Les Paul? Really?

[bigbubba]

So I went guitar shoppin' to the guitar center on saturday.

I have a Fender Squire. So even tho some of the Strats and Teles look really nice, I'd like to get a Gibson or something else.

Now I see that Gibson owns Epiphone and there's been a bunch of Les Paul models in the Epiphone line too.

My question is:
i - What is so special about Les Paul other than how Les Paul first had the idea on how this would get better sustain and have a better sound? From what I understand Gibson later design a gutiar on their own and approached Les Paul for marketing. Didn't necessarily use his design.
ii - Does it makes a different whether a Les Paul is a Gibson or an Epiphone. Would you consider an Epiphone Les Paul a fake?

Ok that's a multipart question.

Another question is:
Would you guys rather get an SG (Gibson), which I understand is just a Les Paul with added designs.

I don't wish to start a which guitar is better argument. I'm just seeking some opinions on:
i - What the Les Paul's value really is
ii - Would you care if your Les Paul was a Gibson or an Epiphone?
iii - Would you rather get an SG?

 

[true-eurt]

Hi...have you played all of the above guitars yet? If not, try each out, and several of each, as all guitars have thier own unique sound. You may find an SG (I love these) at one shop that you dig on and a Les Paul not so diggin'. Turn around and grab another SG and Paul and vice versa. Some Epi's are good too, no matter what die hard Gibson fan's say. All a matter of personal taste and the guitar.

okay flame away!!

 

[Outlaws]

LesPaul designed a solid body with humbuckers that sustained greatly. Then I guess Gibson made their design and got LesPauls name on it. Epiphone was at one time (60's and earlier) a secperate company and a good one at that. Now they are the 'Squire' of Gibson.

Epi LPs don't have the same quality of woods and materials that the Gibson will have. The electronics also won't be as nice.

The SG is very simular but is a darker tone due to the lack of the maple top. See, there is a huge chunk of Mohogany on both, but the LesPaul has a Maple top. Plus if you ever played an SG, you would know it has a very different feel on the neck as its much easier to access the top frets, but may or maynot feel 'odd' due to the the way its deisgned.

Its worth the money to me, but other say no. Some hate Gibsons quality control, others will say those are just nay-sayers.

 

[hiwatt357]

I would actually suggest taking a peek at The Les Paul Forum.

The only thing I'd suggest is using the search forum first to avoid the typical newbie flaming, but there is a lot of useful info on there.

 

[bigbubba]

Hi...have you played all of the above guitars yet? If not, try each out, and several of each, as all guitars have thier own unique sound. You may find an SG (I love these) at one shop that you dig on and a Les Paul not so diggin'. Turn around and grab another SG and Paul and vice versa. Some Epi's are good too, no matter what die hard Gibson fan's say. All a matter of personal taste and the guitar.

okay flame away!!

true-eurt, thanks for responding. I did what you suggested. I've tried the Epiphones and the Gibsons at the local guitar center.

I found that Gibsons look great and make a great rock guitar if you play traditional rock 'n roll like U2 and so on.

The Epiphones, the neck always feels much smoother regardless of type, model, store, and weather.

The SG, just feels like it was made for squealing and bending strings. The string bending felt the smoothest on the SG. Also the I think the SG has the smoothest rate of money flowing out of your wallet.

 

[bigbubba]

Outlaws, thanks for taking the time.

Epiphone was at one time (60's and earlier) a secperate company and a good one at that. Now they are the 'Squire' of Gibson.

Ah, what a way to insult Epiphone even without trying, eh? Kidding.

The SG is very simular but is a darker tone due to the lack of the maple top. See, there is a huge chunk of Mohogany on both, but the LesPaul has a Maple top. Plus if you ever played an SG, you would know it has a very different feel on the neck as its much easier to access the top frets, but may or maynot feel 'odd' due to the the way its deisgned.

Its worth the money to me, but other say no. Some hate Gibsons quality control, others will say those are just nay-sayers.

That's what I liked about the SG brand. What I don't like about the SG brand is that it's other name is "Angus Young". I'm not saying anything against Angus Young or his musical stylings. I just don't care for the person, without making it a "statement" of some kind. Although, that's just unrelated to how cool the the guitar feels and how nice the music will be.

