Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

les paul 1959 vs LP standard


lolo_guitar

Recommended Posts

hi

my question is

 

if i buy a Standard like 2012-2013-2014 model

 

how will you describe the sounds / R9 ?

 

not enough trebles? sustain ?

 

 

i say that because the LP 59 (r9) seems to be the best of the best

 

whereas LP standard have burstbuckers pro now

 

or there is the "traditional" model too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Farnsbarns

There are good and bad USA standards and there are good and bad R9s. IMX the R9 is more.likely to be very very good, something special, but not all of them are. The R9 will have all the 50s appointments which make a difference to the feel. Littler ally the spots where your right hand might rest feel different under the hand (abr1 and tall pup rings).

 

If you can you must go and play as many as you can and buy the jne you prefer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi

my question is

 

if i buy a Standard like 2012-2013-2014 model

 

how will you describe the sounds / R9 ?

 

not enough trebles? sustain ?

 

 

i say that because the LP 59 (r9) seems to be the best of the best

 

whereas LP standard have burstbuckers pro now

 

or there is the "traditional" model too

I personally love the Burstbucker Pro's and i've tried a lot of pups and always go back to them.They sound great from metal to Jazz.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look at it the other way around.

 

All maple topped mahogany bodied mahogany set necked rosewood fingerboarded humbucker'd guitars are going to sound pretty much the same.

 

An R9 is just an expensive Les Paul, and it offers nothing significantly different as far as sound goes.

 

If you can't make any of the guitars you mentioned sound good, might be time to rethink yer hobby. The same guitar across the line just doesn't have that much contribution. How you sound with a Les Paul is pretty much how you will sound with all of them.

 

rct

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...I still have the BB King but I don't have any of the Les Pauls so what does that tell you...

It suggests to me that you sensed a personal preference for your particular example of the BB King model over those particular individual LPs which had at certain times spent some time in your ownership.

 

P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Farnsbarns

Look at it the other way around.

 

All maple topped mahogany bodied mahogany set necked rosewood fingerboarded humbucker'd guitars are going to sound pretty much the same.

 

An R9 is just an expensive Les Paul, and it offers nothing significantly different as far as sound goes.

 

If you can't make any of the guitars you mentioned sound good, might be time to rethink yer hobby. The same guitar across the line just doesn't have that much contribution. How you sound with a Les Paul is pretty much how you will sound with all of them.

 

rct

 

RCT wins again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look at it the other way around.

 

All maple topped mahogany bodied mahogany set necked rosewood fingerboarded humbucker'd guitars are going to sound pretty much the same.

 

An R9 is just an expensive Les Paul, and it offers nothing significantly different as far as sound goes.

 

If you can't make any of the guitars you mentioned sound good, might be time to rethink yer hobby. The same guitar across the line just doesn't have that much contribution. How you sound with a Les Paul is pretty much how you will sound with all of them.

 

rct

Buy both then let us know what you think. I have a Gibson BB King sig. model and I have had a few LP's. I still have the BB King but I don't have any of the Les Pauls so what does that tell you.

It suggests to me that you sensed a personal preference for your particular example of the BB King model over those particular individual LPs which had at certain times spent some time in your ownership.

 

P.

Like other models, too, Les Paul and BB King Lucille guitars each are a league of their own.

 

Tastes are different, and, in particular due to the Varitone switch which I like, there have been two BB King Lucille near-misses in my life. Anyway, everybody will have to decide for oneself, and there have been tones I have been more prone to spend my money on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

i have played with some Les paul guitars in shops but when i listened to videos, it seems that the most expensive les paul the 59 has

 

a better bright and clean sound

 

listen to Gary Moore "blues alive" for example

 

but if buy one LP it will be the standard or a traditional

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[blink]

 

Do you really think you playing in a shop can be compared with Gary Moore's stage rig?

 

Seriously???

 

[blink]

 

In any case; Gary Moore played plenty of modern LPs and still sounded like himself.

 

Re-read post #8.

 

P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In any case; Gary Moore played plenty of modern LPs and still sounded like himself.

 

 

amazing fact, Gary Moore even sounded like Gary Moore when he played a strat..

 

I know!!! Go Figure huh??

 

\:D/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hang on a second, KB;.......

You're saying the player's own ability, style, phrasing and technique can be the major influence on his/her end-tone???.............................[scared]..............................

 

Who'd-a-thunk-it???

 

[laugh]

 

Pip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...

so, why this model is so expensive if the sound is the same than the standard?

 

Hello!

 

The R9 is made by the Custom Shop.

 

I guess, the extra effort and care to make it a near-perfect replica of the original 1959 model makes it so expensive.

