The Les Paul thread

[soliloquy]

Hey all, just need some advise from the LP folks about MIJ Les Paul Customs...

I'm in the market for a MIJ LPC, and have shortlisted these 3:

1) Crews Maniac Sound 2016 LPC; local to me, and looks to me like a quality built with ebony board etc.

2) Orville by Gibson 1988 LPC; love the vintage vibe, and probably the closet spec to original Gibson. But will be riskier as with all vintage instruments.

3) Bacchus 2014 BLP-CTM; love the overall look and specs of this, but not my preferred finish at this point.

All around the same price range; could probably negotiate more on Crews / Bacchus.

Anyone here had any experience with these and their quality?

Thanks!

Exactly as Cardinal mentioned above, Orville most likely will need work, unless it's been a case queen or minimal play.

And bacchus and crews, supposedly have multiple tiers, so don't think that answer is what we would have here. From what little I know, momose, crews and Bacchus, if I'm not mistaken, are all made by the same parent company, and all supposed to be incredible.

Try your luck with the folks at mylespaul?

And I'm partial to Edwards, but if you have access to all 3 guitars, play them before you buy them?

 

[jahosy]

Orvilles are aging at this point, and most would have a rosewood board and plastic inlay (the LPC57B or whatever it was called did have an Ebony board but still plastic inlay). It could be a great player but with age, there's a chance it'll need some fretwork just do to time.

I don't know much about Bacchus. The current Momose stuff is supposed to be nice, but that might be up a tier in the Deviser pyramid, so I'm not sure if a Bacchus is more on par with an Edwards type guitar?

Crews are suppose to be very nice, but there are multiple tiers and it's hard for me to tell what is what. The spec sheet should tell you whether it's Honduran mahogany or African etc. They don't do the fret end binding, but otherwise the quality looks great from pics ive seem. If it's local to you, id check it out and go for that if you like it.

Resale on a Crews and Bacchus might be rough since they are not well known brands.

Exactly as Cardinal mentioned above, Orville most likely will need work, unless it's been a case queen or minimal play.

And bacchus and crews, supposedly have multiple tiers, so don't think that answer is what we would have here. From what little I know, momose, crews and Bacchus, if I'm not mistaken, are all made by the same parent company, and all supposed to be incredible.

Try your luck with the folks at mylespaul?

And I'm partial to Edwards, but if you have access to all 3 guitars, play them before you buy them?

Thanks guys. Crews would be the best spec wise.

African mahogany body
Hard maple cap
One piece African mahogany neck
Ebony fretboard
Nitro lacque

Will arrange to meet up with the seller for a closer inspection.

 

[deigo]

Gibsunday!

 

[jahosy]

Thanks guys. Crews would be the best spec wise.

African mahogany body
Hard maple cap
One piece African mahogany neck
Ebony fretboard
Nitro lacque

Will arrange to meet up with the seller for a closer inspection.

Went with the Orville in the end.... WOW. What a beast!

Used to own Ibanez and Greco lawsuits LPC, but they never sounded / played this good! Tried out Gibson's in stores, while they sounded good, the shoddy detailing are somewhat a letdown.




I might start looking for a black beauty!

 

[soliloquy]

Went with the Orville in the end.... WOW. What a beast!

Used to own Ibanez and Greco lawsuits LPC, but they never sounded / played this good! Tried out Gibson's in stores, while they sounded good, the shoddy detailing are somewhat a letdown.

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I might start looking for a black beauty!

try the edwards black beauty if you can. Sometimes they show up on the used markets for stupidly low prices

 

[will_shred]

Behold! My new-to-me 2002 LPC

 

[soliloquy]

Behold! My new-to-me 2002 LPC

for a 20 year old guitar, that looks like a case queen. Cant tell from the pics, but how are the frets? scoring/checking?

looks great! congrats

 

[budda]

@will_shred HYFY. Hows the weight?

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Does the maple top really make a difference in tone with Les Paul Customs? Say between a 68 reissue (with maple top) vs a 57 reissue (all mahogany)? I have a 68 and I'm pining for a 57 if it really has an obvious sonic difference.

