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Classic 2017


Andynikken

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Hi All,

I have recently been given a Gibson Les Paul Classic 2017 as a gift from my wife, I own a Standard American Fender Strat and a 1960 re issue Epiphone les paul,

I have only played it for about half an hour and my excitement soon disappeared into disappointment. Is it me or am I being over critical but this guitar is not anything like what I expected, My Epi is much nicer to play and the tones seem better when not using any effects,

can I have your opinions please as this is my first Gibson and maybe I am expecting too much.

thank you

Andy

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Hi All,

I have recently been given a Gibson Les Paul Classic 2017 as a gift from my wife, I own a Standard American Fender Strat and a 1960 re issue Epiphone les paul,

I have only played it for about half an hour and my excitement soon disappeared into disappointment. Is it me or am I being over critical but this guitar is not anything like what I expected, My Epi is much nicer to play and the tones seem better when not using any effects,

can I have your opinions please as this is my first Gibson and maybe I am expecting too much.

thank you

Andy

 

A real Gibson Les Paul is an interesting guitar because you really have to fiddle with your amp to dial in the tone. It will have a fuller sound, in my opinion, than either Epi and a way different sound than the Strat. I used to own an Epi Les Paul and got rid of it after getting a real American one because the quality and tone didn't measure up.

 

I don't know what your rig is like and have no recommendations for you on tuning it in however for me, I always play through tube amps, I primarily play Gibsons and always give them a go clean before I use any pedals. My current favorite rig is a Fender Super Champ x2 plugged into a Marshall 2x12 and using either my Les Paul Studio Lite, my Les Paul Less+ or one of my traditionals. To my ears, it sounds amazing.

 

I hope that you can dial in the tone that works for you but if not, that is a big chunk of change out the door for a guitar you don't care for. I would look at returning or exchanging it.

 

My wife used to get me guitars for gifts up until she got me a Epiphone Riviera P93. I hate the way that thing sounds and I never play it. I won't get rid of it because I don't want to offend her. Now she lets me get whatever I want.

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You don't really say why your disappointed other that it's not the same as your Epiphone.

 

A half an hour is not a lot of time to evaluate a guitar - if I went into a store to purchase a guitar I know I would spend a lot more time than that before buying one.

 

Seems most people that have gotten these classics really love them. Just give it more time and keep working with it - hopefully you will find the sweet spot. Not sure what your normal tendency is, but a Les Paul really isn't made to be played with the volumes and tones all on 10. If you are doing that you are missing out on most of the tone available.

 

Hope it works out for you - if not, and it doesn't offend the wife too much, you should be able to return it and try something else. Good luck.

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No one can tell you what you should or shouldn't like! Tone is subjective, and the result of many variables.

 

How is the Gibson "set up?" Is it comparable, to your Epi? Do the tone and volume controls, swell and decay,

the same way on both? Fret work, can be "fixed" if it's not up to your standards. The pots and caps may differ

enough, to give you different tones, at the same settings. And, of course, pickups will contribute, as well.

Stock Gibson pickups ('57 & 57 Plus) should be awesome! But, that's only MY opinion, and I'm prejudice toward

Gibson '57's anyway. [tongue][biggrin] Stock Epi pickups can be excellent, to less so. So, depending on

what your "used to," the tone may seem "different," even noticeably so.

 

But, I wouldn't give up on the Gibson! Play it, a LOT, without going back and forth, between it and the Epi,

and see if, when you get "used to" it's tone, if you still feel it's still lacking, or just different. Only

then, would I consider trading it, or selling it off.

 

Good Luck! Hope the Gibson "Grows on you!" [biggrin]

 

 

CB

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Can't compare it to an EPI, but I love my 2017 Classic (Goldtop).

 

'57 Pick-ups, 60s neck, old school wiring, locking tuners.

 

I went in looking for a Traditional, but didn't bond with the few they had. Luckily I finally checked the specs online for the lone Goldtop/Classic they had, figuring the PUPs were the old ceramic - thrilled to see they were 57s!

 

I play mine through a Blackstar HT-5rh, and as of last night a Classic 20 MH...sweet!