 

Unlike, many other members, I haven't had a Reissue in my hands. Those who had, say those guitars are far "better" than the run-of-the-mill Standards.

 

Don't forget they are also different in construction to regular Standards. They have one-piece all-solid bodies, AlNiCo III pickups (Custombuckers), long-tenon neck joint, slightly different headstock and body arch.

 

The closest You can get to these, without spending too much on a guitar, would be a 2013-14 Traditional.

 

BUT, As RCT above mentioned...I will not repeat His words. The constructional differences have slight effect on the overall tone. And we didn't even mention pedals, and the AMPS!!!

 

Cheers... Bence

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[blink]

...

 

In any case; Gary Moore played plenty of modern LPs and still sounded like himself.

 

...

 

P.

 

Hello Pippy!

 

This is an old thread, and we have been discussing this before...

 

...as a strange coincidence, yesterday while I was working, I was listening to Gary Moore songs from a Youtube playlist.

 

I had that window turned down, I didn't see the video. At one of the tracks, - while I was pretty sure I hear a Les Paul guitar - turning up the window, I was surprised to see He played a double-cut, thinline Tele.

 

Still, He sounded like Gary Moore and not like any of the whole bunch of guitars He used.

 

Cheers... Bence

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Farnsbarns

i listened to a lot of videos and my conclusion is that the the 59 model

 

has a better clean sound

 

 

so, why this model is so expensive if the sound is the same than the standard?

 

Where these Youtube videos with all that low bit rate, compressed sound?

 

Where they all played by the same person in the same room, with the same layout, amp, amp settings, mic and mic position? Was all the post production done in the same software with the same settings?

 

I still think you should be careful about this assumption. An R9 is a reproduction of a 59 les paul, it uses the choice woods and is closer to hand made. IMX it is more likely to he great les paul but that doesn't mean you can define a difference in sound and if you think you can you're likely in for a world of pain. The way to choose a guitar is to play a load until you find one you really like.

 

You've had a lot of strange threads asking for opinions on entirely subjective matters.

 

Recently you posted that the LP is hard to play, now you're thinking of buying a 59 ri?

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think you're trolling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found your guitar!

Now you don't have to worry anymore.

 

Go and buy this one, trust me it has the cleanest sound of em all.

 

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/1959-gibson-les-paul-standard-serial-9-1942-1

No reissue can give you that.

 

Maybe those folks don't wan't to sell it to you.

But if you tell them how much videos of 59's you listened to they may do an exeption.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We all have likes and dislikes and opinions on what sounds closest to A or B. IMO the best thing you can do is try the guitars yourself. There is simply no substitue for your own personal evaluation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've played a whole lot of Les Pauls, and I would say that the tone is not the main thing that distinguishes the low end versions from the high end ones, at lest when specced similarly. It's more about playing feel and other subjective impressions that don't translate well into recordings, especially the crappy camera mics used for most YouTube videos.

 

Paul Reed Smith has this theory that a guitar string can generate a certain amount of sound, and that every part you add to a guitar can only subtract from that. So it's a matter of using materials and construction methods that take away as little sound as possible. Really bad guitars simply deaden a lot more string sound than carefully constructed ones.

 

I had a very early Squier Strat that appeared to have a body made out of several laminated planks, and I have no idea what species of wood. It sounded ok, but I kept modding it to make it better. I changed pickups, tuners, electronics, then the neck, and finally the body. Meaning the only original part it carries now is the neck plate. All of the mods made a difference, but when I replaced that heavy, dead body with a single piece alder one, it was suddenly dramatically different. Way more output and sustain, and a much more musical tone. This leads me to believe Paul is onto something.

 

The very "best" guitar I ever played, in terms of tone, articulation, sustain, etc., was a Wildwood Featherweight Special '59 Les Paul. It was dramatically easier to make that guitar sound the way I wanted, and to control every note, compared to any of my own Les Pauls, or any of my other guitars. But, I bet it wouldn't have sounded very different from my highly modified Epiphone on most recordings.

 

To me, it feels with low quality guitars like I'm always fighting them to make them sound the way I want them to. Good guitars don't fight back near as much. I'm sure though that the end result doesn't sound all that different to other people either way.

 

And don't make the mistake that expensive = good and cheap = bad. I have a Japanese '57 Strat reissue that I bought for the yen equivalent of $180 that is my favorite Strat. I have others worth thousands more that don't sound as good to my ear. But they generally play somewhat better. I've got an Epiphone Les Paul that I think sounds and plays better than most Gibsons that I've tried that cost twice as much. But it isn't even in the same universe as one of those Wildwood Featherweights.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...