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Les Paul standard 50’s vs Epi les paul

LMOD101

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Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Messages
4
Hello, first time post here. I have several guitars but my epi les paul has been my go to guitar since 07. I had a les paul studio years ago but the quality was so bad I sold it and told myself that I would never buy a Gibson again! Well I couldn’t help myself and recently purchased a 50’s standard. I know there are still quality issues out there with Gibson but this one is great! The only issue I had with mine was I didn’t care for the pickups. I had 2 sets of the same paf clone pickups so I decided to do a little test.

I setup the Gibson and the epi exactly the the same: pickups, tuners, strings, 50’s wirings etc: playing thru all my amps (Marshall, fender, dumble clone) didn’t matter the Gibson shined thru every time. With its warmth, sustain and note definition my epi can’t hold a candle to the Gibson. It’s actually a dream of a guitar to play. Also the 50’s neck profile is perfect for me. I’ve never been a believer in “because it cost more it’s better” but in this case it’s definitely ALOT better!!!!! Never new what I was missing!!!
 

mjross

Active member
Joined
May 11, 2019
Messages
197
Hello, first time post here. I have several guitars but my epi les paul has been my go to guitar since 07. I had a les paul studio years ago but the quality was so bad I sold it and told myself that I would never buy a Gibson again! Well I couldn’t help myself and recently purchased a 50’s standard. I know there are still quality issues out there with Gibson but this one is great! The only issue I had with mine was I didn’t care for the pickups. I had 2 sets of the same paf clone pickups so I decided to do a little test.

I setup the Gibson and the epi exactly the the same: pickups, tuners, strings, 50’s wirings etc: playing thru all my amps (Marshall, fender, dumble clone) didn’t matter the Gibson shined thru every time. With its warmth, sustain and note definition my epi can’t hold a candle to the Gibson. It’s actually a dream of a guitar to play. Also the 50’s neck profile is perfect for me. I’ve never been a believer in “because it cost more it’s better” but in this case it’s definitely ALOT better!!!!! Never new what I was missing!!!
Try a “57” Reissue!
 

cmsaw83

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Oct 20, 2020
Messages
15
I've got a 2013 Les Paul Standard. This is one of the years that things were 'suspect' at Gibson, but my Standard is AMAZING and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It came with Burstbucker Pros, which I swapped for a 57' Classic/57' Classic Plus set as I prefer Alnico 2s as opposed to Alnico Vs. That swap sounded great and I still have that set of pickups incase I ever want to use them again, but I decided to try out a set of Seymour Duncans just to see what all the hype is about, and I haven't looked back since! I got a set of 'Pearly Gates' which are PAF style pickups that are each wound just a hair hotter than the usual PAF style pickup like the 57' classic (7.3k-neck and 8.2k bridge) and also use the Alnico 2 magnets. I couldn't be happier with the way my LP sounds and plays. It is a BEAUTIFULLY crafted instrument, and I would put it up to any other guitar any day of the week. I'm certainly not saying it's the best guitar out there, but I got it second hand in like-new condition and the price I paid was a steal the likes of which I'll never see again on a Gibson in my lifetime, and I love it more than any other piece of gear I've ever owned or own still. It's my baby. I owned and played too many Epi's to list before I finally got my Gibson, and there is no denying, a Gibson puts an Epi to shame. It's not even close. Don't get me wrong, Epi's are good guitars and have been a big part of my musical life, and an Epi is about the best budget guitar you can buy. But when I finally got the opportunity to own a Gibson, I tried a BUNCH of them until I found the one, and it is far and away the best guitar I've ever owned. Plugging my LP up to one of my tube amps and cranking it up is a true experience, and so much more than just 'playing' guitar. I am grateful that it is something I am able to do on a daily basis, and it is what I look forward to the most when its time to leave work and head home in the evenings!

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Congrats on your Gibson and 1st post! Welcome to the forum LMOD101!

I'm assuming the 50's LP is the one in your profile/avatar pic? Looks pretty, is that tobacco burst? Have any more pics you'd like to share?
 
