Gibson 60's Les Paul Classic

2006 Les Paul Classic in Black. You know the features. Very heavy compared to other LP's. I bought it off of Ebay in "mint condition" from a guy who was a strat man. He bought it new, decided after 10 minutes that it wasn't his cup of tea. It was in mint condition without a scratch or fingerprint on it! I have seen "new" guitars on the walls of some famous guitar chains that are beat up and dinged and scratched! This was mint!

First off this is not my first Gibson, I also have a 1986 SG. I am the original owner. The pickups in the Classic were too hot for my taste. I nomally swapp out the pickups for Seymores, a JB & Jazz. This time I went for a change. I put in Dimarzio's. Two Zebra coil DP100 PAF's for more of a vintage tone. Big difference! Sound is great! I also replaced the tone pots with push-pulls to split the coils of each pickup. Just for more tone options.

Allright, here is where I have a problem. Gibson is an American made guitar with a long history. Everybody swears by them. My 86 SG was and is a quality made guitar. This new Gibson is horrible! There are buffing wax streaks melted into the binding! The binding is not flush with the body at the horn area. There is a mismatch in the cutout where the neck binding stops and the body binding starts. All the screws on the two back plates are screwed in at angles. I own two Korean made Agile brand LP copies ($200) and they are better quality than this Gibby. I am completly dissapointed.

I am going to put this guitar on Ebay and will take a considerable loss. I cant believe the poor quality Gibson is putting out these days. As for reliability, I dont think that is the issue.

I have never dealt with Gibson before, never had to. If they let this come out of the factory in this condition then I dont think talking to them would do any good. Anyways, I bought this used so I dont think I have any warrenty. All I can do is voice my opinion and warn others. Granted, I bought this used in mint condition. I was told by the original owner of the "purple streaks" in the binding but thought I would be able to rub that out. After seeing the guitar up close I realized how they got there. These were made by pressing the guitar to hard against the buffing wheel heating up the clear laquer and melting the buffing paste into the laquer. This guitar should have been a "second".

I am 46 years old and in a professional gigging top forty band. I have been playing for over 30 years. I have owned close to 30 electric guitars in my life, Fender strats, Gibson SG's & Les Pauls, Ibanez RG's, Carvin AE185, Dillion LP's, Tokai LP's and Agile LP's. (I am an LP man) I can say I know what quality is what it should be. I will not buy another Gibson built before 1990. I feel some companies are selling thier name and not what it stood for. Just my opinion. I would like to hear if anybody else has had a bad experience with a newer Gibby?

Mine is a 2005 Honeyburst. What can you say about the features? It's a Les Paul...

Stock 490 and 500 pickups sound great through most any amp. In a high gain setting, I'd argue any perceptible difference between like output pickups. The amp EQ can make or break any pickup. The only mods I did on the guitar was to put nickel covers on the pickups (my preference for cosmetics), 1 Meg Ohm volume pots and I rewired for true independent volume and tone control to be able to blend when in middle position. Stock wiring mode has either volume in middle switch act as master volume.

Not as nice a finish as some of my other guitars like Tom Anderson, Suhr and even a flametop G&L Legacy. High production can kill some of the attention to detail. Some fine swirls and scratches when help at an angle in flourescent light from the factory buff job that make it less than my standards.

Built like a tank as most Pauls are. Gibson always had that going in this model.

Never needed any

Good all around solid Les Paul. I have every guitar imaginable. My 1970 Hagstrom Swede blows just about any Les Paul away. I wanted a newer workhorse for my studio and this fits the bill. I'll probably always reach for a Tom Anderson first.

Year Made 2005, USA

I am a rhythmic lead guitar in a hard rock band called "INK" www.inkmusic.net
Since we are a power trio there is nothing better than having a Les Paul strapped around you to be heard and give me that full rock and riff I need. Plays very clean (even with the disortion on) hearing every note that comes out of it. Nothing I dislike about it at all.

Action was fine. Got it new at a local Ct shop new. Yet to get it setup. Don't want to be without it for 1 day, so, will wait til something breaks!

