Advice on Les Paul buying.....

OilCityPickups

Doodlegame said:

pmbomb said:

by well second hand and if you don't get on with it you'll sell it for about what you paid for it.

a Les Paul doesn't have to be heavy to rock.

ooohhhh yeeaaahh it does man

My own LP is modern weight relieved ... and I really don't notice any difference to non weight relieved ... except that when you get to my age and have a Les Paul induced bad back through years of playing 70s boat anchors ... you value a lighter guitar. 

thegummy

OilCityPickups said:

I would agree with several others that if you want a Les Paul ... get a proper Gibson Les Paul ... you will no doubt get the usual chorus of get a Greco or a Tokai etc etc, but if you really want a Gibson Les paul any of the substitutes will leave you still yearning for the real thing. 
No I don't agree with Gibson's current stance re 'play authentic' and all that bollocks, but get yourself a nice older one and you'll have a guitar for life (I personally wouldn't touch a new one with a barge pole). 

So true.

It's not that a Gibson branded LP will necessarily be better than any other brand in any way but for a lot of people, maybe even most people, if it's a Gibson they desire, that desire will always be there niggling until a Gibson is what they get.

All the power to people who are fully happy with other brands and don't crave a Gibson but for a lot of people it pays to be realistic about that desire.

TINMAN82

Doodlegame said:

TINMAN82 said:

Doodlegame said:

merlin said:

You could buy mine. It sounds amazing, has a wonderful neck and looks beautiful. It will age in a lovely way too. And it's not hideously expensive!

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/157081/fs-gibson-les-paul-traditional-2014-120th-anniversary#latest

Thanks for the link, beautiful guitar but I'm not quite there yet...

In that case go for a used studio. Loads of nice ones around including interesting colours like pelham blue.

To be honest I think I'd rather go for a straight LP, maybe JP wiring at the most. I think cool switching has its place but for me, a Gibson is a plug and play kinda thing... Unless @ICBM can convince me to look at customs 

Don’t know about current production but studios havnt historically had modern switching options. I had a 2008 that was wired in the vintage style. No binding is the main difference.

terada

Doodlegame said:

terada said:

If you’re lookong second hand, there were especially good ones around 58 and 59 

Dunno if you saw... I'm 16

Yeah I saw, you don't stop dreaming as you get older  .

Seriously though, I too started on an RG and absolutely loved it. A few years later I played someone's US standard strat and just couldn't stop thinking about it. So I saved everything I could from my minimum wage job and eventually had enough to buy one.

I could have bought a MIM one much earlier, but it meant something to me to get the one I was dreaming of. Honestly achieving that dream was a huge deal to my teenage self, and I never thought about buying another guitar for over a decade (until RSI issues meant I had to).

In general my advice would be to dream big, if you really want something you can largely get there with enough graft (sometimes life gets in the way), but try to make some music along the way too 

Skipped

I would not worry about the weight too much. The main thing about the weight is that you are OK  with a heavier guitar so that means that many more guitars are available to you.

(Also the Les Paul Custom user base arguably fits your musical tastes so I think you should try some).

More generally, the best Les Pauls IMO are very old ones (fifties) or Custom Shop Re-issues. My favourite Re-issue was an 80's Pre-Historic but it would be more practical to look at second hand Historics. 2013 onwards are very nice guitars, and pre 2013 are very good value second hand.

2013 onwards Historics are also lighter on average (Fijian Mahogany backs) and.....once again.......don't dismiss lighter guitars.

Most of the great Les Pauls I have played have probably been under 9lbs. Eventually the brain makes a correlation, and you ask yourself.....Oh. does that mean that an 8.8lb Les Paul is more likely to be a better guitar and therefore worth a long journey to view?

Doodlegame

@TINMAN82 Ok, I'll keep the studios in mind too then!

Doodlegame

terada said:

Doodlegame said:

terada said:

If you’re lookong second hand, there were especially good ones around 58 and 59 

Dunno if you saw... I'm 16

Yeah I saw, you don't stop dreaming as you get older  .

Seriously though, I too started on an RG and absolutely loved it. A few years later I played someone's US standard strat and just couldn't stop thinking about it. So I saved everything I could from my minimum wage job and eventually had enough to buy one.

I could have bought a MIM one much earlier, but it meant something to me to get the one I was dreaming of. Honestly achieving that dream was a huge deal to my teenage self, and I never thought about buying another guitar for over a decade (until RSI issues meant I had to).

In general my advice would be to dream big, if you really want something you can largely get there with enough graft (sometimes life gets in the way), but try to make some music along the way too 

Well said man, great advice!
Like you, I'd rather get the US Gibson LP of my dreams than buy something that looks like it... I will always know it's not the thing I want and end up getting one anyways ahah

Thank you!

Doodlegame

Skipped said:

I would not worry about the weight too much. The main thing about the weight is that you are OK  with a heavier guitar so that means that many more guitars are available to you.

(Also the Les Paul Custom user base arguably fits your musical tastes so I think you should try some).

More generally, the best Les Pauls IMO are very old ones (fifties) or Custom Shop Re-issues. My favourite Re-issue was an 80's Pre-Historic but it would be more practical to look at second hand Historics. 2013 onwards are very nice guitars, and pre 2013 are very good value second hand.

2013 onwards Historics are also lighter on average (Fijian Mahogany backs) and.....once again.......don't dismiss lighter guitars.

Most of the great Les Pauls I have played have probably been under 9lbs. Eventually the brain makes a correlation, and you ask yourself.....Oh. does that mean that an 8.8lb Les Paul is more likely to be a better guitar and therefore worth a long journey to view?

