A dawg...

[Tim Plains]

Let's say you just bought a used Les Paul and it was an on-line purchase.

You wait for it, you receive it and it's a disappointment....just doesn't sound as good as you had hoped.

How many of you would you keep it and learn to love it?

Think if you gave it a long enough change, you'd eventually become accustom to the guitar's voice and learn to appreciate it? (Sounds like a wife, I know. )

[DoubleSixx]

If I wasn't happy with the tone I'd ask if I could return. If there's no way to return I'd try

and sell and honestly state that it was an online purchase and I wasn't satisfied with the

tone. And make sure they understand all sales are final.

[Bluemoon]

Depends on how bad the tone was. If she felt good, but sounded a little weak I might keep her.

[daveinspain]

I'd work on it as much as I could to try to get it to sound good, after all it is the guitar you wanted... Could be just the set up.

[ckledzepplin]

i ordered my lester off of ebay and i thought it was the older non chamberd body but i was

dissapointed it was chambered, and the tone is amaizing but a little bright because of the chambering so i crank the low end on my amps. but i'm learning to love it, alot of peolpe feel bb pros are too bright but i feel they are quite thick, and creamy sounding, and i love them. and after i got it set up at my local shop (i love the shop but they only sell fenders) it played like budda(butter) i'm loving my lester!

[slimjimdom]

I had no idea it was so hard to find a Les Paul with good tone, looks and playability. Seems to be a tough thing to do hearing the talk. Isn't that what gibson is supposed to be. Isn't that why we all bought Gibsons and not Epi's?

 

Of course some sound better than others, but wow seems like the majority are deadwood. I always thought anything with gibson on the headstock would sound like a professional grade instrument right out of the box.

[RichCI]

Let's say you just bought a used Les Paul and it was an on-line purchase.

You wait for it' date=' you receive it and it's a disappointment....just doesn't sound as good as you had hoped.

How many of you would you keep it and learn to love it?

Think if you gave it a long enough change, you'd eventually become accustom to the guitar's voice and learn to appreciate it? (Sounds like a wife, I know. )[/quote']

 

I'd go as far as to adjust the height of the pups and tweak my amp a bit. If I still wasn't thrilled with it after that, I'd return it.

 

I had no idea it was so hard to find a Les Paul with good tone' date=' looks and playability. Seems to be a tough thing to do hearing the talk. Isn't that what gibson is supposed to be. Isn't that why we all bought Gibsons and not Epi's?

 

Of course some sound better than others, but wow seems like the majority are deadwood. I always thought anything with gibson on the headstock would sound like a professional grade instrument right out of the box. [/quote']

 

It's not necessarily Gibson and it applies to any company making guitars out of wood (all of them with a few exceptions). Wood varies and there's nothing anyone can do about that outside of picking the best pieces that they can.

 

It might also have a bit to do with how some players are and some are not. I was working in a music store at the time I bought my LP so I had the luxury of being able to try out a lot of them over a fairly long period of time before I picked out the one I have - I'm picky and I know how I like a guitar to respond. A guy like Tim, who started this thread, owns a crapload of LPs and other guitars so I'm pretty sure he has a good appreciation of what is good and what is not. Other guys, either through inexperience or not caring or... who knows... do not yet or will never appreciate a finer instrument.

[NeoConMan]

I'm still not completely satisfied with my Classic Plus I bought new in 2001

 

At the time, the Classic was the only way to get a slim 60 neck, and this one was a beauty.

Felt and looked exactly like I've always wanted, sound was something less than I liked.

I knew it would sound different after I got rid of the ceramic pickups, so I just accepted its tonal limitations.

Also, I had only solid state amps at the time, so a sure judgement was impossible.

 

Now, 5 years after putting BB Pro's in it, I think I neutered it.

Sounds good, just not as mean as my other Les Pauls before.

I'm thinking 57 Classics will be the next pickups for it, maybe a Classic Plus in the bridge to regain that gain.

 

The Goldtop Deluxe with mini-humbuckers is cool. Simply cool as hell.

 

 

I don't advocate swapping parts for the hell of it, you must have a methodology and an idea what you want.

Some Les Pauls just didn't work for me, now I have a couple that are pretty good.

Someday I'll have a few that kick ***!

[retrosurfer1959]

I think it's a losing battle if you don't bond with a guitar I have a LP Voodoo bought it at a closeout price liked the idea of a light weight swamp ash body and even got a really good looking one with a good tight grain and a good finish even has good tone and feel. all that said I have never really liked the thing and don't really enjoy playing it it. Have come close to selling it a few times and somebody starts talking about how rare they are and swamp ash has such good tone etc. etc and so i think ok well I'll try it again so far this cycle is in it's second year and I doubt I've ever actually finished a song on it

 

long story short if you don't like it you probably never will.

[slimjimdom]

I really like those Voodoo's and you're right you have one of the nicer looking one's from what I've seen. very nice grain on it. Really like the cases too.

 

Guess I've always been a sucker for these gimmicky type guitars. I really liked the Smartwood Les Pauls when they came out in the 90's and had the cool looking burlap or canvas covered case. Too bad they only sell them in the most uninteresting wood option now.

[retrosurfer1959]

Thanks - I felt the same way about smartwoods and swamp ash is a great feeling wood it's getting hard to nice ones though.

