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Johnny Thunders FTW!

I have three Les Pauls, two Tokais (a Standard and a Special) and an Epiphone LP Custom. i think that the basic Les Paul design is one of those electric guitar designs that's survived largely unchanged since its inception because it WORKS. the combination of materials, dimensions, and construction create a guitar with excellent physical mechanics for a vibrating string and a good tonal balance with a pickup, as one might expect from an instrument designed with input from Les Paul's years of solidbody guitar R&D before its initial introduction. when Gibson's tried varying that recipe, the farther they get from it the less successful the guitars are sonically and commercially, viz. the awful walnut guitars they had in the 70s/80s. it's interesting that the LP really seems to depend on the mahogany body (and arguably neck) where other long-lived guitar designs like the Telecaster have been produced with various woods and combinations thereof...even the variations on the design by e.g. Hagstrom, ESP, et al. go with a mahogany back and (usually) a maple top.

I miss my electra LP.. I got it for $60 cuz it had a snapped head and was gutted.. I think I fixed the head three times before it broke all the way..

I have an El Degas LP with a cracked top and a bolt-on neck. It SLAYS.
Fucker's heavy, but super balanced and the neck is thick. super comfortable to play.

dubkitty wrote:i think that the basic Les Paul design is one of those electric guitar designs that's survived largely unchanged since its inception because it WORKS.

the longer i play, the more convinced i become that fender and gibson got it right the first time around in the 50s and early 60s. i favor the specs from that era in terms of tonewoods, neck shape and radius, frets, pickups, hardware, etc. although changes have been made to accomodate changing styles and aesthetics, it's interesting that both companies have maintained or introduced vintage spec reissues, often at higher prices than the new and improved versions. but fortunately, gibson has been offering amazing bargains. my lp 50s tributes are very basic and relatively cheap recreations of vintage models, and i have a lp special i bought in the 90s that is the same concept. a case of less is more.

Good lookin' fleet there man. I've been curious about those 50's and 60's tributes. Pretty good huh?

My 1980 Les Paul Custom has pretty much taken over my gear.
I've enjoyed playing my buddy's lp studio, as well.
Mmmmmm.... Les Pauls are rad.

kosta wrote:Good lookin' fleet there man. I've been curious about those 50's and 60's tributes. Pretty good huh?

thanks--i love playing them. it's a matter of preference, though. the 50s have a fat neck, which i prefer. i tried a 60s and it didn't do it for me--the neck didn't feel right. they make them with buckers now, but i prefer the p90s.

Oh! I feel obligated to mention Gibson/Epiphone's legendary crapshoot that they call quality control. Even on the nice ones, you need to play them in person.

D.o.S. wrote:Oh! I feel obligated to mention Gibson/Epiphone's legendary crapshoot that they call quality control. Even on the nice ones, you need to play them in person.

true, but i've found the same with other brands, including martin. i had 2 custom order martins sent back because of ridiculously obvious qc issues and i went through 4 fender fsr teles at a music shop before i found a good one.

cheesecats wrote:

kosta wrote:Good lookin' fleet there man. I've been curious about those 50's and 60's tributes. Pretty good huh?

thanks--i love playing them. it's a matter of preference, though. the 50s have a fat neck, which i prefer. i tried a 60s and it didn't do it for me--the neck didn't feel right. they make them with buckers now, but i prefer the p90s.

Here here for fat necks and P-90's. I'm with ya there.

cheesecats wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Oh! I feel obligated to mention Gibson/Epiphone's legendary crapshoot that they call quality control. Even on the nice ones, you need to play them in person.

true, but i've found the same with other brands, including martin. i had 2 custom order martins sent back because of ridiculously obvious qc issues and i went through 4 fender fsr teles at a music shop before i found a good one.

Yeah, obviously the Gibson family isn't the only QC-uestionable group out there.

It definitely makes it harder to explain the magic of a "proper" Les Paul, SG, Dot, (etc.) though. People tend to be pretty dismissive of brands when it comes to gear, so the "brand nationalism" for shit they do like and their "xenophobia" for what they don't makes talking shop with random heroes a little more annoying than it should be.

That said, all Musicman basses suck donkey dick, there has never been a good solid state amplifier, and all "indie rock" records made after 2000 are awful.

D.o.S. wrote:That said, all Musicman basses suck donkey dick, there has never been a good solid state amplifier, and all "indie rock" records made after 2000 are awful.