[budg]

Originally Posted by LouieTM

Today I played an ebony Midtown Custom in a shop for about an hour.
First off, it felt well built and properly set up. Ok, the binding could have been finished better, some nibs were a bit rough, but otherwise it felt up there with any other Gibson USA guitar.
The white binding was not an issue on the ebony guitar, but I'm curious how it looks like on the others.
The Richlite board looks and feels a lot like ebony. The regular Gibson headstock shape and diamond inlay do look better than the corresponding ones on the Midtown Standard.
Since the body construction is more like a big, chambered LP with F-holes instead of semi-hollow like an ES-335, there is less "woodiness" in the tone compared to the 335, however it sounds much closer to that than to an LP. The Burstbuckers sound great in it both clean and dirty, with the usual slight muddiness of a semi-hollow. Luckily there's rear access to the control cavity, so mods are as easy to do as on an LP.
Overall I think Gibson has a winner in the Midtown Custom, especially for the money, since it costs half the price of a LP Standard or the cheapest ES-335.
Considering the white binding, black board and chrome hardware, personally I'd go with the ebony as my favourite, over the natural, vintage sunburst or cherry sunburst finishes.

I just picked up a VS one today.Went at GC to look "look" at some semi hollows.Found a red 335 used one that I was trying out.Spied this midtown guitar on the wall and decided to give it a try.I was ready to be unimpressed , but was blown away by the guitar . Played it clean thru a drri and realised it was guing home .I will put up pics as soon as I quit playing it.The neck is so nice on this and it plays like butter.Slightly heavier than a 335 , but way lighter than my les paul.This one is a keeper for sure.Was built only 3 weeks ago too.