golfnut Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 (edited) So I'm mainly a single coil guy. I've got a couple of really nice custom shop journey man relic Fenders, a Strat and a Tele and a MIM Road worn brad paisley silver tele that my wife bought me for my 60th birthday that is a nice guitar, almost as nice as my CS 52 Tele, albeit after about $300 worth of work to get it up to snuff. The Road worn wasn't exactly perfect out of the box. Although I mainly play single coils I wanted a humbucker guitar for those times when its fitting. There are a few songs in my bands set list that will greatly benefit from a humbucker guitar. In the past I owned a beautiful R7 and I've had a gold top traditional. Although they were fantastic I felt that having so much money invested for the amount of time I played them wasn't worth it. Even this time while I was trying to decide on another LP I agonized whether I should buy a standard 50's or just go frugal with the tribute. In the end I decided on the Tribute. Its Gibson month at Long and McQuade here in Canada. Not much benefit other than they ran a special with $150 off a new Tribute. When I showed up to the store to pick it up I was pleasantly surprised that they had to go retrieve it from the back room as it was still boxed up, so I'm the first to touch it. I liked how understated it is. No fancy high gloss finish. The back of the neck felt like my hand was on bare wood, even though there is a very thin finish. These are all big pluses for me. I like that the lower gloss satin finish fits in better with my other guitars that all have light ageing done to them. I was super impressed how perfect the set up was out of the box. I don't know that I've ever bought a new guitar that didn't need some level of work to get it right. I like really low, buzz free action and most guitars, even my really expensive custom shops have needed adjustment from my local tech. The MIM Roadworn, which cost more than the Tribute needed a fair amount of fret work and adjustment as well as replacing the nut. Everything about this tribute was perfect. The nut is perfectly cut, the action is perfect, the frets are nice and smooth and well done. Usually if I have synthetic nuts, I replace them with bone but I'm not going to do that with this Tribute. This LP compared to past LP's I've owned has a bit more snap to it, which for me is a bonus. Its kind of in between an LP and a Fender. I'm very impressed with the gig bag that comes with it. The gig bag I got with my Fender MIM, I would never use. Its a piece of crap. If I take my MIM roadworn out of the house I'll just use one of my other hard cases laying around. With the Gibson gig bag I have no problem transporting the Tribute in my car. If its going to be thrown in a band trailer I'd want a hard case. Due to how perfect the set up was on this Tribute can anyone tell me if these Tributes are plek'd? Or did I just get lucky. So here it is: The collection: Bottom row: Custom shop Tomatillo 56 journey man Strat, Les Paul Tribute, Brad Paisley Roadworn Tele. Top Row: Martin Authentic 1941 D-28, Custom shop journey man 52 Tele, Martin Authentic 1939 D-28 Edited April 25, 2022 by golfnut 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Yes to pretty much everything.. Love those gig bags too.. And yes I love the thin finish on the tributes and as you say especially on the neck. Feels great to play. And yes, as far as I know all Gibson USA models are pleked... Even so, we still hear about many issues of guitars coming out of the factory with problems.. So its actually really nice to hear someone praise them for once.. Personally I also have never had a LP that needed anything but a quick set up for my personal preferences and maybe a trussrod tweek. It also could be that the shop you bought it from does their own set ups on every guitar that comes in and puts them back in the box. Good stuff.. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfnut Posted April 25, 2022 Author Share Posted April 25, 2022 1 hour ago, Rabs said: Yes to pretty much everything.. Love those gig bags too.. And yes I love the thin finish on the tributes and as you say especially on the neck. Feels great to play. And yes, as far as I know all Gibson USA models are pleked... Even so, we still hear about many issues of guitars coming out of the factory with problems.. So its actually really nice to hear someone praise them for once.. Personally I also have never had a LP that needed anything but a quick set up for my personal preferences and maybe a trussrod tweek. It also could be that the shop you bought it from does their own set ups on every guitar that comes in and puts them back in the box. Good stuff.. Enjoy I bought it from Long and Mcquade I saw him walk to the back and bring it out still packed and sealed in the Gibson shipping box. So it went from factory to my hands. They don't