Which are the best non Gibson Les Pauls

[logen99999]

oh lovely ............. another what is best thread ............. think I'm gonna puke ..............

its normal for people that are new to the MIJ world to ask this question. mostly because their are so many different brands, one cant help but want to know which is the best bang for the buck.

nice thing is that almost all japan made les pauls 800$ and up are great. easily comparable to gibson USA

 

[gl3nnium]

Ill throw a few pics of the SX Les Paul up shortly in a few days (the cable to connect my camera to pc is at the gfs place) But I really can recommend that guitar...im not trying to say its as good as a gibson LP but I am still amazed at the quality of it. The only major difference is that it was built with a 'bolt on' neck...otherwise everything else is LP standard.

 

[GammyBird]

New thread. That way it will be easier for somebody to find when they go looking.

 

[Angelloveguitars]

I am not sure... but I love my Orville by Gibson 57C 59 RI Terada, it's one of the best!!!

 

[Matty]

I am not sure... but I love my Orville by Gibson 57C 59 RI Terada, it's one of the best!!!

My Tokai is one of the best.
So was my Greco.
From all reports Navigator are also one of the best.
And everyone seems to love Bacchus....
And Burnys....

 

[JDB]

Most MIJ brands from the late 70s through to the 80's have great guitars. You just have to find them.

I have 2 Aria pro ll LP which are cheap and somewhat under rated IMO. And another which should be here tomorrow.
Sure they dont have the specs of a Navigator but to my ears they sound just as good. Both have exceptional pickups which is something aria did not skimp on.

 

[dspelman]

Which are the best non Gibson Les Pauls

Whole lot of those, depending on what end of each brand you attack. Varies.

Great guitars indeed (Heritage). Too bad the headstock looks like a dick. I got no issue with what's written on it whatsoever but the shape is laughable..

Heritage's headstock is actually modeled on (and nearly identical to) an older version Gibson headstock. In fact, if I showed you a rundown of Gibson headstock shapes over the last 60 years, you'd probably guess most of them were from other manufacturers.

If we'd never seen the "open book" or "seagull wing" (or whatever it's supposed to be) headstock, and if it hadn't been ingrained in us all these years, we'd probably acknowledge that the Heritage headstock shape has a much more intelligent string pull direction, is far more likely to allow the guitar to stay in tune (particularly the D and G strings), and it wouldn't require those silly Gibson add-on "wings" used so often on their cheaper guitars. Instead we get "laughable dick" comments.

 

[Gabriel]

Whole lot of those, depending on what end of each brand you attack. Varies.




Heritage's headstock is actually modeled on (and nearly identical to) an older version Gibson headstock. In fact, if I showed you a rundown of Gibson headstock shapes over the last 60 years, you'd probably guess most of them were from other manufacturers.

If we'd never seen the "open book" or "seagull wing" (or whatever it's supposed to be) headstock, and if it hadn't been ingrained in us all these years, we'd probably acknowledge that the Heritage headstock shape has a much more intelligent string pull direction, is far more likely to allow the guitar to stay in tune (particularly the D and G strings), and it wouldn't require those silly Gibson add-on "wings" used so often on their cheaper guitars. Instead we get "laughable dick" comments.

Yup it looks like the old melody maker headstock, only uglier.

The reason why it is ingrained in us, is because how nice and natural it looks up there. The strat headstock is "ingrained" in us as well but I don't like the way it looks. I like trapeze headstocks and imo it's the best way to end a neck. That's why I find Les Pauls, Gibsons, Martins, Lakewoods, Larrivee's and other guitars visually appealing and also why I can't stand others.

As far as the mechanics of the guitar are concerned, I am sure there are plenty of ways to impove the ergonomy of the Les Paul but Herritage apparently restricted themselves to the one that would avoid a lawsuit from Gibby. So I guess their motive was not improving on the design but getting away with it.

As I said in my previous post. Great, GREAT guitars. Really well made, reasonably priced etc. But with that headstock and the slightly different horn, they are no more "true LP's" than PRS, Hammer, Hubers, and other singlecut guitars no matter where they are made. And that's coming from a person that plays all sorts of unconventional guitars.

Herritage's advantage is that they are great guitars, not their purity as Les Pauls.

By the way their aftersales support is pretty damn terrible.

 

[candletears7]

Very happy with my '78 Tokai LS-80 Reborn. Have I told you guys about it yet?

 

[Udonitron]

I borrowed an 79 LS80 for a weekend about a year ago from a friend who was selling it and I loved it.
I came very close to buying it but couldn't justify it considering what I had already and a few that kept up with it on all fronts.
I know I will sound like the usual predictable broken record but my Lemon Nav is untouchable thus far I think with Mr. Mojo Machine in 2nd place.
Shoulda nabbbed "Tokia" for 1300 however.

 

[emptyisvarah]

How about the tokai purgatory udo? How does it rate in the scheme of things?

 

[workerunit]

I have heard that some of the Gibson branded Les Pauls out of China are pretty nifty.....

 

[emptyisvarah]

You heard wrong. LOL

 

[jsadctnfn1]

I have heard that some of the Gibson branded Les Pauls out of China are pretty nifty.....

Are those the ones with the new Richlite bodies?

 

[workerunit]

Are those the ones with the new Richlite bodies?

From what I understand the bodies and necks are some new type of tonewood,
I think the initials are MDF, and the fingerboards are something called Formica.


I understand though that you can special order bodies and necks made from exotic Pallet wood with Richlite fingerboards, those however are much more expensive.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

This one (I'm biased and even took it's name!)

 

[DennisMiller]

I'm kind of surprised so few people have recommended Epiphones. Is it because the other off name brands are actually superior or because Epi is given credit as a Gibson brand, thus not allowed to compete in this thread?

While not LP models, I've had SX and Agile guitars in the past that I found to be pretty nice woodwork. If nothing else, they were good platforms to build on, changing pickups and electronics for American parts. The SX 335 clone I had actually sounded really good to me and I never changed anything in it.

I recently tried a dual humbucker hollow body Tele looking guitar with the Xaviere brand name on it. They are sold by Guitar Fetish, only online. Xaviere also has a couple LP looking models, one solid body with humbuckers and one hollow body with P90 pickups. The hollow body looks kind of weird with F holes in it, but a buddy who has one says it sounds fantastic.

It's interesting to hear these opinions, but the LP I'm currently considering is the Epi Korina LP Studiol

 

[tonebone]

Dennis, if you research old bluesmen and rock stars, you'll notice that quite a few of them were happy as hell just to have a guitar. As long as it stayed in tune and the action wasn't impossible, they were able to make music that still "has legs" today.

Most of the posters in this section just have to have that open book headstock. Yeah, me too.

Quite a few of us are hung up on the grail specs: correct headstock, one piece neck with profile that owner likes, one piece body, two piece top (no veneer), a tenon joint that resembles the old Gibsuns, lacquer, etc etc, ... you can find "the list of specs" anywhere on this forum or the internet.

Guess that's it. If you can make music with whatever you're happy with, you're miles ahead in the game.

 

[slapshot]

From what I understand the bodies and necks are some new type of tonewood,
I think the initials are MDF, and the fingerboards are something called Formica.

sounds like a danelectro

 

[Dynacosrule]

sounds like a danelectro

Didn't a young player named Page make a bit of music on a Dano...'course he also played an axe with 2 necks...