New Les Pauls? Any good?

cardinal

Well-known member
Are current production Gibson LPs any good? I hate searching for unobtainium whatevers made during the lunar eclipse in 1993 etc etc. I would just want to pull a nice one off the rack and be done.

Not particularly interested in spending $4K+ on this since it's likely to end up with the headstock disconnected in a few years because I and my children are idiots.
 
I did that with my 2019 standard. Pulled a top shelf Gibson off the showroom at a guitar center and it played and sounded great. I still own it. I plan to pull the shit PCB board out and the BB3/BB2 pickups out for an 80’s 498/496 combo I have laying around. They’re solid workhorses. They sound anemic compared to my Norlin era customs though. But those are double or triple the investment.
 
Personally I think there are much better guitars being made by other companies/builders nowadays. Gibsons are overpriced/overhyped for what they are.
 
I did that with my 2019 standard. Pulled a top shelf Gibson off the showroom at a guitar center and it played and sounded great. I still own it. I plan to pull the shit PCB board out and the BB3/BB2 pickups out for an 80’s 498/496 combo I have laying around. They’re solid workhorses. They sound anemic compared to my Norlin era customs though. But those are double or triple the investment.
Didn't Norlin customs have like maple sides with a maple neck?
 
My 2019 Gibson Les Paul Standard and 2022 Studio are two of my favorite guitars I've owned. They fixed so many issues like old tuning problems, noise, etc, etc. They feel solid, sound great and way better than Les Paul guitars right before the bankruptcy stuff
 
Unfortunately none of them sound like a Gibson
Honestly, this line sounds straight out of a Gibson ad. I'm absolutely sure you can find a similar sounding guitar out there. There's no magic in it.
 
I didn't know that about maple in the pancake. I think maple is the key ingredient to some of those exceptional LPC's. They felt and sounded more solid with a very powerful attack. No comparison the workbench guitar. While I dig and accept what his videos show. There are levels of badassery beyond the context he is referring to.
 
Bought a 2016, 2019, 2020 and they are all exceptional quality. Not a flaw on any of them even down to the binding scraping and residual tooling marks. 2 of 3 were mail order. No complaints here.
 
I've recently picked up a 2021 Classic and a 2021 Traditional Pro V and I am very happy with both. They are definitely keepers. For reference I also have these Les Pauls: a 2011 Traditional Pro, a 2009 Custom and a 1998 Custom.
 
I've recently picked up a 2021 Classic and a 2021 Traditional Pro V and I am very happy with both. They are definitely keepers. For reference I also have these Les Pauls: a 2011 Traditional Pro, a 2009 Custom and a 1998 Custom.
I've been looking at a Standard but I prefer the straight blank Classic, so might go that route. Glad to hear it's an awesome guitar too. The traditional weight relief doesn't bother me; I just don't want one of the ones that basically hollow. Had one of those years ago and it was weird.
 
I didn't know that about maple in the pancake. I think maple is the key ingredient to some of those exceptional LPC's. They felt and sounded more solid with a very powerful attack. No comparison the workbench guitar. While I dig and accept what his videos show. There are levels of badassery beyond the context he is referring to.
yeah, that's exactly why i think those Norlin era customs are amazing. All the maple on them. also why they're the heaviest era of Les Pauls. Also why i like them the best.
 
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