Best "new" Les Paul's??

[Mudder]

IMHO the best new Les Pauls are made by Heritage.

If they would shorten the Headstock-IMO they'd be more popular.

I know there are Trademark issues but it does not have to be so LOOOOOOOONG.

Someone needs to tell them.

I think they're alright. But you're talking to a guy who likes the old Dean shrimp fork heads.

 

[steve_k]

The best "new" Les Paul is an old one. My favorites are from 78-81....

 

[Zap]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a "Lester"?

R9/R7 refers to '59 or '57 reissue, correct?

I played a new Traditional/Classic (Tobacco burst) at GC yesterday and it was ok. $1,899 and the pickups were hot and crunchy which I prefer. The action was kinda high and the neck could be a little thicker.

The VOS Les Pauls seemed like they were pretty nice but not too pretty. haha

"Lester", aka Lester Paul, aka Les Paul.

I'd definitely agree with Mo on this; custom shop is the only way to go if you don't want to sacrifice quality. One, they're made with better wood (one piece mahogany vs two on non customs) that's chosen for tone and not simply because it's classified as mahogany.

Two, they have different neck joints. The neck of a non custom contacts the body with much less area and a LOT more glue in between. This is because the bottom of the neck, where it touches the back, is arched to make installing it easier (short tenon). The custom shop is flat and contacts everywhere (long tenon). It's more expensive to build a guitar with a long tenon because they need to be perfect. See the picture below (ignore transitional)

The VOS models are sent out of the factory with a "gunk" applied to them. They polish up perfectly fine; 20 minutes with some Virtuoso cleaner and polish and you'll be looking at a beautiful, glassy finish.

edit:
another view of the neck joint

WOW ! Very interesting- I don't own an LP but I might and I naively thought that the "Tenon Thing" was just a matter of the LENGTH extended into the body.

BUT-the fact that the "Short Tenon" includes a sloppier fit with less contact is more significant- I'm sure some "short tenon "LPs sound great BUT I'd much rather have the Long Tenon / tighter fit because of more tone transfer and just increasing the chance for greatness.

I did like the Bonamassa Studio Les Paul- is that actually a Long Tenon even though it's a Studio ? Or is Long Tenon only on the Bonamassa Custom Shop LPs ?

I don't like loose neck joints on Bolt Ons either- isn't this what CNC Machines are for ? To get precisely shaped pieces of wood that fit together ?

The other thing is ( I'm not a Luthier or a Tech but.....) Franklin Glue is not meant to fill in GAPS- at least if they're doing it this way they should use some kind of Epoxy with lots of wood fiber or resonant material that has a hardener and will fill in gaps and still cure properly- ( JB Guitar Weld ?- ha.)

Oh yeah- Not An Expert but- of all the Les Paul Studios I played recently the Bonamassa Studio impressed me the most - an excellent Guitar IMO- listen to the Youtube Demos-serious tone.

Don't know if it was just that one- or they are ALL as good - but the Bonamassa Studio I played was impressive.

Be weary of the 2012 ones. The Joe B sounded pretty good tonally, but it had a granadillo fretboard that looked and felt like shit. Find a rosewood one from 2011 if possible.

 

[sixstringking713]

i dont get why the neck pocket is so disasterous looking on the "short" version..
and even the long version looks like it's suspect..i'm sure that wouldn't be up to Les Paul's standard if he were running Q&A. what a crock these fucks are trying to push off as quality...no wonder the majority of them are duds these days...my cousin just bought a 2011 57 reissue....and while i haven't played it, 3k for a guitar that he was "sold" due to "jimmy page played this same guitar"...well, i hope he got his money's worth!

i'd be ashamed to send either of those 2 neck/body joints out the door....wtf....for 2500 or more, none the less. thats insulting to us as consumers....fuck those new gibsons and their "model" differences..
why can't a les paul just be a les paul....classic plus historic, studio world blah blah blah...wtf is this crap?
i wonder if eSP or charvel bolt on necks have that much of a shitty gap...on their 900$ version to boot.

this day and age, with manufacturing perfected...you'd think gibson would've figured out how to get it right, EVERY time..instead....buying a les paul is like buying fucking mega million ticket...maybe, but...maybe not i'll have a winner. what kind of crap is that? nevermind, it's just big business...it's just the way things are....so, we can just excuse it all away...right? WRONG. don't buy one. that's how you make them get this shit right.

/rant.

sorry, this kind of shit CLEARLY pisses me off....i got lucky with the 4 i have...all tone monsters...but still....it fuckin sucks.

I agree..

Furthermore, I hate les pauls. But, I would attribute this to never playing one that sounded good in a guitar store... The only one I liked was the "axcess" model, had a certain feeling to it that it was well made. Makes sense that it is a custom shop item.

I don't know anything about les pauls (I stick with strat type guitars) but I can't see myself spending $2k+ on something that is a piece of shit

 

[Shawn Lutz]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a "Lester"?

