Gibson questions

[Karl]

Hi,

I'm interested in buying a Gibson Les Paul (Somehow), and I'd like to know a little bit more about the different kinds of Les Paul from someone who's actually had a go on them. I'm not looking to buy online or anything, just a bit of research.

What's the difference between a Les Paul Studio, and a Les Paul Standard?

Also, what's the difference between a Les Paul 60s neck and a Les Paul 50s neck?

Cheers,

Karl.

 

[Karl]

Sounds like the 50s neck would suit me more then, as I'm an acoustic player at heart and I'm used to quite large frets. Neither am I Johnny FastFrets, so that sounds more me.

That's extremely useful information, cheers! One other question. Do you reckon that Gibsons are over-rated, and if so (Epiphones aside) would you choose a different model over Gibson as a cost-cutter? Like a Yamaha?

 

[Karl]

If you haven't played a Les Paul before, make sure you try one strapped on. They're not exactly light and if you're playing for long periods stood up it may be an issue.

Really?

I've seen a lot of people play them for long periods without any problems, I thought it was something experienced in older models?

I've played a friend's old Ibanez Les Paul which was nice.

You're right, I've not tried many and I've never tried a Gibson. I was aware that you should really play anything you're going to buy and I have never set mail-order in my sights, just wanted a few questions answered.

I've never even heard of a PRS, so I guess that is definately another one to choose from! I've never really liked the look of Strats even though people who play similar stuff to me and who've influenced me tend to play them.

I'm likely to play the guitar clean more often than not, so I'd like something that's going to sound good to that effect. I'll keep looking but I won't be able to afford for a little while at least.

I'll have to hang on for a little longer just so I can be considered a serious buyer!

For a decent guitar, what sort of amp is reasonable for practice for a good guitar? My thoughts are that you probably can't buy a Gibson and then a 70watt nobrand to practice on?

Cheers,

Karl.

 

[Karl]

I sent an email to someone I know who knows a bit about this, and he diverted it to his colleague who sent me this. It might help others, so I'll put it up here:

Hello Karl,
What do you mean by over rated? Over priced, maybe? Well, it's true that you can buy a very similar guitar for less money. Mahogany body, carved maple top, set mahogany neck and two humbuckers - ESP, Tokai, Yamaha, Vintage, Tanglewood, Epiphone - everyone makes a classic single cut.


Unless you go for a boutique £2k+ guitar, what you won't get on anything other than a Gibson is nitrocellulose lacquer (only important if you care about that kind of thing) and virtually assured resale value - quality guitars hold their value well. Also on the real Gibbo, the pickups and pots are better, the woods are better, you get a hard case...


To be frank, with deals at as little as £1,299, new Les Paul Standards are cheap if you're a serious player and as long as you go and play it and check it over (Gibson's QC is a little erratic at times). These are pro musical instruments, not amatuer/enthusiast guitars.
If you want something to jam on, or simply to give you a flavour of the real thing, get an Epiphone Les Paul Standard (£389 full retail). 90 per cent of the fun for 30 per cent of the cost. It sucks that diminishing marginal returns works that way! You want the extra 10 per cent, you have to pay for it - just be thankful you're not trying to justify the five-grand VOS 59 Reissue. 110 per cent of the fun for 300 per cent of the price!


Cheers for now

 

[Karl]

I mentioned the weight issue and got:

Ah, the old weight issue. True, some Les Pauls can be incredibly heavy, especially some of the 70s, 80s and 90s ones. That's what you're paying for with the custom shop stuff, because the original LPs used lovely light Honduran mahogany and big leaf maple, and that's what they're using now.
Again, make sure you try out a few - I've played lovely light new standards, and really heavy ones. In fact some of the new ones are 'weight relieved' for this very reason (chambers in the body, basically).

 

[Karl]

Sound advice, keep in mind that he says the wood is better, the pickups are better and the pots are better, I assume that a Gibson will have a bone nut as well, all of these things are really unquantifiable as far as value go because depending on the Gibson QC and quality of the wood, the tone with the same hardware can still vary considerably, adding pickups to an Epiphone is no doubt a simple job but you can't change the wood that it's made from. That said, only the most critical ear will realistically be able to tell the difference that the wood makes.

