Old vs. New - '59 Les Paul

AlanRatcliffe · 2009-10-29T07:05:59+00:00

For those in doubt... Comparison between an original '59 burst & new '59 historic burst. Worth the difference in price (approximately R3mil)? Probably not, but it does go some way to showing why some are willing to pay so much more for the real thing. Old wood rocks!

aja

PeteM wrote Each to his own heh!
I find I have better control on bends with 9's- I can be more subtle. (Actually I use hybreds which have thicker bass strings.)

The slinky strings? Yeah I used them too but now I use slinky 10's, power slinky's or whatever they are called. They have the same bass strings as the hybrids.

Tokai-SA

PeteM wrote There's nothing like an old gibby ? BTW I use 9s on my 330 - I don't feel so bad now.

Trevor Rabin uses 8s, and so did Hendrix...why you using such thick strings. ?

I think you're using 9-46s, I have them on my Strat, and I like 10-52 on a Les Paul.

AlanRatcliffe

aja wrote The slinky strings? Yeah I used them too but now I use slinky 10's, power slinky's or whatever they are called. They have the same bass strings as the hybrids.

Those'll be the 10-46 Regular Slinky's - Yellow Pack. The Power Slinky's are 11-48, purple pack.

Tokai SA wrote Trevor Rabin uses 8s, and so did Hendrix...

So does Billy Gibbons... Brian May too, IINM. I'm not those guys tho...

why you using such thick strings. ?

I use the 11 gauge Power Slinky's - I like the way they sound...
...Plus I'm a real man! ?

Tokai-SA

If I can do a full bend on the G string with my index finger at the 5th fret, then I know I'm using the correct gauge...that's my bedroom hack method of determining my gauge limit.

No ways I can play 11s on a Strat, I'll break my wrists. ?

Reinhard

The burst did sound great. There have been so many conversations at the les paul forum on this it is scary. Everything has been mentioned, from the mahogany being dried properly in the past, better and lighter mahogany, hide glue on the old ones, no truss rod condom on the old ones. The fact that magnets lose strength over the years could also be a reason why PAF's sound so damn good. Maybe today's PAF replicas will sound that good in 50 years time.
If I did go for PAF replicas, I'd probably go a different route than SD, there have been great reviews for Dr Vintage, Skatterbranes etc. The Timbuckers in my LP will prob never come out. Im curious as the wood on the new guitars ages, the nitro cures, the pickups ages etc, whether they will sound as good as that burst in 40 years time? My LP is a 10 year old, so when I'm 69 it could sound like a burst ?

singemonkey

Alan Ratcliffe wrote To be fair though - not all old Gibson and Fender guitars are created equal. The one shown is a good example by any standards - even the old ones.

I can't watch the video at the moment unfortunately, cos I'm at work. But I've heard Dimarzio's guitar before on some other stuff. It certainly is a goer. But I think that's the point. He said that he picked it out from among 5-10 '59 LPs. Said this one was just magic in his hands. So really, are '59 sunbursts that much better than R9s? Or is this '59 just totally crackin'?

It's the age? Seems to me when Clapton played that LP that made everyone go, "Where can I buy one?" on the Bluesbreakers record, his guitar was 6 years old. That doesn't really sound "aged" to me. Jimmy Page's was 10 years old.

So how could you tell? A double-blind randomised, control trial with 20 '59 bursts up against 20 R9s. Then we'll be talkin' ?

singemonkey

Hey! This is the one I've seen before. Now as I recall, that guitar is not an R9. It's a Les Paul Classic. If I'm right, it's enough said. The damn things full of holes for a start ?

AlanRatcliffe

It is a Historic R9.

...and not "holes", remember? "Tone chambers"!

singemonkey

Right, right. My mistake watched it again. So I guess the question is, if we rule out the age malarky which didn't contribute to the original obsession with the guitars, is there something different about the reissues? Or is it just a case of, like the originals, there are better ones and not so good ones? Maybe the resonance of the guitar comes down to undetectable characteristics of the woods?

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