst finishes, some had figured tops. It's cool if you dont really know what you're talking about though.
 
#145 ·
I don't know. The only LP that ever caught my eye was the Gold Top. I've just never been on for the wood look. I even had an acoustic painted years ago, with a crackle finish! I cap appreciate the beauty of killer looking maple tops. But they just do say Rock and Roll to me I guess. Perhaps my perception will change. Different story with Bass guitars though. I'm a huge Warwick fan.
 
#146 ·
I don't know. The only LP that ever caught my eye was the Gold Top. I've just never been on for the wood look.
To each his own I guess.
I was probably influenced at an early age because of people like Gary Moore and Slash using sunbursts. They looked so different from what most people used in the 80s (generally Strat-like guitars with regular paint finishes, no wood).
The violin-like look of the guitar really did it for me. Somehow it just screams "I'm a serious musical instrument".

I'm not sure if that's how most people see it, but the sunburst ones still seem to be the most popular... and the look has been copied by many other guitar manufacturers, most obviously PRS.

I also think that goldtops should be seen in person, somehow pictures or TV don't quite seem to do them justice.
 
#158 ·
Sometimes I fantasize about swapping my RG550 and RG7620 for a Les Paul of some variety. I've played a lot of Les Pauls in the last few years (including an amazing purple Custom Shop model) and they make me play differently to how I play on Ibanezes. I seem to make more outside note choices and more intricate phrasing.
 
#159 ·
I think there is a bit of controversy as to how it effects the tone. The LP chambering. I guess it would/could. But face it. people are demoing them, and buying them for alot of money. They don't sound bad. Mine sounds great. I played 3 other new ones that sounded great. Gibson is a HUGE company that wouldn't take a chance on making their LP's sound like anything other than a great guitar. I trust the research.
 
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