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[–][deleted] ago

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[–]khmr33 0 points1 point ago

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Those look awesome! I find it amusing that left handed automatically is"custom shop"...

I'd want to try one first which seems hard. The only dealer in my state only has a couple and the next closest is two hours away and they're not much better. Seems like you just have to special order it anyway. Such is life for the lefties...

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]khmr33 0 points1 point ago

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I got to try a right-handed Heritage today.

Woo-boy! That thing was beautiful! It was a used Peter Green model H150. It seemed to be their 1959 reissue in some ways, only $1600 too. Stunning. There's one store in my town with a whole room of Gibson Les Pauls. This Heritage wiped the floor with all of them.

Even a brand new Heritage, at $2400, is worth more than the same money spent on a Gibson. I would argue that the hand built nature of a Heritage puts it on par with a lot of the details of a VOS Gibson custom shop Les Paul. Apparently the wait is only four weeks. The website does not do these guitars justice, they are beautiful.

The OP needs to try a Heritage. I drove two hours to play one upside down and it was totally worth it. I'm a believer... I will be buying a Heritage guitar.

[–]PyritePirate 4 points5 points ago

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Dude. You have to try before you buy. This isn't a pedal. It has to feel good in your hands.

[–]WhenHarryMetLassy 5 points6 points ago

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Yeah, and the Gibsons I played were very hit and miss. Brand new they play so utterly like heartless-robot guitars too.

[–]vortex222222 0 points1 point ago

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I feel this way about most guitars. Check for used, you'll get a break on the price, and a better (allegedly) sounding instrument.

[–]PyritePirate 1 point2 points ago

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and hopefully a bit dinged up already so you dont feel bad tossin it around.

[–]watterson 2 points3 points ago

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Are you dead set on an expensive Gibson? I dinked around with a bunch of guitars recently, and liked the Heritages a LOT more than the Gibsons.

[–]ScreamingGerman[S] 0 points1 point ago

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Not deadset. But I've only played the Studio, Standard and Traditional. The Traditional has a very nice sound and feel to it, better than the Standrard (I was only able to compare these two side by side, the Studio on a later date). I like the Pro because of it's basically a Traditional + coil taps, with a few other things.

What's great about the Heritage?

[–]watterson 0 points1 point ago

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The Heritages I played were semi-hollow, and sounded a lot brighter and tonally richer compared to the two relatively dead-sounding ES-335s (the store had one from the 60's and a modern reissue Gibson). It's hard to explain... your best bet is to go to a store that stocks Heritages and try one out alongside a Gibson.

If you're after coil taps and trick wiring, those are definitely not worth a thousand bucks extra. (it's maybe $150 in pickups and $25 in push-pull pots and wire to build a Jimmy Page wiring setup)

[–]khmr33 0 points1 point ago

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The other alternative is to find a early 90's Les Paul Studio Lite MIII.

They go anywhere between $700~$1100, the blue one looks super sharp and the wiring is awesome.

[–]deltadude 0 points1 point ago

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They are made in the same factory on the same equipment and by some of the same workers that made them before gibson moved to TN.

[–]postdarwin 3 points4 points ago

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You sound like you're determined to buy new. However, I've bought my last 6 or 8 guitars on eBay. The one I didn't like went right back up the next day at very little overall loss. With careful research and patience I have saved a fortune and bought some rare stuff I'd never ever have come across locally. Think about it. You don't have to get the latest Gibson incarnation--what about, to pick something at random, an older NightHawk? Have a look at a book on odd/classic/interesting guitars and do a search--the sky's the limit.

My two cents.

[–]giantstonedbot 2 points3 points ago

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i have a studio (2007 cherry heritage). People seem to talk shit about gibson these days, and maybe i have an exceptional specimen, but it's my favorite guitar to play. it may not be as pretty as a les paul std/profpro, but it plays like a dream.

The studios are definitely a very noticeable step up from the Epiphones in terms of playability. *note i've only played with the ~400 dollar ones, not the higher end epi's.

[–]Vandimar 0 points1 point ago

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I have both the High end Epi LP and a 2006 GLP Studio, and the Gibson is definitely better in literally every regard. Of course I would gig with the Epi and feel fine about it as well, it is a great guitar.

I've only had the Studio for 6 months or so (750 on ebay) but I have not regretted the decision for a second. It plays beautifully and sounds grand. I also recommend buying used, the brand new ones just don't feel real.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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A friend of mine bought the Traditional Pro from Thomann.de here in Europe. I believe it has gone mainstream now after its success.

The Studios are great guitars. There are two things that I would point out and I mean neither to talk you away from the Studio:

  • The Studio is a solid mahogany guitar, it differs slightly from the Standards and their variants (like the Traditional).
  • Because they have less by way of binding etc, you may later wish you bought the Standard. I don't really agree with this but it's a fairly common consequence.

One of the beautiful things on the Studio is its ebony fretboard. It looks and feels great. Between the fretboard and the full mahogany body it will sound a little different but not worlds apart.

