Gibson Historic '56 Les Paul Goldtop

its a straight-forward honest guitar - it doesnt need 'features'
2 P90 pick ups, three way selector and volume and tone for each pick up.

best sounding LP iv ever owned or played - iv owned 6 others and played at least 100!

i took it straight out of the box, plugged it in and played a 2 hour gig with it - perfect for the whole gig - just kept giving more as i got used to it!

like i said the guitar arrived 2 hours before the gig so i put it in the car and used it on the gig without backup . . .

the guitar of my dreams for some time and definately a guitar for life! money should never be an issue - if you cant afford it, dont get it!

This is a 2006 Historic 1956 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue. The top is finished in Antique Gold and covered with nitrocellulose lacquer. The back and sides are natural colored. There's a pair of P90s, two volume controls, two tone controls, and a three way pickup selector switch. The guitar is fitted with vintage "snot'n'nickel" Kluson style tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge, and a stop tailpiece. There are crown inlays on the fingerboard and the guitar has binding on the neck/fingerboard join and on the upper edge of the body. It came with a Gibson Custom case, certificate, and case goodies (cord, picks,polish cloth) Since this is an Historic guitar, I believe Gibson takes more care and pays closer attention to selecting the best wood for the body, neck, and fingerboard. Gibson also makes every attempt to duplicate the exact dimensions of an original example in order to create this reissue. I've yet to examine an original 1956 Goldtop, so I will have to take Gibson's word for it.
This is a Les Paul with P90s, my favorite type of pickups. It has all the features I expect and need, so I can't really fault it for not having any extra "bells and whistles."

My style is blues-based rock and classic rock. This guitar stays at home for the time being and I use it to practice cover songs I play with the band. Since I use a Junior and a Tele with the band, this guitar will fit right once it's ready for rehearsing and gigging. P90s have a fat squawk that sounds like a Tele that's been pumping iron. They are great for blues and old school rock, but they are also quite adept at cleaner sounds. They are not overly bright but they are clear sounding. The big issue with P90s is noise. These pickups are quite "vocal" especially at high gain and high volume settings. You have to ride the volume control when not playing because the hum is quite obvious and annoying. At normal volumes, the hum is still there, although not as much. At home, I play this guitar through a tube powered stompbox, chorus pedal and echo (Budda PhatMan, Liquid Chorus, HK Replex)into a buddy's Vibro King and my own '62 Fender Super. The range of sounds is quite broad from clean shimmery chordal passages to dirty blues licks and even more distorted riffs. P90s are not as smooth as a nice pair of humbuckers, but they have that raw, slightly unrefined sound I call the squawk, which I think is perfect for blues and old school rock.
With a bit of adjustment and attention, P90s can cover a great deal of sonic ground. This guitar is quite versatile, assuming you like the single coil take on versatility. The only drawback as mentioned is the noise factor. This guitar gets a 9 with one ding for the noise.

Here's where the wheels very nearly fall of the wagon. This guitar did not have the benefit of the newly acquired "plek" machine's attention. I've seen far too many new Gibsons with "approximate" factory setups that are "make do" until the end user has his/her tech do a proper setup. This Goldtop was no different. I've tweaked mine a bit, but it's going to receive a proper setup by my tech. The guitar's finish was fine. One other issue I have is the lack of adjustability of the pickups. They'll only go down so far and this makes it difficult to keep them a preferred distance from the strings. I don't know if the originals were like this, but this is a bit of an annoyance to me.

With reasonable care and attention, this guitar should stand up well to the rigors of regular use. It's always wise to have a backup for a live gig, but there's no reason why it couldn't function as the lone guitar, given proper setup and maintenance. Right now, I'd be leery about using it without a backup, only because I haven't had it prepared for that task. Once that's done, it will be fine. Still, it makes sense to have another guitar on hand. I'll hold off on a rating in this category

Warranty is a sore spot with me. In the U.S.A., this guitar would receive a lifetime warranty. When it crosses the border into Canada, "lifetime" means one year, thanks to the distributor. It goes so far as to remove any document that mentions "lifetime warranty." It happened to me before, and this guitar was no different. I point the finger at the distributor, but some blame must rest with Gibson for not insisting that there be a level playing field for Canadian customers as far as warranty is concerned.
I've had a warranty issue with a previous Goldtop I owned and it was not an easy task dealing with the distributor. To be fair, it was the dealer who was representing me and they were quite fair about it all. I have never contacted Gibson about warranty issues, so I have no comment about their customer service. This warranty discrepancy between Canada and the U.S. annoys me to no end, though, and therfore I cannot rate this category highly. It gets a 4 because of the dealer.

I've been playing for a few decades and I've managed to own some very nice equipment, some of which is still with me. In addition to this Goldtop, I have a '59 Reissue, a VOS Doublecut Junior reissue, a couple of Telecasters and a Strat. I quite like this guitar. I bought it because I really like P90s and it's more adjustable than the '54 style with the wraparound tailpiece. If it were stolen, I'd probably replace it eventually,primarily because I have other P90 guitars to tide me over. It's fairly light, the neck is nice and chunky, and it has that P90 vibe. It is not an inexpensive guitar to buy, nor would it be easy to quickly replace. If you like the P90 sound and you like more precise adjustment, this is the way to go. Overall, it's a really good guitar.