I have a friend who is a hobby luthier who claims that wood can take a very long time to dry out and will vary from year to year from the same type of wood (much like vintage wine crops differ I suppose) and that the longer it takes, the better the wood will sound, partly due to its natural resistance to changes in humidity and temperature. A little irrelevant but it made sense to me.

So again it's a little like a decent wine, you could have a really nice £4 bottle or a £30 bottle which is only nicer if you can personally tell the difference, and even then you might still go for the £4 bottle because it's much better value.

And just to stress the point that you yourself made, they will both sound crap through a crap amp. Again, the flip side of this is that with a decent amp you are more likely to hear the difference between good and bad wood.

It's all about balance.....and stuff

Sound advice. Thanks very much!

 

[Karl]

Also couldn't help but notice this article on nitro-cellulose finishes.

 

[Karl]

Have you considered a fender strat btw, you get a good US standard (no mexico rubish which in reality are actually not bad) strat for £699 ish. Very versatile guitar a propper US fender. These are a far cry from Strat copies/style guitars. Last strat I got was the Highway 1 version rather than the standard and the tone and playability was fantastic.

Alternatively the Ibanez SZ520 QM are very good for the money and imo give the Gibson studios a good run for the money.

What is your nearest quality guitar shop? Get down there this weekend and start trying some.

I have considered them, but I really do love the look of a Gibson Les Paul. Strats do nothing for me. I think I might be too superficial about looks to appreciate the fact that I'm told that Strats play better clean than GLPs. I'll definately try one though, as the cost difference is too large to ignore.

I don't know if I'd settle for a studio.

I'm surprised we haven't seen DMPoole in here, as I thought he owned a Les Paul and could comment on the weight. Maybe I was wrong.

 

[Karl]

Why dont you got to Westside Music, just around the corner from the Town Crier, they can probably help you

I'm actually popping in there today for a strap, so I do intend to have a little flick around, and they're always guaranteed to put a guitar in my hands just as soon as they hear I'm interested in getting a new one. They're definately the friendliest guitar shop that I've ever been to in terms of letting you play whatever you want whether you're a keen buyer or not.

They also tend to get a lot of imported guitars in that come close to matching the name brands for a reasonable cost, but they don't tend to bring the big-guns in (Gibson, Taylor and high-end Yamaha) unless they know they've got a buyer for it (Brought in to order) or when someone brings in a guitar specifically to trade it in (That's how I got my Yamaha LA-8).

Responding to what style I intend to use it for, I hadn't entirely made my mind up.

You see, I'm entirely acoustic at the moment, and I've played acoustic primarily for the entire time of playing guitar - around 4 years.

My styles on acoustic tend to go toward finger-picking with the odd bit of rhythm if I'm playing with an instrument louder than mine (It's a standard acoustic with no plug-in).

I've been invited to try out for a band, and playing with other people is the next step for me in terms of my progression as a musician. I've played open-mic nights and really enjoyed getting up there, but I don't want to just get an electro-acoustic. I want to try something a bit new.

My tastes in music vary quite a lot, and I can go from electronic stuff such as the latest Radiohead albums and Air or The Postal Service to The Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age and even Nine Inch Nails. I love all of those styles, so trying to fit all of those playing styles into one electric guitar has made me opt for the Gibson.

However, I also love the way an electric guitar sounds when it's played keen, and it's definately something I'd like to master, which is what's making me edge slightly towards a strat despite me not really liking the look of them.

I know looks is a ridiculous thing to make a choice on, but if it plays like a dream but I think it looks ugly as sin, I'm less likely to pick it up and enjoy playing it. The rock star image matters to me if I'm honest, and playing something that you think looks sexy is a big factor (in my personal and very humble opinion).

 

[Karl]

Well, my short-term solution has been a bit of a strange step.

I've bought a Yamaha SG700s until the time comes when I can afford my big purchase.

I'll plonk some pictures up shortly so that you can all see what it's like, and I do actually like it despite not really liking Gibson SGs.

I've seen a picture of DMPoole's Yamaha SG2000 and was quite impressed with how it looked different enough from a Gibbo for me to like it.

So there we have it.