Whoops! (NGD)

[AndyR]

Well, I wasn't expecting to buy this little girlie today

In fact, I wasn't really expecting to own such a thing at all (ever).

It's a Les Paul Traditional. I'm assuming it's "Wine Red", it's kinda red/brown but changes colour with the light. I've tried to take piccies, with flash, without flash... but this is about the best you'll get out of me and the cameras to hand here at Russe Towers.

It needs my strings putting on it and the action raising a tad to suit me, but... Oh WOW! Happy New Year Andrew

[Kiichi]

Lovely, congrats! The figuring looks great and I can sorta imagine the colour you describe.

Damn, I gotta get me a LP too!

[Philly Q]

I like that colour!

Well done Andy, first NGD of 2015! 

[Plenum n Heather]

That looks great! Sounds like there's a story in there, somewhere, give with the purchase details!

[d1dsj]

Congrats, what a way to start the year its a beauty. Play in good health and happy new year!

[Telerocker]

That's a beautiful Les Paul. Nice colour and grain.

[38thBeatle]

I'll add my congrats to the chorus of, erm, congratulations. Lovely looking guitar.

[AndyR]

Thanks folks - having a very nice time with it so far...

The story:

I went out thinking Tele, possibly SG! 

In fact, I was very much thinking SG - I have a Faded, with a 50s neck that I love, but I have a hankering for a 61 re-issue with the slim neck... Sadly, they don't make them any more (or at the moment, anyway). And all the new Gibsons have these automatic tuners and a funny looking "zero-fret" hollow brass nut... I was tempted, but couldn't get over the lump of stuff on the back of the headstock, and especially not the nut (so I didn't even pick one up).

We'd only gone out for a stroll and some window shopping, but this little beastie was sat in the corner of my favourite Fender outlet. The only other two Gibsons in there were second hand. We both liked the look of this one. Probably, if I ever got a Les Paul, it was going to be wine red... In fact, the only one I nearly bought, years ago, was quite like this.

We were actually about to leave town and then decided to go back to try this one, just in case it spoke to me! (bearing in mind the one from years ago that I didn't buy... and then it was gone when I went back).

It didn't speak to me at first. The strings are 10s, the action way too low for me, the pickups were set quite far from the strings, and the young chap took my "something bluesy, cleans up on the volume control" description of an amp to mean a Fender Deluxe...

After a bit he got me some pedal that does "plexi" and things hotted up a bit. And then there was this guy hovering with his son (they'd been in another shop trying a Les Paul) - so that speeded up my "bonding" with the guitar!

Since getting it home, I've been fiddling with the pickup heights - it now sounds very nice. Not as plummy as my Tokai Love Rock, but that has my 11s on it and the action raised a bit. So I'm about to take this new one apart and set it up how I like it and see where we go from there...

It's a 2012 Traditional - the shop got it brand new a week or two ago in some sort of a deal with their supplier (they don't normally stock Gibson). Looking online, I seem to have dodged the Min-Etune or G-Force bullet quite successfully - the later ones seem to have this robot stuff on them...

Reading posts in online corners where Gibson and Les Paul geeks hang out, it seems there's a bunch of "pre2013 the trads have all got that ghastly swiss-cheese weight reduction" talk. This one is heavy, couldn't tell you how heavy, possibly more so than the Tokai, but only marginally. The thing is though, it sings like I want it to, feels well solid, so who cares what's inside!

There also seems to be talk of the later ones are not so well made... look for a 2013 (I think it was)... but, again... I find myself thinking "it's the guitar in your hands guys" forget what anyone else says!

One thing I'm REALLY pleased with - the finish. I don't seem to be sticking to this guitar like I have with other glossy finish Gibsons. Maybe it's because it's well over two years since it was put together, but I'd owned my Explorer for over two years before I decided to strip it because I couldn't face playing it... This one just feels silky warm and smooth - a joy to handle...

This morning it's been playing a lot of Thin Lizzy.

Time to strip her down now and turn her into one of my guitars (before I get too used to lighter strings and extremely low action).

I'm imagining this one might end up with Stormy Mondays, although I'm quite liking what's on board at the moment. Rumour has it that they are 57 in the neck and 57+ (?! whatever that is) in the bridge...

It does solve one problem I was having, though, pickup homes in other guitars. It hasn't been going perfectly here for a while. I liked the MQs in my Faded SG, but I wanted that one to go back to humbucking. Now that I have the new Les Paul, the MQs can go in the Love Rock, the 57s it has inherited temporarily can go in the Explorer, and the Riff Raffs can go back in the Faded SG...

But first... let's sort this beastie out with my set up

(I still can't quite believe I own an actual Les Paul - it's taken 34 years since I first wanted one!)

[Brow]

Love it!

The finish looks similar to the Sammy Hagar finish on his signature LP and Explorer.

[AndyR]

The finish looks similar to the Sammy Hagar finish on his signature LP and Explorer.

I was just thinking that! Waiting for the second lot of Fret Doctor to soak into the fingerboard and gazing lovingly at it, I was thinking "last time I saw this fine colour, there was a strange thingy on the guitar's headstock" - and yes, it was the Sammy Hagar sig, wasn't it?

[dave_mc]

Nice :D

[blue]

I believe that finish is called "Root beer".  Lovely looking Les Paul, Congratulations :)

[AndyR]

I believe that finish is called "Root beer".  Lovely looking Les Paul, Congratulations :)

At first, I thought you were joking about "Root Beer" as a gibson colour... But apparently not!

After much research (ie looking at dodgy pics on the internet and browsing Gibson and various places), I'm fairly convinced this one's Wine Red. First, it's a lot more red than the Root Beer pics I've found. Then I discovered (Gibson site) that Root Beer is currently offered on one geetar only (Custom Pro) and doesn't show up as an "Out of Production" colour on the Traditional. Wine Red does show as "Out of Production" on the Traditional. And then, on MyLesPaul, there's a bunch of folks moaning that Wine Red isn't a Trad option in 2009/10, then suddenly around 11/12 there's folks going "ooh look wot I found".

Meanwhile, this beastie is just about set, with Andrew's 11s in place. I had some frustrating moments yesterday on the switch-over, but we appear to be in "Oh my goodness" territory now...

I nearly went back to 10s it was so much hassle (eg, with 11s, annoying buzzery on D string; only JUST enough travel on the G saddle to intonate OK; lower action than, but harder to play than, my main strat!!!). But we got it sorted now - loosened the truss-rod a tad to stick a bit of relief in, raised the tailpiece somewhat, let it settle overnight, then lowered the bridge again. WOOHOO!

[keith]

Nice Wine Red that mate,it is wine red I used to have a deluxe back in the late seventies nearly exactly the same. Wish i'd known then what I know now and hung onto it,but sadly like a lot of guitar players things move on and 'there is always something better out there'. The root beer is more of a brown colour if i'm not mistaken.

[Telerocker]

Nice Wine Red that mate,it is wine red I used to have a deluxe back in the late seventies nearly exactly the same. Wish i'd known then what I know now and hung onto it,but sadly like a lot of guitar players things move on and 'there is always something better out there'. The root beer is more of a brown colour if i'm not mistaken.

You're right, rootbeer is way more brown than this winered.