Help with 57 LP Gold Top VOS vs. LP Gold Top Traditional

[GibsonBlues1959]

Hi All,

I'm looking at the spec sheets for both the 57 VOS and the Traditional, I can sse the differences on paper , but for those of you that own one or the other or both, what are the REAL differences? quality, tone, finish etc........thanks so much.

[Hillybilly]

as a general rule, the R7 will be the better guitar. the Custom Shop Reissues use better woods, have a long neck tenon and are solid-bodies vs short tenon and weight-relieved wood in the Traditionals.

 

that said, the Traditional is an excellent guitar...the best the USA line is making IMHO.

[six-string]

translation: buy the R7

[bubba_leon]

that said' date=' the Traditional is an excellent guitar...the best the USA line is making IMHO. [/quote']

 

Indeed it is. Now that the "results are in" it would be nice if Gibson put further focus to the Traditional line and gave a long tenon.

[Tim Plains]

Aside from the R7 being a better guitar on paper - the one thing you'll really notice as a player is the fat neck & frets. Reissues have lower & wider frets than Gibson USA Les Pauls. I just bought what I think is a great Traditional but nearly every other Traditional I've played felt like a toy guitar in comparison. Custom Shop Les Pauls are a cut above. Best thing for you to do is go out and play them side-by-side at a music store.

[bobv]

You might notice the difference in the frets, but it's impossible not to notice the difference in the neck profiles. The 50's neck from GibsonUSA on the Traditional is nowhere near as fat as the "early 50's" neck on the 1957 Historic, and for me it was a deal breaker.

 

The pickups are different, but not drastically so. In the neck position the '57 Classic has slightly more output than the Burstbucker 1. In the bridge position the '57 Classic Plus is going to be different than the Burstbucker 2. If you play in high gain high volume situations, you might appreciate the wax potting in the '57 Classics (I believe that factory installed Burstbuckers in the Historics are not wax potted).

 

I get the impression looking at both in the store that the gold top finish on the Historic was more translucent and lively compared to the GibsonUSA goldtop finishes which look more like paint. Technically they're both paint because they're a pigmented lacquer, but there is a subtle but noticeable difference between the two.

 

Again, the biggest difference is the neck profile. I'm happier with the neck on the Traditional.