Enfilade Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Hi everyone, I just joined the Les Paul family by diving into the deep end, a 2016 LP Std HP in Transparent Black. The Sweetwater rep said that the Transparent Black was one of the more fickle tops in terms of quality, and that the one they just got in was exceptional. Of course, he is selling the product, and he also thought that all the 2016 LP Standard line was AAA tops, when the HP's are supposed to have AAAA tops (aside from three colors, I think). So I figured I'd get the experienced eyes of this forum on the case. How does this top look for Transparent Black AAAA? Keep or send back? Thanks for looking and commenting! I hope to be around the forum more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Anybody can call any top any number of 'A's they want, there is no objective standard by which to measure. If you are asking if you should send it back because it isn't AAAA, nobody can answer that. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american cheez Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 what i suggest is to send the guitar to me for evaluation. i'll play it for a few years and let you know how things turn out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Hello and welcome to the LP club, im pretty sure you wont regret that purchase.. That's a lovely guitar you have there whatever the grade top :) If you don't mind let me embed this for you at an easier size to look at Honestly, the difference between AAA and AAAA is going to be hard to tell.. Its all in the eye of the beholder really. As long as you like they way it looks then who really cares what its official name is.. Every top is so different and unique, some look way over the top, some are more subtle.. The closest I can see to a scale is if you look at a 2015 model.. They have a section in the description called Wood Selection. Check it out, you will see a pic and a small description of each one as you move over the top of the picture. http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/USA/Les-Paul-Classic.aspx Either way.. Happy playing.. It really is a sweet looking guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 To me this top looks very consistent. It could be the smoothest figuring I've ever seen. Since the number of As given by rating a top depends on uniformity, this one can easily be an AAAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 To me this top looks very consistent. It could be the smoothest figuring I've ever seen. Since the number of As given by rating a top depends on uniformity, this one can easily be an AAAA. Gibson rate by coverage, not uniformity AFAIK. I saw their descriptions somewhere once. As stated above, AAAA means nothing at all. Do you like it? Enough to pay the price? I'm assuming you like the way it plays and feels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfilade Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 Gibson rate by coverage, not uniformity AFAIK. I saw their descriptions somewhere once. As stated above, AAAA means nothing at all. Do you like it? Enough to pay the price? I'm assuming you like the way it plays and feels? Thanks for the replies so far. I figured there wasn't an objective standard for AAA vs AAAA vs whatever, but also know that folks on here have seen many, many more tops than I have! The only fault I've found after playing has been a E string buzz, and that's only when strummed harder. Should be easy to tweak away. The GForce tuning has been consistent in its inconsistency, with the top 2 strings needing a precision tuning after a strum. A bit of reading on here suggested to me that this wasn't at all unusual, and there are plenty of fine tuning options in the GForce manual (an almost ridiculous number.. I may have more fun with the tuner than with the -- nah... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 . Despite comments that suggest grades mean nothing, Gibson does grade tops. FWIW here's some pics of Gibson graded tops - it's a bit difficult to see the differences between AAA, AAAA, and AAAAA. BTW, that AAAAA below is TransBlack AA (aka 'Plus' top) - has pronounced figuring but with some spottiness from bald spots and figuring run outs in the center and the edges. This one graded by Gibson as an AA Plus top. AAA (aka 'Premium Plus' top) - nicely figured with a few bald spots or run outs, but mostly the figuring goes to the edges. This is the top of an LP I have that was graded by Gibson as AAA - AAAA - consistant figuring goes out to the edges with good constrast between the light and dark bands. No run outs or bald spots - this one was graded AAAA by Gibson. AAAAA - is reserved for pieces with the most beautiful and highest amount of figuring and consistancy - this one was graded AAAAA by Gibson. You can see it can be difficult to detect much of a difference between AAAA and AAAAA. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Dude, I don't care how many A's there are, that's a nice LP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Nice one! Congrats! BTW, how may A's does it take to play well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 its a great look. Judging from the examples here it looks consistent with AAAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 That's 5A - as far as I am concerned. ;) Beautiful!!! Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Judging from one picture is hardly a good move but from that one picture we have I'd say AAA. Does it matter either way? Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 ... Does it matter either way? Pip. Sure! No matter how nice it is, if the specs say it's only 1A. ;) Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eracer_Team Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 My question is: Why would someone just toss a very nice Les Paul on to a pile of stuff on a work bench, including a ballpeen hammer . not being very nice to said Les Paul. the picture is too low res to tell if its a AAA or AAAAA.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 I think in the past decade or so, we've all been robbed of a few "A's". Gibson seems to keep adding them. What we used to call AA we now call AAA, what used to be AAA sometimes is called AA. How to explain. There doesn't seem to be a standard anymore on what makes how many A's. The scale keeps sliding, especially when they keep adding A's to the scale. Now that we are up to 5 or 6 A's, does that mean all the others slide up or down a slot? Wanna call it AA because it's got less below the bridge there? Fine, I would buy that. Wanna call it AAA because it is deep? That adds up. Wanna call it AAAA because it has unusually tight curl? It is more rare than not, so that can work too. Hell, since it can be both an AA or an AAAA, add another A! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. C.O. Jones Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 How many A's on this? The sheets not the guitar, the salesdude told me they were triple A and that I would only have top notch 3some wet dreams! Jokes aside, that thing looks fantastic...GO PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Think you've got yourself a winner, there. Keep her and play her well! Don't worry about the top when it looks that good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notsob Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi everyone, Very nice guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfilade Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 My question is: Why would someone just toss a very nice Les Paul on to a pile of stuff on a work bench, including a ballpeen hammer . not being very nice to said Les Paul. the picture is too low res to tell if its a AAA or AAAAA.. Its an optical illusion, I swear! The bench was the only available secure mount with overhead lighting. The guitar is sitting on cloth supports all down its length. Definitely wouldn't let any bit of its surface touch anything on that bench. Including the hammer! I didn't even notice it in the photo when I posted it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfilade Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 . Despite comments that suggest grades mean nothing, Gibson does grade tops. FWIW here's some pics of Gibson graded tops - it's a bit difficult to see the differences between AAA, AAAA, and AAAAA. BTW, that AAAAA below is TransBlack AAAAA - is reserved for pieces with the most beautiful and highest amount of figuring and consistancy - this one was graded AAAAA by Gibson. You can see it can be difficult to detect much of a difference between AAAA and AAAAA. . Aw, hell... now that just isn't fair. Gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveT2 Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 You have a beautiful guitar there. No matter how many A's are on it. If I remember right mine was sold as AAA but personally I would go higher. But it's mine and since it plays and sounds how I want it to I'm not worried about the A rating. And to me that's the only rating that matters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glp2012 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Where's an opinion from sparquelito when you need one??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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