work bonus check! ive got gas

[FennRx]

ok fellas, simm-ah down now...

 

Wolff, i dont think there is any snobbery going on- at least not intentionally. gibsons are fine instruments, whether they come from the USA factory or the Custom Shop. i will only speak for myself here: i am not a great guitarist. i am not even a good guitarist. i am a hack that has gotten by with hard work and tabs. as Neo has said, my equipment FAR exceeds my ability. but what i have found, is that the Custom Shop Les Pauls, in particular the Historic Reissues, have a little something extra. i first heard about the Historics on the LPF. there was so much hype, i finally went down to GC and tried a few out. i was not impressed, at all (there is even a review somewhere on this site). but one day, I was in Sam Ash and the magic happened. I found an R8 that was unbelievable- unlike ANY Les Paul i had ever touched before and after. it was then that i became a believer.

 

i sold my Classic and Standard Faded shortly after I bought my R8. I encourage everyone to check out the Historic line. i have found that the CS consistently makes great guitars, whereas the USA line consistently produces good guitars.

 

its not about bragging, its about trying to share what i have experienced.

[Thundergod]

 

A reissue won't make you a better player...but anyone can hear/feel the differences between the two lines.

 

 

No, it wont make you a better player... but a Tele will... (damn Tim... with those things, if you skp a note or play it the wrong way, an alarm sounds... sirens, lights and all that stuff...)

 

 

 

That said... my Chinese Givsom is better than your Rs!

[Tim Plains]

No' date=' it wont make you a better player... but a Tele will...[/quote']

[Thundergod]

Is that you Tim? you look kind of familiar...

[Wolff]

Well, Tim is definitely right that my skill level is probably on par with an Epiphone(which I have owned several of) although I can certainly hear the difference between an Epi and a Gibson. Also correct that I never tried a CS model. Let me ask you guys something. When you are about to drop a nice chunk of change, how can you really get a feel for the guitar unless you are home with your own amp? I always try out every Gibson I bought of course but I can never really get a feel for what its really going to sound like in it's natural environment(my basement). I also don't hear much difference from one USA Standard to the next. Like someone mentioned, I get by on tabs and perseverance.

I'm not saying I'm caving in, but the guitar at the top of my wishlist is a silverburst LP Custom. That's available only thru the CS?

 

You know Tim, I'm not trying to start crap with you and this is the last thing I'll say on this issue because I'd like to get along with everyone here. I'm as proud of my Gibson USA Les Paul as you are of your reissues. Also, an R8 or R9 isn't always the ideal guitar for anyone who asks advice. Lastly, what about the kid who gets his first Lester and he comes here only to find out that he should have saved up for a CS model? Go ahead and have the final word, I'm done now. Sorry to cause any trouble gentlemen.

[geyser]

I think you can locate an used or demo R8 for 2000-2500 $

and it would be perfect...

 

Ramon' date='

 

for instance, that's what I was talkin' about:

 

http://cgi.ebay.it/GIBSON-HISTORIC-1958-REISSUE-LES-PAUL-VOS-58-MINT-NOS_W0QQitemZ300262603796QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300262603796&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A10|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

http://cgi.ebay.it/08-GIBSON-LES-PAUL-CUSTOM-SHOP-HISTORIC-58-VOS-ICED-TEA_W0QQitemZ300262554786QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300262554786&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A10|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

there are lot of these beauties around and with some patience and luck

I think you can even get one of them for 2000

IMHO, there's not a better Gibson you can get for that price

 

that [u']doesn't[/u] mean Gibson USA or Epiphone stuff itself or .........

(insert you selection here, please) are *crap*, ok?

it's just that R8 and R9 are another level (am I right, Tim/Homer?)

and if you like Les Pauls and you can afford to buy one of these

you will not be disappointed, period.

