[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

Thank you pippy. I've managed to get in about an hours worth of play time. Here's a couple things I noticed:

The Grover tuners are very smooth and accurate.

The pups are pretty hot. They sound really good. Very full and no ice pick on the bridge, but they push my normal amp settings a little more than I like. My main rig is a Helix. I create a separate patch for each song we do in my band. So I'm hoping I don't need to have a separate patch for using the LP. I'll need more time to figure that out.

The wide nut is a non issue right now. I'm not a thumb over the top player. I can't say it has any advantage or disadvantage at this point.

The Richlite board feels great and the guitar has a very nice acoustic tone, so I don't see any disadvantage from that.

I would have preferred medium frets, but I can live with the low frets till I wear them out. Then she'll get SS mediums.

I haven't dug into the dip switch settings and I'm not sure what they are set on now. But the tones I got when popping up the tone knobs was very usable. More so than the majority of split or tap settings I've used.

I wasn't going to get another LP, because I'm a light weight and they normally aren't. I planned on getting a new SG until I strapped a new '18 on and the head dove for the floor. This LP weighs 8.5#, which is the same as my Am Dlx Strat, so I'm good with that.

Because I didn't really need another guitar, especially one this nice, it was a bit of a stretch buying this. My honey do list will be long for the foreseeable future. But right now I'm feeling like I'm glad I went for it.

Except for one thing. That aluminum case. Man that thing is over kill. It's huge, it weighs a ton. I doubt I'll ever take it out of the house. I'll probably use a nice padded gig bag I have. But what the H am I gonna do with this coffin they sent me?

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

A Mohave Fade SG HP is what started this whole little adventure for me. It's funny how gas takes these twists and turns the longer we let it percolate.

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

You were saying?

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

And, yes it really did happen. Here's my patriotic red, white and blue line up. There's more flame than the photo shows.

 

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

I posted in the "I'm Disappointed" thread, but I thought I would update this thread. My new LP Standard HP arrived about an hour ago. I haven't been able to play it yet as I had it delivered to my office and though my wife doesn't believe it, I actually do work. It's beautiful looking and the aluminum case is built like a tank and weighs about the same as one. The inspection card lists it as a H2 model. It has locking grovers, Richlite fb, upgraded flame top. So for the same price as a regular HP and heavily discounted, I feel like I made out pretty good. I get to take it to band practice on Tuesday. That will be the real litmus test. I'm still considering getting a Gforce tuner system to use with the band and make alt tuning a little easier. I know that is opposite of what most guys do. One thing I thought was funny is that the photo that Gibson sends of the guitar on the inspection bench shows they use a Bandit 12 amp for testing. Does Gibson own Peavey?

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

I like Richlite. Only played one guitar with Richlite, a midtown custom or standard, forget which, it's great stuff.

 

Thanks, I've never played a richlite fb, but I do like ebony and I'm not a vintage minded guy, so what ever works is good with me. I'm not trying to provoke you guys, but I'm considering getting a g-force tuner to put on. In my band I need to do alt tunings. My #1 guitar is a modified Variax, which lets me do alt tunings with a knob turn. I'm hoping to get close to that with this new LP. So far every guitar I've played with the g-force has worked fine. So until I get a roadie, I need something that will keep me playing instead of standing on stage tuning while the rest of the band stares at me.

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

Go for it then!

 

Thanks, I did. A new '18 Les Paul HP Blood Orange Fade with Grover Tuners from the factory. From the pictures it has a very dark fret board which makes me think it is Richlite. I know that will excite you guys.

I've noticed a marked improvement with the quality of the tops the last month or so. I can't wait to get it. I'm not sure if my wife is going to impound it till my birthday on the 20th. I'll live if she does.

