Gibson 1954 Goldtop Historic Reissue

2007 VOS Reissue, Mahogany glued neck with maple cap, 2 x P-90s, wraparound bridge, Kluson tuners, 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone, bumblebee caps et al...a simple yet incredibly effective instrument topped off with a gold finish treated in some mystical way so as to have a slight patina. Oh, and a really FAT neck.
The brutal simplicity of this guitar is the primary appeal...like a pretty junior with a neck pickup.
Came with a Gibson Custom case lined with red plush goodness and a bunch of kitschy case candy.

The sound is just incredible, the response so natural. The acoustic tone of the guitar is loud n proud, and having played it against a '56 I am convinced that the supposedly 'primitive' wraparound bridge is the shizzle - the degree of sustain and richness you get from it is astounding. Played it in a variety of tunings using different string gauges and it only required the slightest tweak to banish all intonation concerns. My signal path is Goldtop/BSM Ambassador Treble Booster/Frantone Sweet Fuzz/Dunlop Hendrix Wah/Guyatone Roly Phase/Vox Volume Pedal/Marshall JTM45 RI/Orange 4x12 with Vintage 30s...yeah, I'm one of those wah-after-fuzz kinda guys. The sound when plugged direct into the amp (jacking both channels) is so rich and 3 dimensional...every nuance of your playing is picked up by the P-90s; they are warm and flutey if you need that, but give it some wrist and it barks like a rottweiler, with that lovely raw snap and midrange authority that is so characteristic of these pickups. With the amp dimed it roars like an assembly of hungry lions, but depending on your position relative to the amp it can hum a little. Ce la vie. When rocking out I find myself backing off the volume pedal when I'm not playing, but with other instruments blaring it is not so noticeable. With fuzz applied it sounds just plain nasty, which is a good thing, but the pickups were designed prior to the concept of 'high gain' and I have found that they can choke a note if you're not facing the right way or the wind is blowing in the wrong direction. The sound is wild and dangerous, not the tight, controlled sound you get with fuzzed up humbuckers. With the treble booster engaged it becomes every guitarist's dream - suddenly the vol and tone controls' range seems multiplied, and the choking problem vanishes into eternal feedback. The balance between the pickups is superb, and every position on the dials brings forth new possibilities. I haven't played this much guitar in years...it's probably worth noting once again that it'll take some tweaking to get a decent high gain sound/response if that's yer bag, and some creative eq-ing if you want to play death metal with it...good luck on that neck!

I wish I could give it a balanced review by saying there was something horrible wrong with some aspect of it, but this guitar came to me in a state of unblemished perfection...out of the case the setup was beautiful, with not a scratch on it and gorgeous appointments. The finish with it's 'aged' appearance can be a little dull from some angles, but under lights it looks fantastic.

Just try and bend the neck out of tune...I dare ya...this thing is like a tree with a couple of pickups living in it...
Have played it live sans-backup...the likelihood of breaking strings I figure is less on the wraparound than on a tune-o-matic with it's harsh breaking angles...there would have to be a lumberjack involved for something to go awry with this axe...
Will probably put some Schaller straplocks on when I build up the guts to have at it with a screwdriver...

Am buddies with the local Gibson tech, so no need for warranty, but from memory it is 1 year...

Buy one. Now. From what I can tell Gibson are making the best guitars since the 50's golden age...
I also own a '65 Fender Jaguar, a '74 SG Custom, and a 335DD, and have played some real beauts, but nothing comes close to this fat necked siren...

I bought this guitar new a couple of years ago, I guess it's time to write a review eh?

It's a Les Paul! Four knobs and two P-90s. This is the model with the wrap-around tailpiece bridge. Nickel parts. Very fat comfortable neck. Goldtop finish with mahogany back.

The sound is all Les Paul - just bigger! The P90s scream. Back off on the volume knobs still yields very usable tones with no muffiness. The guitar works for all styles of music.

This is the terrible part. Gibson should be completely ashamed.