This thing is built like a truck. Once you've played a Les Paul, you will be stuck. I am.
My back ups are Epi's - but my main has got to be the Classic Les Paul.

Never had to use them.

I plug my classic into a Mesa Dual Rect with 4 x 12 Mesa Cab. Can't beat my sound. If someone stole this guitar they best run far. If I lost it, I'd pummel my guitar tech. My stage name is"Solar Steve" and I've spent the last 5 years exclusively as the singer/songwriter/guitarist of one of the most highly respected original hard rock/riff acts in CT, called INK (www.inkmusic.net). My band has performed for crowds at such legendary venues as Toads Place, Tuxedo Junction, and Webster Theatre with rave reviews attached with this axe to my shoulder and I am not changing my mind about it.

Mine's an '02... Vintage sunburst, closest I could get to Tobbacco (had a '76 Standard like that). All the basic appointments that a Classic has... inlays not as green as most who complain about it.

Wall to wall sound through my Hotrod Deluxe. Plenty of both bright and depth from the hot pickups. I prefer the stock set, though most seem to yank 'em and replace.

Factory setup was almost spot-on! Frets are a bit higher than what I would like, but time will change that. I've got a 25 year old Gretsch that started out that way is is very 'comfy' now.

It's a Gibson, it's a Les Paul.

No dealings with them yet. Hope to not have to!

It's my fav by a long shot.... I've got 8 or 9 guitars... this one, like the guy above me somewhere said, is under my bed for safe keeping when not being played. All my others are out on stands...

The usual LP stuff, Mahogany body+neck, Rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, 2 humbuckers etc etc
Classic 2002, Honeyburst

Stock pickups sounds bright, high gain with a lot of punch but is extremely noisy.
Crappy..
With a pair of 57 classic pickups the guitar sings beautyful.
SWEET....

Factory setup was pretty fair but not as good as my setup.
The original pickups didnt stay for that long,maybe a couple of weeks or so.
Fit,Finish,Nut and everything else was perfect on this one, probably one of the best LP i ever seen.

It will live longer than me.
But i recomend everyone to get a pair of straplocks, just in case.

Been playing guitar since 11 years old, that's almost 27 years now.
Gone thru a lot of guitars like Jackson,Kramer,Ibanez,Fender,Tokai and several others this is the best so far, i will never sell this one.
Stolen ? now way, this one lies under my bed with me on top.

Brand New! dealer ordered the guitar for me. I love this thing. I love the slim tapered neck. I have been playing jackson and San Dimas Charvels for years and boy do I wish I had bought one of these sooner. It has the Vintage sunburst finish and looks really awesome!

Much fatter sounding than both my Jackson or charvel guitars. If I had purchased one of these years ago I think I would have sold both of the other guitars I have. I play rock, new and old, and through my Mesa dual recto this thing is KING!
I cant really say I dislike anything about this guitar. GET ONE! You wont be sorry.

Set up pretty good, not perfect but how many guitars ever come perfect for you? No flaws at all in this beauty.

I have been playing musical insruments for over 25 years and have owned Fender, Kramer, Jackson, Charvel and junk I dont want to mention and this thing rules over all of them. I had an Gibson Explorer back in the late 80s and it wasnt even close to the LP. Know I know what all the fuss is about! Glad I finally bought one.
If it was stolen..... after I got over being pissed as hell I would get another as fast as I could.

its a pair of 92 Les paul classics with skinny little necks.One has a wildly flamed pinstripe top the other is plain jane.The original pickups left rather quickly and were replaced with 57 classics in one and a seymour duncan 59 and an old gibson patent sticker T top that just happens to be out of phase with the duncan Peter Green heaven in the middle position.It has all the classic appointments,skinny binding in the cut away les paul model logo these were actually more vintage correct than the equivalent historic reissues of the time.

Sounds amazing although a bigger neck may have made them sound fatter.These are supossed to be 1960 reissues.The original pickups didnt sound bad but my replacements sound better

Its been a long time but I dont recall any major problems with either instrument.

