SteveFord

In person it'll be a shade or two lighter. It's not here yet but I've had the same model. Compared to the carved top Les Pauls the sound is really underwhelming, you'd really have to work with the amp settings to make it sound decent. Think Ventures or Beach Boys or something if you just plug it in to whatever your normal settings are. Kind of bright twangy and then dark twangy and hit the center position and you'll have wimpy twanging going on. Neck profile is a little stouter than the Classic, thinner than that Standard. To me it's just about the perfect neck profile which is probably why I like this model so much. I'd have to have a rosewood fretboard model to compare it with but I think the ebony gives it a little more snap to the sound or perhaps just makes it brighter. The light weight makes it a really good watch football on the couch guitar. You can't do that with a Flying V or 335 or whatever. Probably 2 pounds heavier than an SG, 3 - 4 pounds lighter than the carved top ones. When I had my first one I had a faded double cutaway Special, an SG Classic and the yellow Special. The faded sounded best, then the SG and then the yellow one. I got ticked off at the way the faded paint just disappeared around the tone knobs (!) on the faded and I hated the neck on the Classic so all 3 went out the door. It's not in the same league as the carved top ones but I like it nonetheless. Don't think you can get a Special and it'll rival the more expensive ones because it won't. The other ones will eat it for lunch. Gibson recently put out a Special with the tune-a-matic tailpiece which is a must for me but it has a golf bag type case and it was just kind of plain looking. For an extra two bills I got the ebony, a color I don't have, a neck profile I really like and a hardshell case so take my pennies and make me happy! It fills a niche and I'll play it a LOT. That's about the most honest review I can give you.

I don't know about that, just making up for decades of sloth. That seems to come naturally.

This weekend is the last mighty thrust and then I'm afraid I've run dry for a bit. I had one of these years ago and it was a really nice guitar. I stupidly sold it (to a fellow who dropped by this forum a while ago) to buy some stereo gear which I was buying back from a fellow because when he turned the stereo amps on they shut down his house! That's not gonna work... So, the financial aspect of the Stolen Les Paul Classic has been resolved and I've been looking at this one for months and finally came to an agreement with the seller last night. It's a 2013 special run for Musician's Friend, ebony fretboard, this fellow played it a bit and didn't even pull the protective plastic off the pick guard. This isn't a faded, this model is a gloss finish, a really nice instrument. Light and fun to play, I really enjoyed the one I had and kept wondering if another would pop up. Well, one finally did. Try as I might, I could NOT get him to part with that stylin' zebra print rug. That just screams rug burns on my butt so it probably has some sentimental value to the owner. One more guitar will be in transit on Tuesday and then that's it for the foreseeable future.

Good tip on the speaker, I will have to look into that when I get one. There's black ones all over the place but I think I want one of the cream colored ones and the guy doesn't have a PayPal account. Also had to get something to plug into it. Well, 2 things to plug into it. One for each amp. You can never have too many things to go out of tune! That means I either have to get another guitar cord or come out of the Stone Age and go wireless. That means I'll have to read some instructions in super tiny print. Ugh. Glad I bought my Martin when I did although I think it's going to be a buyer's market pretty soon. Maybe a J-40 will wind up in my lap this time next year but not now. Then I won't play an electric guitar for another year, ha ha.

Anyone who tries to ban caffeine will be killed by me.

I was looking at a J-40 and then I wandered around to look at my HD-28V. Holy crap! Last time I paid any attention D18s were around $12-1300, HD28s were around $18 - 2000. I was expecting to see a J-40 for around $17-1800. NOPE! Yes, it'll be nice to have decent amps to play around with. That gold top gave me the push - what's the sense of having a guitar that sounds so nice and then playing it through some cruddy transistor amp or one that will make the neighbors want to drive a stake through my heart? Time to quit being so cheap and get something more suitable.

It gets worse (or maybe better)? This weekend (and some spillover into next payday) is the last big pandemic induced ICONasm, after that it's house repair time. Got some cool junk coming, not expensive as I try to keep costs down. Speaking of costs, I was looking at used Martins last night. Holy crap, what happened there?

A suburb in a small town which is slowly becoming more crowded as the farm land is sold off an McMansions are going up.

I do believe both are in my very near future. I have an open box Origin 20 coming my way, I think mid September I'll be picking up a white DSL 40c which should be sufficient.

I'm starting to get serious about a small amp and have been looking at the 40W DSLcr and the Origin 20. Any owners here, any reliability issues? I think I can crank them down far enough so I won't tick off the neighbors. Suburbs, don't you know.

I'm still keeping my eyes open for an affordable Firebird VII but that doesn't look like it will happen for a bit. If it does it does, if not big deal. Most of my guitars are pretty reasonably priced so I've got my eye on a pair and then it's amp shopping time.

Or something...

Nah, no pedals or effects. I'll probably do something stupid like buy another Marshall with too much oomph. I have my eye on a nice white combo which I may have to bring home. Always was a sucker for things like that. Maybe I'm just lucky, both this Classic and Standard are really nice. No doubt the Custom Shop ones are better but I'm done buying Les Pauls with P90s. Or at least the carved top ones.

Got the refund so that saga is over unless I'm called to testify. A long shot but if anyone comes across a black Les Paul Classic w/ P90s, look at the back of the headstock, please. 5397 are the last 4 of the serial number.

I'm not sure. I have a 100W Marshall 1/2 stack and the sound is just tremendous but a bit too much of it. They're known to be a little on the loud side... Maybe a small Marshall? I really want something I can stick under a desk and it has to be tubes. I've had two SS Marshall amps and those things just suck.

