Let’s see those Les Pauls!

Thanks heaps @bradlake . These days I only build for my own collection so it's a not-for-profit right now. You can check out Ethereal Guitars on FB where I have loaded photos and specs of my builds. Again, thanks for the kind words.
 
Is that Wine Red? I have GAS for a wine red LP...

Tobacco Sunburst

Growing up in Grand Rapids, MI ..., my "guitar" mentor had one of these .... I'd heard the same thing that Les played them ALL before they were shipped out !

Anyway, how do you like the feel of stainless on your L.P. I've been jonesing for one and plan on sending it out to Philtone just like you did ! He did a Re-Fret / Plek ( and even scalloped the 21st & 22nd frets ) on a Roasted Maple neck that I have on my super-Strat.

AWESOME workmanship ! I would recommend him to everyone !

Stainless definitely feels "different" to me but it's hard to say how much it contributes to the change in feel on my LP. Reason being, the frets were so low from the factory that anything else would feel different regardless of the material. I wouldn't hesitate to go stainless again though.
 
So all this talk of Les Pauls got me Jonesin' for one since I've never owned one. Found one online that looked absolutely incredible. I was about to buy it but something was nagging me about the color as I've never seen one like this before. So I emailed the seller and asked if they could send me a photo of it taken under natural light and unretouched.

This is the photo on the website:
991345C-600x862.jpg


This is what the guitar actually looks like:
IMG_2845.JPG

Kind of deceptive, no?
 
@FractalAudio I cannot stress this enough: I would not buy a Gibson guitar without playing it. Particularly one at the price point you shop at. QC is all over the board with Gibson. The one Les Paul I own was $600. I was okay if it was a dud for that money. But for a $2k guitar I'd want some assurances.

And, yea, that first picture grossly misrepresents the finish. Second picture is more what I expect from a cherry burst kind of thing from Gibson.
 
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So all this talk of Les Pauls got me Jonesin' for one since I've never owned one. Found one online that looked absolutely incredible. I was about to buy it but something was nagging me about the color as I've never seen one like this before. So I emailed the seller and asked if they could send me a photo of it taken under natural light and unretouched.

This is the photo on the website:
View attachment 59822


This is what the guitar actually looks like:
View attachment 59823

Kind of deceptive, no?

Man yeah, that first pic is awesome, the second not so much. I’m with iaresee though, if at all possible, I’d try to play and then pay.
 
I feel like I've played 400 Les Paul's, and the only thing I can claim is never buy one online. Of all those I've played, I really only bonded with 2 of them...some combination of 'feel' and 'tone'. The one I had for a few years looked very much like the 1st picture you posted Cliff...IN A CERTAIN LIGHT. Otherwise that Bengal didn't really jump out in low light.

I do have a nice Black 2004 Classic (open coil 'buckers', snot green inlay.) It absolutely works for that 'slap in the face' tone. Pups are damn'd hot, so that might be a change later, but I have a great Edwards that does lower output. Thing is a boat anchor...they say they were 'weight relieved'...but I don't buy it for a second.
 
So all this talk of Les Pauls got me Jonesin' for one since I've never owned one. Found one online that looked absolutely incredible. I was about to buy it but something was nagging me about the color as I've never seen one like this before. So I emailed the seller and asked if they could send me a photo of it taken under natural light and unretouched.

This is the photo on the website:
View attachment 59822


This is what the guitar actually looks like:
View attachment 59823

Kind of deceptive, no?

I wondered for a minute whether that was even the same guitar, till I looked for a couple obvious matches in the flame. That first photo seems to have had some serious color adjustment - more than just brightness/contrast.

In my experience (as a satisfied customer, no other affiliation), Wildwood's photography, despite being under what must be studio lights, is representative of the actual guitars. E.g.:

https://wildwoodguitars.com/product/09489/historic-collection-1960-les-paul/?cat_id=21896
 
Yeah, the first pic looks like a really nice Bengal Burst, the second like a clown burst.
Are those pics from Dave’s? I was looking at a couple of R9s that looked amazing on their website and got the same let down when I requested more pics. I don’t mind it when dealers use lighting to make the top pop, but I wish they’d include a few pics in natural lighting.
 
I wondered for a minute whether that was even the same guitar, till I looked for a couple obvious matches in the flame. That first photo seems to have had some serious color adjustment - more than just brightness/contrast.

In my experience (as a satisfied customer, no other affiliation), Wildwood's photography, despite being under what must be studio lights, is representative of the actual guitars. E.g.:

https://wildwoodguitars.com/product/09489/historic-collection-1960-les-paul/?cat_id=21896
+1 on Wildwood's pics. A few weeks ago I was drooling over an LP on their website that almost looked too good to be true. I asked for some cellphone pics under normal lighting just to be safe and it still looked great. So I pulled the trigger and ended up with this:

 
This is a Gibson LP studio that Im working on (when I can be bothered...) I bought it at a (cheap) good price in a wine red finish. I could see some nice markings under the finish so decided to buy it as a refinishing project. Ive added a MOP Gibson headstock inlay (Studio's have the gold screenprint gold paint logo) and Im yet to finish staining the rear of the body and the neck. One day I suppose I'll finish it. :rolleyes: Im using nitro cellulose for all of the refinishing work so it should age nicely. Eventually.
 

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I´ve been lucky thru the years to have been able to buy many Les Pauls, almost all of them online and all have been great players, i do my own setups the way i like to play LPs.

Currently this are the two i own.

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