School me on the different Les Paul guitars!

David McCarroll said:
Bet you were starting to think you'd flown under the radar there for a while ....... :D
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I did fly under for quite some time! Been playing my LP a little bit more lately and it's still a one trick pony EXCEPT for the 'woman' tone it does so well. And you're right about it hitting the front end. I was perplexed that it's got a lower output p/u than my Ibanez that's got an old Duncan Distortion in it. But I needed a tube screamer to pair with the Duncan and didn't need a boost when using the LP (57 classic plus.... maybe 9.5-ish?). The thing just paired up with my old Marshall and did that Les Paul/Marshall thing so well. I don't know how it pushed it into sounding good without the Tube screamer but it did. The TS just added a higher gear. Of course those were the old days when amps were tubed and played as loud as possible.

These days, I have too many guitars (for me). Maybe one day I'll sell the LP and do the PRS thing, dial in a Mesa preset, drop the tuning and get my stock early 2000's thing going. :D I would HOPE that PRS's stay in tune more than my LP does. The thing is hopeless. Sounds good, looks good.....hanging on my wall.
 
David McCarroll said:
Oh - ha ha - didn't get to your last post - perfect! The Classics all have the slim 60s taper neck and you gotta love goldtops! Congrats!
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Thanks!

This thread really helped me get to my final decision. I feel that I got a decent deal on it! I have always wanted a Les Paul Gold Top! One of my favorite colors, it was either that or all Black!

I was on the fence with maybe getting an Epiphone, Orville or Toaki love rock I even thought about the budget stuff for a hot minute. In the end I figured if I want to play a Les Paul just get a Les Paul!
 
Some fine recommendations here but also i would strongly consider looking at some of the Japanese made LP guitars. Edwards and Tokai or Burny and Orville on the used side. If you're not afraid to import, check out Reverb and search Japanese location with the above brands.

PRS SE McCarty 594 is a hard one to beat these days.
 
i think the Traditional is one of the better values in the LP line. That being said, I would get a PRS McCarty 594 (core or S2) instead.
 
Romo82 said:
Some fine recommendations here but also i would strongly consider looking at some of the Japanese made LP guitars. Edwards and Tokai or Burny and Orville on the used side. If you're not afraid to import, check out Reverb and search Japanese location with the above brands.

PRS SE McCarty 594 is a hard one to beat these days.
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If you want a singlecut and not a les paul, sure. If you want a les paul, buy a Gibson.

Signed, owns an s2 singlecut and owned two 594s.

@Sixstring as the owner of a black and goldtop standard, buy both ;)
 
Budda said:
If you want a singlecut and not a les paul, sure. If you want a les paul, buy a Gibson.

Signed, owns an s2 singlecut and owned two 594s.

@Sixstring as the owner of a black and goldtop standard, buy both ;)
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My very first Electric guitar was a Black Les Paul copy with gold hardware 1981, can't remember the maker anyway that color holds fond memories! I almost bought the one I was looking at but I had to have the Gold Top!
 
wcfieldskx said:
i think the Traditional is one of the better values in the LP line. That being said, I would get a PRS McCarty 594 (core or S2) instead.
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I was looking at them but almost every one I looked at was pretty beat up for the money. For a $4-500 more It made sense to get the Classic! I also wanted more appointments on the guitar! A Gold Top without the binding looks kind of unfinished or something IDK It just looked wrong.

I've had a few Single cut 10 tops before and they are nice guitars! In fact I was out looking for a LP back in the early 2000's and I tried 5 Les Pauls from standards to customs and none of them would play for me. Then the sales rep put a Single cut in my hands and it was over. I haven't played a 954 and I'm sure they are good guitars but I just had to have the Les Paul.
 
I have owned probably a couple of dozen (if not more) Les Paul's over the years. My first when as a teenager with me now being 59.
About a year or so back, I spotted a Studio LP for sale, less than a mile from home for £300 on marketplace FB. I snapped it up without question. I could not lose on it at that price. Anyway, back home, I plugged it in and instantly hated the feel of the neck so unplugged it and went back to another LP. Which I loved. To me, and I have owned 3 studios, the necks never feel the same as a Standard, a Custom or any other of the LPs I've owned. I don't know why, but Studios to me always seem like a fight to play. Hard work.
One Studio I bought was a gift for my son-in-law. A 20th or 25th anniversary model (I might have the years wrong?), and I hated it. I bought it and kept it for about a week before giving it away as a present. And I have never once missed it. The 2nd one I have stripped down to refinish it, but have lost interest in it for now, but I will go back to it. And then the £300 tatty white Facebook one. Which I have persevered with, and now, low and behold, it is my fave guitar! Other than the crappy circuit board wiring sh*t that is in it. Which I think makes the pups sound harsh. But some people like them.