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LMOD101

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Sep 20, 2021
Messages
4
I've got a 2013 Les Paul Standard. This is one of the years that things were 'suspect' at Gibson, but my Standard is AMAZING and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It came with Burstbucker Pros, which I swapped for a 57' Classic/57' Classic Plus set as I prefer Alnico 2s as opposed to Alnico Vs. That swap sounded great and I still have that set of pickups incase I ever want to use them again, but I decided to try out a set of Seymour Duncans just to see what all the hype is about, and I haven't looked back since! I got a set of 'Pearly Gates' which are PAF style pickups that are each wound just a hair hotter than the usual PAF style pickup like the 57' classic (7.3k-neck and 8.2k bridge) and also use the Alnico 2 magnets. I couldn't be happier with the way my LP sounds and plays. It is a BEAUTIFULLY crafted instrument, and I would put it up to any other guitar any day of the week. I'm certainly not saying it's the best guitar out there, but I got it second hand in like-new condition and the price I paid was a steal the likes of which I'll never see again on a Gibson in my lifetime, and I love it more than any other piece of gear I've ever owned or own still. It's my baby. I owned and played too many Epi's to list before I finally got my Gibson, and there is no denying, a Gibson puts an Epi to shame. It's not even close. Don't get me wrong, Epi's are good guitars and have been a big part of my musical life, and an Epi is about the best budget guitar you can buy. But when I finally got the opportunity to own a Gibson, I tried a BUNCH of them until I found the one, and it is far and away the best guitar I've ever owned. Plugging my LP up to one of my tube amps and cranking it up is a true experience, and so much more than just 'playing' guitar. I am grateful that it is something I am able to do on a daily basis, and it is what I look forward to the most when its time to leave work and head home in the evenings!

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Congrats on your Gibson and 1st post! Welcome to the forum LMOD101!

I'm assuming the 50's LP is the one in your profile/avatar pic? Looks pretty, is that tobacco burst? Have any more pics you'd like to share?
Thanks. Actually that profile pic is from a magazine. I haven’t even had a chance to take pics of mine but as soon as I do I will post.
 

GimmeGibson

Active member
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May 27, 2021
Messages
111
Your story sounds a lot like mine with both the Epi and my new Gibson Standard 50, Ice Tea-AAA top. The Epiphone is a 2019 Tribute Plus, and I must say it’s pretty much all Gibson as far as the pick up, pots, wiring, etc go. It’s actually a very very nice guitar for 1 third the cost of my Gibson. However……..I just love the Gibson. The feel is just, I don’t know, better? Is it a bit of cork sniffing? Perhaps. But Gibson just does it for me like nothing else can.
 

