Best "Les Pauls" Ever?!?

Quantum Strummer

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Lightweight solidbody LPs aren't common but they exist. I played one, an early Goldtop with Les' less-than-optimal trapeze bridge/tailpiece, at Elderly ~20 years ago that measured 7.5lbs on the nose. Very shallow neck angle, played kinda spongy with the 9s or 10s that were on it. The '58 "plaintop" reissue (not really that plain, just not blingy) I bought last June at CME weighs 8lbs, 4oz. I think it was the lightest one in the shop.

-Dave-
 

walrus

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Lightweight solidbody LPs aren't common but they exist. I played one, an early Goldtop with Les' less-than-optimal trapeze bridge/tailpiece, at Elderly ~20 years ago that measured 7.5lbs on the nose. Very shallow neck angle, played kinda spongy with the 9s or 10s that were on it. The '58 "plaintop" reissue (not really that plain, just not blingy) I bought last June at CME weighs 8lbs, 4oz. I think it was the lightest one in the shop.

-Dave-

I've got a late '50's Les Paul neck profile on my '58 ES-225T, and the Les Paul bridge/tailpiece combo. I love it! Really nice sustain.

How do you like the '58 reissue?

walrus
 

Quantum Strummer

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I've got a late '50's Les Paul neck profile on my '58 ES-225T, and the Les Paul bridge/tailpiece combo. I love it! Really nice sustain.

How do you like the '58 reissue?

walrus

The late '50s Gibson necks are very comfortable IMO. The '58 reissue is very nice! Feels & plays really good, sounds terrific. The pickups are dynamic with plenty of clarity and treble bite. I bought the guitar intending to put my set of ThroBaks in it, but there's no need. I use the neck pickup mostly, or both together with the bridge volume backed off a little. The bridge p'up by itself is mostly for cutting through dirt pedals, but the guitar sounds so good clean I don't make much noise with it. :)

-Dave-
 

adorshki

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I should add that the Guild M75 and M65 used the techniques they had at the time which was building archtop jazz guitars. They didn't have solid body instruments and likely didn't want to make solid body guitars. However they did wan to off a Mini sized guitar to compete with Gibson.
M

Member Drumbob who worked at Guild, recently confirmed Al Dronge was dead-set against solid-bodies, thought they were a fad, post #47 from here here:

Easy answer: Mark Dronge. He was always aware of the rock market, going back to the early '60's. It was Mark who convinced his father to design and release a solidboy guitar in the first place. Al hated rock 'n roll and thought solidbody guitars were a flash in the pan. He was a jazz player and fan. That's why Guild made archtops in the beginning exclusively.
 

dreadnut

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My cousin's '58 LP Jr Jr - they only made 400 of these, I wonder how many are left? Regular '58 LP with a short scale neck for kids.

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GAD

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I have two killer Historic Les Pauls and they are both lighter than any Starfire IV I own. For me, a heavy LP isn't about the weight so much as the density. People don't complain about a 10-pound ES345, but give them a Les Paul of the same weight and it's a boat anchor.
 

kakerlak

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I have two killer Historic Les Pauls and they are both lighter than any Starfire IV I own. For me, a heavy LP isn't about the weight so much as the density. People don't complain about a 10-pound ES345, but give them a Les Paul of the same weight and it's a boat anchor.

Good point about the density. I've picked up some Norlin LPs before and just thought, "How?" Like it didn't seem possible for a largely wooden object of that size to weigh so much, like it's gotta be lead-filled or something. I recently picked up a really cool old MIJ LP that's in the high 9s and that's about as heavy as I like to mess with. Some of those Norlins have got to be well over 10.
 

JF-30

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I have two killer Historic Les Pauls and they are both lighter than any Starfire IV I own. For me, a heavy LP isn't about the weight so much as the density. People don't complain about a 10-pound ES345, but give them a Les Paul of the same weight and it's a boat anchor.
Yeah I owned a LP Trad Pro II and a BB King Sig Model. And To me the King seemed heavier. TheLP had Lindy Fralin's in it and it screamed, but I grew tired of my wife telling me its to loud, so nothing but acoustic these days.

I8zbgED.jpg
 
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Quantum Strummer

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IMO electric guitars overall got too heavy in the '70s and then stayed that way for awhile. Some of this was down to making 'em more durable, some to the increase in cost of getting top quality old-growth woods, some to more general cost cutting, some to the sustain craze of the time (along with some faulty notions of how sustain works) and some to the decline of quality control standards. No guitar with as much air in it as an ES-345 should weigh 10lbs! That's a warning sign that you're overbuilding.

My LP Professional weighs 9.75lbs. That much mass gives it a different sound for sure: the body doesn't seem to contribute much to it. I get the sense I'm hearing mainly neck, strings and pickups. The LP reissue OTOH: the whole guitar is contributing.

-Dave-
 

GAD

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Yeah I owned a LP Trad Pro II and a BB King Sig Model. And To me the King seemed heavier. TheLP had Lindy Fralin's in it and it screamed, but I grew tired of my wife telling me its to loud, so nothing but acoustic these days.

I8zbgED.jpg

That's a beautiful guitar!
 

JF-30

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That's a beautiful guitar!
Thanks I traded it for my JF-30, which I sold to finance my D-41.

I bought the body/neck on Reverb for $1100 and bought the rest of the parts and built it myself. I think it cost a total of $1500 or so. I got a killer deal on the pups. They were used and so was most of the parts.
 
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GAD

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Nightbird-LesPaul.jpg


Nightbird GG, 2014 Historic MTM R9, Nightbird II.
 

GAD

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My favorite Les Paul, though, has surprisingly become my 2003 Brazillian R7 Goldtop:

5D3_1659_1600.jpg


It didn't sound right when I got it, so I gutted the electronics, put in 525k TOAT pots and some WCR pickups and now it's an absolute monster. It was mostly the pots that woke the guitar up. People really underestimate what a good set of pots can do for a guitar.
 

JF-30

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My favorite Les Paul, though, has surprisingly become my 2003 Brazillian R7 Goldtop:

5D3_1659_1600.jpg


It didn't sound right when I got it, so I gutted the electronics, put in 525k TOAT pots and some WCR pickups and now it's an absolute monster. It was mostly the pots that woke the guitar up. People really underestimate what a good set of pots can do for a guitar.
Nice Gold Top. I played one a co-worker had in the mid 80's.
 
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