set up they're guitars unless someone buys it then lets them have it to take advantage of the free setup that they promote as part of the benefits of buying from them. Personally I'd take it some where else and pay to have it set up if needed. Infact the more I think about it, I think I can get the action a little lower as the frets are so well done. As I don't have any experience with minor tweaks on Gibsons, would I just have to spin those wheel things a little to bring the action down? If so would I have to adjust anything else? The relief looks fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 15 minutes ago, golfnut said: I bought it from Long and Mcquade I saw him walk to the back and bring it out still packed and sealed in the Gibson shipping box. So it went from factory to my hands. They don't set up they're guitars unless someone buys it then lets them have it to take advantage of the free setup that they promote as part of the benefits of buying from them. Personally I'd take it some where else and pay to have it set up if needed. Infact the more I think about it, I think I can get the action a little lower as the frets are so well done. As I don't have any experience with minor tweaks on Gibsons, would I just have to spin those wheel things a little to bring the action down? If so would I have to adjust anything else? The relief looks fine. Yes. You will probably also need to adjust the intonation a bit by moving the saddles (I can never remember if its backwards or forwards).. But it shouldnt be by much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Those tributes are nice. Not sure about the plek, I can't recall, maybe... Be sure to detune the strings to take the pressure off before adjusting the thumb wheels on the bridge posts, and setting intonation. If the intonation is sharp when checking harmonic to fretted notes, , the saddle moves back away from the pickup if the intonation shows flat, the saddle moves up toward the pickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Glad you got a nice one and you're happy with the set up and condition. Yes, all Gibson USA models are plekked. Congratulations and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfnut Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 (edited) As good as I find my Tribute to be now I'm second guessing and wondering if I shouldn't return it within my 30 day return window and grab a 50's standard instead. The primary reason would be for the fatter neck. My cs 52 tele has chunky nocaster U neck, my cs 56 strat has a fat 50's soft v and my roadworn has a chunky soft v. I am much more comfortable with chunkier necks and the standard 50's would fall more in line with that. The tribute neck isn't bad. It isn't so thin that it causes fatigue. I could easily live with it. Its not something that would ever make me sell it. If I decide to stay with it I wouldn't give the thinner neck much more thought. I got it for $150 less than regular price due to a special "Gibson month" promotion so upgrading to the standard 50's is going to well over double. The other issue is the standard 50's is likely going to be a lot heavier. That was one selling point for me with the Tribute. But the more I got thinking, the more I think the weight doesn't matter so much. My plans for it onstage is for a few songs here and there. I'd be mostly playing my lighter strat and tele's. So I won't be standing with it for longer periods. At home I pretty much sit down. I've got my eye on a tobacco burst standard 50's and I'll decide whether to go look at it in the next 3 days. Theres also a heritage cherry that looks nice. As for the binding and nicer finish, I'm not so sure that matters much to me. Its nice though. I've watched some comparison videos and it seems like the tones are a little clearer and brighter on the standard. So maybe some improvement there. Can someone tell me if the electronics are better in the standard? I'm trying to justify upgrading. Its hard when I can live with everything about the tribute and the only reason to upgrade is the neck is fatter. All the other benefits would just be luxury. Edited April 27, 2022 by golfnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 Th electrics and woods used by Gibson USA are all the same.. But obviously each model has various types of pickups which will make a difference. But the wire, pots, jacks and switches and stuff.. All the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Also, Pickups vary model to model.. Which makes a big difference in their Sound.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfnut Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 (edited) The Les paul standard 50's. Big chunky neck fits me perfect. Now its a smooth transition from guitar to guitar as they're all big and chunky. Edited April 29, 2022 by golfnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.