cmsaw83

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Oct 20, 2020
Messages
15
100% agree with you GimmeGibson.... Although, I don't believe its in our heads by any means. I believe a Gibson truly IS a cut above the rest. They make amazing guitars, and they feel different and better than an Epiphone for a reason, because they are. I think Epiphones are better than alot of other much much more expensive guitars out there, and a Gibson is definitely better than an Epi. And the fact that you don't just see it, but you FEEL it when you put one in your hands and play, that says something about an instrument. Gibson was bought and run by some folk who let things slide and get too lax as far as QC goes for quite a while, but that's not to say that even then magnificent instruments weren't still being made and coming out of Gibson USA and the Custom Shop. The thing about Gibson during that time was that you couldn't just walk in and pick one up at a guitar store expecting it to be great. You had to take your time and shop around. If you were buying online, you might have wanted to be prepared to send a guitar or two back before you finally got "the one". It was just that one had to be mindful of the fact that they were spending X amount of dollars on what is supposed to be a very high caliber, high quality instrument, and take the time to not only look them over, but to PLAY the damn thing. Personally, I don't see who would buy one even now that they are getting things turned around, and not do the very same thing. These are guitars made by human beings. Even when parts of the process are completed using machinery, there is a human being there "manning" that machinery, because the tool doesn't make the guitar, the individual wielding the tool does. The jobs those folks running those tools have is one that requires skill that is developed over time. With time comes experience, and experience is the only way you learn to do hands on stuff like that. I've watched the process many times. You can go on YouTube and tour the Gibson facility and they walk you through the process and its an amazing one. Guitars CAN be made 100% or close to it, by machines alone, there are plenty of places where the machines are automated, like the Cort factory, and others. But Gibson has never taken it that far. Even Epi's, though they look like a Gibson in many ways, are not made to the exacting standards of a Gibson USA guitar. They may be overpriced, sure, but there IS a reason still for more of that price difference than the many folks who hate on Gibson would have you believe. It's to do with alot of things, and the fact that more human beings are involved and actually putting their hands on these guitars is one of them, then there are the materials that go into them as well. There is only ONE other company out there that I know of that builds guitars using materials that are even close to the beautiful looking and sounding woods Gibson uses, and that is Paul Reed Smith. And if you want to talk about overpriced guitars, hey, lets not neglect throwing ol' Paul in the conversation, because I don't know of a PRS that is not way overpriced as well. And those who say "well PRS is better than Gibson", they can just KEEP them, AND all that talk. Why do you think PRS chose to build his guitars using the woods he does? Where do you think he got the super original idea of using beautiful, carved, flame, quilt, burl, maple tops from in the 1st place? Oh, and then there is the other super original part of his guitars where they use mahogany underneath those maple tops. Where did those staple elements of his beloved core line originate..... Oh, that's right, they aren't super original at all, at least not as far a PRS can claim, because it's GIBSON who created that perfect recipe, many many moons ago in the 50's. It was SUCH a great idea, and worked so well, that Gibson has not strayed from it in all these years, and it's one of the things that makes them great. Even Paul knew that and readily admits it. When he was cooking up the "idea" for his Core model 22 and 24 guitars, it was Gibson where the most important parts of the recipe came from. And I believe the 22s are not being made any longer, or at least not nearly as many, but when you look at "Paul's Guitar" and it's specs, it's a 22 fret guitar. The 509, the Studio, the Paul's guitars, ALL the truly sweet super customs that come out of PRS are ALL of them 22 fret guitars. Why do you think that is? Beacuse Gibson got it right the 1st time, thats why. On a 24 fret model guitar, the bridge ends up closer to the neck, which puts the neck pickup in a position where there is more string tension and less movement of the strings allowed due to the fact the bridge is closer in relation to it, and this causes the neck pickups in such models to be noticeably less warm and full sounding, and less distinguishable from the bridge pickups they are supposed to compliment and accompany on the guitar. Do you think Gibson never tried 24 frets? Sure they have (and I'm sure you may even be able to find a handful, but they were never production models, because it was a sacrifice they were not willing to make while still putting Les Paul on them.

Gibson guitars are for the most part, the same ingredients as they have always been. There have been changes and variations, sure, but in the end, they have realized their mistakes and gone back to the blueprint of what we Gibson folk know and love. I don't need a bunch of new fangled hooplah on my guitar. Give me a Gibson with 50's wiring and a good set of pickups, and I'm good to go. My number one guitar is a Gibson Les Paul from 2013, which was during the "questionable" years. But my guitar looks amazing, it feels amazing, it sounds amazing, it feels amazing, it even SMELLS amazing, and I've never had anyone, even guys who don't like Gibson, pick up my guitar and speak anything but positive words about it. Hell, I love the new stuff they are putting out now, but I would not trade mine for one of them any day. That guitar is my "The One". They say there is one for everybody who wants one,, you just have to take the time to find it, but its not rocket science, when you pick it up and play it, you'll know.... you just KNOW, And that is a thing that happens ONLY when a person who loves guitar, connects with an instrument because its amazing, plus some, its just got that "somethiing", but that "something" is a thing you only get and feel when you are talking about a genuinely beautiful, well crafted instrument. Its almost like magic that connects with a part of your soul.
 

jrgtr42

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Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
Can't disagree. I have a couple |Epis, a '99 Dot (ES335) and a new Inspired by Junior. Epi has made huge steps in the 20 years between; the 335 is good, though I had to do some upgrades. The Junior is a phenomenal guitar, all I had to do was shim the pickup a bit. It plays great, sounds great, and the build / fit and finish is great.
I also have several Gibsons, including a 1980 SG, a '92 bass, an '02 ES135 and an '02 Les Paul Standard. The thing is, there just SOMETHING about the Gibson that the Epi just don't get. I can't put my finger on it, though. I will say, my Heritage H150 is everything the Les Paul is and more. Again I can't put my finger on it, but it just feels more solid.
 

