I need help finding a Les Paul

[rogue3]

Since the op is shopping, i'll add my 2 cents...i've heard a lot of compliments on the board to the classic range. No first hand experience myself,but, Life is full of compromises, the price seems pretty good.

A Black Les Paul Classic.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPCLSEBNH--gibson-les-paul-classic-ebony

disclaimer: i don't work for sweetwater,but the deal seems real enough.The resale value,should the op fold on playing,would get a good chunk of his change back,and, he would have something close enough to his dream guitar. Plus a huge inspiration to play on.
And Black is beautiful! (i have one,only 34 years old,battlescars and all, still my favorite).

 

[Michael Matyas]

Please lay off the OP-no name-calling.please. I grew up in the 1960's and there was always music playing in our house. Al Caiola, Carlos Montoya, Los Indios Tabajaros, Johnny Horton, Laurindo Almeida, Jerry and the Stingers... I remember wanting my own guitar so bad years before I could play a note on my older brother's Kay.

 

[uncle mud]

Your Grampa probably had a Mid 50's custom with p90 pickups. You can find reissues but they are on the pricey side. From what I can see they hold their value quite well. If you want what your Grampa played and you can afford it That's what I would look for. Good luck on your search

 

[rjwilson37]

We are just talking amongst ourselves now, the OP has left the room. haha

 

[CB91710]

We are just talking amongst ourselves now, the OP has left the room. haha

Can't blame him.

 

[jadm110]

since OP left can i ask kind of the same question?
I have an I Epiphone LP standard med jumbo frets thin neck ( i think)
I have been playing for about 6 years. ( blues /blues rock) and i am thinking that i might want to move up to a Gibson.
now not having a ton of money for a standard, what would be my best bang for the buck in the mid to lower price range
( i would rather buy new ) and up grade parts if I have to as a last resort

 

[dro]

Studio's have all the parts you need

 

[Texsunburst59]

I think you're going to have to put in the time to hunt down the right guitar for you.

If I were you, I'd go used to sure and try to find the right LP that looks like you want and sounds and plays good.

Here's a few used LP's I picked up on a budget and would in the ballpark of what you're looking for.

The 1st is my '03 Epiphone "Elite" LP Customhas the look,but you'd have to change out the tuner, but the neck is like a 60's LP ( I found this used for $300)

The other is my '05 Gibson LP Studio. (is black, 50's neck, no yellow binding (found this for $286 )

 

[jadm110]

Studio's have all the parts you need

I have been going back & fourth between tributes, Gibson 2018 Les Paul Signature Player Plus and studio's
is there any advantage of one over the other? i don't need coil splitting ( i have a strat) but I wanted that giant Les paul humbucker sound. Q; are aftermarket pickups worth the extra investment?? ( like SD.s)

 

[rjwilson37]

Save just a little bit more money and get a Classic, which is definitely the best bang for you buck! It is nice to have binding, trust me on this. When the Studio's brand new were priced lower and you could get one for $800-$1000, that was a good buy. But now you are paying $1500-$1600 and you can get a Classic for $400 more. Sweetwater has a lot of different colors to choose from and when they are in stock, you can choose which one of 4 choices you like best.

Gibson Les Paul Classic Electric Guitar - Green Ocean Burst, Sweetwater Exclusive

 

[CB91710]

I have been going back & fourth between tributes, Gibson 2018 Les Paul Signature Player Plus and studio's
is there any advantage of one over the other? i don't need coil splitting ( i have a strat) but I wanted that giant Les paul humbucker sound. Q; are aftermarket pickups worth the extra investment?? ( like SD.s)

+1 on stepping up to the Classic.
As mentioned in another thread, you don't have to use the push-pull pots to coil split, and it's way more than $400 nicer than a Tribute/Studio
Pickups are going to be a personal choice.
I'm a die-hard SD fan, and if I need to buy pickups for a project, that's generally what I buy (though I've used Fender pickups on recent Fender projects)
A pair of Pearly Gates are going into an Explorer that LtDave32 is building for me.
A Nazgul/Sentient pair is going into a Les Paul kit if I ever get around to building it.
My Flying-V has a 'JB/Jazz set, my Epiphone SG has a JB/59 set, my Epiphone Sheraton has a 59/AN2-Pro... and my Kramer has a pair of Invaders.

My '19 Les Paul, '17 Strat, and Bonamassa LP Custom are stock.
I'm happy with the sound from every one of them.

