Les Pauls - does it really need to be a gibson?

[samzadgan]

I know some of you will reply with a straight NO or a YES.

 

I have recently been privy to playing a Les Paul Standard, and was blown away by everything about the guitar. The wailing screams, the crunchy powerchords, the extremely easy neck to play on, the creamy neck pick ups etc etc etc.

 

I went to the US, thinking i want to buy one, and based on my budget i mainly limited my search to those under a $1000. Which meant looking at Epiphone, Ibanez, etc and of course Gibson Studio's.

 

And sure the Ibanez, was really light and playable, and the epiphone was kinda close, and Studio was almost there...but none compared to the Les Paul Standard.

 

Coming back to the UK i have now see this british guitar company named Vintage, who make the Lemon Drop, which is another non Gibson Les Paul which everyone comments on, saying "why spend money on a gibson when the Vintage is so good".

 

It's almost impossible to try out all the non-gibson les pauls, and im sure there are a lot more on the market than i know of, or have even tried...and all have their positives, the main one being the price tag.

 

So, the reason for this post...let get down to business...in your heart of hearts, is a Non-Gibson Les Paul as good as a real Les Paul. Lets forget that the Gibson in a lot of cases is double the price of these other Les Pauls...

 

The reason i want to ignore price differential is because: i want to know about build quality, sound etc...i don't want to know about a company who is just making a Les Paul based on price differential.

[artiem]

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

NO......and that's from somebody who knows the appeal of a Gibson, and of their pedigree and obvious desirability

 

At their best good Japanese Les Pauls are very much on a par with anything Gibson can produce

 

But if you want the Les Paul thing without spending too much the Vintage VS100 range can do it very well, especially the Lemon Drop, but there is now a Joe Bonamassa guitar and a Slash guitar

 

 

 

Both MetalheadUK and Charlie Murray wield Vintage Lemon Drops and speak very highly of them and MHUK has a few very high end Les Pauls, from Gibson, Heritage and MIJ makers.

[shadesofcraig]

I have played some decent Les Paul copies, none of them were Epiphones.. I knew someone who had a really nice Aria Pro 2 that was very close to a Les Paul, and my 2000 Guild Bluesbird is freaking awesome... I would put that in the same league as Gibson, however before I played that guitar, I would of said had to be a Gibson... But that Guild changed every thing for me...

 

Tobacco Sunburst with a Quilted Maple Top

 

Close up of the body

 

Some nice Mother Of Pearl Inlays

[Foamoi_refreshe]

yes and no. depends i guess. ive had plenty of les paul copies, from epiphone's to tanglewood's, vintage's. id always been after a gibson les paul and really wanted one this time a year or so ago, i went to london for a couple of days, played loads of custom's, mainly early 70's one, and a few newer standards, but none of them really fitted me, so i just left it and carried on being a fender fanboy. but i had a friend call me up two weeks ago with a standard for sale (untouched '08), i tried it, couldnt put it down, bought it, first ever gibson. now i love this thing, already gigged it twice. i already know this is one of the guitars that will stay with me for a long time, i have been searching for it for a long time.

 

so no, if you find what your looking for elsewhere, be it whatever branded les paul it is

yes, if it so happens that the one you choose has the name gibson at the top

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I should say that in nearly all cases I cannot justify the cost of a Gibson whne there is a very good Japanese substitute that can do the job for a lot less.

 

If you want to see how cheap you can get the full LP experience, but the cheapest Vintage VS100 and fit a set of Tonerider Rocksongs

 

It don't get any more LP than that.

 

However if you want to get the full experience then get a late 70s early 80s MIJ LP from Greco, Burny or Tokai (inflated prices) and fit whatever set of boutqiues pickups fits your ears.

 

If however you want the real thing, and when I say the real thing, I mean if you're at all label conscious, or feel that tradition is part of the experience, then you have to buy a Gibson.

[Whytlash]

I'll have a go at it!

 

I have an '84 Gibson Les Paul Studio Custom that I purchased new in '84. That's been my main axe for 27 years. It's a superb instrument. Before that I got an '83 Hondo II Professional made in the Tokai Factory. It's a great guitar that made me fall in love with the LP style, but it is not as good as my Gibson. If you never played a Gibson you'd never know the difference.

 

Now in 2011 I've picked up 2 new LP style guitars. A Gitano that is well made and very reminiscent of my Gibson. The same weight and feel, and it plays great. Then there's the RavenWest, another very well made guitar. A bit heavier, but another player.

 

Overall, I would be very happy with either of those three, and I am! The Gitano is my daily LP player now, but all the others get play time as well.

 

I think a non-Gibson LP can be a great guitar if it's made properly. There are apparently some rather "junky" ones out there, so you gotta separate the wheat from the chaff. I've been tempted to pick up an Epiphone LP Custom, and almost did. I may still do that at some time on the future. I didn't, and wouldn't, hesitate to buy an LP copy. You just have to do a little research on the brand to make sure you're getting the wheat and not the.....welkl, you know.

 

Steve

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

 

but i had a friend call me up two weeks ago with a standard for sale (untouched '08), i tried it, couldnt put it down, bought it, first ever gibson. now i love this thing, already gigged it twice. i already know this is one of the guitars that will stay with me for a long time, i have been searching for it for a long time.

 

 

The 08 Stds are the best iteration of the LP for a long long time

[soundcreation]

 

I should say that in nearly all cases I cannot justify the cost of a Gibson whne there is a very good Japanese substitute that can do the job for a lot less. If you want to see how cheap you can get the full LP experience, but the cheapest Vintage VS100 and fit a set of Tonerider Rocksongs It don't get any more LP than that. However if you want to get the full experience then get a late 70s early 80s MIJ LP from Greco, Burny or Tokai (inflated prices) and fit whatever set of boutqiues pickups fits your ears. If however you want the real thing, and when I say the real thing, I mean if you're at all label conscious, or feel that tradition is part of the experience, then you have to buy a Gibson.

