Hi;
I've been lurking for a few weeks but this is my first post.
I've played guitar for 30 years. Gigged and recorded for years, got close to making a profession out of it. Now have a "day job" that I love and gives me $$$ to be able to buy gear when I want it.
I've had a '75 Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe since around 1980. Bought it for $400 absolutely mint condition. Around the same time I played an absolutely mint '58-'60 burst in a local guitar store. I remember them wanting ~ $5000 for it and thinking that was an INSANELY HIGH price.
Now I wish I could have bought it.
I've wanted a great reissue burst for a long time and am getting more serious about it.
I've been reading everything I can on this site to learn about the differences from year to year.
I went to the local guitar center (14th Street in Manhattan) and they have a bunch of historics. I went with the intention of learning what the differences were between the neck profiles and how I liked them. I have some early 30's to mid 40's Gibson acoustics (fat fat necks) that I like, and a '64 Epi Casino (thin neck) that is a little thin for me. My '75 LP Deluxe is in between those.
After talking with the salesguy a while about the differences he just started offering guitars up to me to try. We decided to go from fattest neck to skinniest.
The '54 Ox Blood Jeff Beck had a FAT neck on it. A lot like the early 30's Gibson Acoustic. A REALLY beefy thing. Bigger than I like on an electric.
The '57 Reissue Goldtop had a fat neck. Slimmer than the '54 for sure. Felt pretty good in my hands.
The '58 Reissue burst had a comfortable fat neck.
The '59 Reissue bursts had a great profile. Maybe a hair thinner than the '58s. I realised that was the profile I liked best.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 1 seemed the same as the '59s. I liked them.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 2 seemed a little thinner. I thought I was going to like these the best but I think I like the '59 profile better.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 3 seemed too thin in the first position for me. I liked it OK up near the 7th and 9th fret position though.
I also tried a couple Slash signiture models. They had fat necks on them. Surprisingly large actually. A VOS and a Murphy Ultra Aged model. I liked the fat necks but the shape of the profile wasn't as nice as the '59.
They also had a special run of "Burst Brothers" '59 reissues. It's a limited run (25 maybe??). I don't remember exactly how many. The price was basicly the same as the 50th Anniv reissues. They had light to medium flame tops, an icetea burst color, and a VOS finish/hardware. I liked them but am probably a couple months away from making a purchase. I expect they will be gone by then. They'll have something else instead.
I'm going to keep reading everything I can here. I'll make a few more "field trips" to try out the different neck profiles. Once I'm certain I've zero'd in on the profile I like best then I'll start to worry about the color and top figure.
Thanks for all the great posts everyone. I'm learning a ton and loving it.
I've been lurking for a few weeks but this is my first post.
I've played guitar for 30 years. Gigged and recorded for years, got close to making a profession out of it. Now have a "day job" that I love and gives me $$$ to be able to buy gear when I want it.
I've had a '75 Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe since around 1980. Bought it for $400 absolutely mint condition. Around the same time I played an absolutely mint '58-'60 burst in a local guitar store. I remember them wanting ~ $5000 for it and thinking that was an INSANELY HIGH price.
Now I wish I could have bought it.I've wanted a great reissue burst for a long time and am getting more serious about it.
I've been reading everything I can on this site to learn about the differences from year to year.
I went to the local guitar center (14th Street in Manhattan) and they have a bunch of historics. I went with the intention of learning what the differences were between the neck profiles and how I liked them. I have some early 30's to mid 40's Gibson acoustics (fat fat necks) that I like, and a '64 Epi Casino (thin neck) that is a little thin for me. My '75 LP Deluxe is in between those.
After talking with the salesguy a while about the differences he just started offering guitars up to me to try. We decided to go from fattest neck to skinniest.
The '54 Ox Blood Jeff Beck had a FAT neck on it. A lot like the early 30's Gibson Acoustic. A REALLY beefy thing. Bigger than I like on an electric.
The '57 Reissue Goldtop had a fat neck. Slimmer than the '54 for sure. Felt pretty good in my hands.
The '58 Reissue burst had a comfortable fat neck.
The '59 Reissue bursts had a great profile. Maybe a hair thinner than the '58s. I realised that was the profile I liked best.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 1 seemed the same as the '59s. I liked them.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 2 seemed a little thinner. I thought I was going to like these the best but I think I like the '59 profile better.
The 50th Anniv '60 ver 3 seemed too thin in the first position for me. I liked it OK up near the 7th and 9th fret position though.
I also tried a couple Slash signiture models. They had fat necks on them. Surprisingly large actually. A VOS and a Murphy Ultra Aged model. I liked the fat necks but the shape of the profile wasn't as nice as the '59.
They also had a special run of "Burst Brothers" '59 reissues. It's a limited run (25 maybe??). I don't remember exactly how many. The price was basicly the same as the 50th Anniv reissues. They had light to medium flame tops, an icetea burst color, and a VOS finish/hardware. I liked them but am probably a couple months away from making a purchase. I expect they will be gone by then. They'll have something else instead.
I'm going to keep reading everything I can here. I'll make a few more "field trips" to try out the different neck profiles. Once I'm certain I've zero'd in on the profile I like best then I'll start to worry about the color and top figure.
Thanks for all the great posts everyone. I'm learning a ton and loving it.
