Hey guys. Thinking of picking up one of these guitars. 2004 model. Anyone have any experience with them? I dont know a lot about Gibsons since i have been mainly playing fenders.

I hear the 1960 variant has a bit of a thinner neck. Hope this doesnt put me off since i didnt like the thin neck of some teles i have owned.

The neck is thinner than many other Les Pauls but I wouldn't call it thin. Depends on your taste really. I haven't owned one but I have tried a classic and I must say I was impressed with it, it was one of the better examples of recently made Gibsons. You should try before you buy as there are a few modern made Gibsons with quality issuses, but if it's one of the better ones you're guaranteed that wonderful Les Paul jazz/blues/rock tone.

I own a 2000/2001 model.

Think of the Classic as being a Standard with a plain maple top (not flamed and book-matched), '60s profile slimmer neck, hot uncovered ceramic pickups - a 496R in the neck and 500T in the bridge, and celluloid inlays that can vary from what's called snot yellow to snot green. Some people have fixed this by leaving the guitar in the sun for a few hours (covered up but the neck exposed) and found that the UV washes out the worst of the colour. Hmm. They are weight-relieved guitars. There was an earlier Classic in the early '90s which IIRC was more like the '58 and '59 reissues, or the Traditionals. There's also a Classic Custom which only had a 2 or 3 year production run. Black like the Custom, aged bindings, gold hardware, and an uncovered '57 Classic/'57 Classic Plus pickup set. Nice guitar with Custom mojo for a lot less money if you can find one.

Some of the earlier cherrybursts were known as clown bursts thanks to a heavy-handed and often irregular finish application, making the colours distinct rather than merging into each other.

Some are very plain topped (like a '60s Les Paul) while others have varying degrees of flame in them like mine does. Some people don't like the pickups much at all, but I can't say I've hated mine. The neck gave out and was replaced with a zebra Seymour Duncan '59 by Grant Fouche, and I must say it does sound warmer / nicer to my ears. I've still got the 500T in the bridge for now which can be a little trebly, but it still does the job although I'm seriously considering replacing it with a JB or Pearly Gates at some point.

Frankly I think it's an underrated Les Paul. Cosmetics and pickups aside, you're getting what is for all intents and purposes a '60s neck Standard but for less money. If the $$ are in your favour, a good set-up and a pickup swap make sense.

I prefer the 50's (thicker) neck, but when i played on a 60's neck i was surprised that is was not as thin as i feared it might be.

2004 is before the complaints about quality became a constant flood. Haven't heard much bad about classics except for the inlays - which can be replaced (although that's a bit of a pain). I think they have ABR-1 bridges which I prefer to the fatter nashville bridges. If the price is good it should be a really decent guitar.

So i bought it in the end. Probably the best guitar i have played that i own. Totally in love with it. the neck is not too thin and it just feels so awesome to play. loving it every second of it. I might have found a guitar that i want to keep for a bit.

Ummmmm.............pics????


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Aaahhhh! Nice! ?

Looks great. Black lesters are awesome.

Talentloos wrote: I see a lot of people complain about the weird snot coloured inlays, but i like it. Its something different.

I'd replace 'em ? But different strokes for different folks and all.

singemonkey wrote:

Talentloos wrote: I see a lot of people complain about the weird snot coloured inlays, but i like it. Its something different.

I'd replace 'em ? But different strokes for different folks and all.

Nah i'll keep it original.

Talentloos wrote: Nah i'll keep it original.

+1 Agree !!!

Pliksem! That looks nice man! Congrats and yes leave it as is.