The Les Paul thread

[tedtan]

Bigsbys are big, heavy, kind of “clunky”, don’t stay in tune well, and are subtle compared to most other terms (the exception may be Gibson’s Maestro Vibrola). If you’ve played it and like it, you can kind of work around some of these issues, but if you haven’t, make sure you do before buying one.

And along the lines of what Buddha mentioned, I have a Gretsch hollow body that has had the Bigsby replaced with a stop tail and don’t miss the Bigsby at all.

 

[RevelGTR]

What are your thoughts on the Heritage guitars?
Technically speaking they are 'More Paul' than the gibsons.
I've never played one, and i have yet to come across one, but they seem interesting. Look a bit strange, but maybe they look better in person.

I also wonder if the sudden rise in 'guitars scoring/checking and aging' popularity is coming from Heritage charging more for guitars that come pre-score/checked.

sure, Gibson murphy lab do come with that, but they are a special order. Heritage is providing that on their regular models, if i'm not mistaken.

In my opinion they’re overrated. The handful that I’ve played have all the same kinds of aesthetic flaws and QC issues that Gibsons do. And you’ve got the bad resale and ugly headstock.

 

[Estilo]

In my opinion they’re overrated. The handful that I’ve played have all the same kinds of aesthetic flaws and QC issues that Gibsons do. And you’ve got the bad resale and ugly headstock.

Thought they were cool when Skolnick played them. But try looking at the H150s or whatever next to LPs and see how ugly they are.

Plus the new owners engaged in serious price gouging when they took over. Na, hard pass.

 

[danZingWolf]

Hello everybody.

I have two questions:
1. Will there be a non-art version of Adam Jones Epiphone released?

2. What's the verdict on Tokai Love Rock models? The brand new ones. I know they have different tiers but let's consider MIJ ones and two price tier, Tokai ULS136F which is going for around £1600 and Tokai ULS150F which is going for £2400, both made in Japan, former has a maple cap + flame veneer. How does the build quality and sound compare with Gibson LPs in different price range? I would appreciate your opinions.

 

[dmlinger]

Hello everybody.

I have two questions:
1. Will there be a non-art version of Adam Jones Epiphone released?

2. What's the verdict on Tokai Love Rock models? The brand new ones. I know they have different tiers but let's consider MIJ ones and two price tier, Tokai ULS136F which is going for around £1600 and Tokai ULS150F which is going for £2400, both made in Japan, former has a maple cap + flame veneer. How does the build quality and sound compare with Gibson LPs in different price range? I would appreciate your opinions.

Yes to question 1. No experience with Tokai but they seem to be well respected.

 

[soliloquy]

Hello everybody.

I have two questions:
1. Will there be a non-art version of Adam Jones Epiphone released?

2. What's the verdict on Tokai Love Rock models? The brand new ones. I know they have different tiers but let's consider MIJ ones and two price tier, Tokai ULS136F which is going for around £1600 and Tokai ULS150F which is going for £2400, both made in Japan, former has a maple cap + flame veneer. How does the build quality and sound compare with Gibson LPs in different price range? I would appreciate your opinions.

exactly as mentioned above, supposedly Adam Jones Epi will be released eventually without art. Though at this rate, i wont be surprised if the idea of silverburt becomes too over saturated. IT was big because Gibson and epiphone refused to release more silverburts for about 30 years. But now they seem to be flooding it.

As for Tokai - exactly as mentioned above. Well respected, great bang for the buck, and generally speaking, people's LP GAS is usually cured with Tokai, if Gibbys aren't affordable. Wtih that, the MIJ series may come in more than 2 tiers. Aside from the Maple and Hog cap, some of them come in Nitro or Poly finish. I haven't figured a way out to identify exactly which are nitro yet, but they do exist. IF finish is important to you, read the fine print as the nttro ones vary in price. And even their model numbers are confusing as they keep changing them pretty frequently.

 

[TheBolivianSniper]

Kinda shocked that with Gibson's old school metal push there hasn't been a Bill Steer sig. At this point his modded special/junior/whatever the fuck his silly little guitar is called is pretty damn iconic and I could see it selling pretty well.

 

[dmlinger]

All I want is a single Humbucker Junior that doesn’t cost $5k. I don’t need binding or anything fancy. Just a Humbucker instead of a P90. I can’t get this out of my mind.

 

[budda]

All I want is a single Humbucker Junior that doesn’t cost $5k. I don’t need binding or anything fancy. Just a Humbucker instead of a P90. I can’t get this out of my mind.

Humbucker in P90 size and go.

 

[dmlinger]

Humbucker in P90 size and go.

I’ve seen Humbucker sized P90s but no P90 sized humbuckers.

 

[fabronaut]

it's that, or pony up the cash for a humbucker routing job, unless you're willing to take the chance yourself.

I find myself less inclined to mess with a guitar as the value goes up, as I'm a fairly inept. every "oh, shit" minor mistake I make on a guitar does make it easier and feel more like my own, though. YMMV.

edit: re: P90 sized humbuckers - doesn't DiMarzio make some? I have some proprietary Yamaha ones in this lightweight model I have. EMG made mini hums for a few years there too, but they're discontinued and scarce now.