So... Buy the Classic, and give it a few weeks to make up your mind on the pickups.
Keep in mind that the Classic has PCB construction, so the pickups are plug-in, not hardwired.
Personally, if you don't want the coil splitting function, AND you decide to replace the pickups, I would remove the complete wiring assembly and rewire the whole thing from the ground up.
Ya, you can buy a kit for $100 that is mostly pre-wired, but it's really just $20 or $30 worth of parts.

 

[rjwilson37]

Also... The Classic comes with a nice Gibson Hard Shell Case worth about $250, so the guitar is really only like $150 more expensive. That makes the best bang for you buck a little better when you compare that to a Studio that comes with a softshell case.

 

[jadm110]

rjwilson37 &
CB91710
thank you for the advice, this is info you just can't get from GC - they just get that "deer in the headlights look when I ask a question like this - than they run away!

one more question if you don't mind the SG & the LP have a line that they call HP (high performance) looking at the specs i don't see what makes this any more "high performance" than the standard??

 

[dro]

+1 on stepping up to the Classic.
As mentioned in another thread, you don't have to use the push-pull pots to coil split, and it's way more than $400 nicer than a Tribute/Studio


Just one old fart's opinion.
A 2 conductor pickup that is hard wired, will outperform a 4 conductor pickup (quick connect) in humbucker mode. All day long.
Splitting pickups. In humbucker mode (to my ears) are weak sounding.
Just an old opinion, from an old guy, from the old school.

In aftermarket, S.D. has some very nice options.

 

[rjwilson37]

rjwilson37 &
CB91710
thank you for the advice, this is info you just can't get from GC - they just get that "deer in the headlights look when I ask a question like this - than they run away!

one more question if you don't mind the SG & the LP have a line that they call HP (high performance) looking at the specs i don't see what makes this any more "high performance" than the standard??

I have the 2017 Les Paul Studio HP in Black Cherry Burst, this is a slim taper neck but a little bit wider so bends on either E string don't slide off, which happens to us sometimes when we are playing leads and such. This also came with the G-Force which is the 2nd shot that Gibson took for auto tuning and missed. (it works just ok..haha) Also, the HP I have came with a sweet Aluminum Case. I got it on Black Friday 2016 from GC for $1325 with all the different discounts and a screw up on Fedex actually losing my first one getting lost somewhere along the line. Then they were on backorder and I did not get it until like the beginning of February 2017. I then had to get the silent switch replaced because it was faulty, but mine has the silent switching between pickups, so you don't hear it at all when switching between Rhythm, Lead or both.

I don't think they have the High Performance anymore, I think the Les Paul Modern replaced that.

Here is my 2017 Les Paul Studio HP, which also has a rosewood fingerboard that is a little bit thicker than the typical. It also has the titanium adjustable nut, which has its good and bad points.

 

[CB91710]

rjwilson37 &
CB91710
thank you for the advice, this is info you just can't get from GC - they just get that "deer in the headlights look when I ask a question like this - than they run away!

one more question if you don't mind the SG & the LP have a line that they call HP (high performance) looking at the specs i don't see what makes this any more "high performance" than the standard??

Gibson 2017 HP vs T

Recently, Gibson announced their 2017 lineup of electric guitars. This largely consisted of a range

www.reidys.com

Titanium adjustable height nut... it's almost like having a zero-fret.
Different models came with different pickups, but they all have PCB construction with DIP switches that allow for different tone configurations. The switches are inside the control cavity, so you aren't going to be changing anything on stage other than what the push-pull pots allow.
They came with an ABS or aluminum clamshell case.
Here's a Reverb listing for an SG: https://reverb.com/ca/item/35012795-gibson-sg-standard-hp-ii-2018-blood-orange-fade

Also, the HP line has been discontinued. Some of the finishes are shared with the Modern line.

 

[rjwilson37]

Also... Rich above here posted the other things it can do that I did not even mention because I don't use them. haha

I can tell you this though, if I wanted to pickup another Gibson Les Paul, it would be the Classic for sure. I would just have to decide which color I wanted, because they are a great guitar.

 

[rjwilson37]

Oh... The Aluminum Case is awesome looking, but it weight's almost twice as much as a regular Gibson Case.

 

[MP4-22]

since OP left can i ask kind of the same question?
I have an I Epiphone LP standard med jumbo frets thin neck ( i think)
I have been playing for about 6 years. ( blues /blues rock) and i am thinking that i might want to move up to a Gibson.
now not having a ton of money for a standard, what would be my best bang for the buck in the mid to lower price range
( i would rather buy new ) and up grade parts if I have to as a last resort

Used excellent condition Classic for 1500.... they are on reverb.

 

[E.T.]

But this is a guitar.
Nobody is going to get killed learning how to play guitar.

you could break a string and puncture a vital artery!