NGD NAD Japan Les Paul slight return Greco EGF 1200 with Katana goodness longish

Jez6345789 · October 2017

This was a recent build thread by Jumping at Shadows who did the work to make this old Japanese girl closer to Burst spec.

I was a Japanese Les Paul fan through the late 90’s and early 2000 and built up a nice little collection that I loved. Divorce and life stuff saw me move on everything guitar wise except my old Yamaha Acoustic which I bought in 1976 and my 89 PRS. The intention was to at some point get a really nice proper Gibson Les Paul R9.

Despite what you tell yourself if you have never owned one with Gibson on the headstock their is always a bit of a nagging doubt in your mind that it will be a revelation and all those years you have been proving the naysayers wrong with your much cheaper Japanese Les Pauls with long tenon neck joints and good wood, that a decent reissue or so-called good wood era is going to be a road to Damascus moment.

I have been trying R9’s for the last couple of years around the big south-east guitar supermarkets and to be honest I have not found anything that stood out when it was played some were certainly nice but none of them could get me over the line, especially for the Gibson Authentic big dollars.

When Yuuki put this up it piqued my interest and when he put it in the classifieds I just had to give it a punt. The refinish Yuuki undertook was very nicely done as you can see from the refurb thread, he used old school aniline dyes and faded them out to give a really nice old Les Paul finish.

As most people who see my comments here know I am not a big fan of relic guitars especially those that have been abused by a belt sander or dragged down a gravel road, had keys from a medieval castle thrown at them or around the binding gouged with can opener.

So the images posted were pre-ageing tweaks and I made my purchase decision on those when Yuuki sent me over closer to the final thing with lacquer checking and a note saying just a few more bits to do. I have to say my heart sunk a little as I was all in and then my hatred of relicing was pushing me out. Can't believe I can still get conflicted over these sort of details.

So in the end, as they say these days I had a good talk with myself and said you are being a neurotic twat you have wanted another Les Paul for 7 years you like Japanese Les Pauls and if you walk away now you will never know. Ultimately the work done is what is best described as sensitive and appropriate and very well executed.

Having only ever played one original burst at a time when I could probably not even appreciate what was being put in my hands and a few friends 70’s Gibsons plus my Japanese collection and recently `Gibson R9’s. I am far from a cork sniffing Les Paul aficionado but I know the classic sounds I like and have to say this does that in spades.

The neck is nice and chunky which is taxing my small arthritic hands in a good way (ha ha) the work Yuuki has done is a real credit to him and the guitar looks and feels great.

The Dry Z pickups are very good tonally. I have spent some time winding and collecting different humbuckers over the years and it never ceases to amaze me that despite all the attempts by far more knowledgeable people than me to clone a really good PAF from scientific analysis of wire, winding patterns some pickups just have it and despite all the analysis some don’t. These hit classic PAF tone and are just a little microphonic with gain and bring the whole thing to life in a very pleasing way. I have no idea what the Japanese did with these but they certainly got it right.

So one very happy customer and would recommend Yuuki’s work professional approach, prompt service and delivery.

The Katana is the Katana, I still have the Kemper and its great for recording and it gets the odd outing but to be honest just having a combo I can pick up and plug in is something I have been missing. The Katana is just that a very good tool that does the job. Easy to dial in a good sound and deeper editing if you like to tweak stuff. It will not satisfy the more demanding boutique valve aficionado but as a grab and go amp it ticks the boxes.

I went a few dollars more for the 100 watt version as the ability to add a foot switch at some stage and the additional ins and outs are worth it in my mind to get a more flexible amp.

So at this point all, I can say I am a very happy bunny.