[geyser]

Well' date=' Tim is definitely right that my skill level is probably on par with an Epiphone... [/quote']

 

Hi Wolff,

 

I just read your message after my latter post and I just needed to say

that was not related to yours (as maybe you could think reading both in sequence)

 

now that I'm writing, if I can say a little thing about it, I don't think skill and guitar quality

have to go together ... if was this way, my skill would deserve a Guitar Hero axe at best ...

I mean: if you like cars and you can afford to buy a really nice car, you don't have to be

a race pro driver to buy it, do you?

and, coming back to Les Paul, when you got an Historic Reissue, you got something that

hopefully will save (hopefully) some value in years, and that's not bad at all either...

just my 2 cent ...

[Tim Plains]

Wolff, I think there's some miscommunication here. I never said your skill level is on par with an Epiphone.

This is a leisurely forum and nobody is being judged on their playing ability. Everybody's an asset.

 

When you are about to drop a nice chunk of change' date=' how can you really get a feel for the guitar unless you are home with your own amp? I always try out every Gibson I bought of course but I can never really get a feel for what its really going to sound like in it's natural environment(my basement). I also don't hear much difference from one USA Standard to the next.[/quote']

There's two ways around this. One is buy it from a place with a good return policy.

If you don't like it after you bring it home, take it back for an exchange or a refund.

 

Do you have a good relationship with any local music stores? I always take a guitar home for a few days and try it out. I also used to play a few other guitars in the store and take a second similar guitar home for comparison. That gold top I bought recently is technically on loan for few weeks until they launch a 0% interest plan in October.

 

I also don't hear much difference from one USA Standard to the next.

Well' date=' they're the same guitar, right? And they should be the same. The thing is, not all are.

If you play two Standards side-by-side, do you just plug them into the amp and play away, or do you play them acoustically first? Try them acoustically, you'll probably notice a greater difference this way. Some LPs really sing when unplugged and sound almost happy; whereas, others will sound darker. If you do this, just make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Meaning, don't acoustically compare a chambered LP to a non-chambered LP. They will sound different.

 

I'm not saying I'm caving in' date=' but the guitar at the top of my wishlist is a silverburst LP Custom. That's available only thru the CS?[/quote']

Yeah, Customs are Custom Shop guitars. There are a few types of Customs out there - modern Customs and reissue Customs. If you're set on a silverburst, I think you have two choices. One is a modern Custom, like mine, the other is a '68 Custom reissue. They look the same, but are constructed differently and have different electronics.

 

You can also find Gibson LP Standard in silverburst. I've seen a couple here on-line.

There was also a Guitar Center exclusive silverburst LP. I think it was a Classic Antique, but don't quote me on that.

 

You know Tim' date=' I'm not trying to start crap with you and this is the last thing I'll say on this issue because I'd like to get along with everyone here. I'm as proud of my Gibson USA Les Paul as you are of your reissues. Also, an R8 or R9 isn't always the ideal guitar for anyone who asks advice. Lastly, what about the kid who gets his first Lester and he comes here only to find out that he should have saved up for a CS model? Go ahead and have the final word, I'm done now. Sorry to cause any trouble gentlemen.[/quote']

As you should be proud of them. They are great guitars...and you're not causing any trouble.

This is a discussion forum. The whole point of it is to discuss these guitar.

 

If somebody joins the forum and posts pics of their new Les Paul, nobody is going to say "bad choice, you should have bought a reissue." We're all fans of LPs here, all LPs...and you're right, a reissue is not the ideal choice for everybody. A guy that plays heavy metal probably won't want lower output BurstBucker pickups. All I'm saying when somebody asks for suggests on a new purchase is that the historic line should not be excluded from their search...and the reason is it's a higher end instrument that is constructed more along the lines of a traditional Les Paul. There is no snobbery.

 

...and yes, Thunder...that's me in the pic.

[Wolff]

Fair enough Tim. All settled now? I'll probably be asking you some more advice when it comes time for my silverburst. Spending my $ on a new amp for now though. I've been thru so many amps and I can never seem to find the right one. I usually go for overkill like my old Laney Iommi 100 watt head. I may have found the ideal amp for my purposes with the Egnater Rebel-20 1/2 stack. Peace.