 

[budda]

Does the maple top really make a difference in tone with Les Paul Customs? Say between a 68 reissue (with maple top) vs a 57 reissue (all mahogany)? I have a 68 and I'm pining for a 57 if it really has an obvious sonic difference.

Swap pickups in one

My 68ri with their t-tops and my friends 57 with burstbuckers sounded 90% similar when played alone. Mine had the hotter pickups yet tonally they werent far apart at all. But no two guitars will be the same.

Find a 57 that sounds different - there will definitely be one.

 

[rokket2005]

my 68ri is much more aggressive sounding than my R7, but they have different pickups and are setup differently.

 

[will_shred]

for a 20 year old guitar, that looks like a case queen. Cant tell from the pics, but how are the frets? scoring/checking?

looks great! congrats

If you look you can see that the bridge and pickup covers are fairly worn, and its got your usual buckle rash on the back and some minor chips, also on the back of the guitar. But overall its in pretty good shape. Has some minor fret ware but the action is pretty much perfect. Weighs about 9-10 pounds but I haven't put it on a scale. Its slightly heavier than my LP classic.

 

[budda]

If you look you can see that the bridge and pickup covers are fairly worn, and its got your usual buckle rash on the back and some minor chips, also on the back of the guitar. But overall its in pretty good shape. Has some minor fret ware but the action is pretty much perfect. Weighs about 9-10 pounds but I haven't put it on a scale. Its slightly heavier than my LP classic.

My lpc bridge is tarnishing and i barely get to play it - doesnt take much.

The fact it isnt nicotine yellow is nice too.

Pic of buckle rash?

 

[cardinal]

Does the maple top really make a difference in tone with Les Paul Customs? Say between a 68 reissue (with maple top) vs a 57 reissue (all mahogany)? I have a 68 and I'm pining for a 57 if it really has an obvious sonic difference.

I have a 57RI LPC and have a few '68 spec LPCs (Navigator NLP-CTM). Both have that "zing" on the initial pick attack that Standards don't tend to have, but the '68 spec stays sharper tighter beyond that initial attack. The '57 is smoother and rounder/fatter sounding.

Small sample size, but that's my experience. It's also a pretty minor difference IMHO. But I also consider the difference between either of them and a Standard to be pretty minor too.

 

[soliloquy]

If you look you can see that the bridge and pickup covers are fairly worn, and its got your usual buckle rash on the back and some minor chips, also on the back of the guitar. But overall its in pretty good shape. Has some minor fret ware but the action is pretty much perfect. Weighs about 9-10 pounds but I haven't put it on a scale. Its slightly heavier than my LP classic.

Its gold hardware. You just have to look at them and they start tarnishing. Could seal them in clear nail polish, if you must to keep them that way, or just keep using them for a nice aged look

 

[will_shred]

My lpc bridge is tarnishing and i barely get to play it - doesnt take much.

The fact it isnt nicotine yellow is nice too.

Pic of buckle rash?

You'll need to subscribe to my Les Paul's OF page for that kind of content.

 

[budda]

You'll need to subscribe to my Les Paul's OF page for that kind of content.

Man I messed up, I started an IG page

 

[ThePhilosopher]

Quick shot of the new to me 2011 Edwards LP, I'm going to play whatever strings are on here until they're dead and then replace the stock Gotoh tuners with the locking variant. It's quite inspiring and rips through most of my Helix patches.
I think I'm a fan of short scale lengths despite most of my guitars being 27"+ extended scale 7+ string instruments, maybe it's time to trade out a few of those for more of these.

 

[soliloquy]

curious if your Edwards also:
1) chimes like a bell
2) feels lighter than it actually is
3) resonant and acoustically loud?

beautiful guitar!

 

[Stiman]

Just got this 2019 Standard yesterday in a trade. I really love the Burstbucker 61 pickups, they sounds great to my ears and are a nice compliment to the 490R/498T that are in my Studio.

I'm surprised how different they sound acoustically (not plugged in). The Standard sound dense and warm, the Studio sounds bright and loud. Could it be the Ultra weight-relief in the Studio vs the solid Standard?