 

[Mathemagician]

Anyone try the quality of those epiphone prophecy series? Things like fit & finish, the neck is supposedly an asymmetric tear drop shape, etc. kinda want one kind wanna talk myself out of it, lol.

 

[Steinmetzify]

So my mom had some surgery and I stayed with her for about 4 days last week. Didn’t realize how many guitars I had stored at her house.

Look what I found.

 

[dmlinger]

it's that, or pony up the cash for a humbucker routing job, unless you're willing to take the chance yourself.

I find myself less inclined to mess with a guitar as the value goes up, as I'm a fairly inept. every "oh, shit" minor mistake I make on a guitar does make it easier and feel more like my own, though. YMMV.

edit: re: P90 sized humbuckers - doesn't DiMarzio make some? I have some proprietary Yamaha ones in this lightweight model I have. EMG made mini hums for a few years there too, but they're discontinued and scarce now.

I’m fully capable, but I don’t do modifications that can’t be undone usually. Plus, dog ears are much wider than humbucker tabs, so you’d need a surround that’s larger than your usual pickup ring, and that would look silly.

 

[BenjaminW]

I’ve seen Humbucker sized P90s but no P90 sized humbuckers.

I think mini humbuckers are your closest bet.

 

[soliloquy]

so...I just pulled the trigger on my second Gibson (wow, thats weird to say...have had about 11 single cuts, and only 2 Gibsons?)

this is more of a self-reflection post, rather than anything else.
Way back when, owning a Gibson was a pipe dream for me. Picked up playing the guitar in the mid 2000's, and at that time, I'd compare the cost of living with owning a Gibson. If memory serves me correct, a 'good' Gibson that is 'mid-to-upper tier' like a Standard, Traditional, or Custom, id had to fork out some 3-9 months of income just to pay for it. I COULD...but it just couldnt justify that price. Even renting a house vs the price of a Gibson, it just didn't add up. I think at that time, the average rent for a 2 bedroom house was around $500-$800ish per month in my region. Where as Customs, Standards etc were going for over $2500ish new

come 2020 onwards, cost of living has skyrocketed. Now, the average price for monthly rental for a house that is 'decently big to live in' is going upwards of $3000 in some parts of where I live. I even saw a few listings of $6000 monthly....

by contrast, the cost of Gibsons, though historically high due to inflation, Gibsons are actually keeping up with inflation, where as cost of living is going WAY out of whack. As such, buying a Gibson for me, right now, is not that hard a pill to swallow.

I acknowledge that i'm in a very cushy and privileged spot to say this.

now that that is out of the way...i'm actaully really excited for this. Long time coming for me, as I wanted to get a 'specific' Gibson that I could potentially pass down as an 'heirloom' guitar. I have others that I can play/beat up, and if they survive, maybe my next of kin can pick it up and have fun...But I wanted to pass down one that is well taken care of. Enter this guitar...


so far i'm in my honey moon phase, but I'm really excited for it! Will do a NGD in the near future. need to set up the thing a bit.

 

[budda]

@soliloquy no pics…

 

[soliloquy]

@soliloquy no pics…

not yet, my friend. Not yet

I want to set it up, clean it up and all. Need new strings for it too. I've always used 11-49s, but may want to go lighter for this and just keep it standard and use other LPs for other various tunings.

 

[lattjeful]

I’ve seen Humbucker sized P90s but no P90 sized humbuckers.

DiMarzio P90 Super Distortion

 

[dmlinger]

so...I just pulled the trigger on my second Gibson (wow, thats weird to say...have had about 11 single cuts, and only 2 Gibsons?)

this is more of a self-reflection post, rather than anything else.
Way back when, owning a Gibson was a pipe dream for me. Picked up playing the guitar in the mid 2000's, and at that time, I'd compare the cost of living with owning a Gibson. If memory serves me correct, a 'good' Gibson that is 'mid-to-upper tier' like a Standard, Traditional, or Custom, id had to fork out some 3-9 months of income just to pay for it. I COULD...but it just couldnt justify that price. Even renting a house vs the price of a Gibson, it just didn't add up. I think at that time, the average rent for a 2 bedroom house was around $500-$800ish per month in my region. Where as Customs, Standards etc were going for over $2500ish new

come 2020 onwards, cost of living has skyrocketed. Now, the average price for monthly rental for a house that is 'decently big to live in' is going upwards of $3000 in some parts of where I live. I even saw a few listings of $6000 monthly....

by contrast, the cost of Gibsons, though historically high due to inflation, Gibsons are actually keeping up with inflation, where as cost of living is going WAY out of whack. As such, buying a Gibson for me, right now, is not that hard a pill to swallow.

I acknowledge that i'm in a very cushy and privileged spot to say this.

now that that is out of the way...i'm actaully really excited for this. Long time coming for me, as I wanted to get a 'specific' Gibson that I could potentially pass down as an 'heirloom' guitar. I have others that I can play/beat up, and if they survive, maybe my next of kin can pick it up and have fun...But I wanted to pass down one that is well taken care of. Enter this guitar...


so far i'm in my honey moon phase, but I'm really excited for it! Will do a NGD in the near future. need to set up the thing a bit.

Congratulations! Can’t wait to see what you got