Out of the box, the guitar was a mess. Had I not been so excited about a new Les Paul, I probably should have just returned the guitar and never looked at another Gibson again. Not only wasn't the guitar close to being set up, the strings were actually resting on the fretboard. I've been setting my guitars up for years so I decided to see what I could do before giving up.

It gets worse.

The pickups were jammed into the body and screws cross-threaded. The neck pickup was on a funny angle too. After carefully backing the screws out and removing the pickup, I found a HANDFUL of pickup springs tossed into the body cavities. That explained the funny pickup angles. Obviously, the work of a seriously disgruntled employee. Gibson must treat these folks like dirt. I got that mess cleaned up and was able to rethread the pickup screws properly. The pickups were then adjusted properly.

It gets worse.

While I was able to get the action somewhat corrected, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the relief out of the neck. It was too bowed to play with a reasonably low action. Adjustments to the truss rod only seemed to affect the upper part of the neck. At this point, I gave up and went to a Gibson authorized repairman. The repairman found that the truss rod had been glued in place. He said the guitar really should go back to the factory but offered to try one last trick. He drilled a very long tiny hole neck to the truss rod nut and down through the neck. After oiling the hole and stressing the neck in different directions, the truss rod popped free. He was then able to get the proper relief in the neck.

oh....there's more.

After getting the truss rod free and flattening the neck out, the repaiman was able to check the fret level. Eight (count 'em 8!!!) frets were not seated into the fretboard. Those got banged into place. Then, he proceeded to do a fret leveling to correct a number of other high frets. Fret ends also had to be cleaned up.

The guitar now played very well and I really liked the tone. The repairman said he'd authorize an exchange with Gibson as the guitar should have never been sold. However, he cautioned that a large percentage of the Gibsons he saw were equally embarrassing. I decided not to press my luck with an exchange.

Other issues - the finish on the back of this guitar came from the factory already rubbed through. It was minor, but, the guitar should have been re-shot and polished before shipping. The fretboard also had sanding marks that were never finished.

Contrast this experience to the $500 PRS One I just purchased. That guitar came out of the box with an immaculate set up, a stunning fret job, and flawless paint. Heck, every Epiphone I'd seen in the last few years were light years beyond the quality of this guitar.

Guitars have come a long way in the last 25 years I've been playing. You can buy a flawless, excellent playing guitar for $300. On the other hand, Gibson's quality has gone from pretty good to being the laughing stock of the musical manufacturing industry.

I will never buy another Gibson product. If there was a way to provide a negative rating, this guitar certainly deserved it.

It seems pretty solid. The finish is very thin, which helps with the sound. I'm sure it'll be reliced looking very soon. (maybe not what most folks want on a guitar not meant to be reliced)

The cost of the above repairs were handled under warranty from Gibson. I found them generally responsive to my calls. They were very surprised to hear about the problems. They probably should have just offered to replace the guitar on the spot.

Been playing 35 years....long enough to know good guitars. I've had one of almost everything in those years. This is not an experience I would care to repeat.

For the same money, you can get a PRS MaCarty....flawlessly set up with impeccable finish...and the same sound.

If this guitar was stolen, I'd feel bad as I do like the sound, but I'd use the insurance $$$ to buy a better guitar.

Mine is a 2007 '54 CR (chambered reissue) Historic VOS LP. If a guitar is to heavy for me I can feel it tugging on my shoulder. This guitar weighs 7.33ozs. Gold top, P90's lightback. I've done several mods. I replace the stock P90's with vintage pickups from the early 50's. When switching from neck to bridge I have found that I need to have at least a 10% difference betweeen the two pickups. Neck is 7.85 and the bridge is 8.65.

Along with the pickup change I swapped the remaining electronics for a compete wire harness from a '52 LP. The studs and inserts from originals are steel, the reissues are of some other metal so I replaced them with vintage ones for better vibration transfer. Also a bone nut. Guitar players tend to noodle with their axe's, searching for their guitars to respond in a particular manner. I don't find myself searching anymore. I run this guitar through a '59 Tweed Bassman. I've developed my voice with this particulr rig, I'm a Bluesman. I can easily go into Humbucking, Strat or Tele territory. Will it sound exactly like them? No, but close enough to feel good.

