Went to GC to A/B my Suhr to some Les Pauls

[Steinmetzify]

Same thing. I've had great ones and not so great ones. There are fantastic ones out there, just gotta look. What's wrong with your Custom that you can't fix and gig that? Might turn out cheaper than a Studio...always loved Customs and am on the lookout for another.

Also PICS....love seeing Customs with mojo dude.

 

[cardinal]

I tend to gravitate to super strats like Andersons and Ibanez (and Suhr I guess), but there is just some mojo to a Fender or Gibson. Both company's QC is all over the map, even on the expensive stuff, and most of the time I don't think even the nice ones play all that well. You kinda have to fight with them a bit. It's not effortless to play like an Anderson or Suhr. But that bit of "fight" somehow is fun sometimes. Not sure why.

 

[Racerxrated]

Oh nothing's wrong with it..lol...just have some gas.....been on a guitar buying kick lately...never bought a new LP before...

 

[jlbaxe]

I bought a 2014 LP Classic (See avatar) a few months ago and loved everything about it but the dumb ass 15 db boost switch replacing the bridge tone pot I changed out the electronics and pups to a Standard wiring set up and enjoy playing it now. They should just sell the Classics with normal wiring set up. The Bakelite neck is fine, guitar has great tone.

The other day I bought a '05 LP Standard Trans Black flame top Plays great (needs new strings, 10s) Has an aging vintage yellowing on the binding Out of the case I wouldn't change anything. Let my 19 yr old play it for a day and now he wants to play it instead of his LP mm.

The best tone and feel is still my '07 Blonde Beauty LP. The neck although a tad thicker than most 60s neck just feels right to me (I can't play 50s necks) and it just has TONE. I would buy another one in a heart beat.

Been on a kick for older LP's. Next will be a Faded cherry burst like the Jimmy Page model or I might just get the JP model

I play LP's every time I go to GC and rarely find one I like and enjoy playing. 2 years ago I found a Traditional Pro 60's neck that I should have bought just didn't have the extra funds.

I still enjoy my USA Tele, Strats and cheap Ibanez RG450. They are just different and play different.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

You lost me immediately after GC...which is mistake #1

I have 3 LP's, 2012 Trad +, 2002 LPB7 (57 RI LPC) and a 2009 R7 (57 RI) and all kill it tone and playability wise. If you are used to playing Suhr super strats it will take some adjustments to get around a LP. I started playing in the 80's and never cared for LP's until I bought one in 2012...it took a while getting used to it but once I figured it out it has been easy peasy and I really like em. I still love my super strats but they aren't getting much playing time...98% LP's since 2012 for me.

 

[C1-ocaster]

I think many of the LP's guitar Center gets are not on par with some of the smaller shops like Eddies, who cannot even advertise them. I have owned 9 Suhs. Still have my Standard. I bought and sold a few Pauls along the way with the Suhrs. Nothing touches my handpicked 2013 LB R8 as far as tone.The guitar is flawless with perfect fretwork and neck. One could play 20 Les Pauls at GC and not experience a "good one". Suhr quality is flawless as well but much more consistent than Gibson but when you hit a good Historic....

I haven't seen that to be true.
Sweetwater is a highly respected dealer and carries a lot of quality guitars from a number of manufacturers.
I've seen LP's in GC stores that rival some LP's at Sweetwater, and the vice versa, meaning that it's not likely that Gibson screens which one's they send to who.
It's very much luck of the draw.

LP's are beautiful looking and shaped guitars, and the tone they can produce is really sweet.
But I can't get comfortable playing one even with the slim taper neck.
It's not the neck thickness, part of is the hard to get at frets/notes above the 14th fret.
On top of that there is something about it that just doesn't fit me.

What really puts me off on LP's is that Gibson's quality control is very piss poor.
And people still make excuses for them. I can appreciate that tone is more important than cosmetics, however,
there is NO good reason why any Gibson made guitar shouldn't be flawless.
Many guitar makers make and sell guitars that are much lower in cost and made in Asia.
The lower cost is the result of making guitars in lower wage Asian countries, but the quality of a lot of them is excellent compared to Gibson.

