Gibson 'new management' Les Pauls

MagicPigDetective

The new range of Les Pauls have now been out for a few months to a generally good reception from what I can see online, though I haven't seen much mention of them here. I've never owned a Gibson, but this year I want to be the owner of a real thing Les Paul and the new range looks pretty damn good, especially the Standard 60's, I prefer a thinner neck.

My opportunities to visit Gibson dealers are very limited by time and distances, so I would love to hear some views. Has anyone owned or tried one of the new Standards, Classic or Tributes? How was the QC, the neck, the pickups? Pics if you have any!

stickyfiddle

I haven't tried any LPs but did pick up a couple of new-range SGs while in guitar shops in Japan. They were all very nice guitars. No obvious faults and felt great

rze99

I picked up a 2018 Classic P90s (not sure if that is "new management" or not).

I got it used. Brilliant value and it's a cracking Les Paul. I modified it cosmetically to look exactlly like a '70s Pro Deluxe

Les Paul Classic Pro Deluxe clone (2018, I did all the mods)

RaymondLin

stickyfiddle said:

I haven't tried any LPs but did pick up a couple of new-range SGs while in guitar shops in Japan. They were all very nice guitars. No obvious faults and felt great

Although you got to bear in mind that Japanese importer or the shop owners generally place the standard of any products entering their shop in high regard.  They are essentially doing an extra step in QC.

TINMAN82

My dad has an exceptionally well playing and put together 2019 SG standard (batwing). Faultless.

timmypix

Bought a Junior Double Cut in the sales last week after fancying one for ages but not being able to justify the price. Finding a good one was an ordeal, I'll be honest, made more difficult by the fact that I was set on having a blue one.

First tried on in PMT before Christmas. Sharp fret ends and bad paint application (faded where the masking tape had peeled off on the neck) meant there was no way it was worth the full asking price. Amazingly fierce P90 but it would need a full fret job for whomever bought it.

Then went to GuitarGuitar in Birmingham once the sales started. Picked up a blue one - painfully sharp fret ends (I'm talking low end Chinese copy bad), a nut cut so badly that just playing an E chord pulled the G string out of tune. The nut was noticeably high to look at even before playing it! Some stray paint on the end of the fretboard. Not worth even the discounted price. Picked up the brown one next to it and it was fine! But I wanted blue...

As a last resort, popped into Dawsons Manchester while in town on a whim. Thankfully the blue one they had there was fine, so I bought it. Fret ends aren't perfect but they're not uncomfortable at all, and everything else is perfect. Need to make a NGD post actually!

I touched the fret ends on a few lower end models (Tributes/Studios) in all the shops and they also felt a little sharp; ceases to be an issue as soon as you get to the more expensive ones from what I could feel, so once you're in Classic/Standard territory you should be fine.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Gerz6558

I've not played a new management 2019 just yet, but this comes up all of the time on the les paul forum, latest debate here: https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/is-the-new-stuff-better.434428/

I've owned a few over the years, oldest being an 89 custom and newest being one of those 2018 p90 classics.  I'd agree with the les paul forum thread, I think you will find awful, ok, good, great les pauls whatever the year.  If you listen to a lot of forum threads all over the place you'd think that Gibson hasn't made a decent les paul for over 20 years, but you have just got to get out there and play them.

The pull for me on these back to basics models is that the standards are exactly that, a regular non-weight relieved basic les paul.  Save the coil taps and weight relief for some of the other models.  But this sin't really anything new as such, the new standards are pretty much the previously labelled traditional les pauls, so you might be able to find a decent one of those used for much cheaper. 

darhart

I may be in the minority, but I wasn't keen on the ones I've tried. Felt like Epiphones...

impmann

darhart said:

I may be in the minority, but I wasn't keen on the ones I've tried. Felt like Epiphones...

Wow... they've improved the quality to that level already. Such improvement!! ;-)

darhart

impmann said:

darhart said:

I may be in the minority, but I wasn't keen on the ones I've tried. Felt like Epiphones...

Wow... they've improved the quality to that level already. Such improvement!! ;-)

LOL nothing wrong with the workmanship/finishing as such, it was just something about the way they felt and played? I much prefer the 2016-2018 Les Pauls, or if you're feeling brave enough to defy the internet (and go a little off tradition) the 2015 guitars are some of the best made/playing Gibsons I've tried. Failing that, for the same money buy a 2nd hand custom shop or an Eastman, both far better than the late 2019 (I think, anyway).

Gerz6558

darhart said:

I much prefer the 2016-2018 Les Pauls, or if you're feeling brave enough to defy the internet (and go a little off tradition) the 2015 guitars are some of the best made/playing Gibsons I've tried. Failing that, for the same money buy a 2nd hand custom shop or an Eastman, both far better than the late 2019 (I think, anyway).