 

 

yep...this pretty much sums it up.

 

If you don't look at the headstock and just use your ears there are plenty of options that get you ALL the way there.

[OU8124ME]

You Know,

 

It's About How Much Bank You Have

 

Get One That You Can Afford,

Then Later, You Can Add Some Cash

and Trade Up.

 

The Studio's are Cool

The Tribute's are Cool

 

Some Of The Copys are Good Too!

 

 

 

Thanks

Steve

[OU8124ME]

I have played some decent Les Paul copies, none of them were Epiphones.. I knew someone who had a really nice Aria Pro 2 that was very close to a Les Paul, and my 2000 Guild Bluesbird is freaking awesome... I would put that in the same league as Gibson, however before I played that guitar, I would of said had to be a Gibson... But that Guild changed every thing for me... Tobacco Sunburst with a Quilted Maple Top Close up of the body Some nice Mother Of Pearl Inlays

 

 

That Guild

 

Looks Sweet!

 

Nice Quilt Top!

 

 

 

Thanks

Steve

[bluesguitar65]

back in the 80s there was this company that made great les pauls, perhaps even much better than Gibson. The was Heritage. Don't know if they are still around anymore or if they still make fine quality guitars today.

 

Here is one on yourube.

[video=youtube;yAOHRssrwoQ]

[monto]

i hope the Vintage les pauls are better than the Vintage sg's, as my brother has a Vintage sg but he sold it pretty fast as to be honest, it was {censored}!

[Wizard of Ozz]

Yes. IMHO. That's after 25 years, and over 50 Les Pauls... of Gibson origin and other.

[Spike Li]

Well if you want to be reeaaally pedantic about it, these are the only "real" Les Pauls

 

 

But really, i think it comes down to your own personal definition of what a Les Paul should be. Musical instruments and how they feel is such a personal and subjective thing that the only persons opinion whom you trust is your own... or you know, Les Paul himself!

If you think that a "true" les paul has to have "gibson" on the headstock, then so be it. If you think it has to "sound" a certain way, that happens to be a Vintage, then so be it.

 

At the end of the day, all guitars are different and a good one is still a good one, and a bad one is still a bad one. Brands and price points just provide a good idea of what you can expect.

[59humbucker]

As other's have mentioned there are plenty of manufacturers that produce a quality LP a like, such as Edwards & Tokai (+gordon smith in the uk) and even more who produce a more budget but still pretty good version such as epihone, agile & vintage.

 

For me though, gibson still produce the best version of the LP I've played (I'm sure there are plenty who would argue in favour of some obsure boutique make such as navigator or clones such as derrig)

 

My 68ri is so much better than the epi custom I have. The epi is a great solid guitar and with the p'up swap sounds great, it's just not nearly as good.

 

Although I'm comparing a custom shop instrument to an cheap import, my experience of gibson is that even in the cheapies, they have mojo (the melody maker I just bought is also awesome and just feels more "pro" than the epi)

[dcooper830]

Agile, Vintage, Heritage, Edwards, Burny, Greco.... the list goes on and I think they're all excellent and will get you killer Les Paul tone.

 

So NO I don't think it really needs to be a Gibson.

 

 

 

Personally though...... I'm only interested in Gibsons and Epiphones.

[MahaloVision]

Easy. Yamaha SG2000. But I do dig the Guild.

[xrleroyx]

I had a Burny that was pretty spectacular. I also own an '09 LP Florentine. There was something cool about owning a Gibson. It was also a piece of {censored} when it shipped to my door. Nothing was grounded. Awful action and the neck was "meh". Full setup and it was awesome. Should've shipped awesome for $4,400. I wouldn't buy a Gibson new. Ever. If you're worried about resale value, then totally go with a Gibson. If not, there are many great options available.

[A-20]

My experience, which is somewhat limited to about 50 electric guitars I've owned plus all I've played with is: A good Gibson LP is really hard to find the equal of in less expensive brands. Put another way, I have never personally played a set-neck guitar with humbuckers which did "that" as well as a genuine Gibson. The feel, the sound, the presence of a good Gibson is just special. No it's not all in my head.

[tweak'd]

 

My experience, which is somewhat limited to about 50 electric guitars I've owned plus all I've played with is: A good Gibson LP is really hard to find the equal of in less expensive brands. Put another way, I have never personally played a set-neck guitar with humbuckers which did "that" as well as a genuine Gibson. The feel, the sound, the presence of a good Gibson is just special. No it's not all in my head.

 

 

I currently have 2 MIJ LP's which are both easily the equal of any non-Custom Shop Gibby I've ever owned or played. One is a 1980 Burny FLG-90 and the other a Bacchus LS-120. Both under $1000 used.

[mrbrown49]

I'd also consider some of the vintage ibanez artist's. Even though prices on those are getting sort of steep, they are still a much better value than gibson.

[ozzeh]

The Guild is beautiful. But I will stick with what the other Ozz says... Gibson, if you want the real deal holy-field.

[Lemon Crush]

I played an Edwards LP in my previous band. The other guitarist played an LP Custom and is very picky about tone. He said the Edwards just just as good sounding as any Gibson, cosmetically, playalbly and tonally.

[Spirithawk]

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top. Plays like butter, fit and finish very nice, and sounds awesome. True solid body, not chambered like todays Gibson LP's. Doesn't just look like a Les Paul, it has his name on it! Best part.....it was affordable. Ya know what you call those high dollar Gibson LP's ya can't afford? You call them...someone elses guitar! Where's the fun in that? As copies go, the Agile ones get a lot of great reviews.