Ive had them for almost 10 years now still pretty happy with them

never needed it but any other dealings with gibson have been satisfactory.

been playing for 28 years .25 other guitars

It's a LP - you know the score!!! It's got a nice cherry colour flametop though (solid colour, not a sunburst though).

I'll give a 10 for features - what more would you want for a rock 'n' roll guitar?

The stock pickups are allot hotter than the SD Seth Lovers in my '91 LP std, but I do like them for rockier stuff as it sound 'fatter' with my Marshall Bluesbreaker (Brimar ECC83's/VA KT66's/Celestion G12H-30's/some component changes on PCB to 'original' specs).

I'll give a 9 here as the midrange isn't as clear or snarly as my Seth-loaded LP std - much softer/modern tone IMO.

I got mine out of Music Ground in Leeds (UK) and it had been on the wall for some considerable time, so it was a little 'shop-soiled', otherwise everything was in order.

Anyway, give it six months and it'll have a few battle-scars on (like my first string change - whoops!!!, scratched headstock veneer)

I put straplocks on like on all my guitars (wish they would come as standard - then again, it is supposed to be a faithfull reissue).

I trust this guitar to stand upto live use, but carry my other LP as a spare for string breakages - I'm just too heavy-handed (even with 11's)

never dealt with 'em, never hope to either - Arbiter suck!!!

I've been playing for 12 years and now I own two LP's which are the only guitars for me (tried Fenders etc... - not for me).

I'd say '9' as it's not 'fantastic value', but I do love the guitar to pieces in every other respect. I might try some other p/ups in the future as I'll probably tire of the more hi-output/modern tone the stock ones give - maybe some Fralin or Holmes PAF's!!!

Covered by previous reviews

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Randy (see below) about the stock pickups. I run this guitar thru my Mesa Maverick 1x12, and it's like the voice of God.

FLAMING, TIGER-STRIPED MAPLE on the top, with a little touch of bird's eye near the "waist" of the guitar. Finished in "Honey-burst" which goes from brown to yellow (not as dark a brown as a tobacco sunburst, unfortunately). The back & neck are natural mahogany, not that god-awful "sweet 'n' sour sauce RED" that Gibson seems to insist upon staining every piece of mahognay that comes thru their doors. A GORGEOUS guitar, as one would expect The Mighty Gibson Les Paul to be!!

Never had a problem with the guitar EXCEPT that the pot-shaft (treble) had broken at the factory; someone stuck the whole thing back together with double-sided tape, put the knob on, and shipped it anyway. (See customer support section, below). Otherwise not a problem. Also (SURPRISINGLY!) stays in tune pretty well for stock Gibson tuners.

I did have a complaint for Gibson since my dealer got NO response (other than some know-nothing zombie in "sales") from Gibson for over 2 months about my broken pot. Finally, I sent an e-mail to them via their website. Within 60 seconds of hitting [SEND], my phone rang -- Jason from Gibson in Nashville. Both I and my dealer were taken care of immediately.

Playing 20+ years, mostly Strats. I have owned too many guitars to list here, but my basis for comparison is the Les Paul Studio that I owned for nearly 3 years. This sucker blows it AWAY!! Better sustain, better tone, better WOW! This guitar seems to know what I'm thinking!!!

Never thought I would get SO attached to a Les Paul, but it has happened. I play this one more than anything else in my collection. Obviously, the addition of a Gibson TP6 fine-tuning tailpiece helped the tuning problems intrinsic to Les Paul's; however I am informed by Gibson that, SADLY, the TP6 is to be discontinued. That is indeed a shame. Guess I'll have to resort to either e-bay or installing Sperzels on Overall, this is a SPECTACULAR guitar and I have no complaints now that my broken pot has been replaced.

omigod!

omigod!!

omigod!!!

omigod!!!!

never dealt with them

I have been playing 15 or so years on a Guild acoustic and a Mexican Tele. This guitar is as close to my dreams as anything. I got it home and played all night, noticing that awesome fresh wood smell that came from the body. It permeated me when I played. Unforgetable.