Teach me about Les Pauls

[TelePaul]

What's the deal with Gibson Les Pauls? There seem to be so many different models and ranges on offer and I can't really work out why one series is prized over another. I'm strongly considering buying one, given some of the prices I've seen, I'll be looking at the lower-level options - but a Gibby, not an Epi.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I'm a huge fan of the mini-humbucker sound (that's what a Deluxe is equipped with).

The best advice is DON'T BUY ONLINE. Find one in a store that you can fall in love with. A good LP is killer; one that doesn't speak to you is a big monetary investment in disappointment.

Others may have different feelings.

 

[goldtopchas]

I second that. You have to get out there and try a bunch. (As with any instrument or amp) I must have played 2 dozen at three different locations before I found one that just felt and sounded "right".

 

[Anfontan]

I have a friend that had a nice guitar collection and had 4 Les Pauls, an Ebony 'fretless wonder', a mid 50's original Goldtop, a early 60's Les Paul double cutaway(before the SG Les Pauls), and a Les Paul Deluxe with Mini Humbuckers. The Deluxe was his favorite of them all, he could play clean toned as well of down & dirty with those mini 'buckers.

 

[K Road]

I've got an '83 Deluxe, had it for 22 years. Sounds very good, though it took me some years before I learnt to appreciate what I had. They don't seem to produce this model every year. Sometimes they're in the programme, sometimes not. Are they in at the moment? I don't know. A nice feature of the Deluxe is the ebony finger board - very silky. A major consideration with Pauls in general is the weight. My Deluxe is extremely heavy. Again, I don't know whether the weight varies between the different models, but after a few hours strapped into it you're gonna feel the strain on the shoulder and back.

K.

 

[ausrock]

As has been said, if possible play as many LPs as possible before making any decision, don't initially focus on any specific models, rather, aim to get a feel for LPs in general, then start to narrow the field. If you're going around the shops, take a strap with you and play the guitars standing up..........LPs are bum heavy and when you play sitting down, you spend too much left hand effort holding the neck down in a comfortable position...........not an ideal way to get a true feel for any instrument.

As far as specific models go, everyone has their preference. At the higher end I can't fault the Custom Shop "Elegant" although you'd have to look at s/hand other than that I reckon you can't go past a good "Standard".

Also, if possible try and get your hands on a 339.........LP sized, 335 style and bloody beautiful

 

[lpdeluxe]

I've got an '83 Deluxe, had it for 22 years. Sounds very good, though it took me some years before I learnt to appreciate what I had. They don't seem to produce this model every year. Sometimes they're in the programme, sometimes not. Are they in at the moment? I don't know. A nice feature of the Deluxe is the ebony finger board - very silky. A major consideration with Pauls in general is the weight. My Deluxe is extremely heavy. Again, I don't know whether the weight varies between the different models, but after a few hours strapped into it you're gonna feel the strain on the shoulder and back.

K.

The Deluxe has had a checkered career, and gets no respect to this day. The model originated when Norlin management reissued the LP in 1968 with P90s instead of the humbuckers everyone was crying for. Jim Deurloo discovered that Gibson had a large stock of Epiphone mini-humbuckers on hand that would fit in the space already routed for the P90s, and the Deluxe was born. The LP had been out of production for a few years, and when Gibson set up the tooling for the carved top, they inadvertently adjusted it to carve a shallower shape, so the earlier ones look different from the later ones.

Norlin eventually figured out how to get the "correct" LP issued (full-size humbuckers) but continued with the Deluxe through 1984. It was reissued in 1992 into the early oughts, but MF had Gibson run a batch through for them three or four years ago. Those are now all gone, and the Deluxe is not in current production.

Personally I love the sound of the Deluxe, but it's relatively hard to find one that's not been modified by some hamfisted stumblebrain who wanted to channel Eric Clapton. So you see 'em with clumsy routs to accommodate the larger humbuckers, or retrofitted with P90s, or Fender pickups or God knows what.

Mine had a dead bridge pickup, so I replaced both with Seymour Duncan SM-1s (sound as close as possible to the Gibson parts) and it sings.

 

[antichef]

My second electric was a 1984 cherry sunburst LP custom -- I guess it could have been the "fretless wonder" because it had an ebony fretboard and big wide, flat frets.

I gigged with it for awhile. It sounded fantastic with the P.A.F. pickups, but: I couldn't play leads on it very well, because my fingers had a tendency to slide around because of the frets (I've certainly played other LPs without this issue), and, as already mentioned -- it's heavy as heck. I was a wispy lad at the time, and a few hours at a gig would just kill my back.

When you get out to try these guitars, be sure to also try a "SG Supreme" if there's one around -- much lighter, but with a maple cap.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Check out this forum:http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/index.php?s=

The "Sunburst Pub" is where I hang. They get pretty obsessive sometimes, but you can learn a lot there.

 

[TelePaul]

Thanks LP deluxe and everyone else who volunteered some info! I should have between $2000 and $2300 to spend on one, although it's not the only guitar I'm considering.

The gibson website is quite cluttered, the Studio model looks like the basic entry level Gibson (discounting the HEINOUS bfg) but I'm really unsure as to where the specs differ between classics, standards, studio premiums, antiques etc.

 

[Oancient1]

Thanks LP deluxe and everyone else who volunteered some info! I should have between $2000 and $2300 to spend on one, although it's not the only guitar I'm considering.

The gibson website is quite cluttered, the Studio model looks like the basic entry level Gibson (discounting the HEINOUS bfg) but I'm really unsure as to where the specs differ between classics, standards, studio premiums, antiques etc.