But the cheapest one I was looking at that really wanted to be bought was almost 700 bucks. My budget was $200-$250. Now I'll probably adjust it. Even the Gibson Les Paul don't wanna go below 500-600 range. That's quite a bit to be paying for a log of wood and 6 strings, no?

 

[bigbubba]

I would actually suggest taking a peek at The Les Paul Forum.

The only thing I'd suggest is using the search forum first to avoid the typical newbie flaming, but there is a lot of useful info on there.

Thanks. I'll probably go over and start one of those typical, "In my opinion Epiphone Les Pauls just rock better than anything else." posts.

 

[punkin]

Hi...have you played all of the above guitars yet? If not, try each out, and several of each, as all guitars have thier own unique sound. You may find an SG (I love these) at one shop that you dig on and a Les Paul not so diggin'. Turn around and grab another SG and Paul and vice versa. Some Epi's are good too, no matter what die hard Gibson fan's say. All a matter of personal taste and the guitar.

okay flame away!!

Nope...not gonna do it. You're right (is it getting hot in here?). There are some really nice Epi's out there. You just need to touch a bunch more before you find the one that made it through the assembly line without any short cuts taken.

LP's are heavy...solid with set necks = sustain. The pups have a bunch to do with it too. The cheap spin offs generally use crappy pups. The better stuff (Gibsons and some Epi's) use the real deal.

To each their own. I actually bought an SG for myself as an "I love me" Christmas present. I took it back two days later. I thought the guitar was too light and the neck just seemed to be in a weird position. I probably has to do with the way the neck strap is mounted. But hey...true-uert said it best...have you played them all yet?

You'll never be able to appreciate the differences (some subtle some not so) until you plug in and play.

 

[Outlaws]

But the cheapest one I was looking at that really wanted to be bought was almost 700 bucks. My budget was $200-$250. Now I'll probably adjust it. Even the Gibson Les Paul don't wanna go below 500-600 range. That's quite a bit to be paying for a log of wood and 6 strings, no?

Well you can go to Home Depot and get a log of wood and 6 strings for much less that $200. Its how well its put together.

Quality replacement pickups will cost $200 by themselves. Some Gibsons come equiped with 'BurstBuckers. Those are amazing pickups IMO and I plan to put them in my LP at some point.

I personally wouldn't by a $500 Gibson, but thats just me. IMO Gibson starts arounds $1200 or so. The Studio line IMO is it. Thats the stripped down version of the LesPaul. The SG I don't know since I haven't played any other than the Standard...which was about $1500 last time I checked (years ago).

 

[bigbubba]

punkin, good for you for buying the SG.

Outlaws, the log of wood and 6 strings bit was just a joke.

But seriously, us less financially able are basically limited to the "Fender Squire Bullets" of all guitars.

Gibson, I've played some at the store for around 600-700 and they sound pretty good to me. The best guitar I've played that seriously made me consider shelling out the dough right there right then was the $2,000 PRS. No guitar has had the same feel as that one particular item. Well more like wishing to spend the money. I don't have 2000 to spend on a guitar.

 

[Anfontan]

I have owned 2 Gibson SG's over the years but they just didn't do it for me. I agree-the neck joint has a feel I don't feel comfortable with, kind of flimsy & weak. I got rid of both of them and one of my workhorse guitars for the last 25 years is a Gibson "the Paul" a walnut guitar that is more or less a copy of a Les Paul Special with 2 PAF humbuckers. The pickups are not high output but they are very versatile for many styles of music, it stays in tune when I stretch the hell out of the strings, and it was very affordable.

 

[punkin]

For the $500-600 range, I would seriously have a long hard look at a used Peavey Wolfgang. You can pick them up still very clean. These are great guitars. It's all about personal preferences but I've got a fairly respectable collection. Until about 6 months ago, I was hooked between my Gibson LP and my Ernie Ball Music Man Petrucci. The Peavey Wolfgang gets all the play time these days. I've since picked up three total. Two standards and one archtop. I prefer the standards.

Don't buy until you've found your sweetheart...otherwise you'll have a rediculous collection one day.

 

[bigbubba]

Anfontan - Thanks for your input. I'm pretty sure I want a Gibson, just not sure which one and also depends on the budget.