What Gibson allows to go out for sale as factory firsts would be B-stock for many other guitar makers.
The one area on LP's that drives me crazy is where the neck meets the body. At that point, look at the top surface where 2 pieces meet. The finish on like 6/7 out of 10 LP's look like there is sand under the finish, or just very poor workmanship.
It's actually rare to find an LP where that area is perfect.
Compare that to ESP's LTD line Eclipse, which is Korean made. It's an LP body type/copy with some differences.
Getting a cosmetically perfect LTD is more like 9 out of 10, very different compared to LP.

Gibson's ES line seems better made. I'm looking for an ES335 in satin cherry and of the 3 I've got to actually play all 3 were very close to perfect. They were excellent build with only one minor flaw on one of them.
Seems the builders making the satin cherry ES's are doing a fine job, maybe they can teach the LP line makers a few things.

 

[fretout]

I think many of the LP's guitar Center gets are not on par with some of the smaller shops like Eddies, who cannot even advertise them. I have owned 9 Suhs. Still have my Standard. I bought and sold a few Pauls along the way with the Suhrs. Nothing touches my handpicked 2013 LB R8 as far as tone.The guitar is flawless with perfect fretwork and neck. One could play 20 Les Pauls at GC and not experience a "good one". Suhr quality is flawless as well but much more consistent than Gibson but when you hit a good Historic....

I haven't seen that to be true.
Sweetwater is a highly respected dealer and carries a lot of quality guitars from a number of manufacturers.
I've seen LP's in GC stores that rival some LP's at Sweetwater, and the vice versa, meaning that it's not likely that Gibson screens which one's they send to who.
It's very much luck of the draw.

LP's are beautiful looking and shaped guitars, and the tone they can produce is really sweet.
But I can't get comfortable playing one even with the slim taper neck.
It's not the neck thickness, part of is the hard to get at frets/notes above the 14th fret.
On top of that there is something about it that just doesn't fit me.

What really puts me off on LP's is that Gibson's quality control is very piss poor.
And people still make excuses for them. I can appreciate that tone is more important than cosmetics, however,
there is NO good reason why any Gibson made guitar shouldn't be flawless.
Many guitar makers make and sell guitars that are much lower in cost and made in Asia.
The lower cost is the result of making guitars in lower wage Asian countries, but the quality of a lot of them is excellent compared to Gibson.

What Gibson allows to go out for sale as factory firsts would be B-stock for many other guitar makers.
The one area on LP's that drives me crazy is where the neck meets the body. At that point, look at the top surface where 2 pieces meet. The finish on like 6/7 out of 10 LP's look like there is sand under the finish, or just very poor workmanship. It's actually rare to find an LP where that area is perfect.
Compare that to ESP's LTD line Eclipse, which is Korean made. It's an LP body type/copy with some differences. Getting a cosmetically perfect LTD is more like 9 out of 10, very different compared to LP.

Gibson's ES line seems better made. I'm looking for an ES335 in satin cherry and of the 3 I've got to actually play all 3 were very close to perfect. They were excellent build with only one minor flaw on one of them.
Seems the builders making the satin cherry ES's are doing a fine job, maybe they can teach the LP line makers a few things.

I noticed this when I was searching for a Gibson back in 2005. It's because their buffing wheels can't reach those areas. If you buff them out yourself, it'll look just fine. I've actually used that excuse to haggle the price down on the past. Works like a charm.

If you think that's bad, check out Flying Vs, Explorers and some SGs from around 2006 to 2009. The backs of many if those guitars were the worst finish flaws I've seen from any Guitar Center. It looked as if the guitars were painted, and then before the paint had cured, they placed the guitar into their cases, and shipped them. The fuzz inside the cases actually left an imprint into the paint of the guitar anywhere the body/neck touched the fuzz (usually at the base of the neck and the end of the body).

