Help. Thinking about a Les Paul

[thenine]

Another trick (again unplugged) is to hit an open chord and then lightly touch the tip of the headstock
to see how long the vibrations ring. You'd be surprised. Some will choke off pretty quickly.
You want one that tails off nice and evenly.

This. I do this to every guitar I touch.

The best value in LP’s IMO is mid 2000’s Classics. U get a good price as they are readily available, hot pickups, and a thin neck which makes it ideal for players coming from a SuperStrat background. Just about any color you want. Only drawback is they tend to have yellowy inlays.

 

[Emg77]

I'm a huge Les Paul fan and have had many over the years. Nothing sounds like a "good" Les Paul. Big and growly. I love the tone of the good ones. The best Les Paul I've ever played is one I currently own. It's a 2016 Standard T. I bought it online and it is just killer. Killer top,sounds outstanding and plays like butter. It does weigh 10 pounds. I also have a 2004 Standard Premium Plus that is another killer LP. Just got a Les Paul Modern. It showed with the nut cut way to high. I just got done recutting it and this guitar plays excellent as well.

 

[napalmdeath]

Another great option for LPs is Edwards. Had a Jimmy Page relic model for a few years.
It didn't have the sheen like a US custom shop but totally got the job done
and sounded killer both plugged and unplugged. Even had a long tenon joint.

Think they make all the different flavors (standard, goldtop, black and white customs, etc.)

View attachment 100535

This.. I just bought a John Sykes Edwards LPC. I'm waiting on the damn UPS guy as we speak!

 

[Racerxrated]

If you are stuck on Gibson there are some super nice Standards and Classics out there, that sound great and play killer. But, if you are considering other brands definitely check out some MIJ Grecos...I've had 2 Edwards and the late 70s-mid 80s Grecos are a bit more traditional LP than the Edwards I owned. Plus they'll have the real LP cut vs the Eclipse which looks a little different. You can still find some great deals on Super Power (late 70s-early 80s) and Mint Collection (early-late 80s) which will rival a good Standard Gibby...and come in less than 1K shipped from Japan. I've bought all of them from Japan based sellers, and every one of them got here in less than 7 days.

 

[Elliott]

If you are stuck on Gibson there are some super nice Standards and Classics out there, that sound great and play killer. But, if you are considering other brands definitely check out some MIJ Grecos...I've had 2 Edwards and the late 70s-mid 80s Grecos are a bit more traditional LP than the Edwards I owned. Plus they'll have the real LP cut vs the Eclipse which looks a little different. You can still find some great deals on Super Power (late 70s-early 80s) and Mint Collection (early-late 80s) which will rival a good Standard Gibby...and come in less than 1K shipped from Japan. I've bought all of them from Japan based sellers, and every one of them got here in less than 7 days.

Have you played a Tokai before?

 

[mooncobra]

Never owned a Les Paul. Never owned any Gibson, not because I have anything against Gibson, just don’t like any of their designs. I love Super Strats and that’s pretty much all I go for. However a few years ago I branched out and tried PRS and really liked them. Recently I’ve been thinking hard to try a Les Paul and been researching the ESP Eclipse and very recently looking at Gibson’s.

I want to stay below $2k, and probably used, preferably a good used guitar in the low $1k that represents a good LP. Looking for brand and/or specific model recommendations. I’ve been eye balling this as it seems different and pretty cool:

Definitely try them out first if possible. I’ve seen some serious duds recently. But, I grabbed a used standard with black belts in it for 1800 not long ago and it was as good as the R8s and R9s I’ve had. It was a great guitar.

 

[Racerxrated]

Have you played a Tokai before?

I have not. Just the Edwards and Grecos. Tokai, Orville, Navigator etc have all been out of my budget when I’ve looked. Plus, with Tokai and Orville, they sometimes don’t have serials so it’s hard to nail down whether or not it might be from China or Indo. Takes a little more research to prove country of origin…vs the Grecos, which are easy to spot the good ones with the serials. No serial, no buy for me.

 

[Billelzebub]

Agreed that most LP's are "try before you buy". I got lucky on one of the ones I have, a 2010 LP Trad Pro I bought last summer off another forum. I usually dislike Gibson pickups, but the ones in that one aren't bad, and it's been nice to have something that isn't super high output like the rest of my guitars. That model and year might be good for an intro into Les Pauls. The neck isn't too beefy or too thin and the electronics have coil splits. The neck is actually not that far off from my strat.

 

[* velcro-fly *]

The best value in LP’s IMO is mid 2000’s Classics. U get a good price as they are readily available, hot pickups, and a thin neck which makes it ideal for players coming from a SuperStrat background. Just about any color you want. Only drawback is they tend to have yellowy inlays.

Haha I cant even remember how many killer Classics I passed on because of the piss yellow inlays. Our buddy Tim Rose is sitting on a shit ton of LP's right now.....

I'll second the vote to checkout the Tokai stuff, but honestly all these other suggestions are just gateway drugs to the real deal.....I too was a Strat only guy, started with an Anderson Cobra to get my head wrapped around the short scale, sold it and bought a Hamer Artist (shoulda stopped right there...), then went through at least 5 Tokais (buy them on a Monday, at your house Wednesday from Japan!) , had a LP Standard or two then broke down and bought a Historic. I haven't looked back. I did play JDubs PRS 594 single cut that's killer but its a different thing still. Lots of good Gibson LP's out there in your sub $2k price range, just gotta search them out.

 

[Elliott]

Haha I cant even remember how many killer Classics I passed on because of the piss yellow inlays. Our buddy Tim Rose is sitting on a shit ton of LP's right now.....

I'll second the vote to checkout the Tokai stuff, but honestly all these other suggestions are just gateway drugs to the real deal.....I too was a Strat only guy, started with an Anderson Cobra to get my head wrapped around the short scale, sold it and bought a Hamer Artist (shoulda stopped right there...), then went through at least 5 Tokais (buy them on a Monday, at your house Wednesday from Japan!) , had a LP Standard or two then broke down and bought a Historic. I haven't looked back. I did play JDubs PRS 594 single cut that's killer but its a different thing still. Lots of good Gibson LP's out there in your sub $2k price range, just gotta search them out.

I might consider buying a Tokai based on the shipping speed ?