While you have to careful about picking up your music history from "Guitar Hero," even playing the super-popular video game for five minutes will teach anyone that the Gibson Les Paul is an unavoidable part of rock and roll history. Since its introduction, the characteristic design and sound have been part of the landscape of popular music, especially rock and blues. Though the shape and primary sound have remained the same, Gibson has made slight modifications to the particulars, from neck thickness to pickup selection.
In 2008, Gibson presented a Gibson Les Paul Standard that contained more than its modest share of changes, some welcome and some not. Let's have a look at these revisions.
Here's a rundown on the changes Gibson carried out. The new Les Paul Standard now includes Strap Locks (Dunlop), chambered body, Grover Locking Tuners, TonePros bridge/tailpiece, Neutrick output jack, and a setup via Plek. If you're familiar with Les Pauls, you'll right away observe the lighter weight, due to the chambered body.
You might suppose that the change in the body type could result in loss of sustain or tone, but that's just not the case here. It has a well-balanced, thick tone that you'd expect from a Gibson Les Paul. One thing's for sure, and it's that the light weight will make the instrument much more "gigable," since Les Pauls have been traditionally back-breakers.
Since I normally replace tune-o-matic style bridges with TonePros, the upgraded bridge and tailpiece are a welcome addition, as is the Plek setup, which resulted in a solid playing and sounding instrument right out of the box.
Granted, a minor truss rod adjustment was required, but that's usually the case when you receive a guitar via UPS. Out of the box, the Gibson was pretty much gig-ready, a testimony to both the Plek'd setup as well as the TonePros hardware.
We were also very impressed with the finish, which was a flamed Heritage Cherry Sunburst. Try as we could, we found no troubles in the fit or finish. While a matter of individual preference, we're also appreciative they chose to exclude the pickguard, but it is included should you desire to install it.
For the revised Standard, Gibson chose to incorporate an asymmetrical neck profile, and I applaud their choice. The whole point is to have a thicker bass side with a somewhat thinner treble side, and the playability is greatly improved with this profile design.
It's sort of a cross between a 50's profile and a 60's profile, but in one guitar. We don't know if we should thank Gibson or Plex, but the fretwork was the nicest we've seen from a stock Gibson, as was the setup.
Since the Gibson/Marshall combo is so time-honored, I resolved to test the new Gibson Les Paul Standard with a JCM 800 half-stack. While it's definitely hip, the chambered body does add something of a 335-type sound to the mix. It may or may not be your cup o' tea.
We also liked the Burstbucker pickups, which is saying something because we're used to swapping out replacements immediately. The pickups accentuate the Les Paul's heavy sound, and you can easily grab some distinctive Les Paul sounds here. The Burstbuckers combined with the chambered body is a terrific combination.
For all the things we liked, there were still various changes that we wish hadn't been enacted by Gibson. That includes the locking Neutrik jack. Though Neutrik jacks are very high quality, we just didn't like not being able to pull the cord out instantly.
Same goes for the PCB mounted volume and tone pots. In fact, all pots, the pickups, the selector switch, and the jack are all coupled to a main PCB board via pluggable connectors. While it's cool in a way, it could also greatly impede changing a pot or swapping pickups. We were left scratching our heads on this one.
Still, these concerns are minor. Overall, the new Gibson Les Paul Standard is a superb guitar in many ways, and we sense the spirit of classic Les Pauls here. Gibson also now makes a "Les Paul Traditional" that might appeal to individuals who want a more traditional Les Paul. Obviously, Gibson has something for everyone in their Les Paul series. - 32370
In 2008, Gibson presented a Gibson Les Paul Standard that contained more than its modest share of changes, some welcome and some not. Let's have a look at these revisions.
Here's a rundown on the changes Gibson carried out. The new Les Paul Standard now includes Strap Locks (Dunlop), chambered body, Grover Locking Tuners, TonePros bridge/tailpiece, Neutrick output jack, and a setup via Plek. If you're familiar with Les Pauls, you'll right away observe the lighter weight, due to the chambered body.
You might suppose that the change in the body type could result in loss of sustain or tone, but that's just not the case here. It has a well-balanced, thick tone that you'd expect from a Gibson Les Paul. One thing's for sure, and it's that the light weight will make the instrument much more "gigable," since Les Pauls have been traditionally back-breakers.
Since I normally replace tune-o-matic style bridges with TonePros, the upgraded bridge and tailpiece are a welcome addition, as is the Plek setup, which resulted in a solid playing and sounding instrument right out of the box.
Granted, a minor truss rod adjustment was required, but that's usually the case when you receive a guitar via UPS. Out of the box, the Gibson was pretty much gig-ready, a testimony to both the Plek'd setup as well as the TonePros hardware.
We were also very impressed with the finish, which was a flamed Heritage Cherry Sunburst. Try as we could, we found no troubles in the fit or finish. While a matter of individual preference, we're also appreciative they chose to exclude the pickguard, but it is included should you desire to install it.
For the revised Standard, Gibson chose to incorporate an asymmetrical neck profile, and I applaud their choice. The whole point is to have a thicker bass side with a somewhat thinner treble side, and the playability is greatly improved with this profile design.
It's sort of a cross between a 50's profile and a 60's profile, but in one guitar. We don't know if we should thank Gibson or Plex, but the fretwork was the nicest we've seen from a stock Gibson, as was the setup.
Since the Gibson/Marshall combo is so time-honored, I resolved to test the new Gibson Les Paul Standard with a JCM 800 half-stack. While it's definitely hip, the chambered body does add something of a 335-type sound to the mix. It may or may not be your cup o' tea.
We also liked the Burstbucker pickups, which is saying something because we're used to swapping out replacements immediately. The pickups accentuate the Les Paul's heavy sound, and you can easily grab some distinctive Les Paul sounds here. The Burstbuckers combined with the chambered body is a terrific combination.
For all the things we liked, there were still various changes that we wish hadn't been enacted by Gibson. That includes the locking Neutrik jack. Though Neutrik jacks are very high quality, we just didn't like not being able to pull the cord out instantly.
Same goes for the PCB mounted volume and tone pots. In fact, all pots, the pickups, the selector switch, and the jack are all coupled to a main PCB board via pluggable connectors. While it's cool in a way, it could also greatly impede changing a pot or swapping pickups. We were left scratching our heads on this one.
Still, these concerns are minor. Overall, the new Gibson Les Paul Standard is a superb guitar in many ways, and we sense the spirit of classic Les Pauls here. Gibson also now makes a "Les Paul Traditional" that might appeal to individuals who want a more traditional Les Paul. Obviously, Gibson has something for everyone in their Les Paul series. - 32370
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