At the behest of a friend, I bought a '74 Les Paul Std.

[MrRoundel]

So, how many of you guys out there have Les Paul guitars in your harem?

My ex-friend, the guy who got me into guitar, told me years ago, "You've got to have a Les Paul". However, in the ensuing years, I pretty much played all G&L for my electrics. However, my friend, Billy Wilson, of the Billy Wilson Band, in L.A., started giving me the same spiel about having to have a Les Paul, STD that is. He helped me identify the "right one" that was selling on Ebay, and I snagged it for well under what he thought it would go for. And, I get to pick it up today, as the seller is 25 minutes away. It's supposedly an original factory natural finish, and has the mahogany neck, and should be a 1974. The pots have been changed to 500K from 300K, which my buddy told me is a "must do" on Gibsons from that era. Anyway, I'm sort of excited to be branching out and seeing if there's anything to all of those Les Paul mojo tone stories. Once I pick it up and get a chance to play it, I'll check back in.

So, any of you guys have comments, experiences, etc. with Les Paul Std's that you'd care to share?

BTW: I'll be selling one or two guitars to offset the ding from this acquisition. One is a Leo era ASAT III in natural. It'll be in the Marketplace sometime today, if all goes well.

[zapcosongs]

Why is this guy your "ex-friend" and if he's not your friend now, why is he helping you find a nice old LP? - ed

BTW, I have a LP DC Studio and I like it. It's chambered and minimalistic in a good way. They only made these between '97 and '99.

[MrRoundel]

Why is this guy your "ex-friend" and if he's not your friend now, why is he helping you find a nice old LP? - ed

My wife got him in the divorce. It is a different friend who helped me with information on the acquisition. It's a great guitar, but I thought my '92 S-500 was heavy....

BTW, I have a LP DC Studio and I like it. It's chambered and minimalistic in a good way. They only made these between '97 and '99.

Even with a large, padded strap, this LP Std. is a beast, and I am its beast of burden. Great tone, sustain, and playability though. It's got the world's shortest frets but no buzzes anywhere. Putting chambers in such hunks of mahogany/maple does make a lot of sense, providing tone is still mostly preserved. What I'm finding out is that different Gibson humbuckers sound better in solid bodies, versus semi-hollow, and perhaps chambered. After '74 Gibson switched over to maple necks. Their reissues now have mahogany necks, as many players preferred them, and felt they were responsible for much of the tone.

My pursuit of more information on Gibsons brought me to a great book, "American Guitars: An Illustrated History", by Tom Wheeler. It has great information on many guitar makers, including Fender, that includes an informative interview with Leo Fender, among others. Leo's interview was on of the longest in the book. The book was copyrighted in 1990, but there is only small mention of G&L. Musicman gets more ink. Regardless, I'd say it's a "must have" book for the guitar enthusiast. Cheers.

[replyman]

I have a late 50's LP Classic Plus. It's not that heavy too(my S-500 & Legacies weigh more)... Want it? The First $80,000.00 gets the prize!

[sirmyghin]

I have a late 50's LP Classic Plus. It's not that heavy too(my S-500 & Legacies weigh more)... Want it? The First $80,000.00 gets the prize!

Liquidating my assets and getting 1 yr salary in advance as we speak, put er on hold for me

[replyman]

I have a late 50's LP Classic Plus. It's not that heavy too(my S-500 & Legacies weigh more)... Want it? The First $80,000.00 gets the prize!

Liquidating my assets and getting 1 yr salary in advance as we speak, put er on hold for me

Sounds like a plan. Maybe not a good plan, but a plan none the less...

[sirmyghin]

I have a late 50's LP Classic Plus. It's not that heavy too(my S-500 & Legacies weigh more)... Want it? The First $80,000.00 gets the prize!

Liquidating my assets and getting 1 yr salary in advance as we speak, put er on hold for me

Sounds like a plan. Maybe not a good plan, but a plan none the less...

Saving it that little bit longer for your retirement fund? I don't actually understand why people would pay that for an instrument. Especially when I could get carvin to make a CS that would likely play better. Single cuts in all honesty are not for me, I can't abide large blockages starting at fret 17ish.

[replyman]

Hey, it actually plays like a dream. I've turned down a $25,000.00 offer. The Blue Book lists it at around $80,000.00 so maybe some BP Exec or Oil Billionaire will grab it...

It was also originally owned by a "famous" artist from the 60's+ whom wrote a few hits with it. Whom? Well, that is just a little secret. One hint: Latino Movement.

[darwinohm]

Okay MrRoundel, you got me interested. I have a 2007 LP double cutaway Standard that I bought new in 2007. I took it off the wall tonight and did a setup and fired her up. This is my least played guitar. Everyone needs to own a Les Paul and I again know why I own it but do not use it. I weighs as much as a concrete block. The tone is typical LP, neck plays great although it will not go less that .045 on the action (bridge will not go lower) and that is what I am setting them at. Neck is perfect with less than .005 relief and there is no buzzing. It is drop dead gorgeous and is a fine speciman on the rack. It was moved from the wall this winter being displaced by my F100 Return. Last weekend I gigged my Parker Southern Nitefly for the first time. It probably weighs less than 7 lbs and feels like no weight. It does everything I need including the piezo for some acoustic backup. Les will stay pristine, virtually unplayed and continue to be drop dead gorgeous. I play some G&L s daily but will be getting another stainless fretted guitar, probably a Carvin this time and the stainless fret guitars will be my giggers. They last forever and I wish they were an option on all makes. I bet the one that you have is a great find. It will increase in value! If only I was young -- Darwin

[Muleya]

I've got a 2003 LP Studio. I swapped out the pickups with DiMarzio Virtual PAFs, which I really like in that guitar. And it came with Planet Waves locking tuning machines, but is otherwise stock.

I really like the guitar and the tones it generates. It is my heaviest guitar, but it's not too bad. I'd only sell it to upgrade to a nicer LP, but I don't feel a strong need to do that.

[Delus]

A friend of mine owns a Les Paul Std, and I have played it several times. Overall it's great.
-The stock pcups are great and especially the bridge pcup is really responsive to your playing dynamics.
-The neck is very comfortable and the short scale makes it easy to play. There was no fret buzz nor "bend-chokes", even though the action was set really low and this brings us to the issue of...
-Sustain. Despite the low action there were LOADS of sustain and I mean it. Once I played it straight into a small, cheap, bad-sounding solid-state amp on the clean channel and the notes sustained, I dare say, perfectly! I picked a single note, held it, bend it, released it, held it and i could still hear it clear, almost no need for vibrato to keep it. And another time we were in the studio, my friend was plugged straight into a Rockerverb 50 on the dirty channel and we had found a "sweet" spot on the gain where he would pick a note it it would hold literally forever! And I don't mean feedback, it was the actual note!

The drawback is its weight of course.