My suggestion would be to forget your budget and visit a guitar store that will let you try out different models (Studio, Standard.. etc.) and see if you can feel any difference in playability between them. I still consider that my £300 Studio is a wrestling match to play and has no doubt strengthened my fingers but it is fun. I have another old-ish Deluxe/Standard thing that plays like erm..butter. The string tension is lovely, it almost feels like it could play itself. I would say that those two guitars are like chalk and cheese. And I don't know why. The neck angles must be the same but they are totally different guitars. But both are Les Paul's.

Can I throw a spanner into the works and suggest that if the chance comes your way, have a look at some of the Japanese LP's? Greco, Burny, Edwards, Tokai, Orville by Gibson, Orville, and many more.

Just as a side story to my last comment, when I was young, I bought a brand new Gibson Les Paul Heritage Series 80. And for one reason or another, I sold it. It was not what I thought it would be as I had owned a lower down-in-the-range Deluxe (less than 1/2 the price when new) which I thought was a better guitar. Anyway, Heritage Series sold, Kawasaki Z1000 bought and I am guitarless. With no money, or very little. One day in a guitar shop on the wall I spot a beautiful lemondrop flame top Les Paul and my eyes nearly pop out of my head, love at first sight. It looked like a Gibson, it had the correct headstock shape, the 2 screw trussrod cover and it caused my heart to skip a beat. I had to have it! So, I pulled in the cash from various places and bought it. It was a Fernandes Super Grade. Hand on heart, it was the best Les Paul that I have ever owned. I was a bit naughty in that I added a G**son MOP inlay and LP logo onto the headstock and in the time I had it not a single person EVER questioned me as to if it was a real one or a fake. I was heartbroken when it was stolen. If I could find another (if I had spare cash)I would snap it up in an instant.

Having said all of that though, I e-mailed somebody selling a Gibson LP the other day locally to me with a cash offer for which I am yet to hear back from. But if your budget is Studio level I would go Japanese anyday. And buy a mother of pearl inlay...
 
Sixstring said:
I haven't played a 954 and I'm sure they are good guitars but I just had to have the Les Paul.
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I may have said it already, but...that makes complete sense to me. I have an S2 594 and a LP Standard 50s sitting next to each other in my rack. They're both great guitars; they both hold tuning; they both have some upgrades/changes (electronics); I really love both of them.

WRT the things that people like to complain about online, the finish was better on the PRS on day one, but it's also wearing faster (deep chips, not pretty checking, and no, I'm not careless with it). I'm also convinced that it's fading. It was their dark/unsaturated blue when I bought it (can't remember the name...not whale blue). Now, it almost looks dark gray but not smoke. Neither color is currently offered on the S2s, as far as I can see.

They can cover a lot of the same territory, but they are not the same guitar.

Dixiethedog said:
Anybody who is after buying a Les Paul should watch this and then go and visit Zenmarket auction site and spend some cash. (Me included..)

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I'll always like a Chris Buck video.

I like his take on that guitar's story. I've played a couple Tokai and Greco LP copies. None of them have really moved me...but they were cool.

FWIW, and kind of OT, I have no idea what causes that connection or doesn't. I at least vaguely trust Jim Lill and others about wood and what not. I have no problem experimenting with adjusting pickups and the things that provably do make a big difference (I've done it with permission or had it done in stores before). But, there's still something intangible that makes me really like guitars I probably shouldn't care about or not care about guitars that seem great "on paper". I've given up trying to explain it but still trust the feeling.
 
Dixiethedog said:
Can I throw a spanner into the works and suggest that if the chance comes your way, have a look at some of the Japanese LP's? Greco, Burny, Edwards, Tokai, Orville by Gibson, Orville, and many more.


Having said all of that though, I e-mailed somebody selling a Gibson LP the other day locally to me with a cash offer for which I am yet to hear back from. But if your budget is Studio level I would go Japanese anyday. And buy a mother of pearl inlay...
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Exactly what i say, the Japanese LP's are no joke and from my experience p*ss on the Gibson's I've encountered for a lot less cheddar.
 
1. OP bought a Gibson les paul (the brand he wanted)
2. My reading tells me a lot of the MIJ LP copies may have slimmer necks and more of a D shape than the standard C found on most Gibsons. Great if you want a slim neck, but..
 
It's all good!

I looked at a lot of vids covering the gamut of Gibson Les Pauls and the copies and reading all of the comments, no bad advice here and it was all very much appreciated!

I will find out if I made the right choice on Wednesday! I will look over and play it make sure everything is right and post a thread on it with my thoughts.
 
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