[Riffster]

Life is too short to play a toneless guitar. I returned the first Explorer I received from a online retailer purchase. The guitar had a serial number that was one year old and it had been sitting on the case with the nitro curing without venting. The tone of the wood was dead-ish. It had to go back, the second one I received was perfect until I noticed a hairline crack on the neck joint. I considered keeping it but then again why when you can return it?

 

My third Explorer is just perfect...except for the defective tone pot I uncovered when replacing the knobs but that is an easy fix and it gives me an excuse to go to the Gibson repair and restoration shop.

 

At least when it comes to online retailers, they know people will return guitars, as long as it is an exchange they will not give you any grief. It is part of the business, if they did not have a solid return policy they would not sell much.

 

I would never buy a guitar online that did not have a return or exchange policy.

[phil47uk]

I bought this from the States unplayed, but I know the guy who recommended it, so went on his word, and he was 100% on the nail. Awesome Les Paul. I wouldn't buy unplayed unless I really had a good info source.

I'd say try to get used to it, or move it on.

 

Click for pics and info

 

 

 

 

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[ChanMan]

I'd keep it, most likely, but then I've always said that if you gave me an oatmeal box and some rubber bands, I'll find a way to get a good tone off of it. It would have to have serious issues before I'd return it... shorted electronics, broken parts... something like that. It may not sound like I thought it would... but I bet I'd find a sound in it....

[Kingedb]

I'd work on it as much as I could to try to get it to sound good, after all it is the guitar you wanted

 

+1.

 

 

 

if you are losing sleep over it let it go. if not, i would swap pickups and try as many combos as possible.

 

you may not be far from living it.

[Plank_Spanker]

My first impression of a guitar is what usually rules. I've kept a few that were less than stellar at first play, but I ended up selling them. I've never "learned to love" a guitar.

 

A guitar either sets my hair on fire or not................................

[RichCI]

That mostly holds true for me too, Plank Spanker. While I don't like to buy guitars that don't sound great through an amp, I'll never buy one that doesn't feel good while playing it; it has to be pretty lively and I need to be able to really feel the neck and body vibrating. While you can always play the pickup swap game (which I very much avoid), you can't liven up a dead piece of wood - it either works or it doesn't.

[Tim Plains]

It's not necessarily Gibson and it applies to any company making guitars out of wood (all of them with a few exceptions). Wood varies and there's nothing anyone can do about that outside of picking the best pieces that they can.

Even Fender? Man' date=' I thought they were all indentical?

 

I'll find a way to get a good tone off of it. It would have to have serious issues before I'd return it... shorted electronics' date=' broken parts... something like that. It may not sound like I thought it would... but I bet I'd find a sound in it....[/quote']

Debatable - one could argue that after you've invested a bit of time and money in it, all you'd have is a guitar that you still don't like...but now, it's cost you more.

[Kingedb]

one could argue that after you've invested a bit of time and money in it, all you'd have is a guitar that you still don't like...but now, it's cost you more.

 

unfortunately this is true. i would be stubborn enough to really go to work on it. again thats just me. if you don't see anything coming from it then you MUST let it go. i know you know there will be more!

[RichCI]

It's not necessarily Gibson and it applies to any company making guitars out of wood (all of them with a few exceptions). Wood varies and there's nothing anyone can do about that outside of picking the best pieces that they can.

Debatable - one could argue that after you've invested a bit of time and money in it' date=' all you'd have is a guitar that you still don't like...but now, it's cost you more.[/quote']

Heh! Sure, taunt me again about my father smelling of elderberries or something! ;)

 

Yep, I love Fender guitars just as much as Gibsons but I don't care who made the guitar or how much it costs, I try at least several examples of any guitar I'm shopping for. The only time I ever bought the first one I tried was when I was shopping for and bought my 52 RI Tele; that guitar is a great one and it took about five minutes to decide to make the purchase. Sometimes you get lucky. :)

[ChanMan]

Debatable - one could argue that after you've invested a bit of time and money in it' date=' all you'd have is a guitar that you still don't like...but now, it's cost you more.[/quote']

 

Not debatable. Honestly... I'm talking about within the allotted "no questions asked" return policy, with the existing parts, I'll find a usable tone. Done it too many times already. Pissed folks off by doing it. It's my gift.... I make music.

 

 

What is debatable is whether I would ever buy me an instrument on-line. I haven't so far...

[Ricky330]

That mostly holds true for me too' date=' Plank Spanker. While I don't like to buy guitars that don't sound great through an amp, I'll never buy one that doesn't feel good while playing it; it has to be pretty lively and I need to be able to really feel the neck and body vibrating. While you can always play the pickup swap game (which I very much avoid), you can't liven up a dead piece of wood - it either works or it doesn't.[/quote']

 

+1

 

I have to like the guitar unplugged and plugged in. You can feel the sustain and the tone of the wood. There's a natural vibration that you can tune into.

[Bluemoon]

I would love to hear some clips of various standards that aren't plugged in to an amp just to see how different the tone can be from one guitar to the next. It would be a great comparison.

[RichCI]

For me, it's not so much a matter of how a solid body guitar sounds unplugged, just that it's making a lot of sound and, more so, that it's vibrating a lot and in a way that I like; more tactile than aural. It'd be an interesting experiment but I don't know how valuable clips would be without being able to actually play the guitars.

[Bluemoon]

I agree. Though isn't unplugging them the best way to compare tone.