For the $500-600 range, I would seriously have a long hard look at a used Peavey Wolfgang. You can pick them up still very clean. These are great guitars. It's all about personal preferences but I've got a fairly respectable collection. Until about 6 months ago, I was hooked between my Gibson LP and my Ernie Ball Music Man Petrucci. The Peavey Wolfgang gets all the play time these days. I've since picked up three total. Two standards and one archtop. I prefer the standards.

A Peavey? I thought they only made speakers! OK just kidding. I am kind of set on a Gibson. But next time I pop into the guitar center I might try the Peavey line of guitars. The only thing is you can sometimes find the place somewhat empty and just plug in and play away. But mostly there's a ton of little kids trying their latest shredder techniques out loud for everyone and you can't hear yourself think, let alone judge the sound quality of a guitar.

Don't buy until you've found your sweetheart...otherwise you'll have a rediculous collection one day.

Ah, advice that makes sense. I used to have a brandless acoustic (my first guitar), then a washburn that my friend sold me for like $175 claiming the new one cost him $300. I didn't know anything about guitars. When I sold it as a pawn shop the guy offered me $75 for the guitar and the hard case which was very nice. I also had a "Rock Axe" for a while. A Chinese make. It was lighter than a Sharpie marker. And played pretty decent. But just wasn't upto par for when I would play my very sucky version of Metallica's Sanitarium intro. All of those were sold for pretty much nothing and I finally bought a brand new Fender Squire for $119 and it has served me well over the last 3 years. Now only if I can actually put in some practice time.

 

[punkin]

Anfontan - Thanks for your input. I'm pretty sure I want a Gibson, just not sure which one and also depends on the budget.


A Peavey? I thought they only made speakers! OK just kidding. I am kind of set on a Gibson. But next time I pop into the guitar center I might try the Peavey line of guitars. The only thing is you can sometimes find the place somewhat empty and just plug in and play away. But mostly there's a ton of little kids trying their latest shredder techniques out loud for everyone and you can't hear yourself think, let alone judge the sound quality of a guitar.


Ah, advice that makes sense. I used to have a brandless acoustic (my first guitar), then a washburn that my friend sold me for like $175 claiming the new one cost him $300. I didn't know anything about guitars. When I sold it as a pawn shop the guy offered me $75 for the guitar and the hard case which was very nice. I also had a "Rock Axe" for a while. A Chinese make. It was lighter than a Sharpie marker. And played pretty decent. But just wasn't upto par for when I would play my very sucky version of Metallica's Sanitarium intro. All of those were sold for pretty much nothing and I finally bought a brand new Fender Squire for $119 and it has served me well over the last 3 years. Now only if I can actually put in some practice time.

Nope...not just a Peavey brand...Peavey Wolfgang...different animal really. The necks are to die for and the PUPs rule. But like I said, to each their own, if you're set on a Gibson then so be it...I got 'em and love them. I can appreciate the appeal and their playability.

Good luck...let us know what you end up with. Pics would be great too!

 

[Anfontan]

I did a recent refinish on my "the Paul" the old finish was really bad, here is the result.

 

[punkin]

Nice!

You did it yourself? It's a flattop? Kinda hard to tell the light/bright color and contrast make it hard to see the detail. I really like the light body with the dark fretboard.

 

[Anfontan]

Twins!

Yeah I did it myself...actually I did twins..Paul and Tele. The clear coat is a real bitch to get right, and breathing paint fumes is the worst! Tele has a coil tapping humbucker, it sounds sweet too!
Its still my bad photography on these too.

 

[bigbubba]

I did a recent refinish on my "the Paul" the old finish was really bad, here is the result.

Man, that's a cool guitar. I don't like the brown finish on the neck around the tuners. The rest of the neck is fine. I would have preferred black aroudn the tuners.

But that's just a cool lookin' guitar man. I wouldn't mind playing a white in a heavy metal band.

 

[punkin]

That's cool...on stage wearing a black tux playin' white geets and blonde speaker cabs!

 

[bigbubba]

That's cool...on stage wearing a black tux playin' white geets and blonde speaker cabs!

No thanks, I'll take a blonde singer over the blonde cabs.... unless I've gotten out of touch with street slang.