LMOD101

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Sep 20, 2021
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Your story sounds a lot like mine with both the Epi and my new Gibson Standard 50, Ice Tea-AAA top. The Epiphone is a 2019 Tribute Plus, and I must say it’s pretty much all Gibson as far as the pick up, pots, wiring, etc go. It’s actually a very very nice guitar for 1 third the cost of my Gibson. However……..I just love the Gibson. The feel is just, I don’t know, better? Is it a bit of cork sniffing? Perhaps. But Gibson just does it for me like nothing else can.
I absolutely would not call it cork sniffing. I always thought my epi Les Paul sounded great until I plugged in my 50’s standard. Not only the tone but the feel of finger board, the weight and the sustain. I build amps part time and I am always tweaking the components trying to get them to sound just right but now looking back I have to wonder if you just need a good sounding guitar? I am definitely going to purchase another just not sure if I want to stay with the standard family or go custom shop this time around.
 

Vics53

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Jan 21, 2021
Messages
149
I know we're talking about LP's here, but I've been wanting to try a Gibson '61 SG Reissue for a long time and finally had the chance yesterday. I have a 2019 Epiphone SG Pro and my only big complaint with that guitar is the neck pickup. The neck is very comfortable and it's fun to play. By far my favorite.

From moment one, if I had to pick one word to describe how the neck on the Gibson felt compared to my Epiphone it would be "solid." There was just something about it that made me say "oh yeah. Now we're talking!" If forced to further elaborate on it I can't find the words. My Epi plays great and it doesn't feel cheap by any means. Very sturdy guitar.

But wow.......again, I can't find the words. If all goes right I just might be getting myself a '61 Reissue SG.
 

cmsaw83

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I absolutely would not call it cork sniffing. I always thought my epi Les Paul sounded great until I plugged in my 50’s standard. Not only the tone but the feel of finger board, the weight and the sustain. I build amps part time and I am always tweaking the components trying to get them to sound just right but now looking back I have to wonder if you just need a good sounding guitar? I am definitely going to purchase another just not sure if I want to stay with the standard family or go custom shop this time around.
That's right, the weight of the guitar is a huge thing, and this is another thing people don't always realize, a hunk of mahogany does not a genuine FINE INSTRUMENT QUALITY hunk of mahogany make. There is absolutely a difference! But, for the sake of advertising, as long as it's mahogany period, they can use it, advertise it, and the vast majority of the masses will not understand there is a difference, and a rather large one at that. This is one of, if not the single most significant reason why when we pick up a Gibson we feel that subtle, but at the same time all too obvious "difference" The new brass at Gibson did several things out of the gate that I think are as detrimental to the renewed success of the company now as they were back when Gibson originally came out and made a name for itself in the 50's. The change that was the best news to me, was when they announced the gravitating toward the more modern tech and specs would come to a halt immediately, and that moving forward, the USA Standard would go back to being exactly that, the flagship Standard of the Gibson USA line. This meant PCBs are now a thing of the past, as well as funky contemporary neck carves and other oddities such as clear control knobs and push/pull pots (which were part of the PCB spec'd guitars, and no more sub-par questionable nuts. And one of the best of all, was the fact that QC was now going to be re-vamped to ensure that instruments not up to par will not make it out of the door. (at least not on a mass amount scale that buyers had become so unfortunately accustomed to in the modern era of Gibson) A few are going to slip through the cracks with some very minor issues, that is understandable, but gone are the days when you had to literally pick up 2 or 3 before finding one worthy of the Gibson moniker upon its headstock. Now, the Standard is once again the flagship worthy of it's namesake right off the shelf. It's not up to us as customers to have to do as I did and yank a PCB and spend more money to find a purchase and then install original 50's or 60's wiring with only the best components (MojoTone sells a kit that can be dropped in which brings the electronics right back to original 50's-60's spec using the best components money can buy, and that is what I put in both of my LP's and it made a HUGE difference in the tone) into the guitar in order to be able to rightfully call it a true Les Paul Standard. Those PCBs are a neat concept, but they rob tone. They can still be had, but they are no longer "The Standard", they are reserved for other models such as the "Modern". Another thing that is gone from Standard spec is Modern Weight relief, which also effects tone. Traditional weight relief is very minor and does nothing to alter the tone of the instrument, but the Modern weight relief went overboard and left large voids within the mahogany body of the Les Paul in areas that could only have adverse effects on the tonal foundation of the guitars. Instead of a few very minor routes at a safe remove from vital components, the Modern weight relief carved whole hollow sections out of the mahogany slab, essentially rendering it more a frame than anything close to an actual guitar body. So drastic was the change in weight that models made using the technique would suffer from neck dive even. NECK DIVE on a Gibson LES PAUL... Could you even imagine how queer that must feel? Again, the mahogany body is the main difference in the feel we all notice. Even with traditional weight relief, which my Les Paul Standard has, my Gibson is still heftier than any Epiphone or other type of mahogany bodied guitar out there (for the most part, I realize there are SOME other good ones like Heritage), and this is because of the TYPE of mahogany used to craft these guitars. It's not nearly the same as the mahogany used to build your coffee table, or maybe a baseball bat. The mahogany Gibson purchases to build their guitars is hand selected to be used specifically for top tier instruments and produce a resonance and warmth that is unsurpassed by other much more average woods. Even the maple caps Gibson uses are gorgeous and are a half inch thick, more before the shaping and carving happens, but in the end, at the center of the guitars where they are thickest, the maple caps are a half inch thick. This too makes a difference in the tone and feel of the guitars. Epihone, while again a great lower tier instrument, is still lower tier nonetheless, and in the cap department as well, as they do not use caps, but veneers which are no thicker than a credit card, if that. These are all things that come into play and make a huge difference overall in the "feel" that we experience when we pick up our Gibsons. Are they over priced, maybe. But certainly not nearly as much as some attempt to argue when you truly understand everything that goes into crafting one of these beautiful guitars. And even so, the very minimal amount of coin that may be able to be fairly associated with over pricing in the end, is an amount that I am happy to shell out for the opportunity to own something that gives me the feeling my Gibsons do when I hold them in my hands, and better yet, when I plug them in and hear that awesome sound.
 