Except for the finish having a bit to much body the guitar is great. My requirments in a guitar are: lightweight, big neck, dual P90's, bound neck and simple bridge configuration (can't get more simple than a wraptail). This guitar met my needs. It's articulate and sustains well. The lows are tight and the highs are crisp not harsh. The action at the 12th fretis 3/32 high E and 5/32 low E.

I gig weekly and the guitar functions well, stays in tune and the old pots work noisless. The wrap tail intonates really well, no problems. I use strap lock for "just in case" senerio's. I always take a backup guitar for those broken string moments. My backup is a '57 es225. Actually the '54 is sometimes the backup.

Never had the need

I've been playing for 40 years. I'll admit I sometimes wonder if I should have purchased a non chambered model but I'm sure that I would have also wondered if I did the opposite, you know, the solid piece of wood thoughts. I get compliments on the guitars tone and when another guitar player hold the guitar they always comment, " I thought all Les Paul were really heavy, boy this thing is light, nice guitar". Well that's what I say, nice guitar.

2004 54 les paul gold top w p-90s, except the body and neck are historic correct as they are all gold too. les paul wanted to hide the wood he was using so he painted the early models all gold then in later yrs painted just the top to hide the maple cap.

for blues and early rock you cant beat this guitar...kills any stat i have...and maybe just a tad better than my 59 lespaul.. play it through a 65 fender twin and with just a tad bit of OD this thing will melt ya.

felt good right off the show room floor, but im not that picky

built like a brick @#$% house..

I have a 2003, 1954 goldtop reissue. It's one of the models that has a Brazilian rosewood fret board. It was Gibson's best attempt to reproduce the originals. It has a fat neck that I really dig. The other features are similar to the ones listed here.

This is the best part because it sounds great on any amp I try it on. I have a few, Rivera Knucklehead reverb, Holland combo w/ 4-10" speakers and a Vox Valvetronics that I use for practice. I has that great P-90 sound that already has little dirt to begin with.

I setup my own guitars and this one is hot. Low and fast, dirty and bluesy. Sings like my mama could. New metal guitars can't sound like this. Roll back the volume and it's clean, Jazzy and big. I just love it.

Built like a tank, literally.

I just got this guitar a week ago; it's a 96 model and features the BIG 50's style neck profile, long neck tenon, wrap tail,and p90s. Mine is a little rare in that it is dark stain on the back opposed to the much lighter natural mahogany most of the historic goldtops have. It's almost a walnut color..very pretty and sets off the deeply dished gold top nicely.If there is a prettier guitar in my eyes I dunno what it could be. I have been looking for this axe for my collection for a while and got this one for a fair price and I'm SO happy to have it finally..it was worth the wait!! Les Pauls aren't real feature-laden, but this is impeccable build-wise and the tone, lightweight and versatility make up for lack of bells and whistles. It's SO perfect, I'm saying "10" cause it's main feature is QUALITY!

I have a lot of guitars including several Les Paul ncluding a Historic 61 LP/SG, a 91 60 flametop reissue, a 77 Artisan, a white 3 p/u 89 Custom and 2 with p90's...a 74 Special 55 reissue and a 79 Pro; I use a Digitech GNX4 at home and for amps use either a 50 watt 76 Marshall or a Vox AC30. This axe is the king amongst some GREAT guitars-It can get griity 50's blues tones,arena ready rock bombast,wicked jazzer tones and bright cutting country and pop sounds-unbelievable versatility. Also-all my single coil guitars suffer from some degree of 60cycle hum, and this one is no different-I always patch thru a HushII noise reducer though, so no big deal... I gotta say too, with the long neck tenon and the wraptail-this axe sustains acoustically longer than any guitar I own, and that is beating out some pretty serious guitars, indeed. I just LOVE it!

