Gibson BS

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jerrydyer

jerrydyer

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where can I educate myself on Gibsons now. there are so many sub par models. whats a traditional, studi, classic. ?? I played one of those that have the 1960 on the pick guard and the the off color inlays, Diegos guitar (concrete vampire) plays and sounds great. How can read up on all these others so I know what im looking at?
thanks
 
jerrydyer":214h0vha said:
where can I educate myself on Gibsons now. there are so many sub par models. whats a traditional, studi, classic. ?? I played one of those that have the 1960 on the pick guard and the the off color inlays, Diegos guitar (concrete vampire) plays and sounds great. How can read up on all these others so I know what im looking at?
thanks
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There's really no single resource for all things Gibson. Like Reza said, they've convoluted the lines so bad its really a guessing game at this point. The Les Paul forum might be the best place to start.

FWIW, the guitar that you talk about is a Les Paul Classic...they were great players but I hated those green inlays and tuner buttons.
 
Best bet is the mylespaul forum. I was an LP virgin after 30 years of playing I finally bought in March of 2012, the mylp forum had a lot of great info. I narrowed my search and I decided on a 2012 Traditional plus

Otherwise just go to Gibson's website and compare the specs of the various models.
 
Rezamatix":37ybf0q4 said:
Great question. These fuckers have diluted the line so much you can't even get a good gibson without a map and an experienced guide.

I bought a Custom Shop les Paul custom last year, turns out it had a rich lite fingerboard and Swiss cheese body. Fuckers. I took it back.
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the swiss cheese bodies go way back, would not be PO'd about that but the richlite board would. To me a Les Paul Custom has to have an eBony board ;)
 
thanks folks
diegos is pretty good.. funky color trapazoids but a great player.

the traditions are " weighted" meaning swiss cheese ?

Im beginning to think I cant affor a real one. made an offer on a Ibanez killer 1978 thang .. well see.
it has super 70's that gets some dudes fired up. prob noisey
 
I have searched much on the LP forum. Gotten 2 LP's in he last year.

Good topics to search are Norlin Era, Tim Shaw pickups, weight relief era, maple necks and pancake bodies.

A lot of division in the LP community on those topics. Except the Shaw pickups, those get mad love. But hard to find.
 
jerrydyer":1bxntggc said:
thanks folks
diegos is pretty good.. funky color trapazoids but a great player.

the traditions are " weighted" meaning swiss cheese ?

Im beginning to think I cant affor a real one. made an offer on a Ibanez killer 1978 thang .. well see.
it has super 70's that gets some dudes fired up. prob noisey
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Triditionals up until 2013 are weight relieved with the 9 hole swiss cheese. My 2012 weighs in at 9.6lbs. The 2013's Traditionals have no chambering or 9 holes. The 2008 Standards are chambered, the 2012 Standards have modern weight relief.
 
Jerry, there is great value to be found in the Japanese knock-offs... Tokai, Edwards, Burney, Orville etc...

I've got a Tokai loverock from 1983 that plays and sounds amazing. Prices have gone up in recent years but 8 years ago I paid $650 for it and it was mostly mint.
 
Or you could go with a Heritage. Great guitars for a great price and no bullshit with the build quality.
 
My LP is a classic and yes the inlays are garbage (pickups suck too-just my opinion) but that's a quick fix. The wood on them are fantastic and 1990-92 LP Classic Premium Plus guitars were a precursor to the Historic line sans the long neck tennon.

They (Classic PP) are dirt cheap on evil-bay and are usually between 1200-1800. The wood is killer and resonates nicely. Before I changed everything was a 2000. Not chambered but Gibson has been weight reliving for years now. I hate the way chambered guitars play but weight releving is a corksniffer argument.
 
mlp.com is a good start. Personally I know I'll be getting at least another half dozen Lesters over the course of the next few years, and I'm aiming to buy all of them pre-2011 build. Just straight up goodness from the 90s, early 2000s, etc.

My "personal belief" is that true "wood" Lesters are going to be a thing of the past in the next quarter century. If I'm wrong? So what, I'll have a lot of fine fiddles :lol: :LOL:
 
Ventura":6bxwayj5 said:
mlp.com is a good start. Personally I know I'll be getting at least another half dozen Lesters over the course of the next few years, and I'm aiming to buy all of them pre-2011 build. Just straight up goodness from the 90s, early 2000s, etc.

My "personal belief" is that true "wood" Lesters are going to be a thing of the past in the next quarter century. If I'm wrong? So what, I'll have a lot of fine fiddles :lol: :LOL:
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Only a half dozen?

:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:
 
1960 on pickgaurd is a lp classic. They were great guitars , just try to find one from 1990-2002 as they were all 1 pc bodies, 1 pc rosewood boards, nickel hardware. Quality of early models was on par with custom shop. I have a mid 90's classic plus that beats out my custom shop stuff. Somewhere in mid 2000s Gibson started using multi pc bodies on mostly all non custom shop guitars along with other money saving building methods and materials.
 
Older Studio models have good wood and are a steal too. I picked up an 02 off CL for $500.
 
Yep mines a 2001 CLassic. it does have the "Aged" inlays, but I grabbed it cause it plays great! and it's got an almost butterscotch tinted Honeyburst. It really compliments the inlays makes em look right, like it's aged. It's weight releived, but weighs like a Mofo anyway! heavy fucker...
I'll post a pic tonight... :rock:
 
I don't have too much knowledge on the 80's and 70's LPs, but I can give a brief rundown starting in the 1990s.

Lets skip all the Customs, Studios, Juniors, and Specials, and stick to the USA-Line "Standard" based LPs.

***Weight-relief started around 1982/1983. Every Gibson USA Les Paul between 1982 - 2007 is weight-relieved. They do not have solid-body construction. Weight-relief is also known as "swiss cheese holes"

1990's - Late 2001

Les Paul Standard:
1-piece Mahogany body with weight relief holes.
59 Roundback Neck
Chrome hardware, grover tuners (bolt bushings), nashville bridge
490/498 Alnico pickups
Speed Knobs

Les Paul Classic:
1-piece Mahogany body with weight relief holes.
Slim 60s Neck
Nickel hardware, vintage kluson type tuners (push in bushings), ABR1 bridge
496/500 ceramic pickups
Aged "Green" inlays
Bell Knobs

Starting in Late 2001 - Approximately 2007:

Les Paul Standard:
1-piece Mahogany body with weight relief holes.
Available with slim 60s neck, or fatter 50s neck (bigger shoulders than the 59 roundback)
Nickel hardware, vintage kluson type tuners (push in bushings), nashville bridge
Burstbucker Pros
Bell Knobs

Approximately 2007 - 2012:

Les Paul Traditional
Think of it as a "pre-2007 Standard"
1-piece or 2-piece Mahogany body with weight relief holes.
50s Neck
57 Classic and 57 Classic Plus pickups
Kluson Tonepros vintage type tuners, bolt bushings
Chrome Hardware
Nashville bridge
Speed Knobs

Les Paul Traditional PRO
1-piece or 2-piece Mahogany body with weight relief holes.
60s Neck
57 Classic and Burstbucker 3 pickups
Coil Tapping
SATIN finish on back and neck
Locking Grover Keystone type tuners
Chrome Hardware
Nashville bridge
Speed Knobs

Les Paul Standard:
Many "upgrades", including
Chambered body
Compound radius fretboard, Assymetrical neck profile
Coil Tapping, locking Neutrik Jack, etc.
Chrome hardware, nashville bridge, ??? tuners
Burstbucker Pro pickups

Les Paul Classic:
Chambered Body
Switched to Nashville bridge instead of the ABR1
Eventually switched to 57 Classics too

2013 - ????

Good luck. I still don't understand all the new models. LPJ. Future Tribute. Signature T. It's a flaming hot mess.
 
The 2013 Historic models are fucking awesome. They made the 59 LP even more accurate and true to the older models.
 
And to confuse things more they decided to name the Standards 2008, as in built to 2008 specs which include the asymmetrical neck. So you can buy a 2012 Les Paul Standard 2008. :doh:
 
Take what you read from a forum with a grain of salt. Check books and contact Gibson as well. The Les Paul forum is a shell of what it once was. Some of the Gibson forums are full of "experts" that talk first and learn later. There is some great information, but also a ton of misinformation. You definitely need to cross check what you get on your own. For instance, if you Google "Gibson Candy Apple Red SG, " you will find a bunch of links to these websites searching for information on these guitars. The information from the "experts" is quite surprising.

Most of them are positive they are fakes and come right out and not only say so, but can back it up with "proof." A lot of the others will jump on the bandwagon of the "experts." The others either have no clue or are smart enough admit that they simply do not know. There are a handful that finally know the truth and post that the guitars are in fact real and give the actual data. Some even own them and post pictures. Ironically there are more posts of "fake" data than real.

I own two of these guitars and know what they are, which is why I offer this for an example. I was in a very popular store here in NYC (which will remain nameless, ) and I asked if they had any SGs that fit this description and was told Gibson never made any. I just laughed a little inside. The information is out there, you just have to dig. I tend to stick to used stuff and look everything up as much as possible, but if I like something I don't really care too much what it is, or what is in it as long as it plays and sounds good assuming the price is right.
 
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