NGD: Gibson Les Paul Classic

[Big Daddy B]

Yep, the stock pickups seemed to get panned by the Gibson cork sniffing crowd but I like them a lot! But, as you pointed out, I am a hard rock and classic metal type player. Make sure you post some pics on that trans red coming tomorrow. I bet she will look sweet.

Do you like the 2012? Isn't that one chambered? I demoed a 2008 honeyburst before buying this one. It sounded good but sounded hollow to me and not like a solid body les paul. I figured if I wanted a hollow sound, I would just go with a ES-335. It also produced a lot of feedback. I kinda liked that because I have a high gain rig and new how to control it but I could imagine that being bothersome to the non metal contingent.

[lepard]

The 2012's went back to traditional weight relief. My 2012 is awesome !!! and I highly recommend those things.

Here's the 2000 Classic Premium Plus. I'll get some more pics tomorrow when it shows up.

[Big Daddy B]

That looks awesome. Hope u get more pics up soon after arrival.

[lepard]

Got the 2000 Classic Premium Plus in. It came from some pawn shop in Utah. I don't think they realized what they had. It was REALLY DIRTY ! In fact, it was pretty nasty when I opened the case. Finish was covered in grime, fretboard gunked up with dirt, back of the neck all grimey like it was through the finish(but it wasn't, just grime build-up). The setup was horrible and the strings looked like they were at least 10 years old, all nasty. There is no way the pictures they used in the eBay auction(above) were of the current condition of this guitar. I spent a couple hours disassembling it, cleaning it up and buffing it out. Then I did a full setup and it came out AMAZING ! There was a really, really nice guitar under all the gunk. This thing is awesome ! It has the thinnest neck I've ever felt on a Les Paul. This thing is a metal machine with the ceramic high output Gibson pickups. Here's a few quick pics:





If any Charvel/Jackson players want to get into Les Pauls, the "Classic" is the one to get. It's a shredders Les Paul with a thin neck and super hot pickups. They made them from 1990 to 2012. Any "Classic" after 2012 is NOT the same guitar, not a shredder.

[Big Daddy B]

I'm assuming you got a killer deal. Care to share?

[lepard]

I'm assuming you got a killer deal. Care to share?

Oh yeah, $1250 shipped. Premium Plus models with nice tops can bring up around $2000. The earlier they are, the more they are worth. In fact, in the beginning, for the first 5 years or so, a Les Paul Classic Plus or Premium Plus was significantly more expensive than a Les Paul Standard. As time went on, they got cheaper than a Les Paul Standard.

[lepard]

Here's my 2000 Classic Premium Plus and my 2012 Classic Plus together:

[Big Daddy B]

Oh yeah. Stupendous deal. Well done sir!

[lepard]

Nice one. I like it. I was checking out a more recent used Classic that a store had at a nice price and I'm like 90% there to buy it - and then I noticed it had a roasted brown maple fretboard. Ugh Gibson!!!

I'm going to guess that was a 2012. 2011-2012 was when Gibson was having all the problems with the Obama Administration raiding them for their woods. A bunch of guitars in those 2 years got made with laminate rosewood boards or other types of wood for the fretboard. The 2012 Classic(see my Cherry Sunburst one) used baked maple for the fretboard. It is lighter than rosewood but darkens up nicely with a lemon oil treatment. I actually prefer the feel of the baked maple. It's more smooth, feels like ebony.

[Jackson8090s]

I'm going to guess that was a 2012. 2011-2012 was when Gibson was having all the problems with the Obama Administration raiding them for their woods. A bunch of guitars in those 2 years got made with laminate rosewood boards or other types of wood for the fretboard. The 2012 Classic(see my Cherry Sunburst one) used baked maple for the fretboard. It is lighter than rosewood but darkens up nicely with a lemon oil treatment. I actually prefer the feel of the backed maple. It's more smooth, feels like ebony.

Now known as "Government Series" and I've also heard "Federal Issue"

[Vass]

Still can't figure out why Gibson can't get ebony but other companies are able to slap it on much lower end lines.

[horns666]

Still can't figure out why Gibson can't get ebony but other companies are able to slap it on much lower end lines.

Good question..

But many of these rosewoods feels so nice. That's what does it. You play a good one that looks awesome and plays even better. You gotta buy it.

My Blackstar combo kept calling me..in my dreams and shit. It's made in China. I changed that mindset. Fuggums..

These look beautiful!!

[Jackson8090s]

I prefer rosewood boards, some of these newer rosewoods are darker than older axes with rosewood & almost look like ebony... until you look at the grain.

[lepard]

I wish everyone would do ebony fretboards like ESP. They polish the crap out of them and it's like playing on shiny black ice.

World Guitars Korea does the same thing, absolutely LOVE their ebony fretboards:

[Jackson8090s]