cmsaw83

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Oct 20, 2020
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I know we're talking about LP's here, but I've been wanting to try a Gibson '61 SG Reissue for a long time and finally had the chance yesterday. I have a 2019 Epiphone SG Pro and my only big complaint with that guitar is the neck pickup. The neck is very comfortable and it's fun to play. By far my favorite.

From moment one, if I had to pick one word to describe how the neck on the Gibson felt compared to my Epiphone it would be "solid." There was just something about it that made me say "oh yeah. Now we're talking!" If forced to further elaborate on it I can't find the words. My Epi plays great and it doesn't feel cheap by any means. Very sturdy guitar.

But wow.......again, I can't find the words. If all goes right I just might be getting myself a '61 Reissue SG.
SG's are killer too, and another example of how Epiphone makes a great guitar, but Gibson is just on an unprecedented higher level.

I know that at least some of the SGs (perhaps all, I'm not 100% sure, but I know some at least) are 24 fret guitars, and that being said, alot of times individuals looking for that same Les Paul sound but wanting the SG weight reduction and overall feel can end up having a difficult time meshing with the SG due to that neck pickup. There are pickup options that can help make it less noticeable, but on an SG, the bridge and neck pickups are not spaced as far apart as they are on a Les Paul. This is because the longer neck/fretboard ends up causing the neck pickup to be closer to the bridge pickup and the bridge itself. While this may SEEM a minor difference visually, the difference you hear when playing through the neck pickup is very different due to the fact that its position closer to the bridge means the strings above the pickup are not able to vibrate with as wide a pattern, and the result is an inherently brighter tone and less warmth than is characteristic of the well known Les Paul neck. On the other hand, there are those out there who for whatever reason, consider the neck pickup of a Les Paul to be overly warm, even muddy. It occurred to me long ago that it is very likely such individuals could very likely be players who began early on with a 24 fret guitar and/or higher output pickups. If this is what you associate your good tone with, it is entirely possible that when you finally play a Les Paul with some PAF or vintage-esque type pickups, the neck pickup would indeed sound all but completely different than anything you'd heard up until that point, and it may be that the sound is something that you don't like. My very 1st guitar was an Ibanez RG series, and it did take me a while as a younger player to move past using the bridge pickup for everything I played. It may seem hard too underswtand for someone who has never played with a poor amp or guitar or maybe even both, but a neck pickup reacts completely diffrently with a good tube amp than it does with a cheap solid state amp. It was the first time I plugged into a Marshall tube amp that the neck pickup came to life for me, and I fell in love with the sound immediately. To this day, one of my favorite tones is my Gibson Les Paul with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups (specifically the neck pickup) through my 100 watt Marshall DSL amp and a 2x12 or 4x12 cab with Celestion V-30's and Creambacks! It sounds amazing and never gets old.
 