[ChanMan]

+1 on we love all Les Pauls here (except the Geckoburst). I'd love to eventually own a studio, a faded, a CS and a nice reissue.... but that doesn't mean I dislike, or think poorly of any model Les Paul (except the aforementioned Geckoburst).

 

I have yet to play any reissue that equals my Standard, Wolff. It's a shame, as I held the lightest Les Paul I have ever held in my life this weekend (an R9). I mean I have acoustics that are heavier than this guitar....but it played and sounded like crap. None of the R9s they had were even close to my Standard. It's ok with me, though. There are folks here I trust... like Tim... who tell me that once I find "the one", I'll never look back. This sure meshes with what I have experienced, as I spent around 18 months looking for the Standard you see in my avatar. I kissed a lot of frogs before finding this one, and I will swear by it. Frankly, ANY Les Paul from here out has to meet or exceed the bar set by this one... and that is a mighty tall order!

 

 

We're glad to have you here, fella... this really is a GREAT bunch of guys, and I think you fit right in !

[Wolff]

Thanks ChanMan, there really is a great group of guys around here and I'm glad to be part of it.

[Thundergod]

+1 on we love all Les Pauls here (except the Geckoburst). I'd love to eventually own a studio' date=' a faded, a CS and a nice reissue.... but that doesn't mean I dislike, or think poorly of any model Les Paul (except the aforementioned Geckoburst).

[/quote']

 

 

 

Hey! Watch it with the Geckoburst... we should love all gods children... no matter how UGLY they are O:)/

 

Those are f-ugly... really... what were they thinking?

[Thundergod]

Wolff:

 

Could you believe I dont really "play" guitar at any shop... when I buy guitars, I play them unplugged in a private room my gibson-fender-and-everything-else delaer has. Yeah, I play them unplugged. Then I ask for an amp like my current favorite or like any amp I am acustomed to and I just play all an E chord... then all 6 strings open... that's it. Some of the place's employees think I cant play ****... some have seen me playing in the studio or live and know I'm just nuts.

 

If I cant have an amp like my current favorite I will ask for one I own and have played a lot... so I can relate to its unique sound (most my amps are crap tho...) If they didnt have any amp I knew I would go with my guitar, play her through one amp so that I get tone resembling mine, and then plug the other and strum an E chord...

 

Toys in the atick indeed.

[Old Deadhead]

+1 on we love all Les Pauls here (except the Geckoburst).

We're glad to have you here' date=' fella... this really is a GREAT bunch of guys, and I think you fit right in :)![/quote']

+1 Chan especially on the gecko. I dont know why Gibson made a guitar with a vomit finish.

[Bluesburst]

Just to add something else to the mix,

 

The one really scary and unknown factor is how the guitar will age. I have a 2000 build Classic. Really nice guitar when I got it but the pickups were not great for blues / blues rock stuff I like. I bought an ES137 18 months later and boring family stuff chewed up the bucks also.

 

A couple of years later I put in SD Alnico II Pros and had them installed with a Gibson Jimmy Page wiring loom I got just after I bought the Classic.

 

4 years after purchasing the guitar, it was now better but uninspiring after having played a couple of reissues. Over the last 2 years it's matured beautifully. I can actually see how the lacquer has settled into the woodgrain and some imperfections have come up also BUT, it has mellowed beautifully. I tried to sell it a few years back but now I'm so glad I didn't.

 

Just like wine, it's not always what you stat with, it how it ends up.

 

Perhaps the Holy Grail 59's weren't that inspiring when new and that's why they went the way of the dodo!!! It was the mid to late 60's they had their mojo working. Perhaps in part, it's a case of waiting for 5-10 years before they hit their stride.

 

And it's not my playing, I play the same stuff as badly as I did back in 2000... Really, no false modesty here!!!