R9/R7 refers to '59 or '57 reissue, correct?

I played a new Traditional/Classic (Tobacco burst) at GC yesterday and it was ok. $1,899 and the pickups were hot and crunchy which I prefer. The action was kinda high and the neck could be a little thicker.

The VOS Les Pauls seemed like they were pretty nice but not too pretty. haha

"Lester", aka Lester Paul, aka Les Paul.

I'd definitely agree with Mo on this; custom shop is the only way to go if you don't want to sacrifice quality. One, they're made with better wood (one piece mahogany vs two on non customs) that's chosen for tone and not simply because it's classified as mahogany.

Two, they have different neck joints. The neck of a non custom contacts the body with much less area and a LOT more glue in between. This is because the bottom of the neck, where it touches the back, is arched to make installing it easier (short tenon). The custom shop is flat and contacts everywhere (long tenon). It's more expensive to build a guitar with a long tenon because they need to be perfect. See the picture below (ignore transitional)

The VOS models are sent out of the factory with a "gunk" applied to them. They polish up perfectly fine; 20 minutes with some Virtuoso cleaner and polish and you'll be looking at a beautiful, glassy finish.

edit:
another view of the neck joint

WOW ! Very interesting- I don't own an LP but I might and I naively thought that the "Tenon Thing" was just a matter of the LENGTH extended into the body.

BUT-the fact that the "Short Tenon" includes a sloppier fit with less contact is more significant- I'm sure some "short tenon "LPs sound great BUT I'd much rather have the Long Tenon / tighter fit because of more tone transfer and just increasing the chance for greatness.

I did like the Bonamassa Studio Les Paul- is that actually a Long Tenon even though it's a Studio ? Or is Long Tenon only on the Bonamassa Custom Shop LPs ?

I don't like loose neck joints on Bolt Ons either- isn't this what CNC Machines are for ? To get precisely shaped pieces of wood that fit together ?

The other thing is ( I'm not a Luthier or a Tech but.....) Franklin Glue is not meant to fill in GAPS- at least if they're doing it this way they should use some kind of Epoxy with lots of wood fiber or resonant material that has a hardener and will fill in gaps and still cure properly- ( JB Guitar Weld ?- ha.)

Oh yeah- Not An Expert but- of all the Les Paul Studios I played recently the Bonamassa Studio impressed me the most - an excellent Guitar IMO- listen to the Youtube Demos-serious tone.

Don't know if it was just that one- or they are ALL as good - but the Bonamassa Studio I played was impressive.

Be weary of the 2012 ones. The Joe B sounded pretty good tonally, but it had a granadillo fretboard that looked and felt like shit. Find a rosewood one from 2011 if possible.

Find the specs on the model first. They still are using rosewood. My 2012 Traditional as an complete data of 1/31/2012 an d it has a rosewood board. As far as I know, all Traditionals still have rosewood. Classics, Custom classic and some customs have baked maple

 

[jabps]

yeah I don't really want to buy a new one, but as I said in an earlier post there are literally no older gibson lp standards for sale on craigslist around here in a fairly major metro area (and I'm not about to buy sight unseen from ebay).
I just started looking within the last month, so I want to know, is this an anomaly or do people just not sell the old ones often?

I've gotten lucky I guess, the 2 I still own I bought without playing. One through those old GBase personal ads and one from Ed Roman. Got both under 1,200...granted this was nearly a decade ago. It's chancey yes but oddly the other 2 I bought...one brand new and the other used were from local stores. Played them a ton in the stores before purchase. Just never bonded with them like those others. IMO...a Les Paul is hit or miss regardless if you get to play it beforehand. Your never really gonna know until you've lived with it for awhile.

 

[muudrock]

IMO...a Les Paul is hit or miss regardless if you get to play it beforehand. Your never really gonna know until you've lived with it for awhile.

+1. But I think this is true of any guitar. Guitars are organic instruments and change over time.
That being said I got lucky on my last LP purchase. New Lifeson LP..never played it before it arrived. Too good of a price to pass it up but owned for a few months now and I still really dig it.

 

[jabps]

IMO...a Les Paul is hit or miss regardless if you get to play it beforehand. Your never really gonna know until you've lived with it for awhile.

+1. But I think this is true of any guitar. Guitars are organic instruments and change over time. .

Very true muud.

 

[Ventura]

bought a custom shop 1960 reissue a while back. Very nice guitar and records well, really noticeable with lead playing. talk to the folks at route66 guitars they will do you right.

DING DING AND MEGA FKN DING!!!!!

THIS is the winning answer by a LONG shot!! Jim and Janine, awesome honest and knowledgeable peeps in the world of Lesters (and others). NEVER steered me wrong, ALWAYS got me the right price, and they KNOW a good playin' fiddle when they hold it.

Mega props to J&J and Route66

Mo