I have owned many Gibsons from every era, both from Kalamazoo and Nashville, and I have to say the build quality on this is better than any I have seen-These historics are great in that respect-The 61 SG/LP is just as fine so I figure the premium price of these guitars is reflected in quality-There isn't ONE flaw on it and I'm picky-the tech I use and all my friends agree-flawless in every detail-either Gibson got it right, or I'm super lucky, heh heh.

Absolutely-it is a freaking tank-built for the long haul-and it's simpler than even a regular standard LP. I've been Impressed with the tuning stability too-never goes out even when played hard-I have heard that wrap tail bridges were hard to keep in tune above the 12th fret. On my Special there was a badasss on it for better intonation. I worried this might need a bridge swap too. But no, it plays in tune like butter all the way up the neck and I string it 11-52 guage. Impressive!

Gibson has always done right by me promptly. This is used, so no warranty applies, but they did respond very quickly to my inquery about the non-standard dark stained back. Guy I spoke with was real nice and inquired into what other guitars I had-he was real happy to hear about all my old Gibsons and invited me to visit or call anytime. I had a good experience, so I'll rate accordingly

Been playing over 25 years-In addition to the amps and guitars above I have a 72 Firebird medallion, an 82 Korina 58 V, a 66 ES125TDC, a 63 Strat, 61 Esquire, 62 Gretsch Nashville, 58 Gibson SJ, 75 Martin ooo18, a 68 P-Bass and an Epiphone Rivoli bass. I used to gig professionally in a variety of original rock bands, and these days I record and write more than anything. This guitar has added some great new sounds and textures to my arsenal. If I had known how nice it was I would have bought one long ago-luckily my wife caught me staring at this on a trip downtown and snuck back and got it for me..what a gal! I just adore this axe forits tone feel and STELLAR looks. The ultimate 50's goldtop at a fraction of a real 54"s price...COOL!

Wrap around tailpiece, Two P-90's,light mahogany back and neck,non-brazilian rosewood board. You know the rest from other reviews. Mine was made in 2004. It was setup by EM Shorts, I have to say an excellent job; it played perfectly out of the box. I haven't had any problems with the wrap around tailpiece. I love the fat neck, it's quite similar to a '56 LP Special I had. The case is really cool, I especially like the deep burgandy color. Glad it's not that TRAGIC pink with the girlie blanket. The guitar comes with a goodie bag.

I play Blues,R&B,Jazz. The sound is great for all those styles. The P90's have alot of treble and the tone pots really shape the tone. I get a killer Jazz sound with the tone to 3 on the neck pickup. I especially like how the sound cuts through the mix as treble is increased. The weight of this guitar makes it comfortable to play for a long night.

The set-up was excellent, which tells you it wasn't done at the Gibson factory. E M Shorts set it up, and I couldn't be happier with the set-up. It is virtually effortless to play. The finish, frets and nut done very well. I didn't have to change a thing. I was surprised.

Les Paul guitars are fragile, I hope you don't drop one, the headstock likes to crack or snap off. The '54 sounds great live. I'm a big fan of P90's; however' always take a spare.

Good luck if you have to deal with Gibson. E M Shorts help is fantastic!

I've been playing for 39 yrs.I own various Gibson LP's,SG's and Fender Strats & Teles. I use a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 for gigs and a '66 Super Reverb that I got new in '66. The amp stays home. . I love the weight of this axe, it's as light as my '52 Tele RI. If it was stolen I would buy it again from EM Shorts. They have the best prices I've found!

Gold top two p-90's, and a wrap around bridge. I love the Gibson historic necks. They are so fat that after playing them, I have a hard time playing any of my other guitars. I have four historics, this one a 57 gold top, 58 super flame top and a 54 oxblood. I have 12 other guitars from Fender PRS Gibson and Anderson, but even the fattest necks on the anderson and PRS don't feel as comfortable as the gibson historic. The regular Gibson neck is to flat feeling for me though I have an old Les Paul standard and a regular production 335. What can I say the necks are the most comfortable. The cases are pretty good too, very sturdy. I give the features a 9 because its a bare bones tone machine no fancy coils to tap like Anderson and PRS.

