I should start by saying that I am an LP purist. I believe that this guitar has had its pinnacle in 1959 and we should don't deviate from the perfection handed to us by the Gods of the years passed.
So I was really excited when Gibson announced the new series without push-pull knobs, split coils, weight relief, and other satanic creations.
I own some seriously expensive & vintage guitars, but this one proved that it can punch above its weight.
Almost everything is perfect - color, wood, frets, binding, knobs, etc.
Where did they mess up? The pickups. The PU's are almost on par with Epiphone (not in a good way). Cleans sound flat, drive sounds over the top. Basically this here is the bottle neck that strangles the guitar & doesn't allow it to fulfil its potential.
Thankfully, in a way Gibson did us a favour - there are so many really good PAF clones on the market & this provides a wonderful opportunity to something that will be perfect for this guitar.
Personally, I went for the Bareknuckle Mules - the perfect LP PAFs IMHO.
To sum it up:
- Perfect build quality
- True 50s Les Paul, just the way it should be
- Looks gorgeous & plays incredible (thanks for the PLEK, Gibson)
- Will last you a lifetime & never disappoint
- Just change these burst buckers & invest into some quality PAF's that will do this guitar justice