A wannabe Gibson owner

[V1ctorius]

Hey Folks,

I started to play the guitar a bit more than 2 years ago and I have been in love with it ever since. I have tried and bought various gear during this period, currently I own a PRS Tremonti LP, a Dave Murray Fender strat, a James Hetfield LTD Snakebyte, a Slash Epiphone LP and a Schecter superstrat. My line-up tells a lot about the kind of music I like. 
 

As I like Slash very much,  I have been thinking of buying a Gibson LP for a while. Even if I have my preferences, I have not decided on a particular model yet. This is what has brought me here. 

I have heard, read and seen a lot of pros and cons of buying a Gibson, I hope I can get more information here before I commit to the purchase. 

Cheers!

 

 

 

[PrairieDog]

48 minutes ago, V1ctorius said:

Hey Folks,

I started to play the guitar a bit more than 2 years ago and I have been in love with it ever since. I have tried and bought various gear during this period, currently I own a PRS Tremonti LP, a Dave Murray Fender strat, a James Hetfield LTD Snakebyte, a Slash Epiphone LP and a Schecter superstrat. My line-up tells a lot about the kind of music I like. 
 

As I like Slash very much,  I have been thinking of buying a Gibson LP for a while. Even if I have my preferences, I have not decided on a particular model yet. This is what has brought me here. 

I have heard, read and seen a lot of pros and cons of buying a Gibson, I hope I can get more information here before I commit to the purchase. 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Good goal! 😄

Of course, most folks here like Gibsons in some form, and have owned one or more, and other folks may be able to point you in specific areas, but really the best is go to the store and play every one you can. And preferably out of the same model as your own amp.  (Unless you are getting a whole new rig).  

It’s really the best way to do it. The weights, pickups, necks, everything are so different on each one.  Even if you don’t buy that exact one, you’ll get a feel for what it should be like.  

The pro side is they are gonna be different, in a really good way, than your current line up. And I’m guessing the only con about buying one will be choosing. 

For me, I wouldn’t get hung up on “signature” models.  Buy the one that’s a gas to play and make it your own signature through your style. After all, Slash didn’t get where he is playing Slash model guitars.  

Any guitar will play anybody’s music, as long as you can.  Heck, for screwing around I’ll play Smoke on the Water on an acoustic 😀

Edited May 27 by PrairieDog

[John Shiflet]

Prairie Dog, that's some of the best advice I've ever read-in fact, you really should be posting on the Gibson forum.  (laughing) Looks like Victorious has assembled a variety of guitars to learn their different sounds, so, as you suggested-he should give any prospective Gibson the ear test.  I really liked your quote:  After all, Slash didn’t get where he is playing Slash model guitars.  

Well stated...on a side note, Slash is a marketing genius and he'll be cashing in on his brand long after he's hung up his six strings. There used to be some Rock star glamor in being identified with a single name-Slash was a good choice because it can have so many different meanings. I too wish Victorious the best of luck in choosing his Gibson-he should make friends with it because chances are he'll be spending a lot of his life together. Sound can be easily defined although it's still subjective. The feel of a guitar is harder to define but some guitars just feel more comfortable and at home in your hands than others do. One model may really stand out and  it just feels, plays, and sounds exactly right. That would be the one to take home with you. Good luck as well on developing your own unique sound.

[V1ctorius]

There is one thing that enormously limits my chances of finding the right one: the pickguard. I hate it. No way I am going to buy a model with one. As I don't want a single hole on a 3k USD guitar, removing it is not an option. 

I may not have seen all of them, but it seems that 80% of the models are equipped with that piece of horrible thing. Why?

Having quickly gone through the line-up it seems that mostly artist models have no pickguards. 

I'm not addicted to signature models, though. Buying the Slash model was unintentional: it was discounted by 25% on Thomann I just could not leave it there for such amount of money.   

Wish me luck. 😄 

 

 

[PrairieDog]

Well that’s easy, just order one w/o a pick guard.  Sorry for making your choice infinitely more complicated 😁

[John Shiflet]

Pick guards do have a functional purpose-just take a look at Willie Nelson's old Martin he named Trigger. It has a hole worn clear through the wood where there would have been a pick guard. Some players have different strumming techniques and never scratch the surface so a pick guard is unnecessary.

[PrairieDog]

1 hour ago, John Shiflet said:

Pick guards do have a functional purpose-just take a look at Willie Nelson's old Martin he named Trigger. It has a hole worn clear through the wood where there would have been a pick guard. Some players have different strumming techniques and never scratch the surface so a pick guard is unnecessary.

Well, “do it yourself” relic-ing does save a whole lot over paying Murphy Labs do it for you 😁

[V1ctorius]

On 5/28/2024 at 1:05 PM, PrairieDog said:

Well that’s easy, just order one w/o a pick guard.  Sorry for making your choice infinitely more complicated 😁

The problem is that 8 in 10 come with a pickguard. Artist models do not normally, but other than that, it is very difficult to find.

[PrairieDog]

13 minutes ago, V1ctorius said:

The problem is that 8 in 10 come with a pickguard. Artist models do not normally, but other than that, it is very difficult to find.