[Les Paul High Performance Love Thread]

I will probably buy a new '18 LP Standard HP tomorrow. It's a deal too good to pass up on a really nice looking Blood Orange burst. I came into this thread thinking I might get a little info and maybe some encouragement to pull the trigger tomorrow, but sadly that didn't happen. I'll see how I feel in the morning, but I'm probably going to go for it. For the record, I couldn't care less about nibs.

[HP Dip Switches]

I see this is very similar to (I'd call it essentially the same thing to) what Fender did in the 2014-15 Fender American Deluxe Strat Plus. It has a series of about 5 (circuit) cards that are interchangeable in a small compartment in the back. The card emulate different wiring combos. Additionally the cards have DIP switches on them, further offering seemingly endless combos for tone. And this whole thing is passive.

Pretty impressive as far as I'm concerned. Not too surprisingly, it was bashed by the Fender community (read that as forums)as being anything from stupid to gimmicky. In fact "gimmicky" became the most common descriptor for it. Go figure. "They" talk about rewiring different combos all day long, then when Fender doe that (and more) for them, they bash it. Fender promptly dropped that feature after that model. I bought one brand new for a ridiculous $850 and it is a really great American Strat. If you don't want to fuss with the cards and related features, just leave the original card in the slot and it is just like a regular Strat.

Once again, the fickle buying public doesn't know a good thing when it hits them right between the eyes. I expect no better reception to the new Gibson version.

 

Most guitar forums are slanted towards a "vintage is king" mentality. It was a Fender Custom Shop Clapton in Daphne Blue that taught me I wasn't a vintage guy. I loved everything about that guitar except playing it. I hated the vintage tuners, saddles, fret wire. I finally forced myself to pass it on to someone that would play it, at a large profit I might add. Now I know better and the HP series is looking pretty good.

[HP Dip Switches]

Thanks for the info. The dip switches do far more than I realized. The '18 HP's might be the best guitar Gibson has made in a long time. Personally, I wish they had gone with a medium fret wire for the SG instead of the "low profile". That's pretty much the only negative on the whole guitar for me.

[HP Dip Switches]

I'm seriously considering an 2018 SG Standard HP. What do the dip switches do? How effective are they, meaning are they even worth considering them as a positive addition?

[Les Paul traditional or standard?]

Well Farns. Maybe so. I can assure you however, that when you strum these unplugged there is a difference. I would assume that the acoustic properties would translate into something audible when plugged in. But, ok. I'm not an expert by any means. Don't claim to be. So, perhaps my assumption is erroneous. I'm sure that the pickup difference accounts for the bulk of the sonic difference plugged in. Maybe the pickups account for the entirety of the sonic difference, as it seems you're suggesting. I'm good with that too. Bottom line, these guitars do sound different.

 

And I stand by the point of my post - these things are heavy.

 

There's no doubt that unplugged, the construction of a guitar makes a big difference. Plugged into an amp, the pups take over. I'm no a big proponent of tone wood theory, BUT there's one undisputable fact. Hollow bodied guitars feedback more. If the acoustics of a guitar have nothing to do with the amped signal, than why do hollow bodies cause feedback?

I'm glad I didn't know about the Trad Pro II being sold at $1,399, I would have been scheming the last few days figuring out a way to make it happen.

[P-90 Club!!!!]

It's weird seeing a Telecaster with a stop tail piece and tune o matic bridge.

 

Oh, it's a set neck also. Very unFender like. A nice small heel.

 

[P-90 Club!!!!]

I don't see that it says Gibson's only, so here is my P90 guitar. Two SD P90's, Tone Pro bridge, 24 3/4" scale length, it's about as close to a Gibson as you'll ever see Fender make. It's a JA90 Telecaster. The SD 90's are hot. 11.5k neck, 14.5k bridge. I love it.

[9's or 10's?]

I agree you should experiment with different gauges and brands. But do yourself a favor and keep track of what you put on the guitar. I keep the face of the package and write the date on it when I change, and stick it in my desk drawer. That way it's easier to compare what you're feeling to what you had on previously.