Back to the Traditional; They are great guitars. They are essentially a reissue of the 80s-90s spec Les Pauls. Excellent guitars all around. However on that price scale The Pro also has locking Grovers and a Plek'd fret setup. I have played these guitars and I rate them highly.

Lastly pickups; I believe the Studios are still sporting a 490R/498T combo. These are great pickups and are more focussed in the upper mids. I suppose you could call the modern but not in the EMG sterile way. The Traditional Pro has a 57 Classic+ in the neck and a BB3 in the bridge. This is an excellent combination in that you get smooth round neck tones and a great bite from the bridge. I will just say that the coil splitting novelty wears off quickly. It is useful but it sounds better on paper than in practice. Anyone I know that had it stopped using it after a few weeks.

[–]makuserusukottoAmpeg Amps 0 points1 point ago

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I don't know who told you a Studio is solid mahogany.

It has a maple top like just about every other Les Paul out there.

To OP: honestly, I wouldn't buy a new Gibson. QC is crap, the electronics are now on pcb's, they're just pretty horrible.

Look for a late 80's or early 90's LP. They were fantastic then.

[–]ozone_00 1 point2 points ago

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I don't know who told you a Studio is solid mahogany.

Depends on the model. The Studio Mahogany and Faded are both all mahogany.

[–]makuserusukottoAmpeg Amps 0 points1 point ago

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He made no mention of those models, just the normal studio.

[–]ScholarSelf 0 points1 point ago

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I have a Fireburst..Still mahogany?

[–]makuserusukottoAmpeg Amps 0 points1 point ago

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No, mahogany with maple top.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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My mistake, I was thinking of specific models and confusing that with the entire range. I disagree with what you say about QC though, for a start they all get Plek jobs which means there's even less left to chance.

The PCB circuits are just the Les Paul Standard 2008 (2007?). That's a horrendous model.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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I play a Studio and I love it. I would highly recommend you buy one.

Don't listen to al of the cheap-os on here. Buy a real guitar and it will last you a lifetime.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

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[Cheap punk alert]

Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but I can't justify/understand people buying and playing such expensive guitars! Personally I'd just go with the epiphone.

Aren't you going to shed? Jump around? Get blood (and other bodily fluids?) on it? Or are you going to play it with white silk gloves on in a special room designed by nasa to be static/dust free?

IMO spending $1000+ on a guitar is like spending $1000+ on an action figure... don't you want to break it out of the packaging and play with it in the sandbox?

[/Cheap punk alert]

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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I used to think this way. Until I bought a real guitar and discover how much better it truly was. I still throw it around and get blood on it, but it takes the abuse much, much better and sounds better as well.

[–]cc132 0 points1 point ago

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This is why I advocate always buying used. You can get the great tone/feel of a higher-end guitar, usually for 50-60% of the new price, plus someone else has already nicked it up for you, so you don't feel the need to baby it.

[–]khmr33 1 point2 points ago

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Epi's just can't hang. Like most low end guitars, the hardware and electronics are crap. The wood will only be serviceable.

I'm a big fan of buying used too, but I also wouldn't have any problem spending 2k on a guitar and playing the crap out of it. That's actually a deal. Even on a used guitar 2k will get you more on a Les Paul from the mid nineties and earlier than it will on any modern mass produced Les Paul.

A quick check for inflation and currency conversion reveals that the 500 British pounds that Jimmy Page paid Joe Walsh for his 1959 Les Paul in 1969 equals $8500 in modern US currency.

Now the recent VOS 1959 reissue price makes sense. I'm not saying it's realistic, but if I had 6k or more laying around doing nothing I'd buy that VOS and play it full time. Who wouldn't?

[–]cc132 1 point2 points ago

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Well, I think a lot of people would be surprised that the "beat up old guitars" that so many icons played were actually some of the best that money could buy at the time.

Here's a perfect example, from this article on Dylan's guitars.

Did you ever think of the early Dylan as the scruffy little guy who came into town with a cheap and beat-up old guitar over his shoulder? Forget it. Some of them may have been beat up, and most were old, but cheap? He has had guitars in the top league for as long as there are specific records of it. When he first came to New York, he was carrying a Martin, and his acoustic guitars have, with a few exceptions, been Gibsons and Martins all along the way.

[–]DikembeMutumbo -3 points-2 points ago

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Let me explain a bit of economics. All because you can't afford to buy a Gibson, doesn't mean other people can't. Someone who plays a Squire Strat might make the same argument about you and your epiphone, so who says you can't do all those things you mentioned with a Gibson?

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

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I totally see your point, just in my eyes I can't justify spending that much.. as for me, I don't even HAVE an epiphone (though I aspire towards one.) I own a knockoff indonesian piece of crap called a "slammer hammer"... it looks vaguely similar to a gibson SG (if you're drunk enough), or I borrow guitars from friends who are nice (read dumb) enough to let me. ;)

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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You are giving the worst advice possible

[–]phartnocker 0 points1 point ago

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whateveryourcityis.craigslist.org

[–]omar91 -5 points-4 points ago

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Go for a PRS