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Help me decide... 1987 Gibson Les Paul Custom vs. 90's Les Paul Custom 57' Reissue

anewstatic

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
2
Hello,

This is my first post here. To give you some background about my experience with Gibson, I owned a 2011 ES-335 for 9 years before I bought a 1981 Greco Les Paul style and started playing that more. I've gotten the itch to buy a Gibson Les Paul and have settled on an ebony Les Paul Custom.

Here's my predicament... I've always wanted a birth-year guitar, which in my case is 1987. Understandably, it's not easy to find a specific year, older Les Paul Custom so I've started looking at 57' reissues from the 90's as well. My question to you guys is which do you think would be a better choice between an 87' Les Paul Custom and a slightly newer 57' reissue? I know the 87' has Shaws in it and I owned an 88' Les Paul standard for a couple weeks (I bought to fix up and flip) and enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I'm wanting to stay within the $4k range.

Anyone have any advice for me?

Thanks.
 

frenchphil

Active member
Joined
May 30, 2010
Messages
1,223
Hello,

This is my first post here. To give you some background about my experience with Gibson, I owned a 2011 ES-335 for 9 years before I bought a 1981 Greco Les Paul style and started playing that more. I've gotten the itch to buy a Gibson Les Paul and have settled on an ebony Les Paul Custom.

Here's my predicament... I've always wanted a birth-year guitar, which in my case is 1987. Understandably, it's not easy to find a specific year, older Les Paul Custom so I've started looking at 57' reissues from the 90's as well. My question to you guys is which do you think would be a better choice between an 87' Les Paul Custom and a slightly newer 57' reissue? I know the 87' has Shaws in it and I owned an 88' Les Paul standard for a couple weeks (I bought to fix up and flip) and enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I'm wanting to stay within the $4k range.

Anyone have any advice for me?

Thanks.
i ve had a 87 and i have a 93 standard i didnt like the shaws either but didnt like the 498 490 combo in the 90 s so i swaped pickups .i would go for the 87 and change pickups, but keep the shaws to put them back on for resale
 

Injam

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
88
Go with the 87. They are and will always make reissues. The 87s will get less and less in number as the years go by.
 

brandtkronholm

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
2,737
My vote is for the newer reissue. I traded a 1986 Custom Les Paul towards a newer reissue (a 1995 R9 way back in 1996!) and have never had any regrets whatsoever. The newer reissues, especially the Historic series, are wonderful instruments.
 

Injam

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
88
My vote is for the newer reissue. I traded a 1986 Custom Les Paul towards a newer reissue (a 1995 R9 way back in 1996!) and have never had any regrets whatsoever. The newer reissues, especially the Historic series, are wonderful instruments.
True, but they don’t make anymore 87s
 

BDoubleG

New member
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
10
100% I'd go with the custom, partly for the reason above, and partly because I honestly just think customs are cooler than reissues. Also, RIs are an attempt to recreate what was en vogue back in the 50s/60s whereas s custom/standard is a great look into what was (in Gibson's view) the best of the best at the time. Much more interesting IMO.
 
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