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as the others have already said, you need to dial in the tone clean, or at least mostly clean. keep the drive down far enough so that you can get some hair if your attack is hard, but generally is chimey clean. once you get a sound you like, then add your pedals as necessary, keeping in mind they will likely all need slight tweaking too. being sure it is set up properly is important. have fresh strings. dont be afraid to adjust your pick up height as well. youtube can help you with that if you dont already know how. possibly not everyone will agree, but i think 57 classics are the coolest pick ups you can buy new. if that's what you have in your guitar, it should be a tone monster. congrats on a really cool guitar. if you give it a chance you'll love it.

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Thank you all for the advice and encouragement,, yes I believe you are all right, I have not played it long enough, unfortunately it was a gift from my wife so I didn't get to try it, the disappointing thing I have found is the set up and I think that is why I do not like it, looking closely at the finish and build I think it is second rate , I suppose being an engineer maybe I am critical to much but anyhow I have asked the music shop where my wife purchased it if I can take it back, I do not believe I will ever like it after the initial disappointment.

Hopefully I will get a Gold Top instead and have it set up at the shop.

Thank you again for the advice.

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Hello again everyone, I now have had 3 hours with this guitar and I am afraid to say I can't wait to get rid of it, closer inspection found glue at the neck joint , some frets smooth some sharp, loose bindings on the pickups, and some of the bindings look uneven.

It has to go but disappointingly the shop my wife purchased it from doesn't want to know so I will have to take a hit and trade it elsewhere. Such a shame really as this kind of finishes I would not have expected from Gibson,

I also realised why the Epi plays better, it's the neck! My epi is a V3 1969 re issue with Gibson pickups and the neck is much bigger, so I guess I need to select a bigger neck with a Gibson.

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Hello again everyone, I now have had 3 hours with this guitar and I am afraid to say I can't wait to get rid of it, closer inspection found glue at the neck joint , some frets smooth some sharp, loose bindings on the pickups, and some of the bindings look uneven.

It has to go but disappointingly the shop my wife purchased it from doesn't want to know so I will have to take a hit and trade it elsewhere. Such a shame really as this kind of finishes I would not have expected from Gibson,

I also realised why the Epi plays better, it's the neck! My epi is a V3 1969 re issue with Gibson pickups and the neck is much bigger, so I guess I need to select a bigger neck with a Gibson.

 

Where did she get it from?

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Richtone music in Sheffield England,, they have offered to set it up but will not exchange or have it back, I contacted my local shop and they have offered me £200 pound less than the cost to part exchange it which I will have to do I guess

 

Hopefully some of our members out there see this and remember Richtone when they buy guitars. No one wants to buy from a place that doesn't honor their word.

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My Explorer is one of the finest guitars I've ever seen or owned, and to his last weeks on earth the guy that sold it to here wanted it back because the kid gave her too good a sale price. That was a whopper Christmas present, 2006.

 

My #1 Tele and my #1.1 Strat are true joys to play, she bought them both, but I was there for them.

 

Hello Kitty was a fun gift for Christmas one year long ago, and I love that thing.

 

It is good to have a Mrs that everything she knows about guitars she got from me!

 

rct

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Guest Farnsbarns

There's a couple of things here. Firstly Gibson's are nitro finished and flaws in this, especially over glue joints are quite normal. Some prefer nitro over poly finishes but others don't. It cracks, it gasses off for years, it goes Matt and it's not impervious. Poly will always be shinier and more uniform. It will also site over glue joints better.

 

Gibson's are hand made. The binding is applied by hand, trimmed by hand and scraped by hand after the colour goes on. Again, this means flaws are probable.

 

Epiphones are largely plywood. Plywood doesn't move after removing some material so fit and finish will be tight.

 

It's absolutely fine to prefer CNC made guitars with poly finishes built from stabilised wood. But, if you're going to buy a Gibson you really need to play and choose it. They vary far more because of the hand made nature and the nitro finish.

 

If you haven't fallen for it and the shop won't take it back (why would they, from their perspective there's nothing "wrong" with it) then you might be best off taking the £200 hit and buying one of your choosing. Or 4 more epis or other Asian, CNC, machine made, poly finished guitars if they suit you better, and no one would blame you for that.