jrgtr42

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SG's are killer too, and another example of how Epiphone makes a great guitar, but Gibson is just on an unprecedented higher level.

I know that at least some of the SGs (perhaps all, I'm not 100% sure, but I know some at least) are 24 fret guitars,
Very few SGs are 24 frets. Yes there are a couple models (the SG Modern is 24), but most of them are the same 22 frets as Les Pauls
OTher than that, yes, the positioning of the pickups does make a difference, if a pickup is under that harmonic node that would be that 24th fret,
 

GimmeGibson

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And, um…just a side note from me. I just traded my Epiphone LP in on a 2020 Gibson Classic in Translucent Cherry. Again, nothing against the Epi, it was very nice. Just not a Gibson.
 

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cmsaw83

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Awesome!!! Congrats on your new Gibson man!! If its your first one, it's a truly amazing thing! That is one of the BEST feelings in life EVER right there, period! It's so awesome when you take that Epiphone or other guitar(s) up to the guitar shop with you, no matter how sentimental you may have thought it was up to that point, and you know you are going to trade it in, and then you find what you are looking for and you DO trade it in! It is a moment that folks who don't play guitar won't understand, and others who do, but haven't reached that point yet, they will tell you you are crazy for spending the amount of money you did on the new guitar you brought home and they will dismiss it as no big thing or even something they themselves would never do because they love their Epi's and don't see the need to ever blow money on a Gibson because their Epi is "just as good, if not better" (that's how you know they don't even believe themselves, when they throw that part in there, about how their Epi is "better" than a Gibson), but really all that is just terrible attempt at trying to conceal their envy about the fact that you got there before they did. I say this because I have no problem being 100% honest and telling the truth about the fact that I was that guy myself at one time, and it used too suck seeing people walk around with their Gibsons and talk in the forums about their Les Pauls and SGs and 335s, knowing how terribly badly I wanted one of my own, but just couldn't afford it, and for a long time, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to. And I felt like I had to justify my Epi, and I'd talk about how little difference there was between the two, and really all I was doing was seeking validation for my ridiculous opinions that I didn't even really believe myself! And suddenly, one day, you find yourself with some hard earned money in your bank account, or your pocket , and a rather sizeable amount at that. And you've got your bills paid and you realize that you've actually managed to reach a situation where you can spend some money and still not be jumping out of the window if you do.... And it hits you immediately, without even thinking twice, and you know that you are going to take the opportunity to finally do what you've wanted to do for such a long time... YOU, are getting ready to take a trip up to the guitar shop with your Epiphone in hand, and you are going to trade it in, and use the money you have along with that to pick out and purchase a Gibson Les Paul. And you do, and like I said before, its not just cool, its more than that, at least it was for me. For me, it was PROFOUND, and I'll never forget the way I was literally BEAMING like my kids on Christmas! As a matter of fact, my first one was a Traditional that just so happens to look almost exactly like your classic, except I had nickel covered 57' Classic/ 57' Classic + set instead of the open coil zebra type pickups like yours has. But other than that, they are almost identical. Mine is wine red with the pickguard and all that, almost identical to yours, although if you felt my Traditional man, you'd be grateful yours is a Classic, because the Traditional is HEAVYYY AF man! It feels like a whole Mahogany tree hanging from your shoulders and it feels worlds different than my Standard, but I still love it, and the day I brought it home, you couldn't have convinced me that it wasn't the best damn guitar on the face of the planet. I kept opening the case to check and make sure it was real, and I'd walk around with it hanging from my shoulders even if I had no intention to play it! I even called Gibson and gave them the serial number (because mine looked brand new but was preowned and several years old by then) and let them register it to me and verify it was a genuine USA Gibson Les Paul!