Gibson's QC is abysmal. I've had to deal with Roger Ball at Gibson more than I would ever have wanted to, but when you find a GOOD Gibson, there isn't another guitar that can come close to their tone, playability or looks...it's just discouraging trying to find a good one.

 

[glip22]

I think many of the LP's guitar Center gets are not on par with some of the smaller shops like Eddies, who cannot even advertise them. I have owned 9 Suhs. Still have my Standard. I bought and sold a few Pauls along the way with the Suhrs. Nothing touches my handpicked 2013 LB R8 as far as tone.The guitar is flawless with perfect fretwork and neck. One could play 20 Les Pauls at GC and not experience a "good one". Suhr quality is flawless as well but much more consistent than Gibson but when you hit a good Historic....

I haven't seen that to be true.
Sweetwater is a highly respected dealer and carries a lot of quality guitars from a number of manufacturers.
I've seen LP's in GC stores that rival some LP's at Sweetwater, and the vice versa, meaning that it's not likely that Gibson screens which one's they send to who.
It's very much luck of the draw.

LP's are beautiful looking and shaped guitars, and the tone they can produce is really sweet.
But I can't get comfortable playing one even with the slim taper neck.
It's not the neck thickness, part of is the hard to get at frets/notes above the 14th fret.
On top of that there is something about it that just doesn't fit me.

What really puts me off on LP's is that Gibson's quality control is very piss poor.
And people still make excuses for them. I can appreciate that tone is more important than cosmetics, however,
there is NO good reason why any Gibson made guitar shouldn't be flawless.
Many guitar makers make and sell guitars that are much lower in cost and made in Asia.
The lower cost is the result of making guitars in lower wage Asian countries, but the quality of a lot of them is excellent compared to Gibson.

What Gibson allows to go out for sale as factory firsts would be B-stock for many other guitar makers.
The one area on LP's that drives me crazy is where the neck meets the body. At that point, look at the top surface where 2 pieces meet. The finish on like 6/7 out of 10 LP's look like there is sand under the finish, or just very poor workmanship.
It's actually rare to find an LP where that area is perfect.
Compare that to ESP's LTD line Eclipse, which is Korean made. It's an LP body type/copy with some differences.
Getting a cosmetically perfect LTD is more like 9 out of 10, very different compared to LP.

Gibson's ES line seems better made. I'm looking for an ES335 in satin cherry and of the 3 I've got to actually play all 3 were very close to perfect. They were excellent build with only one minor flaw on one of them.
Seems the builders making the satin cherry ES's are doing a fine job, maybe they can teach the LP line makers a few things.

Eddies goes to Nashville to order and then pick up their inventory in person. They handpick woods on many of them and order one offs. This was the reason for my comment. I doubt GC would have stock like this. The Custom below has a Handpicked Rosewood board, the other a hand picked top. Some of the other smaller shops order special runs as well. Wildwood, Dave's. In this respect I do feel they get better guitars than GC overall.

 

[blackba]

Gotta love this thread. It's a nice companion to the Gibson 2013 and 2014 models are amazing threads that I have seen. All production guitars have major variation, it's the nature of dealing with wood.

Comparing a a les Paul to a suhr is like comparing a corvette to a Bugatti, they are just different and really going after different markets.

 

[yngzaklynch]

Clearly Gibson has it's fans and rightly so. I guess my biggest issue is this... For the money i expect a guitar without blems and hey... call me crazy, but it should actually stay in tune. Yep the Les Paul sounds pretty nice. That in and of itself might actually get me to buy one. Then again the Suhrs seem to be more up my alley so we'll see.

I fully realize my opinions are just that. My opinions. They carry no weight. However this is a guitar forum so i thought i would share my thoughts. To each their own. Never would I look down on anyone for feeling differently about Suhrs, Gibson or any other brand. Rock on

 

[Anonymous]

buy an early/mid 90's gibby in good shape and be done with it!

 

[sjk]

buy an early/mid 90's gibby in good shape and be done with it!

Or buy an early eighties Tokai or Greco LP in good shape and find out just how good they are!