I play a strat now but played gibsons in a previous life. I had a Late 60s or early 70s LP deluxe once and hated it. It was OK for quieter first set kinda stuff, but I was never satisfied with it turned up loud (these were the days before amps had overdrive channels). I used a LP standard fo a while and it , but in the end went over to an SG. All the Gibsons were harder to keep in tune than my strat is today.

 

[Epicureous]

a early 60's Les Paul double cutaway(before the SG Les Pauls)

I don't get it... the only guitar bearing the Les Paul name made in the early 60's was an SG, and from what I understand the only reason it had a Les Paul name was because of surplus stock of "Les Paul named" parts... There were a few "real" Les Paul's made in 1960 but none after that, until the end of that decade... Maybe I'm missing something...

 

[pohaku]

I have an 83 LP Standard in red metal flake. Bought used out of the newspaper in 1986 for $300 in near mint condition with case.

Plays well, but incredibly heavy. I recently had the pickups replaced with some SD Antiquity PUPS and had the electronics redone so the volume actually rolls off smoothly and the tone controls actually do something. Sounds great now. The upshot is that LPs of this era are pretty good from a a playability standpoint, but I think the electronics and PUPS can be inproved upon. My 12 year old daughter is now learning Alice Cooper songs on it.

 

[Bob Womack]

I don't get it... the only guitar bearing the Les Paul name made in the early 60's was an SG, and from what I understand the only reason it had a Les Paul name was because of surplus stock of "Les Paul named" parts... There were a few "real" Les Paul's made in 1960 but none after that, until the end of that decade... Maybe I'm missing something...

The original Les Pauls weren't great sellers so Gibson created the SG style Les Paul and put Les' name on it without asking. There's rumor that the Mary Ford divorce put him in the position of needing to get shook of some of his endorsements as well. As a result of one or both, he asked to have his name removed from the model. Long about '67 Les discovered that the first run LPs were selling used for very high prices because they had come into vogue. He called up Gibson and convinced them to start production again.

Bob

 

[TelePaul]

The original Les Pauls weren't great sellers so Gibson created the SG style Les Paul and put Les' name on it without asking. There's rumor that the Mary Ford divorce put him in the position of needing to get shook of some of his endorsements as well. As a result of one or both, he asked to have his name removed from the model. Long about '67 Les discovered that the first run LPs were selling used for very high prices because they had come into vogue. He called up Gibson and convinced them to start production again.

Bob

Are you THE Bobby Womack?

Across 110th street, pimps tryin ta catch a woman thats weak

 

[Anfontan]

I don't get it... the only guitar bearing the Les Paul name made in the early 60's was an SG, and from what I understand the only reason it had a Les Paul name was because of surplus stock of "Les Paul named" parts... There were a few "real" Les Paul's made in 1960 but none after that, until the end of that decade... Maybe I'm missing something...

Ah, I found a picture of it and it was earlier than 60's apparently. This looks like the one he had in the same color scheme as well. 58 Les Paul Jr...

 

[Tadpui]

I play a 1998 LP Classic. The distinction with the Classic is that it uses a 500T bridge pickup and a 496R neck pickup. These pickups are higher output than the standard pickups (or at least they were in 1998 before the BurstBuckers became standard), lending a bit more growl and bite from the stock guitar. Also when I bought my LP Classic, they were the only series of LP that had the 60's slim-taper neck.

So the classic is the same instrument as a LP standard, but with different pickups, the slim-taper neck, top-hat volume and tone knobs, and some faux-aged appointments like the greenish fretboard inlays and tuning keys. Oh, and the cream-colored pickguard.

It still has the mahogany back, maple top, neck and body binding, and Tune-O-Matic tailpiece that the LP standard has.

When I played my Classic side-by-side with a comparable LP Standard and a '76 Custom, I thought it had more of that classic LP "bite" when you really dig in and play hard. I also thought that the slim-taper neck was superior to the clubby-feeling standard LP neck. That always bugged me about Les Pauls, that the neck was always so awkard feeling. But the slim-taper neck is much more comfortable for me. I have large hands so its not a matter of better access or reach...its just that the radius and width is much more comfy for me.

So there's a first-hand scoop on at least on 1 more LP model for ya!

 

[TelePaul]

Okay I'm gonna go into a guitar shop tomorrow and actually TALK with the nice man behind the counter.

 

[foo]

I don't get it... the only guitar bearing the Les Paul name made in the early 60's was an SG, and from what I understand the only reason it had a Les Paul name was because of surplus stock of "Les Paul named" parts... There were a few "real" Les Paul's made in 1960 but none after that, until the end of that decade... Maybe I'm missing something...

Check out 'Anfontan's' picture above. This is referred to by collectors as the double-cut non-SG Les Paul. It was made into 1961 and came in two styles - jnr with one pick-up and special with two. There were two finishes - the one in the photo - cherry red, and a banana-yellow (sorta).
I have a 1961 red special - and it's probably my favorite rock and roll guitar (and I'm fortunate to have a few nice guitars).

 

[Epicureous]

Check out 'Anfontan's' picture above. This is referred to by collectors as the double-cut non-SG Les Paul. It was made into 1961 and came in two styles - jnr with one pick-up and special with two. There were two finishes - the one in the photo - cherry red, and a banana-yellow (sorta).
I have a 1961 red special - and it's probably my favorite rock and roll guitar (and I'm fortunate to have a few nice guitars).

You learn something new everyday... I'm not sure why that guitar could even be considered a Les Paul though... The neck is completely different... The pickups are in a different location... the bridge is in a different location and the pots are even in a different arrangement... Although I'm sure it sounds awesome and the nostalgia of owning a rare guitar is really cool, I still like my good'ol late 50's style Les Paul...