I use the guitar theough either a supper hot rodded marshall jcm 800 or an egnater tone of life 50. More so through the egnater as it is a mellower amp and when I am playing traditional blues rock it really sounds fat. The p-90 pickups are wonderful tome machines, my guitar is a 97 I bought it N.O.S. in 2001. I don't know if they have changed the pickups in any way like they did with the guitars that had humbukers, to burstbuckers but the p-90's sound so big and fat, I never really liked p-90's till I got this guitar, it was the first historic I bought and it started an obsession.Now I love p-90's at least these ones anyway so I give the sound a 10.

I was worried when i got it about the wrap around bridge and the intonation and action, but that quickly went away upon the first string change. The guitar plays easy and smooth and I love the gold color. My other three historics all had a problem with the G string hanging up in the nut, once they were lubricated it went away, but this guitar has had no problems what so ever. I give it a 10 because it played so well from the get go

this guitar has never let me down, I can depend on it and it always comes through sounding big and fat and on a gig it looks dofferent than the common Les Paul with humbuckers.

I have called gibson to find out dtaes of guitars and information. they always were very helpful

I have been playing for 12 years I have owned just about everything in that time, I currently have four historics two vintage SG's a 67 and a 73, 98 ES-335, 82 Les Paul standard, Anderson Cobra ,PRS McCarty,Fender 69 reissue tele, Fender Jimmy Vaughn ( much better guitar than the SRV) and some acoustics. This guitar is a wonderful instrument and I would never sell it. If you are reading this review before you buy one, listen to me get one you won't be disappointed.

Basic features, not to much and not to little not much more needed. I have a LP custom with all the custom features and next to this 56 goldtop the custom seems to have to many extra features (which also makes the guitar heavy). The goldtop is simple but elegent I love the P90 look. (1996 DEAD MINT #4 6117)

The P90's give such a warm tone where as the 57 PAF ( LP custom)pickup's give a much brighter tone. I play jazz, bules and sade type
R & B and the gold top in my opinion hit's them all right on the head.

After some playing around with the wrap around tail/bridge the goldtop PLAY'S LIKE BUTTER. I LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this guitar I've wanted a goldtop every since I saw and heard Stuart Matthewman (sade)on sade live. He has a 56 goldtop. Again I LOVE !!!!!!!!! this guitar. did I mention it play's like BUTTER.

I'm not playing out right now but if I were this would the #1 I would have a armed guard watching over it after hearing all of the pro's talking about how there best axe got stolen. DURABILITY- les paul's are will built everybody know's that.

Never dealt with them

Did I mention I LOVE THIS GIUTAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If it were stolen (well I won't go there). I'm thinking about selling or trading my (57 re-issue custom historic dead mint also) for another 54-56 gold top

Mine was made in 1996. See other reviews for details. It has everything the basic 50's-60's 70's bluesy rock player will ever need. A special note: the wrap tailpiece does seem to allow the guitar to sustain better than any other tailpiece I've ever played.

I play 50's thru 70's rock and blues through a Boogie Mark 4. The sound is very Santana/ Allman Bros ish the way my Boogie set up (tube types make a huge difference). The neck pickup is excellent; the bridge pickup is great also (although I don't use it very much) The middle pickup position is especially interesting if you like that fat Tele sound. It's pretty close. I have not had any real problems w/ noise (a quiet tube amp helps)

I play w/ very low action. I had extensive work done to get this thing set up properly. It has 10's that just buzzed everywhere. I tried raising the action but it just wasn't playable. Once I got the frets dressed, however, it played & still plays like butter.

I have never had a problem in 3+ yrs gigging. I don't even bother w/ a backup. I did replace the strap buttons w/ Schallers.

I have had occaision to contact Gibson & have never had any problems. The lifetime warranty would come in handy for some guitars but I don't think it matters for this one.