Ok, I'll have a look at those thanks. I'm not talking heavy as in 15lbs or whatever heavy, I'm not Matt heafy with his weird abomination of a strap

sweepy

The best vfm Gibson Les Paul by far is the Traditional model, if you shop around you pick one up under a grand 

Doodlegame

sweepy said:

The best vfm Gibson Les Paul by far is the Traditional model, if you shop around you pick one up under a grand 


Is that with older models or current retail models (price)?

sweepy

I had a 2012 and it was a cracking Les Paul and there are a few on eBay now

ICBM

Doodlegame said:

Why would you go for a custom over a standard? What are the differences and is it worth the extra money?

The ebony fingerboard is the main difference from a playing point of view - it gives the note attack a slightly harder edge. But they always seem to be heavier as well - Gibson seem to reserve the lighter wood for Standards - and have a bigger headstock which I think scoops the tone a bit... really! The mass of the headstock does have a real effect on the tone by altering the resonance of the neck.

Put it all together and you get a guitar with a bigger, more powerful and ringing tone than a Standard, which tend to be ‘woodier’ and more midrangy, more suited to bluesy classic rock than heavier hard rock. But interestingly Customs also have a clearer clean tone which makes them quite snappy and funky-sounding for clean chords... not what you always expect from a Les Paul.

I also think they look much better than a Standard - I’m not really a fan of flashy wood tops or sunbursts. I’m not a big fan of gold hardware either, but it’s mostly the pickup covers I don’t like and they sound better off anyway.

As you can probably tell, I really like them and I’d always take one over a Standard, everything else being more or less equal... although unfortunately they do tend to be a bit more expensive usually.

Doodlegame

ICBM said:

Doodlegame said:

Why would you go for a custom over a standard? What are the differences and is it worth the extra money?

The ebony fingerboard is the main difference from a playing point of view - it gives the note attack a slightly harder edge. But they always seem to be heavier as well - Gibson seem to reserve the lighter wood for Standards - and have a bigger headstock which I think scoops the tone a bit... really! The mass of the headstock does have a real effect on the tone by altering the resonance of the neck.

Put it all together and you get a guitar with a bigger, more powerful and ringing tone than a Standard, which tend to be ‘woodier’ and more midrangy, more suited to bluesy classic rock than heavier hard rock. But interestingly Customs also have a clearer clean tone which makes them quite snappy and funky-sounding for clean chords... not what you always expect from a Les Paul.

I also think they look much better than a Standard - I’m not really a fan of flashy wood tops or sunbursts. I’m not a big fan of gold hardware either, but it’s mostly the pickup covers I don’t like and they sound better off anyway.

As you can probably tell, I really like them and I’d always take one over a Standard, everything else being more or less equal... although unfortunately they do tend to be a bit more expensive usually.

Ah ok... talking about headstocks and neck resonance, how is the neck when playing with a strap? My explorer is getting some weights put in it (it already is heavy af) to balance it out, not so much due to neck dive, just too much weight on the left hand while playing....  Do you tend to get this on LPs much?

I might consider a custom, I'm thinking that when I take my exp for a setup @PMT on Saturday I might have a play of a few and see what I think between them, then probably keep an eye on the classifieds for something...  See if I can get this goldtop off of @markj, I'm keeping optimistic about my finances here 

Bridgehouse

@Doodlegame - setup at PMT? Is that Manchester? If so - I’d recommend Manchester Guitar Tech - that’s @SteveRobinson on here - he comes very highly recommended. 

ICBM

Doodlegame said:

Ah ok... talking about headstocks and neck resonance, how is the neck when playing with a strap? My explorer is getting some weights put in it (it already is heavy af) to balance it out, not so much due to neck dive, just too much weight on the left hand while playing....  Do you tend to get this on LPs much?

No, if anything they can feel body-heavy.

Doodlegame

Bridgehouse said:

@Doodlegame - setup at PMT? Is that Manchester? If so - I’d recommend Manchester Guitar Tech - that’s @SteveRobinson on here - he comes very highly recommended. 

Small world eh....!
Not heard of him before, I'll check out his website now thanks!

TADodger

Doodlegame said:

I also have quite a few other guitars along with my dad's, but these are my two main guitars.  

Could you not consider selling some / any of your ‘quite a few’ other guitars to kick off you LP savings pot?

thegummy

TADodger said:

Doodlegame said:

I also have quite a few other guitars along with my dad's, but these are my two main guitars.  

Could you not consider selling some / any of your ‘quite a few’ other guitars to kick off you LP savings pot?

Especially the da's ones, they'll be worth a few bob

Doodlegame

TADodger said:

Doodlegame said:

I also have quite a few other guitars along with my dad's, but these are my two main guitars.  

Could you not consider selling some / any of your ‘quite a few’ other guitars to kick off you LP savings pot?

Not really, Ibanez (electro+ RG), explorer and modded copy strat are all that are mine, and I love and play them all.

I'm considering doing up cheaper guitars and doing something good with them+ selling them on or whatever but I'll look into it... haha

cheers though!

Doodlegame

thegummy said:

TADodger said:

Doodlegame said:

I also have quite a few other guitars along with my dad's, but these are my two main guitars.  

Could you not consider selling some / any of your ‘quite a few’ other guitars to kick off you LP savings pot?

Especially the da's ones, they'll be worth a few bob

Nah, his main guitars are a 3PU Tele and a Washburn (eagle I think, the one like Bob Marley had), that is a magical instrument also.

I think guitars mean too much to me, that's why I chose the ones I have. I know what I want in them I guess, and that leads to nothing I'm really longing to have over that, therefore not considering selling.

As I said, selling a few things on, parts+ guitars (not ripping off, just do make them unique) could bring in a few extra weird for an LP