For me, as a guitarist, there was no bigger achievement than to get my Les Paul. Getting my first Marshall half stack to accompany my Les Pauls is close, but still not equivalent to the feeling of bringing that 1st Les Paul home with me. As a matter of fact, the first Marshall half stack thing is actually about to finally be realized sometime between right now and Wednesday, because I bought a Marshall DSL100HR a little over a week ago, and I ordered my 1st Marshall 1960A 4x12 cab on Saturday, so it will be arriving some time between now and Wednesday, at which point I will have reached the top of the mountain as far as the gear thing goes. I've had a Mesa 412,, and plenty of other amps before now, but the Les Paul is home for me, and there's nothing I've ever associated with true "cool" so much as a Les Paul paired up with a Marshall 100 watt head sitting on top of a 1960A cab! It just doesn't get better than that, and there just are no two other things that were "made to be togther" so much as a Marshall stack and a Gibson Les Paul Standard (the next step though, will be whenever I am able to find and bring home my 1st Les Paul Custom, which is coming some time in the next year or two, I just have to be patient, and I want to be sure I don't settle on any old Custom, but that I find the one that speaks to me when I pick it up and play it and just feels like it belongs with me and creates that tone I know so well) So needless to say, I am super stoked for this cabinet to show up at my front door! I can't wait to see what the brand new head and matching cab look like with my Les Paul Standard propped up against the front of them!

I am very happy for you though GimmeGibson!! Its a cool experience whenever one has the opportunity to own one's very own Gibson USA or Gibson Custom guitar! And no matter how many more times it may happen, it will never be any less cool when it does! Maybe not as profound and surreal like that 1st one, but still a magnificent occasion nonetheless! Welcome to a forum full of people who share one thing in common for certain, an affection for the single most awesome inanimate object on the face of the earth! The Gibson Les Paul!

Below I'm including a few pics of my old Cadillac of a Les Paul, the ever heavy Gibson Les Paul Traditional! It's heavy, but it sounds beautiful and all that extra original 50's spec mahogany is part of the reason why!




