Les Paul? Really?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bigbubba
  • Start date Start date
Ok

Outlaws said:
Yes.

The weight for one. That is directly connected to the sustain. Many Epi guitars won't weigh anywhere near what the Gibson counter part weighs.
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I respect your opinion and your right to neg rep me for posting my opinion. Carry on..
 
Awww crap...I'm getting sucked into this :o

I jumped onto the bath room scale took a baseline (not tellin' ya what that was :o ) but when I picked up my Epi LP Custom (my paper work says that it's a Mahogony and Alder body and a Maple Neck but doesn't say what the fret baord is...looks like mahogony or some other dark wood), I picked up 14 digital pounds. I have a 2000 Gibson LP Studio...I've weighed it but I'd like someone else to weight theirs first (the results may be a bit suprising). In the mean time, a Pal-o-mine will be over this evening, he's bringing his Gibson LP Classic. I realize this isn't scientific but...it's worth the grins huh.
 
Punkin: the maple neck would definitely add some weight to your Epi. Also the weight isn't really as important as the density. As far as I know the Gibson LPs have a bit of chambering to them, so the wood can be heavy but since theres less of it the guitar won't break your back. Now that's just from memory I'm not a Gibson expert. The Gibsons are also made of less pieces of wood than the Epiphone which should have some effect on the tone.
 
ibanezrocks said:
Punkin: the maple neck would definitely add some weight to your Epi. Also the weight isn't really as important as the density. As far as I know the Gibson LPs have a bit of chambering to them, so the wood can be heavy but since theres less of it the guitar won't break your back. Now that's just from memory I'm not a Gibson expert. The Gibsons are also made of less pieces of wood than the Epiphone which should have some effect on the tone.
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Yea I'm with ya. No pissin' and moanin' from here ;) . The point I was going to drive was that both these guitars weigh the same (+/-) on the low tech digital bathroom scale. A little while ago, we weighed my buddies guitar...his was actually 1 lb lighter (His Gibson LP). Again, I don't know if that's a full pound or ounces or what but the three were all very close.

I don't care what the damn things are made of frankly. If they sound good, feel good and stay together with good hardware, then they are good. I still think my cheap runt Wolfgangs in the collection are better playing and better sounding than any of the LP's I have. And I know they're made of cheap and light wood (except for the necks and the pups) and I don't care :p but that's just me.

Love your Gibson's (I do), love your Epi's (I do) but do your selves a favor give them all a try ;)

Awww crap...I got sucked in huh? :o

Peace, love and all that happiness shit :D
 
therage! said:
Gibson's use Alder? That's a problem right there.
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Ummm... where did you read that? the link is to an Epiphone guitar.

Bigbubba thats a nice link to the wood descriptions. +1
 
ibanezrocks said:
Ummm... where did you read that? the link is to an Epiphone guitar.

Bigbubba thats a nice link to the wood descriptions. +1
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I know, I'm being sarcastic.

Not gonna find any Alder wood in a Gibson Les Paul Standard. That Alder is reserved for guitars like my Strat. :D
 
I don't even wanna know what's in my Ibanez RGs...drift wood with balsa laminate I'd imagine :D
 
Sounds good

hiwatt357 said:
You can pick up mid 90's Studios all day long for less than that.

Worth owning? Absolutely.
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If a used 90's LP is what your after, go right ahead.
 
sorry if im sounding like an ad for agile guitars but seriously, you should check them out cause you can pick up one for 160 with a very heavy, solid mahogany body with a real flamed maple top, set neck, and 18:1 grover tuners and swap out everything else if you really need too. i myself would never spend that much on a gibson.
 
Agile guitar sound fine? Have you played them and stuff. I'm looking at them. I think you might have mentioned this before also but I don't remember.

So you've played those and liked those? They sell thru rondo music now. Is that the one?

The following are cool.

http://www.rondomusic.net/seg1.html

http://www.rondomusic.net/ppgsc.html

http://www.rondomusic.net/gg4stdtwr.html

http://www.rondomusic.net/al2000hc.html

Only one Agile. The agile LP copy looks pretty crappy in the little curve at the bottom. Just an opinion. The SX LP copy looks cooler. But I don't know the quality. And it's only selling for 100 bucks or so. The Ibanez copy looks pretty nice. :)

Has anyone used the SX here?

:)
 
punkin said:
I don't even wanna know what's in my Ibanez RGs...drift wood with balsa laminate I'd imagine :D
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Check out that link that bigbubba posted, it has a pretty good description of the different grades of basswood. Your RG should be basswood, I'm pretty sure all of them are, because bad basswood is really cheap, so I'd doubt they could find much cheaper than that. However I don't mind basswood for guitars, some more expensive Ibanezs that are made out of basswood sound really nice unplugged IMO, theres definitely a huge difference between the cheap pieces and the better pieces, just like Mahogany! :p
 
Mahogany is one of those wacky subjects that is integral to the Gibson recipe.

http://www.edromanguitars.com/wood/honduras_mah.htm

http://www.tkinstruments.com/id67.htm



I'm searching for mahogany links for y'all, I hope you get to realize the holy grail of guitars cannot be acheived in a production of 20,000 units per year. Even if Gibson has THE guitar design and production perfected the wood may not decide to cooperate...go figure. I read somewhere that african mahog trees are larger and compress the grain, during growth, of the wood making it denser and less resonant, thus older Honduran mahog is prized. And, the reason behind this stuff...

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/bodies/strat.cfm?fuseaction=strat_hollow
 
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bubba,

i havent played the sx guitars but from reviews i've read, they arent as good as thier agile cousins. a friend of mine plays an al2000 and i got to try it out and the thing is beastly heavy. it sounds amazing, a little different from a les paul though due to the pickups. also, an amazing band from around my area uses agiles. their whole first ep was recorded with agiles through pods to an m-box and is one of my favorite eps of all time right now. you can check them out at www.myspace.com/damiera
their profile picture up right now is a joke, so dont think they are a folk band or something haha. check out the song fourfight. it may not be in the vein of what you like but its a nice representation of how these guitars can sound good.
 
I'm gonna hold out for the next LP purchase until they come out with an all ebony model...body...neck and fret board :D
 
Without beating a dead horse, here are a few points.

If you are interested in a Gibson LP because you just gotta have it (we've all been there) then save your beans and buy one.

If you are looking for a particular sound or feel, go back to the store, play everything that falls within the category your interested in and buy based on feel and sound.

Don't expect quality (other than hardware and electronics) just because of a decal. My $2000 LP standard came out of the showroom with a serious nut flaw but I bought it because I could 'feel' and hear that it was a winner. I then brought it to my shop, changed the nut, and have since enjoyed over a decade of faithful service from it. The Epi LP that I inherited when my father passed away was flawless (other than the need for a fret dress).

A point missed in this thread is the difference in finish and nut materials, which, to a trained ear, has quite an impact on the tone of the guitar. The Gibson LP has a nitrocellulose lacquer finish and bone or synthetic nut on it, while the Epi's have a thick polyester finish and cheap plastic nut which does take some of the life out of the sound of the guitar. Lacquer is also easier to repair in the event of a scratch or ding because the repair will melt into the old finish making the fix virtually invisible (if done right), while nothing will melt the poly finish, and repairs will not 'disappear' like a lacquer drop fill.

Just a little side note...Les didn't like or approve of the SG because he felt it looked like it had devil horns, and thought the points were extreme and possibly dangerous! :eek:
 
punkin said:
I'm gonna hold out for the next LP purchase until they come out with an all ebony model...body...neck and fret board :D
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:eek: :eek: :eek: Like they're not already entirely too heavy! :D
 
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