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I just got this. My first Les Paul. WOW!! I had it set up by my guitar tech and the guitar is amazing. Now it can join the others

Grats on the new guitar and nice get-up dude

Rob

Hello Mark,
your new guitar looks really good. I´m pretty sure LP sounds great too.
One of my favorite brand. Have fun while playing.

Vašek

Luv guitars! New ones are lots of fun! Congrats!
Keith

Now a proper review
It is time for a product review. I have been playing my 2010 Les Paul Traditional Pro Gold Top practically non stop since purchasing it a couple of days ago. I have been playing it through my JCM 800 as well as playing it unplugged just to let the natural sonic qualities of the wood give an impression. When I first played the guitar at the store before buying it I was not impressed with the playability. In particular the intonation and the guitar staying in tune were major concerns. I played about 10 different guitars and they all had the same issues in varying degrees. These 10 guitars were played at 3 different stores. After speaking with several people on the different forums and finally speaking with my trusted guitar tech who I bring my guitars into for set up I decided to take the plunge. It turns out that the major music retailer I purchased the guitar from had a very liberal return policy within the first 30 days if I was not happy as long as the guitar came back in the same condition. Risk was minimal as far as contentment was concerned.

After purchasing the guitar I immediately brought it in to my guitar tech who upon first glance said "yes this is the typical intonation from the factory that I always encounter" It was out. I watched as he made some measurements and then began to make his adjustments which included filing down the G string at the nut very slightly. He set up the intonation,made some string height adjustments tuned it up and handed me the guitar. This took about 25 minutes and he explained everything he was doing and how this was the norm for the Gibson Les Paul guitars that he comes in contact with. He also said that he believes that because most players will change strings and also the gauges of those strings that he feels Gibson does an acceptable amount of tweaking but in the end knows that the buyer will make the changes and adjustments anyway. I now tend to agree with that opinion. I will not bore anyone with the tech specs because those are available on the Gibson site. My goal here is to give my impressions of the guitar's playability, aesthetics and sonic impressions I have gotten to this point.


First of all as a kid I worked in a music store that sold Gibson guitars. This was back in the late 80's and early 90's. The overall workmanship left much to be desired back then. The binding around the body and along the neck was always so poorly done and uneven. The finishes were very inconsistent as to their quality back then. When the overall fit and finish was compared to the other brands like Hamer, Ibanez, Charvel Jackson and even Fender there was some seriously noticeable disparities for the Les Paul. Move forward to my guitar a couple of decades later and the improvement in the workmanship of the guitar is very impressive. The binding is spot on and the finish is gorgeous. I also examined the others very closely that I was considering and they were the same. Now for the good stuff. When I first got the guitar home I played it without amplification. Why? I wanted to hear the guitar itself and how it naturally sounded. I also did this in the store and I think some people thought I was nuts. The sound jumped from the instrument and was full and bright. I think Gibson is on to something with the mahogany body and maple top The tuning was spot on and the intonation was correct. After a few minutes of playing with a pick and finger picking all while unplugged I put the guitar down and took a little break.


My impressions were that of a very well balanced instrument and I was beginning to get excited about playing my first Les Paul through my JCM 800. I fired up the amp and let the tubes get really warm for about 5 minutes. I plugged the guitar in and began to play in the bridge position pick up. The chords were crisp and the tone was very well balanced. The burst bucker 3 in the bridge really delivers a good punch. All of the metal and hard rock guys out there would be very happy. I ran through some different chord progressions and played through some scales and I was very happy. The sound has some bite and is very crunchy when riffing chords. I then switched to the neck position pick up and began to play some melodic notes and I almost could not contain myself. The 57 in the neck is so sweet and full sounding that it really is not fair. Now, playing through an original JCM 800 with a couple of 1960 cabs does not hurt but I would venture to say that this guitar would sound great on just about any amp. When engaging both neck and bridge pick up the guitar gave a very unique tonal impression. The really great and useful thing that Gibson did with this guitar was to give the ability to the player to split the coils on both pick ups. This is achieved by pulling up on the volume knob for each pick up. The toggle switch can engage both pick ups and both coils can be split. I was getting some very interesting tones when playing in this mode and it occurred to me that Gibson created a guitar that would really be useful as a studio guitar, not to mention the live playing.


The Les Paul has been heard on countless recordings throughout music history so I need to clarify what I mean. The fact that I can use this amazing guitar in coil split mode is for me something that I really can appreciate. It is not the sound of a Strat but it does give a kind of twang when the notes and chords are played in a certain way. I have much more experimenting with this feature to do. I really like the versatility. The grover locking tuners are so convenient. Like the sperzel on the Strat it makes changing strings a snap and helps I am sure in the tuning being more consistent by removing uneven wrapping around the string post. So I am about 2 days into this guitar and I am very satisfied with it. I have not yet recorded with it but I am looking forward to what it will yield in the session. The action is how I like it and the tuning and intonation again is really good. Now it is time to get acquainted with my new guitar. Later

Congrats on your new axe, a goldtop LP into a JCM 800 is a classic rig. Since LPs come in so many flavors now, do you mind telling us which model you bought? Sweetwater alone has about four different premium goldtops, not counting the reissues with the mini-humbuckers. The uncovered splittable zebra coils should help narrow it down some, but my memory ain't what it once was....

Fantastic! I enjoyed your review.

Stuart

mojobone wrote:Congrats on your new axe, a goldtop LP into a JCM 800 is a classic rig. Since LPs come in so many flavors now, do you mind telling us which model you bought? Sweetwater alone has about four different premium goldtops, not counting the reissues with the mini-humbuckers. The uncovered splittable zebra coils should help narrow it down some, but my memory ain't what it once was....

You are right about the amount of different models available. This is the Les Paul Traditional Pro. It has the 60's style neck compared to the 50's style on the standard. Split coil ability and grover locking tuners. It sponds great going through the JCM 800. The Gold Top in the Trad Pro is a very recent color add on. There were just 3 until the GT was added- ebony, heritage burst and cherry burst

Lovely guitar, or should I say guitars. Nice collection. Congratulations!

The JEM 777 dester sun yellow brings back a few memories, used to own one but sold it a few years ago.

The feeling of new gear, nothing like it. I've just bought a American Deluxe Strat but it's still in the mail, can't wait, its probably arriving tomorrow or the day after.

Wow, I can tell that you don't live in earthquake country. I live in L.A. so I keep my axes in the cases nearly all the time!