school me on Les Paul Customs

[duesentrieb]

Neck dimensions of a '57 (RI - fat) and '68 (CA - huge) and other LPCs (my '76 has a super slim neck) aren't the same. To me the neck makes the biggest difference.

 

[sixty-niner]

I just bought one this year and it is by far the classiest guitar I have ever played. I love it

 

[roodboy]

Thanks for the replies.
The only LP Customs I have owned have been Edwards,
I've owned a bunch of Gibson Lp standards, Traditionals, Traditional Pros, R7, R6 and R9 and GO but never a Custom.

 

[gibson08]

Are you keeping your current guitar and just adding another?? I don't think you could go wrong with a 57 or 68, I personally would pick a 68 or an older Custom for the "meaner" comment however a simple pickup change can turn an ok guitar into a beast. I don't think I have ever seen a weight relieved or chambered 68, they came with a few diff pickups depending on years/runs, the tri burst 68s were typically a GC run which mostly used 60s neck shapes a 68 CA/VOS had a pretty beefy neck (larger than a 57 in most cases) the older Customs typically had a neck closer to the G0 you had/have maybe a little flatter on the back. I always agree with the statement that you should play a bunch, not to sound weird but, don't pick the guitar, let it pick you.

 

[joepete77]

I have owned a bunch of lp customs from all different eras and my favorites were my white 84 which I still have and a early 90's 54 reissue with p90s. I prefer a maple capped custom over non capped. The 54 and 57 ri customs are all mahogany with no maple cap and non chambered or weight relieved.The 68 ri has maple cap and also non chambered non weight relieved. Early through mid 70's have sandwich body construction, late 70's went back to solid 1 pc bodies and from late 70s to early 80's customs had 3pc maple necks with ebony boards. 84 went to 3pc mahogany necks, later on in that decade went back to 1 pc mahogany necks. All production line customs since mid 80s have Swiss cheese weight relief I believe, the historics do not. Somewhere around 2011 Gibson ran into problems obtaining ebony and started using alternate non traditional materials for fingerboards in place of ebony. As said above, nothing is foolproof but I have found few duds and nice qc on gibsons from late 80's through 2000 as production numbers were much lower and staff was more long term employees and every Gibson was considered a priority as far as qc , not reserved only for historic and custom shop line like today where regular Gibson USA line stuff is treated like a stepchild.

 

[4406cuda]

I like the LP's from the 70's up to the mid 80's. They are affordable and when you find one that is right for you, it is magic.

Some of my favorite players play(ed) Norlin era guitars.

John Sykes
Randy Rhoads
John Norum

 

[joepete77]

I like the LP's from the 70's up to the mid 80's. They are affordable and when you find one that is right for you, it is magic.

Some of my favorite players play(ed) Norlin era guitars.

John Sykes
Randy Rhoads
John Norum

I agree, I love the thinner necks that came on many norlin era customs. As much as guys bit vh about norlin era qc , I still think it was better then the production non custom shop stuff Gibson puts out today.

 

[nitro]

I know the topic is about Les Paul customs but dont let the Gibson Les Paul Studio fool you it fooled me until I tried and purchased one.2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio in a gloss wine red nice maple top just a beautiful guitar plays fantastic.I had a chance to try some of the custom shop les paul's like the 58 and 59,I kept going back to the studio I also tried a few les paul custom's and the studio still had a great feel and huge sound,go figure...

 

[se7en]

My '07 Blonde Beauty oozes tone for days

Damn, I need tone for years.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I know the topic is about Les Paul customs but dont let the Gibson Les Paul Studio fool you it fooled me until I tried and purchased one.2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio in a gloss wine red nice maple top just a beautiful guitar plays fantastic.I had a chance to try some of the custom shop les paul's like the 58 and 59,I kept going back to the studio I also tried a few les paul custom's and the studio still had a great feel and huge sound,go figure...

Studios can be real nice but I find it hard to believe one would pick a studio over a R8 or R9, probably the price tags that kept ya going back to the Studio

Studios are really nice, I liek te gold tops where they leave the cap natural for the faux binding look.

 

[FourT6and2]

Best LP I've played is my '84 Custom. Great axe. Very thick yet nuanced in its sound. My '79 is great too. But it's slightly thinner sounding and a bit snappier, probably because of the maple neck.

 

[dfrattaroli]

On my 78 Custom, I replaced the pickups with Dimarzio SD and PAFs. Then I pulled all the black plastic off and replaced it with creme. Hey I was 14 or 15 and was a huge Ace Frehley fan. Yes it was a cherry burst. After the first Van Halen album was released I had a Kahler put on it. I gigged with that guitar for years and only regretted the Kahler when I pulled it back out of the case in 2004. Had it refretted but the dude was sloppy around the bindings. It did play better but I couldn't bond with it anymore as I was playing super strats at the time. The 2013 Sig T I just picked up is really great though. A bit heavy compared to my Suhrs of course but it's a Paul. Sounds as it should. I think the Traditionals and Signature Ts, especially from 2013 are a sweet spot in the LP market for sure.

But I do still GAS for a Custom.

 

[nitro]

Shawn lutz the issue wasn't the price the studio just played and had a great sound just one of those magic les Paul's, I got lucky I guess.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

Shawn lutz the issue wasn't the price the studio just played and had a great sound just one of those magic les Paul's, I got lucky I guess.

I was joking really as I'd never buy a brand new R7, R8 or R9 only to lose 1$000-2000+k walkin out the door

 

[nitro]

I agree 100 % with you....

 

[Schaf]

I know the topic is about Les Paul customs but dont let the Gibson Les Paul Studio fool you it fooled me until I tried and purchased one.2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio in a gloss wine red nice maple top just a beautiful guitar plays fantastic.I had a chance to try some of the custom shop les paul's like the 58 and 59,I kept going back to the studio I also tried a few les paul custom's and the studio still had a great feel and huge sound,go figure...

Studios can be real nice but I find it hard to believe one would pick a studio over a R8 or R9, probably the price tags that kept ya going back to the Studio

Studios are really nice, I liek te gold tops where they leave the cap natural for the faux binding look.

The customs sound different than the standards or studios.

 

[nitro]

The studios have the same pickups(498t-490)as the customs,the wood is the same,they have maple arch tops the only difference would be the binding, studio's dont have binding.The traditionals and standards have the same wood as the studio's but they have binding studio's dont have binding.So if someone whats to pay thousands more for binding and marketing have at it..

 

[Holy Schnikes]

Im pretty sure the 68 RI is solid as its a historically correct copy of a 68 which were solid. The all mahogany 57 may be darker sounding than maple top.

+1 Yeah, as far as I know the 68 RI is solid.

I've owned two, both were chambered.

 

[joepete77]

Im pretty sure the 68 RI is solid as its a historically correct copy of a 68 which were solid. The all mahogany 57 may be darker sounding than maple top.

+1 Yeah, as far as I know the 68 RI is solid.

I've owned two, both were chambered.

They do make special runs of chambered historics . The 68 ri can easily weigh 10lbs so some custom order chambering. The chambered usually start with c as first digit of serial number .

 

[rupe]

The customs sound different than the standards or studios.

Of course...Customs sound different than other Customs, Standards sound different than other Standards, and so on.