Gibson Les Paul: An alternative view.

[Scotty477]

Thing is though, its the name gibson and fender and our hero's played them. So even if we'd not bought them we'd prob end up owning one a bit later anyway.

This is a key point.

Our guitar heroes very often use Gibson or Fender - particularly Classic Rock era/style. My favourite guitar players are Gary Moore, Neil Young, Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Dave Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix and latterly John Mayer. All of these use either Gibson or Fender.

With that in mind, is it any surprise that I have both a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Stratocaster ? The only real surprise here is that I dont have a Gibson SG - yet.

I don't think I've ever seen any of the above list playing respective alternatives to their Gibsons or Fenders. Gary Moore, using a Tokai Love Rock or a Yamaha SG 2000? Gilmour using a Fernandez or G+L Strat? I haven't seen it but I do know that the tone from the guitars I mentioned will probably play and sound exactly the same as their famous counterparts - and probably cost less.

[MDV]

I'd take my £1500 to a luthier and get him to make me a les paul that can makes people faces explode with one note.

So... a guitar with a shotgun in?

 :lol:

Or on it, or at least the facility to carry or conceal one. Yes. That would do nicely.

"Enjoy this song. OR ELSE!"

[Scotty477]

i thought about having a luthier make me a replica of a les paul, logo and all, (in the same way in which slash's main les paul back in the day wasnt a gibson) which would probably cost around the same if not cheaper than buying one of the historics and it would mean i could specify certain preferences. not sure how keen making replicas like that a luthier would be, or if its even legal in the custom guitar market, i'd imagine its not.

I could happily do ALL that apart from the logo, I wouldn't ever want a Fibson.

Or a Gibender?

That just sounds all wrong  :o

[Mr Ed]

I'd take my £1500 to a luthier and get him to make me a les paul that can makes people faces explode with one note.

So... a guitar with a shotgun in?

 :lol:

Or on it, or at least the facility to carry or conceal one. Yes. That would do nicely.

"Enjoy this song. OR ELSE!"

That's taking band-audience banter to a new level.

Or a Gibender?

That just sounds all wrong  :o

Oh so wrong. Dirty boy.

[Philly Q]

If you had say .. £1200-£1500 and wanted a Les Paul type guitar (or similar), with a mahogany (not basswood ..  ) body and neck and a maple cap, what would you go for?

I personally prefer buying cheaper guitars because there's less guilt factor involved, and I'm not a good enough player to "justify" an expensive guitar like a PRS.

But based on your original question, I'd be highly unlikely to buy a Gibson LP unless I could find a real lightweight, and I don't like the ones with chambered bodies.  A Yamaha SG is a great suggestion, but on the few I've tried I didn't like the neck shapes (very important for me).  A PRS Singlecut (or Singlecut Trem) would be great, but a bit outside the price range.  There's quite a good chance I'd go for a Hamer, they're beautifully made guitars but again I tend not to get on with the necks.

I think on balance I'd have to go the custom route, and get something that looked like an LP, but with a body at least half an inch thinner to reduce the weight, and a more user-friendly neck joint.  And I think I'd get it from our friend Mr Feline.  :)

[Twinfan]

Machinehead - I'm a Billy Gibbons fan, and he's used custom built Teles, Explorers etc for years.

Plus he used Tokai LPs too  :)

[_tom_]

I'd get an Edwards because I've heard almost no bad stuff about them. Either that or a PRS Singlecut but I prefer the traditional LP styling.

[blue]

i've always thought i was seperate from the conservative, Luddite mentality of most guitarists.  however, what first got me into the guitar was Slash and, to a lesser extent Steve Clark with their Les Pauls round their knees.

so when i was finally in a position a few years ago to buy that proper, pro level expensive guitar i sat down to work out what i wanted.  it all boiled down to the perfect guitar being a Parker Fly.  i bought a flame topped honeyburst Les Paul.  Go figure.  :roll:

what can you say?  the Les Paul, and others like the Strat, Tele, ES335, White Falcon etc.  are icons of pretty much every genre of music of the last 60 years, and it's very hard to get that out of our heads.  even when we talk about newer guitars, we compare their sounds to them, "yes, that new carbon fibre and aluminium super guitar manages to combine Les Paul grunt with strat like spank".  they are terms of reference and they are at the heart of the music we want to make.

i still want a Parker Fly though. and someday my head will defeat my heart!!  

[FELINEGUITARS]

I'd take my £1500 to a luthier and get him to make me a les paul that can makes people faces explode with one note.

You rang...... :P  :twisted:

[ilÿti]

I love my Les Paul. I will never sell it, for a number of reasons. I'm too attached to it and the nicks, dents and scratches, that to me gives it personality, would greatly devaluate it. But what does value really mean when you're not gonna sell it?
That said, I will probably never buy another Gibson.

[Dakine]

Billy Gibbons is a SERIOUS collector AND has more money than GOD! So plays what he wants :)
Many of his guitars were/are given to him though.
Gibson/Fender and their Custom Shops, PRS, etc. and alot of Bolin. Not seen/heard him play a Tokai but very poss. He used a Houston Texas made Tele recently from Big Tex Guitars (simply as he walked into a local Houston store and saw it there).

As for Les Pauls. I look at it in a cpl. different ways.

Firstly, Mercedes makes a darn fine automobile but still have the likes of Brabus and AMG tweak/rebuild them.
That said a guitar like a PRS could be viewed as such.
Also, the LP is Iconic. Now, if players were not stuck on that maybe some 'forward thinking' would be more apparent with 'newer' designs/tweaks of the same type? A GOOD Les Paul is somthing to behold but I had to look loooooooooong and haaaaaaaaaaard for mine. Pretty much everything can be improved upon and recently I have much respect/love for my PRS Singlecuts. The style is the same but the lil things (like AMG do to the merc) are immense, like neck joint, overall QC, materials etc. Not saying one is better than another BUT I have found without question that EVERY PRS I have played/picked up is very consistant which is more than I can say for Gibson.

As for custom, it's THE way to go. Ya get a guitar made with the materials/finish YOU want and tailored for YOU! Only downside as it were is that it May cost more for this luxury and also (I always keep this in my mind as was brought up this way, with cars) the resale can be terrible as it WAS made for a single person who's idea's are obviously their own and may not conform to others.

Japan, as they did with the automotive industry, has taken a design and copied/improved it in such a way to make tremendous instruments that are as good as (if not better) than the original save 'that name' and offer great vfm.

Again, ya pay ya money and take ya choice  :D

[dave_mc]

I'd take my £1500 to a luthier and get him to make me a les paul that can makes people faces explode with one note.

+1

Or more likely, since i'm more of an 80's guy and prefer things with floyd roses, would buy an edwards or tokai around £500, so that I could put the other £1000 towards something else. If my main music style called for a LP, though, i'd spend the £1500 on it. I'm certainly not saying those of you who would aren't justified in doing so. :)

[the_bleeding]

LP replacement?

well of course my eastwood is just that, but with double cut.
i also like the schecter tempest customs
and fernandes (duh), those are sweet guitars.
and right now my mockingbird special, theres nothing like that mahogany body and neck paired with an ebony fretboard. Its much brighter than my eastwood. My eastwood is a very mellow guitar compared to my mockingbird.

[noodleplugerine]

ESP Eclipse.

[PoshCollins]

Steve Steven's main white Les Paul with the Rebel yells.  8)