1980’ s have produced models with a less than stellar reputation.
Weight Relief By design, a Gibson Les Paul is a heavy guitar – mostly thanks to their solid Mahogany bodies and necks. Gibson’ s luthiers offer a variety of weight relieved models that cut down on the heft, with seemingly nominal impact to the instrument’ s much-sought after tone.
Today, the brand offers different degrees of weight relief: traditional relief, modern relief, chambered relief, as well as variants of the guitar with no weight relief whatsoever that weigh over 10 pounds. Gibson describes the middle of the road“ modern” weight relief as somewhere between full on chambering of the body, which players claimed was too resonant, and traditional weight relief, which consists of a series of small circular holes bored into the body to remove mass. Les Paul Ultra models are slimmer. When shopping for your first Les Paul – take note of which variant you like the feel and sound of. hotter cousin the‘ 57 Classic Plus, or the 490T and R models, which allow for split coil tonal variety via a push / pull knob.
While pickups can always be swapped out at a later date – most on the used market would never swap out vintage Gibson pickups on a Les Paul. Ace Frehley, who through much of KISS’ early career favored DiMarzio Super Distortions, made it a point of saying that he wouldn’ t touch the electronics on a classic Les Paul. An unaltered vintage Les Paul is extremely valuable, and the prices climb into the stratosphere with each rarer model.
Choosing Which Model Works For You In the end, Gibson’ s offerings have evolved to the point where they pretty much offer something for everyone. Depending on the flexibility of your budget, if you want a Les Paul, Gibson has a model for you.
In my own hunt for a Les Paul, I opted for a simple Les Paul Traditional. At 10 pounds, the
guitar is not weight-relieved, and it comes with the‘ 57 Classic and‘ 57 Classic Plus pickups that pair well with the Marshall JCM 2000 DSL head it was to be played through. In contrast to the super thin Ibanez necks I was accustomed to, the 50’ s neck profile of the Les Paul that I bought is a welcome addition to my collection. I’ ve always read that when designing the Soloist, Jackson Guitars sought to blend a Fender body with a Gibson neck, and I was surprised to see that the similarities between the two are striking( at least at the lower frets).
As with any large purchase, doing your research will help guide you in the right direction – but playing the instrument( or something similar) is key. Assess your playing needs, budget, and proceed from there. Don’ t need all the aesthetic frills, but still want the Les Paul sound? Opt for a Studio model, which was created for just that purpose. Want an ebony fretboard? Expect to pay, but there is a custom waiting for you. Either way, Gibson has created a Les Paul that seems tailor-made to meet your needs.
Neck Profile Once you’ ve decided on the weight of your Les Paul, next is choosing from a variety of Gibson’ s neck profiles. From the chunky profile of the 1950’ s models to the slimmer, more modern necks, which are more aligned with variants from the 1960’ s. Each player has their own preference, so always try a similar profile before buying. The Les Paul Studio, Classic, and Standard models offer a slimmer neck, while the Traditional models have the chunkier vintage profile.
Pickups While the heart of the Les Paul’ s sound is found in the Mahogany, the character lies within the pickups. Les Paul’ s offer anything from classic P90 soap bars, PAFs modeled off of some of Gibson’ s most famous vintage guitars, to the hotter Burstbucker Pros with some extra sizzle as needed. Other options offered include the‘ 57 Classic, which models the famous“ patent applied for” humbuckers of yesterday, to its
May � June 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com
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