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I definitely have to dial in my tone for whatever guitar I am playing. If I plug any of my Les Pauls in after my Strat it's going to sound awful. Those Epi pickups are definitely not 57 Classics, or EMGs or Dimarzio, etc. Every guitar I have sounds different, plays different, and definitely takes adjustment when going from one to the other.

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There's a couple of things here. Firstly Gibson's are nitro finished and flaws in this, especially over glue joints are quite normal. Some prefer nitro over poly finishes but others don't. It cracks, it gasses off for years, it goes Matt and it's not impervious. Poly will always be shinier and more uniform. It will also site over glue joints better.

 

Gibson's are hand made. The binding is applied by hand, trimmed by hand and scraped by hand after the colour goes on. Again, this means flaws are probable.

 

Epiphones are largely plywood. Plywood doesn't move after removing some material so fit and finish will be tight.

 

It's absolutely fine to prefer CNC made guitars with poly finishes built from stabilised wood. But, if you're going to buy a Gibson you really need to play and choose it. They vary far more because of the hand made nature and the nitro finish.

 

If you haven't fallen for it and the shop won't take it back (why would they, from their perspective there's nothing "wrong" with it) then you might be best off taking the £200 hit and buying one of your choosing. Or 4 more epis or other Asian, CNC, machine made, poly finished guitars if they suit you better, and no one would blame you for that.

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Thank you for that, I have tried and tried but I am disliking it more and more,

I think my problem is I just don't like it and it's a tricky one as my wife bought it for me, there is nothing about this guitar I like, I love my American Strat and the epi was just a back up for heavier songs which is fine, but if I compare the Strat build against the Gibson build hands down the strat is better to my eyes and ears so I just need to figure out how to get it changed.

I just expected more from Gibson in the quality of the build but as you say it's hand built, more than that I do not like the zebra pickups, maybe if she got me a standard I may have kept on and played it.

Thanks for you honest opinion

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Andy, I have to say, I played a 2017 Classic earlier in the year and was actually surprised at how "un-Les Paul" it sounded to me. It was very non-resonant and bright. I played two models, the green one and the goldtop. They seemed to play well, but I was just very surprised at my experience with it. However, I own a 2016 Traditional which is essentially the same model barring the different finishes, tuners, and uncovered pickups and it is exactly what I think of when I think of a Les Paul. My experience with the new 2017s are that way as well. This is just a theory, but I know the Traditionals were getting "ultra-low density" mahogany bodies, while the Classics were just "low density". I don't know if this really makes the difference but there was a night and day between the Classics and the Traditionals for me. So I recommend you playing a few more models, especially the Traditionals. I think you'll find that Gibson vibe you're looking for.

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I definitely have to dial in my tone for whatever guitar I am playing. If I plug any of my Les Pauls in after my Strat it's going to sound awful. Those Epi pickups are definitely not 57 Classics, or EMGs or Dimarzio, etc. Every guitar I have sounds different, plays different, and definitely takes adjustment when going from one to the other.

Hi i looked up my epi pickups on my guitar, here is the description.

 

Hearing is Believing: Capturing everything these tone woods and premium construction have to give are a pair of Gibson U.S.A. BurstBucker pickups. BurstBucker pickups replicate the sound of Gibson's original "Patent Applied For" pickups - the pickups that gave the '59 and '60 Les Paul Standards their legendary sound. Like the originals, with unpolished magnets and non-potted coils, variations in pickup output and tone also came from inconsistencies in winding the bobbins, a result of the lack of automatic shutoffs on Gibson's winding machines in the late 1950s. Seth Lover, who invented the humbucker, always said they wound the bobbins "until they were full." When two coils in a pickup have a different number of turns, that variation puts a little "edge" or "bite" on the classic humbucker sound. That's the sound BurstBuckers replicate. The neck pickup is a Burstbucker-1 and is slightly under-wound for a "medium" vintage output. The bridge pickup is a Burstbucker-2 that is wound in the range of a '57 Classic pickup with slightly hotter vintage output that works well in combination with the BB-1 in the neck. One listen and you'll think you have a 50-year old guitar in your hands!