I have been playing for over 20 yrs, both live & studio/demo work. I have owned just about every popular guitar made including other Goldtops (from the 70's). This guitar is THE BEST Les Paul I have ever played! I would love to try the Oxblood Reissue but I can't find one. The wrap tailpiece, in my opinion, makes a huge difference. If this were stolen, I would definitely buy another after my release from prison for the murder of the thief who stole it.

Two P90 soapbars, 2 tone/volume, wraparound tailpiece, mahogany back and neck

Good Lord. I have played Strats all my life in every configuration they have ever come in. After playing this thing the first time, I haven't been the same. It sounds so good and is SOOO easy to play I actually have to force myself to play other guitars so I can have a challenge. Here's the strange part, I have always strongly disliked Gibson as a company and their overpriced products, but this guitar is so unbelievable, I have weakened. I have other Gibsons (335, V, Firebird, LP 59 RI, SG) and I hate em all. Wht do I have these guitars if I dislike Gibson so much, who knows.

Unreal, spectacular, not a single flaw. So un-Gibson like. This is the part I love. On every Gibson I have with the tunomatic bridge, I can't get the G string in perfect tune, it is always a compromise. With this one, with the caveman-like wraparound bridge, it tunes perfectly. It may be haunted.

Of course it will last

Don't get me started on Gibson

Playing for 36 years, bar band in the 70s. Yes I would buy another one but I would still find whoever stole this one.

This guitar is part of Gibson's Custom Shop, made in the USA in 1996. It has two P-90 pickups, a 3 way toggle for pickup selection and volume and tone controls for each. Instead of the tuneamatic, it has the wraparound tailpiece. Simple but flexible features, very well done. Doesn't have alot of bells and whistles-- a no-nonsense guitar.

The sound of this guitar is fabulous. The P-90s do everthing well, clean and dirty. More clarity than a humbucker, more guts and power than a standard single coil. I play this guitar through a Demeter TGA-3, and it is quiet on all channels. I also plays blues gigs through a Victoria and it sounds incredible. This is the perfect marriage of a great pickup with good wood and solid construction. The neck joint and wraparound tailpiece REALLY contribute to the tone. I wasn't a Gibson player until this guitar, now I don't play anything else. The guys at the custom shop said in Guitar Player that this was their favorite guitar, second only to the 59' burst. Its because of the sound--the tailpiece and P-90s give it more clarity, ring and sustain than any other guitar I've played. My band plays everything from Steely Dan to Bare Naked Ladies and this guitar does it all with a vesatility and sound beyound my expectations. It still suprises me.

The guitar was set up well, but I had to intonate it again when I put 11s on. Getting it properly set up can be a little tricky, but you are rewarded with the sound of the wraparound when you're done. I had one pickup that was tilted forward, the wire underneath was the culprit. I simply turned the pickup around and everthing eas fine.

The gold top looks great, with the deep dish of the 50 models. The back is mahagony in a nice gloss. The nut was cut perfectly. I've read others complain about some of the Historic stuff, but mine is extremely well done and looks worth every penny.

Like I said earlier, this is all I've played for the last six months and it still looks brand new. This is a very sturdy instrument, and although I always bring a backup, I never use it.

The only thing I did was replace the strap buttons with bass string trees, a la Paul Reed Smith. These things really hold a strap and look good too.

I spoke with the company once and they were friendly, but really haven't had to deal with them for any repairs. Lifetime warranty.

I have been playing for over 25 years, professionally for 20. If this guitar were stolen or lost I would be crushed. It has really filled a void for me--I used to alternate on gigs between a PRS McCarty and a Strat, but this guitar does it for me. I would definately try to get another, but guitars do vary--especially custom shop stuff. The quality is high, but it would be different.

I love everthing about this instrument. I would strongly suggest checking out the Historical guitars. At first I thought it was a lot of baloney, but I am sold. Plus, they don't cost that much
more--unless you want a sunburst. Those prices can be ridiculous.