I think this proves the point that everyones got a different opinion on the different years/models. They've changed them around a lot over the years, probably brought about because the old management insisted on yearly updates.

I think the idea with this original line is to not mess about with them too much. So in theory you would hope they start to make them with some consistency. 

tony99

think the unburst looks top notch, but for some reason I'm seeing the tobacco burst standard at quite a big reduction, think I seen it brand new at £1699

TTBZ

At last years NAMM I played one of the new LP Moderns and a few of the plainer ones (a faded looking SG and the Juniors). Really not impressed for the money. The Modern was nice and I loved the neck profile and re designed heel but it’s still miles behind the (much cheaper) competition such as PRS and ESP/LTD imo. Didn’t rate the lower end satin Junior/SG at all. Their satin finishes feel so cheap and nasty, even my last DIY partscaster stain and oil finish had a nicer feel to it. To me they all just felt like generic guitars missing that “special” Gibson magic you expect. It says a lot when I felt like the LTD EC256 was on the same sort of level as the LP, only the neck joint/upper fret access was better on the LTD. 

A shame as I really wanted to like them and was actually thinking about trading in my SG and getting finance for one of the LP Moderns but decided it wasn’t worth it after playing them.

rlw

My 2019 LP Special is the best new Gibson I’ve ever owned out of 7 since 2015.  Well put together and flawless.

jeztone2

The trad stuff looks nice. But as  @TTBZ said. Who are they selling the Modern too? An ESP will have jumbo frets as standard. Why that oversight? 

roberty

Hey mate I say go for it, it's not a rash decision you've wanted one for ages. I would say having played and owned quite a few that there is only a loose correlation between price and quality

I'd say they are all pretty bang on construction-wise with CNC and pleking. The price differences are in the specs. But the specs don't say how resonant it will be, and I've played toneless lumps at every price point

I took a day off work and drove to Stevenage to get mine, was worth it. Also the dealer gave us a discount in-store when I asked. My advice would be to make a day or days of it if you can

MagicPigDetective

Good advice all, thanks. And yes there are days when it’s an SG I want. But mostly it’s a Les Paul. 

I’ve spent a lot of time drooling over the Standards on Peach’s website, they have photos and weights for individual guitars, I wish more would do this. Ideally I would head there to choose the one that feels right. It’s 300 bloody miles away though! 

https://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/gibson-2019-les-paul-standard-60s-bourbon-burst.htm

the_butler

timmypix said:

Bought a Junior Double Cut in the sales last week after fancying one for ages but not being able to justify the price. Finding a good one was an ordeal, I'll be honest, made more difficult by the fact that I was set on having a blue one.

First tried on in PMT before Christmas. Sharp fret ends and bad paint application (faded where the masking tape had peeled off on the neck) meant there was no way it was worth the full asking price. Amazingly fierce P90 but it would need a full fret job for whomever bought it.

Then went to GuitarGuitar in Birmingham once the sales started. Picked up a blue one - painfully sharp fret ends (I'm talking low end Chinese copy bad), a nut cut so badly that just playing an E chord pulled the G string out of tune. The nut was noticeably high to look at even before playing it! Some stray paint on the end of the fretboard. Not worth even the discounted price. Picked up the brown one next to it and it was fine! But I wanted blue...

As a last resort, popped into Dawsons Manchester while in town on a whim. Thankfully the blue one they had there was fine, so I bought it. Fret ends aren't perfect but they're not uncomfortable at all, and everything else is perfect. Need to make a NGD post actually!

I touched the fret ends on a few lower end models (Tributes/Studios) in all the shops and they also felt a little sharp; ceases to be an issue as soon as you get to the more expensive ones from what I could feel, so once you're in Classic/Standard territory you should be fine.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Re: fret ends being sharp.

I'd put the blame on the retailers for this & not Gibson, they were probably fine coming out of the factory but temperature & humidity differences in transit & the different climate in their final destination has 'shrunk' the wood slightly resulting in fret sprout.
AFAIC there is zero excuse for not properly setting up a guitar at these prices before they hit the shop floor, it's what decent stores used to do, for reasons best known to themselves  they seem to have stopped I'd hazard a guess most of their business is shipping out guitars straight from a warehouse that have never been taken out of the box.

Collings

I was considering buying a Special in the sales but when I got to try one I was somewhat disappointed.

Colour and condition of the rosewood was terrible and the finish had numerous defects in it as well as generally looking like a cheap thick Polly finish.

Setup was very poor with a high action and the bridge almost on the body.

I was expecting it to be far better given the generally positive reviews.

shaunm

I have bought one of the 2019 335’s with P90s and I think it’s a wonderful guitar. I am very happy with it. Sounds great and plays well. 

fastonebaz

I'm waiting to see what the 2020 SG moderns look like.