Things are so much different today than when I was a kid. We smoked pot, dropped acid, stuff like that, no heroin. There's no telling what evil people are putting into that white powder, either. My wife had a job at a local hospital and they'd OD in the parking lot, their buddies would sneak drugs in and they OD inside of the hospital, just crazy.

That gold top just made me laugh with the sound that came out it. Hit an barred E chord up by the pick up and gave it a real snap and the sound just went ba-WAPP! That particular sound never came out of any of the other ones I have (or have had) here. I assume that this one is representative of the bunch and if so, this is a really good model. One (maybe two) more guitar for this year and then decent, small amp shopping time. Once again, the Classic is a really nice guitar but the Standard is worth the extra dough. You can just feel it the second you start to play it. I'm not sure exactly do to give it that particular feel but the neck and fret board just feel silky, for want of a better term. They must spend a bit more time on them at the factory and maybe use higher quality materials to begin with.

Dub-T-123, It was actually YOUR Les Paul which got me thinking about Les Pauls again! I figured that I'd give the P90 ones a shot to see if they were what I was after. Yep.

Finally gave up and opened a PayPal Dispute. Little write up on the replacement Classic and Gold Top in the Gibson USA section if anyone is really bored.

It should pop right off. Maybe wedge a guitar pick in there to pop it loose?

I am guitar heavy and amp poor and am waiting to get the claim settled on that missing Classic so I can buy yet another guitar. When the world goes crazy I buy guitars. Haven't done this since the Great Recession, I just loaded up on them. Right now just the little cheap Crate amp which sits under my feet at a rolltop desk. I've actually been able to find a decent setting on that thing and my Marshall is a bit much for my neighborhood. I will be going amp shopping late next month. I'm thinking small tube Marshall and/or Mesa Boogie.

I wear a mask when I'm in a store or around the locals. I'm not sure how much good it will do me if the people around me aren't wearing any but I do what I can. I've noticed that if somebody knows someone else (it's Uncle Fred and the kids) they act like there's no way they can infected so they don't worry about it. Last week a series of articles came out about llama antibodies and possible aerosol treatments. It may or may not work but I am really hopeful. https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/11/scientists-create-potent-anti-coronavirus-nanobody-inspired-by-llamas/

I do know what you mean. I sold off all of the previous P90 guitars. The old faded Double Cutaway would kind of come close to the sound I thought they should have but it's nowhere near the sound from this Standard. The Classic is close so I'm hoping it's the pots but it's probably a combination of the pots, neck and heavier wood. I am going to put P90s in that black Firebird and see how that goes. If it sounds like a surf guitar I'll be pissed but you never know. The stock (recent) Firebird pick ups sound better than the Seymour Duncans that someone put in there so they won't be missed.

This Gold Top came from Guitar Center in Missouri and was advertised as Used, Excellent and was the cheapest one I found that wasn't all beat up. It turns out it was New, Excellent! I guess removing the plastic on the pick guard made it a used guitar. I wondered what the extra $500 between the two models would bring and it buys a lot. This guitar weighs in at a whopping 11.2 pounds, the fret board feels smoother, the 50s profile neck is a little chunky and has that silky feel to it and the sound is just astonishing. You know a high end Martin has THAT sound? Well, this is the electric equivalent. John Fogarty did not steer me wrong. I figured he probably played a few over the years although I always associate him with a black Custom. You get the rich tone, the notes have some real snap to them, you can make it scream, it kind of made me think of This Is Spinal Tap where it will sustain for weeks, don't even look at it. In 2019 Gibson changed the pots and now rolling off the volume doesn't kill the treble. You can actually use the middle pick selector knob and blend the sound without it sounding like crap. I'm going to see about changing the pots in that Classic. That will tell me if the sound difference between the two models is down to the pots or the extra tonnage and stouter neck found on the Standard. Another thing they did is anchor the bridge pick up. Every other P90 I had was wobbly down there but not this one, it just stays put like they're supposed to. Fit and finish looks perfect to me, the wood grain is real nice, it has that Gibson upper crust feel to it when you pick it up. My favorite guitar is whichever one I'm playing but this is probably the best of the bunch. If you're looking for a Les Paul w/ P90s I don't think you'll be disappointed with this model.

Over the years I've had an old SG-style Les Paul from the early 60s, a much later SG Classic, a Les Paul Special and a Les Paul faded double cutaway with P90s and none of them really did it for me. Some sounded better than others but I always preferred humbuckers as they had more body to the sound. However, many years ago John Fogerty was on the cover of Guitar Player and he said that the best sounding guitar he ever heard was a Les Paul Gold Top with P90s, that was his ideal tone. I always kept that in the back of my mind and then Bence, I believe it is, would post pictures of his beautiful Les Paul with P90s. Maybe the missing ingredient was the carved top? Gibson recently came out with a Classic with P90s which made me think impure thoughts and then a Gold Top Standard which REALLY made the credit card hand itch. They are evil people tempting nice fellows like me with their shiny wares. You guys know that my first Classic was stolen in transit so I ended up putting a fairly lowball bid on a replacement and somehow I won the auction. It doesn't appear to have been played very much, I think the owner decided he didn't want an electric guitar after all as it came with picks, strings, guitar polish, all sorts of stuff. It's a hard guitar to photograph as it's super shiny and shows every little bit of dust and smudges. It's like new. The guitar itself weighs 10.2 ounces, has a really comfortable 60s style neck and certainly sounds much better than the other P90 models I had before. It's got warmth, snap, you can really get some pretty cool sounds out of this thing. This is the last of the Henry J. era models but from what I can see, they did a really good job on it. With some lemon oil on the fret board, new strings (I use .011s) and two truss rod adjustments it plays really nice. The only shortcomings apparent are when you compare it to the Standard Gold Top.