Gibson....the good, the bad and the ugly

vic · 2009-08-06T15:13:49+00:00

Hi Guys....thought I should start a thread on Gibson guitars. I discovered that many on this forum just love them while others simply love to hate 'em (especially the Les Paul lines) And one finds this on a worldwide scale. I simply love Gibson guitars and especially Les Pauls. Why?.....Tone, action and playability. Some USA players refer to all these as the "Les Paul Mojo". Any downsides ?...perhaps the weight and price ? Value for money?...yes perhaps, if one considers re-sale value after say 5 years or so. Just my few cents... And how about SG's and ES175's and 335's....??

Tokai-SA

aubs

You own some great guitars...wow!

No doubt, PRS are works of art, I dream of one.
Japanese top end Ibanez, same story, great guitars, and you own the best 2, IMO.

Gibson are definitely not the only game in town, in fact they're not even in the game right now, they're on the bench. ?

aubs1 wrote
Tokai SA wrote
Reinhard wrote I see a few more Gibsons in my future. At least one acoustic and some P90 guitar.
Good call, this will be my next one.
Even though I love Gibsons, I think I've come to the conclusion that they are not the only game in town! PRS kicks serious arse and so do top end Ibanez, and a few others!! ? ?

Reinhard

Tokai SA wrote
Reinhard wrote I see a few more Gibsons in my future. At least one acoustic and some P90 guitar.
Good call, this will be my next one.

That is a gorgeous instrument my friend. I'd love a 54 or 56 reissue LP.

aubs1

Tokai SA wrote aubs
You own some great guitars...wow!
No doubt, PRS are works of art, I dream of one.
Japanese top end Ibanez, same story, great guitars, and you own the best 2, IMO.
Gibson are definitely not the only game in town, in fact they're not even in the game right now, they're on the bench. ?

Thanx Lance, yep, they are awesome.......and I am really looking forward and waiting patiently for your Tokai stuff to become available, they look (and from reports) seriously awesome too......like a Tokai GoldTop LS160 !!!!! 8)

Banditman

Attila wrote Fair comment, Aubs, and I don't mean to offend anyone especially to you Reinhard so I will take that one on the chin.

but I am with Banditman on this one, call it anti-American marketing engine or anti-arrogance. ....... peace

Ermmm, my main guit is a Gibson Les Paul, Attila, and I love the things. :-[

But I can't stand the corporate attitude.

singemonkey

Banditman wrote Ermmm, my main guit is a Gibson Les Paul, Attila, and I love the things. :-[

But I can't stand the corporate attitude.

vic

Thanks to ALL who have contributed to this thread. I guess with the passing of Les Paul, and with all those inspiring messages in the "LES PAUL RIP" thread, we can call it a day now.... ?
Vic

aubs1

Sorry Vic, just had to post this......... ?

Ok, so I have always used 9s on all my guitars because of the way I like to play (and the tone was good) and NEVER even considered any other gauge except for a few months ago I changed to 10s on my PRS C24..........last night I got out my Les Paul (as we all did in respect of the man), stuck on a set of Elixer Nanoweb 10s, checked out intonation etc and then plugged it into my Marshall JVM, and did a few adjustments......... it was like suddenly a light came from heaven, or the old man himself switched it on!!!!!!!!!! I have never heard my LP sound so fantastic, so PURE, so angelic, so.........geez, I cannot find words to describe........no, I don't use old strings, I change them quite often.......I noticed on my Gibson manual under the logo, the word: PURE.......now I understand!!! ? ?

vic

aubs1 wrote Sorry Vic, just had to post this......... ?

Ok, so I have always used 9s on all my guitars because of the way I like to play (and the tone was good) and NEVER even considered any other gauge except for a few months ago I changed to 10s on my PRS C24..........last night I got out my Les Paul (as we all did in respect of the man), stuck on a set of Elixer Nanoweb 10s, checked out intonation etc and then plugged it into my Marshall JVM, and did a few adjustments......... it was like suddenly a light came from heaven, or the old man himself switched it on!!!!!!!!!! I have never heard my LP sound so fantastic, so PURE, so angelic, so.........geez, I cannot find words to describe........no, I don't use old strings, I change them quite often.......I noticed on my Gibson manual under the logo, the word: PURE.......now I understand!!! ? ?

That's PURE JOY Aubs ! The 10's are excellent for LP 's. Really livens them up with lots of harmonics.

Banditman

Try it with 11s.

TomCat

Slightly off topic but I changed my strings on my ARC 300 from 09's to 10's and it was like doing a R2000.00 PUP upgrade.....

Reinhard

Maybe it is because I started on acoustic, but I can't imagine going lighter than 10's. The nice thing about the shorter scale on a LP is, you can probably go to 11's and it will still be very playable and you may like the tone even more as banditman said.

Glad you got your LP sounding like it should Aubs!

vic

Reinhard wrote Maybe it is because I started on acoustic, but I can't imagine going lighter than 10's. The nice thing about the shorter scale on a LP is, you can probably go to 11's and it will still be very playable and you may like the tone even more as banditman said.

Glad you got your LP sounding like it should Aubs!

I would say 11's is about max. I currently have 12's (wound 3rd string) on a '58 LP (customshop) and although it's playable, some of those more complex harmonics are gone...sound is big and fat, but the "liveliness" is absent.....perhaps just my ears.

aubs1

Thanx guys, yep, it was really an eye-opener..... like I said, just got that vintage Gibson tone, fat, sweet as apposed to just good sound. The point is that it makes my guitars all have a specific character rather than sounding "just a bit different". Got that from one of your posts Vic, not to use 9s on a LP!!!

I don't think I'll go the 11s route right now because I like bending, and I just think that may be a bit "heavy" on my delicate fingers.......hhahahaha ?

AlanRatcliffe

Heavier the better AFAIC - takes some impetus from the strings to get a heavier guitar like a Les Paul to really start talking IMO, unless you are playing at seriously loud levels. I use .011s on Fenders and .012s on Gibbys. .009s on a LP is like .008s on a Strat.

Riaan

Heavier the better AFAIC

I was amazed at the difference in tone when I went from .10's to .09's on my Godin...I quickly went back to .10's. Now considering going to .11's. A real eye opener.

aja

vic wrotewe can call it a day now.... ?
Vic

This thread is too interesting to die! ☹

Reinhard

When I think how easy it is to bend 10's on a LP, I am actually tempted to try 11's on at least one of my gibbos to see how it affects tone.

vic

aja wrote
vic wrotewe can call it a day now.... ?
Vic

This thread is too interesting to die! ☹

I guess you're right Aja...let's rock on !! :applause:

vic

Reinhard wrote When I think how easy it is to bend 10's on a LP, I am actually tempted to try 11's on at least one of my gibbos to see how it affects tone.

12's are difficult to bend...let us know how the 11's are Reinhard. Am also considering putting 11's on one of the Lesters.

Reinhard

vic wrote
Reinhard wrote When I think how easy it is to bend 10's on a LP, I am actually tempted to try 11's on at least one of my gibbos to see how it affects tone.
12's are difficult to bend...let us know how the 11's are Reinhard. Am also considering putting 11's on one the Lesters.

Will do Vic! The nut may have to be adjusted a bit for the 11's, I hope that's not the case as I don't have nut files.

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