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why are les paul customs so heavy comapared with other les pauls?


marloni

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:confused: arent they all made of mahogany and all the other same wood? les paul customs are so heavey I wonder what they put inside the wood. maybe its coz they have the thickest necks... the neck pickup of a les paul custom is also useless to me since the sound is so brittle.
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The irony is that Gibson actually selects lighter weight, better-grade mahogany for use with Customs; but they end up being heavier than standards because they don't make swiss cheese out of them by drilling weight-relief holes in 'em.

 

What LP Custom were you playing that had a "brittle" sounding neck pickup? Mine is the very definition of warmth. I could understand you saying that about the bridge pickup, but it's designed to cut through the mix. Hence the Rythm/Lead thing.

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Gibson guitars vary so much from year to year that I'm sure it's possible to find Standards or Deluxes that are heavier than Customs.

 

Years ago I had a 70's custom that was black with chrome and it was a very warm sounding guitar. It was stolen unfortunatly. I don't remember it being extremely heavy (for a Les Paul) but it could have been.

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Originally posted by Komandi

What LP Custom were you playing that had a "brittle" sounding neck pickup? Mine is the very definition of warmth. I could understand you saying that about the bridge pickup, but it's designed to cut through the mix.

 

 

I agree with this. I have a custom and have to back down the tone a bit on the bridge pup otherwise, its just a little too harsh..the neck pup however, is perfect.

 

I consider mine pretty heavy at 11 lbs

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Originally posted by Komandi

The irony is that Gibson actually selects lighter weight, better-grade mahogany for use with Customs; but they end up being heavier than standards because they don't make swiss cheese out of them by drilling weight-relief holes in 'em.


What LP Custom were you playing that had a "brittle" sounding neck pickup? Mine is the very definition of warmth. I could understand you saying that about the bridge pickup, but it's designed to cut through the mix. Hence the Rythm/Lead thing.

 

seriously, they really put weights inside a les paul custom? the other models don't seem to have weights coz theyre average weight about 8-9 lbs.

 

The les paul customs i tried were the regular ones you can find at guitar center that go for $2999. :eek: they have a very tighy/snappy attack which i believe is due to the ebony fretboard. maybe 'brittle' is the wrong description. on the bridge pickup it sounds warm and heavy (and tight). but the neck sounds too tight sounding, doesn't sound as warm as a les paul standard neck pickup. If you play slash solos on a les paul custom, it won't sound as warm i'd think.

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No, he's saying they don't drill those weight relief holes in it. Weight relief holes are big holes drilled part way through the body of a guitar before the maple top is put on. Gibson does this so they can use much cheaper wood without the guitar getting too heavy.

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Originally posted by marloni



seriously, they really put weights inside a les paul custom? the other models don't seem to have weights coz theyre average weight about 8-9 lbs.


 

All production Lesters look like this under X-Ray:

 

CHLP1.JPG

 

Customs don't have the holes drilled out, thus they tend to weigh more...

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Originally posted by geddins81



All production Lesters look like this under X-Ray:


CHLP1.JPG

Customs don't have the holes drilled out, thus they tend to weigh more...

 

Cool photo! It's like some creepy forensic mystery solved x-ray.:cool:

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Originally posted by orourke



Cool photo! It's like some creepy forensic mystery solved x-ray.
:cool:

 

Yep...Pepejara is a member of the Les Paul Forum, and I believe he's a vet as well....so he has his own machine....he's shot a few different models....cool stuff!

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The Regular Les Paul Customs have had weight relief holes since around 1982. It's only the Custom Shop Reissues that have no weight relief. Heavier Mahogany is not the same as cheaper Mahogany it just depends on where and how it has grown. Maple is heavier than Mahogany. It seems that Gibson for some reason often pick the heavier Mahogany for Les Paul Customs. All Customs are not heavy my 1995 LP Custom weighs about 4.3kg.

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This is something that always puzzled me, of the real boat anchor Les Pauls I personally have come across both around 14lbs, both were LP Customs, all mahogany.

 

The maple capped LP does have some more material removed for channel linking the toggle sqitch to the control compartment, but not that much, but it then has a consoderably denser wood glued on top.

 

My only answer is due to the mostly solid finished they get all the knotty wood and lesser cuts for some obscure reason.

 

I get the argument about weight relief, but that didn't start til the late 80s and pre weight relief Norlin Customs and Stds and Deluxes mostly adhere to the same weigt hierarchy, and ditto some of the 50s Customs. Oddly the late 60s Customs with the maple caps fall into the 9-10lb category which most people appear to accept

 

the only way we'd know is if if Gibson started producing the all mahogany fadeds with no weight relief.

 

....although....maybe it's all those multi laminate bindings.....

 

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^^^ The heaviest LP's made are like mine. 11lbs.

 

Believe me that's still plenty heavy without exaggerating its weight and feels like a cinder block after playing it for a set.

You get a very tight and compressed sound from a guitar that heavy. Everything else comes from the electronic end.

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11lbs...makes me shoulder hurt thinking about it.

 

There's a lovely little guitar shop in the country south of London and they had a 14lb used LPC for sale for three years. I don't know whether they were kidding, but at one point, apparently they labelled it with an airline label as used on heavy suitcases. Imagine 14lbs round yer neck

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I had a late '70s LP Custom MF (maple fingerboard) with a three piece maple neck and a sandwich body that wieghed in at 12 lbs.

 

It was an incredible and versatile sounding instrument that was extremely well built - and probably still is - but was stolen a few years after I bought it.

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theyre heavy because theyre designed to be the most badass les paul u can get. i have one and its my most expensive possession. it sounds great, looks great, and plays excellent. but the very thick neck can limit my technique.

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theyre heavy because theyre designed to be the most badass les paul u can get. i have one and its my most expensive possession. it sounds great' date=' looks great, and plays excellent. but the very thick neck can limit my technique.[/quote']

 

How much does yours weigh?

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