No,  you can have any model built for you without a pick guard.  They have what’s called a Made to Measure program.  Any Gibson dealer should be able to help you out.  Most people use it for more complex customization than just no PG.  I don’t know what the price hit would be for the special order, but I can’t imagine it would be huge, since you are just asking them to skip a step and not screwing something down.  So  no, you are NOT relegated to just the handful of artist models.  Go wild.  

Edited May 29 by PrairieDog

[V1ctorius]

10 minutes ago, PrairieDog said:

No,  you can have any model built for you without a pick guard.  They have what’s called a Made to Measure program.  Most people use it for more customization than just no PG.  I don’t know what the price hit would be for the special order over a standard, but I can’t imaging it would be huge, since in this case you are just asking them to skip a step and not screwing something down.  But really you are not relegated to just the handful of artist models.  Go wild.  

I don't want to wait + 1 year time for a custom shop guitar and pay 5-6k USD or more.  I live in Europe, my exposure to Gibson guitars are narrower than in the US, so I don't think this is an option for me considering the cost implications. 

I'd love to see many more models like this


 

Edited May 29 by V1ctorius

[PrairieDog]

39 minutes ago, V1ctorius said:

I don't want to wait + 1 year time for a custom shop guitar and pay 5-6k USD or more.  I live in Europe, my exposure to Gibson guitars are narrower than in the US, so I don't think this is an option for me considering the cost implications. 



 

So, I’m confused, I thought you came here asking about how to find a good Gibson, then launched into a diatribe about guitars with pick guards.  Which is it? 

Did you think coming here, and adamantly declaring a personal preference against PGs, the forum would just wave a magic wand and make them disappear for you? Well we did, kinda of: just order one. 

But right now, you don’t want a PG, and you are unhappy with the choices you have, but you don't want to wait for the obvious, easy solution…. That’s a choice you are making, not any fault with available guitars.  There is a way to accommodate your preference, but you are turning down the option without even exploring it.  

Well, God willing, the year will still go by, and at the end of it you could be playing a Gibson you really want, or you’ll have spent as much money or more on an up-charged  sig model you settled for just because it didn’t have the little piece of plastic (that no one else has a problem with) and you didn’t have a little bit of patience. 

 Either way, you made your choice.  Pick a lane and drive it.  Do you want a Gibson? Then you know what your options are.  

And just guessing, but I would think a stock model where they only skipped adding the PG is not going to take as long or be as expensive as someone ordering actual modifications.  It doesn’t cost anything to ask. 

Edited May 29 by PrairieDog

[sparquelito]

We all have our quirks. 
The OP hates pick guards. 

I myself dislike gold-plated bits and hardware on guitars. 
It's aesthetically unattractive to me, and it doesn't wear or weather well over the years. 

Many players, myself included, aren't fans of Floyd Rose trem-equipped guitars. 
They are a  pain in the *** to re-string, and most of us don't include dive-bombs and squealy noise tricks in our live performances. 

I was on the fence about 12-string guitars for years. 
I owned a few over the decades, including a lovely Martin. 
My band regularly performed a few songs that just begged for the 12-string sound, so I kept one handy. 
In the end, the string-changing ritual just became too painful. 
As some of you know, a string-change on a 12 string doesn't take twice as long as a string-change on a 6 string guitar. 
It takes three times as long.  Nobody knows why this is. 
It's like trying to understand a black hole in quantum physics.  It's complicated. 

PRS guitars are a funny thing. 
Players either love them, or they hate them. 
Me, I'm like Switzerland on the subject. 
I'm neutral. 

Finally, there's the subject of weight. 
Some players believe that heavy guitars have better tone and sustain. 
And they either have really strong, muscular backs and shoulders, or they perform whilst sitting down, and have the heavy guitars delivered to them by strong roadies. 
I myself love light-weight guitars. Their tone and sustain are just fine, and I can stand and play for hours with a light guitar. 
(I have owned 10 Gibson Les Pauls in my life, and divested most of them for being too heavy. The two I own now and nice and light.)


I'm gonna shut up now. 

😐

Edited May 31 by sparquelito

['Scales]

29 minutes ago, sparquelito said:
I myself dislike gold-plated bits and hardware on guitars. 
It's aesthetically unattractive to me, and it doesn't wear or weather well over the years.

Yeah, I’m with you on the gold thing (I actually prefer guitars that are simple in format and less into glamour - not super ugly Ovation or Parker style, but they don’t have to be pretty either) so I can also understand how a similar objection (pg) could be a real purchase barrier for the op.

On 5/27/2024 at 11:05 PM, John Shiflet said:

 There used to be some Rock star glamor in being identified with a single name-Slash was a good choice because it can have so many different meanings. 

It can indeed…here in Oz taking a slash is what you do when your bladder is too full for comfort….

[PrairieDog]

Nod, nod, I get preferences (PD glances reassuringly at the now self-conscious glitzed up, gold tuner housemates, with another H‘bird landing today 😎 ).  In this case he could have Gibson scrape the pg off his cake, and eat it too.  I just get cranky when folks throw stop sticks in the road before they even get in the car.