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El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
100% agree with you GimmeGibson.... Although, I don't believe its in our heads by any means. I believe a Gibson truly IS a cut above the rest. They make amazing guitars, and they feel different and better than an Epiphone for a reason, because they are. I think Epiphones are better than alot of other much much more expensive guitars out there, and a Gibson is definitely better than an Epi. And the fact that you don't just see it, but you FEEL it when you put one in your hands and play, that says something about an instrument. Gibson was bought and run by some folk who let things slide and get too lax as far as QC goes for quite a while, but that's not to say that even then magnificent instruments weren't still being made and coming out of Gibson USA and the Custom Shop. The thing about Gibson during that time was that you couldn't just walk in and pick one up at a guitar store expecting it to be great. You had to take your time and shop around. If you were buying online, you might have wanted to be prepared to send a guitar or two back before you finally got "the one". It was just that one had to be mindful of the fact that they were spending X amount of dollars on what is supposed to be a very high caliber, high quality instrument, and take the time to not only look them over, but to PLAY the damn thing. Personally, I don't see who would buy one even now that they are getting things turned around, and not do the very same thing. These are guitars made by human beings. Even when parts of the process are completed using machinery, there is a human being there "manning" that machinery, because the tool doesn't make the guitar, the individual wielding the tool does. The jobs those folks running those tools have is one that requires skill that is developed over time. With time comes experience, and experience is the only way you learn to do hands on stuff like that. I've watched the process many times. You can go on YouTube and tour the Gibson facility and they walk you through the process and its an amazing one. Guitars CAN be made 100% or close to it, by machines alone, there are plenty of places where the machines are automated, like the Cort factory, and others. But Gibson has never taken it that far. Even Epi's, though they look like a Gibson in many ways, are not made to the exacting standards of a Gibson USA guitar. They may be overpriced, sure, but there IS a reason still for more of that price difference than the many folks who hate on Gibson would have you believe. It's to do with alot of things, and the fact that more human beings are involved and actually putting their hands on these guitars is one of them, then there are the materials that go into them as well. There is only ONE other company out there that I know of that builds guitars using materials that are even close to the beautiful looking and sounding woods Gibson uses, and that is Paul Reed Smith. And if you want to talk about overpriced guitars, hey, lets not neglect throwing ol' Paul in the conversation, because I don't know of a PRS that is not way overpriced as well. And those who say "well PRS is better than Gibson", they can just KEEP them, AND all that talk. Why do you think PRS chose to build his guitars using the woods he does? Where do you think he got the super original idea of using beautiful, carved, flame, quilt, burl, maple tops from in the 1st place? Oh, and then there is the other super original part of his guitars where they use mahogany underneath those maple tops. Where did those staple elements of his beloved core line originate..... Oh, that's right, they aren't super original at all, at least not as far a PRS can claim, because it's GIBSON who created that perfect recipe, many many moons ago in the 50's. It was SUCH a great idea, and worked so well, that Gibson has not strayed from it in all these years, and it's one of the things that makes them great. Even Paul knew that and readily admits it. When he was cooking up the "idea" for his Core model 22 and 24 guitars, it was Gibson where the most important parts of the recipe came from. And I believe the 22s are not being made any longer, or at least not nearly as many, but when you look at "Paul's Guitar" and it's specs, it's a 22 fret guitar. The 509, the Studio, the Paul's guitars, ALL the truly sweet super customs that come out of PRS are ALL of them 22 fret guitars. Why do you think that is? Beacuse Gibson got it right the 1st time, thats why. On a 24 fret model guitar, the bridge ends up closer to the neck, which puts the neck pickup in a position where there is more string tension and less movement of the strings allowed due to the fact the bridge is closer in relation to it, and this causes the neck pickups in such models to be noticeably less warm and full sounding, and less distinguishable from the bridge pickups they are supposed to compliment and accompany on the guitar. Do you think Gibson never tried 24 frets? Sure they have (and I'm sure you may even be able to find a handful, but they were never production models, because it was a sacrifice they were not willing to make while still putting Les Paul on them.

Gibson guitars are for the most part, the same ingredients as they have always been. There have been changes and variations, sure, but in the end, they have realized their mistakes and gone back to the blueprint of what we Gibson folk know and love. I don't need a bunch of new fangled hooplah on my guitar. Give me a Gibson with 50's wiring and a good set of pickups, and I'm good to go. My number one guitar is a Gibson Les Paul from 2013, which was during the "questionable" years. But my guitar looks amazing, it feels amazing, it sounds amazing, it feels amazing, it even SMELLS amazing, and I've never had anyone, even guys who don't like Gibson, pick up my guitar and speak anything but positive words about it. Hell, I love the new stuff they are putting out now, but I would not trade mine for one of them any day. That guitar is my "The One". They say there is one for everybody who wants one,, you just have to take the time to find it, but its not rocket science, when you pick it up and play it, you'll know.... you just KNOW, And that is a thing that happens ONLY when a person who loves guitar, connects with an instrument because its amazing, plus some, its just got that "somethiing", but that "something" is a thing you only get and feel when you are talking about a genuinely beautiful, well crafted instrument. Its almost like magic that connects with a part of your soul.
As an aside , I am the proud owner of 10 Gibson Les Paul's . 9 out of 10 were ordered and came to me without me playing them before buying and you know what ? I got everything I expected -the signature sound of a twin humbucker solidbody Gibson Les Paul !
 

LyleGorch

Active member
Joined
Aug 17, 2018
Messages
180
I bought a 2021 50’s standard in tobacco to go along with my L5C and 59 VOS ES 175s also in tobacco, just for a family photo. I had the Throbak DS-55’s, their 50’s harness, ABM brass bridge and aluminum tailpiece installed. It shot that guitar to the moon.
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
I bought a 2021 50’s standard in tobacco to go along with my L5C and 59 VOS ES 175s also in tobacco, just for a family photo. I had the Throbak DS-55’s, their 50’s harness, ABM brass bridge and aluminum tailpiece installed. It shot that guitar to the moon.
You just made me smile reading your post as I just love everything ThroBak , who I think is the best !
 
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