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Hi i looked up my epi pickups on my guitar, here is the description.

 

Hearing is Believing: Capturing everything these tone woods and premium construction have to give are a pair of Gibson U.S.A. BurstBucker pickups. BurstBucker pickups replicate the sound of Gibson's original "Patent Applied For" pickups - the pickups that gave the '59 and '60 Les Paul Standards their legendary sound. Like the originals, with unpolished magnets and non-potted coils, variations in pickup output and tone also came from inconsistencies in winding the bobbins, a result of the lack of automatic shutoffs on Gibson's winding machines in the late 1950s. Seth Lover, who invented the humbucker, always said they wound the bobbins "until they were full." When two coils in a pickup have a different number of turns, that variation puts a little "edge" or "bite" on the classic humbucker sound. That's the sound BurstBuckers replicate. The neck pickup is a Burstbucker-1 and is slightly under-wound for a "medium" vintage output. The bridge pickup is a Burstbucker-2 that is wound in the range of a '57 Classic pickup with slightly hotter vintage output that works well in combination with the BB-1 in the neck. One listen and you'll think you have a 50-year old guitar in your hands!

 

 

So your Epi has Gibson pickups? I like the BB1 and 2 combo, they do sound good in a LP.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gibson and Fender have COMPLETELY different approaches to building guitars. If you are familiar with, and like, the Fender approach, Gibson's approach may not ever be satisfiying to you (I am the other way around, Fenders feel cold and impersonal and cookie-cutter to me... I love how each Gibson has its own unique vibe, but I digress).

 

My best advice, return it, take the hit (both in monetary and marital terms ;)) and buy something other than a Gibson. Their construction methods harken back to a time when things were much more hands-on and the results much more variable as a result. Something that Leo Fender specifically set out to do differently when he started building his guitars. LP bodies and necks are CNC'd nowadays, but after that almost everything (aside from the new PLEK'ing) is done by hand. The neck is set by hand, the fretboard is glued to the neck by hand, the frets are initially installed by hand, the binding is applied by hand, the guitar is individually painted by hand, the binding is scraped by hand, the body is buffed by hand, the elecronics are installed by hand, etc. It's just not really a cookie-cutter process at all. Was never intended to be. Mass produced (as in assembly line), yes... cookie-cutter, no.

 

We, as modern consumers, are much more used to things that are built with modern build techniques AND modern build philosophies. Gibsons are just not that way. It may well be that no Gibson really ever will feel "right" to you because you're used to modern manufacturing. Epi LPs look like their Gibson counterparts at first glance, but upon closer inspection the two are miles apart in look and feel. As they should be, their manufacturing approaches are very different. Honestly, the best advice to give you might be, that you're just not a Gibson guy... don't force it.

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Their construction methods harken back to a time when things were much more hands-on and the results much more variable as a result. Something that Leo Fender specifically set out to do differently when he started building his guitars.

 

He wanted guitar players to be able to replace the neck if it broke, and just replace it if it needed a refret.

 

LP bodies and necks are CNC'd nowadays,

 

Yes, if by "nowadays" you mean since the mid 70's.

 

but after that almost everything (aside from the new PLEK'ing) is done by hand. The neck is set by hand,

 

Yes, and over at Fender, they screw the neck on by hand.

 

the fretboard is glued to the neck by hand, the frets are initially installed by hand, the binding is applied by hand, the guitar is individually painted by hand, the binding is scraped by hand, the body is buffed by hand, the elecronics are installed by hand, etc.

 

Yes, and over at Fender, rosewood boards are glued on by hand, the frets are all set by hand, at Fender, not many guitars are bound, but the ones that are are bound by hand, guitars are painted by hand individually, the binding is scraped by hand, the painted body is buffed by hand, and a nice group of young ladies was hand assembling and soldering electronics, they talked to me a long time.

 

It's just not really a cookie-cutter process at all. Was never intended to be. Mass produced (as in assembly line), yes... cookie-cutter, no.

 

The differences are amazing!

 

rct

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