In my introductory post, I stated that I divide myself into a man of two major themes: music and nature. Seeing as how last weeks post was nature oriented, I may as well review something musical. So why not my trusty Gibson Les Paul electric guitar? Or better yet, the Les Paul guitar in general!
Not up to date with guitar terminology or other terms being used in this review? Not to worry, click the link in the link list to the right labeled "Guitar Terminology" to open a separate page with explanations of some of the terms you may not know! If you still have trouble with some of the terms or ideas being discussed leave me a comment and I will gladly explain further.
My fine steed is a 2010 Gibson Les Paul, made in the U.S.A. out of mahogany and maple wood. The guitar is made out of a single piece of solid mahogany as a body, with a hand carved maple top, which all connects into a maple fretboard. My guitar is wine-red with gold hardware. To put all this into perspective, it looks like this:
To begin my review, I'll start with the overall performance of the guitar. In general, Gibson's Les Paul model is known for its amazing tone, reliability, high quality, and general ease-of-use. The mahogany found in these guitars is known to be a highly resonant wood, hence giving the guitar its superior tone and resonance. The uniqueness of the guitars sound comes from the maple top. The double humbucker pickups generate a full, well rounded sound that has become iconic of the Les Paul. Internally, the guitar is sound, using only the best-of-the-best electronic components. While saving you the bore of listing all of a Les Paul's specifications, you may find them here. Many high level guitarists use the Les Paul as their instrument of choice, including Slash from Guns N Roses, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton.
My baby, as pictured above is pretty much the guitar as it was found in the store. However there are a few small alterations. First and foremost the strings have been changed...multiple times. While the original Gibson strings found on the guitar were not overly bad, any prominent guitarist will know that the LP has much more to offer in tone than the original strings can provide. Anyone buying this guitar should definitely buy new strings right away. I have experimented with both D'Addario and Elixir light, and extra light gauge strings (which both produce a solid sound) however, my current preference is the Elixir medium gauge. The heavier string gives a warmer tone, while the coating Elixir puts on their strings to ensure strength provides just the right amount of edge to the sound. Other than the strings, I have had the action of the guitar adjusted to a more comfortable setting for my hands and play style. With this set up I find the guitar divine. Its tone is perfect and my guitar plays extremely well. It will keep its tuning fairly well and sounds good in all ranges. Overall a good guitar.
On to the negatives which are few and far between with Gibson's time-tested craftsmanship. First off-and most notable-to anyone picking up a LP for the first time is its weight and balance. Having never used a LP before, when I got this one the weight and balance of the guitar threw me off. The Les Paul is a very bottom heavy guitar. This is due to the solid woods used, shape of the body, and slightly smaller neck. This was mainly a hinderance to my playing for the first few months, as now that I am used to the weight I find the guitar very comfortable. However my guitar is still lighter than some of the higher-end LP's. I find their weight to be almost a little too much. I enjoy a guitar that is light and easy to maneuver as I am never stagnant while playing. Whether sitting or standing, I am constantly moving and making subtle adjustments to my body position to be able to play smoothly. This is hard to understand for anyone who doesn't play guitar, but the same way that one must move their hand, arm, and body while writing, the same applies while playing guitar. With the heavy weight of the guitar being focused at the bottom it is easy to lose the balance of the guitar while you make these natural adjustments. With the guitar losing balance in my hands so often, I found it harder to play without making major mistakes as my mind was more focused on keeping the guitar comfortable than my playing. The other major downfall I have found with the Les Paul is the G string (to clarify, I am referring to the third string from the bottom, not a slang term for women's underwear). Due to the shorter 629mm neck length of the LP compared to most other guitars, they are notorious for losing the tuning of the G string. I have had to adjust the tuning of this string on my guitar more so than any other string. This is a problem experienced by all Les Paul guitars, again more of a hindrance to deal with than a major flaw in the design. The shorter neck does provide for the warmer tone of the guitar.
Other than this, the LP is a sting and overall well designed guitar. Gibson makes different models of their most famous guitar, which range in price typically from $1000-$4000. The price of each guitar depends on specific components used in the making of that guitar. It is hard to give a specific price range because of this, as Les Pauls can be found cheaper, and much much more expensive. Older models tend to increase in price with their age. Being asked to provide a recommendation on this guitar I would without a doubt recommend this guitar to any guitarist, regardless of skill or age. If you are just starting at guitar and don't want to pay such a heavy price, Epiphone makes good quality Les Pauls at a much cheaper price range (generally under $1000).
My rating of the Les Paul is 8.5/10.
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