Gibson Les Paul Junior Special Plus

mine is a 2004 lp jr special plus. 22 frets. amber maple flat top/mahogany back. 490/498 pickups. tuneomatic. 60s slim taper neck. belly cut. comes with hard case.

i have never liked the gibson humbuckers of my lp studio lite. but these on my jr special plus sound rick and creamy. not sure if it is because of the gold covers.

i bought it used. the previous owner had it setup before i got it. so it is fantastic to play.

i think it should last me a lifetime if i handle it carefully.

gibson is always prompt in answering emails. i have asked them all kinds of questions about pots and neck profile etc but they are prompt in answering back with the the proper information. real pros.

my first electric guitar was a lp studio lite. never really took to it. then i discovered strats and warmoth conversion necks - ah the comfort! after that i pretty my ignored my lp. then i discovered that a few LPs have a 'belly cut' ie contoured back. but of that lot only two have a maple/mahogany body. this was one of them (the other is the lp custom lite which is very expensive in the used market). plus the top on the lp jr special plus is flat as well which imo makes it even more comfortable to play. so i bought this for the contoured back, flat maple top and slim taper neck. extremely happy. i bought it used from a lady in rhode island who had taken really good care of it. so i got a good deal.

2005 Les Paul Junior Special Plus- USA Red.
I know the 'Junior' classification is the result of Gibson's internal data base and that this guitar is a 'Special'. I think it causes alot of unneccessary confusion.
It has gold hardware, dot inlays and standard LP configuration. AA flat slab, 60 slim neck, and action that's hard to beat. Sweet.

I play alot of blues and rock. It sounds the way a LP should and I can make it sound anyway I need to without effects. Running through either a 25 watt all tube Peavey or a 40 watt all tube ToneKing, it develops a nice tone that can bite hard out of the hole. That's a real good feeling.

Bought it used but new and it was set up from the factory with .10 Brites. I had to lighten up on the bridge a little but other than that, I play it stock.

This guitar will out last me, no doubt. It keeps it's tuning and intones like I've never seen. After hard playing, I'm always amazed to find it dead on. The finish is getting scruffy where my arm rests most of the time but I don't see the point in trying to keep it like it just left the factory. I would certainly use it without a back-up. I think I could get by if I had to...fire and manuever...

Emailed them about the original spec sheet and price. They were friendly and prompt. $1,750 msrp in case anyone wants to know....hmmm.

Been playing for about 15 years. I think the price was a bit steep but it was a new guitar, pre-owned albeit. I'm still unsure about the value. The sound is unbeatable but judging what people are paying for the guitar used, maybe I should've bought two for the money I spent.

Same features as everyone else has listed: Single cut, gold hardware, flat top, transparent red maple (mine falls somewhere between quilted and flamed absolutely gorgeous slab of wood). I would prefer the carved top, but you don't get that for this model.

I have a variety of guitars for different sounds, this one sounds just like a les paul should. Warm, powerful and plenty of sustain. I run it through a couple different Fender amps for practice sessions and my stage rig is a Marshall JCM900. Gibson through a Marshall, the tone that sets the standard.

Don't know the factory set-up, but it was set pretty well when I got it. It is everything you would expect of a hand made guitar, quality is top notch workmanship.

Replaced the strap buttons with straplocks (a must on a LP)

A note for Gibson though, plastic input jack plates are stupid please use metal I broke the jack almost immediately and replaced it with a Gibson gold plate to match the hardware.

I would gig it without a backup other than the fact that I break strings too often.

never dealt with Gibson, I do most of my own repair work though. I've never bought a new guitar so I know nothing about warranties.

I've been playing around 10 years give or take, probably the best all around guitar I own.

I currently own a 95 Fender anniversary strat with the factory coil-tapped duncan HB. A early 80's Jap Strat, an old Telecaster and some other guitars not worth mentioning. The Gibson is my favorite by a mile.

I'll probably own a Les Paul for the rest of my life, If I sold or lost this one I'd definatly buy another. Used of course, new guitars don't appeal to me.

Well,, not a whole lot of features,, but who cares !.. This is a straight up lighter model of a Mahogany/AA Maple lid Les Paul junior with a nice Amber flame finish, a couple of crowling AlNiCo 490R and 498T Pickups,,, Come on ,,what more do you need ??? This thing looks and sounds sweeter that any of the higher end archies.. Who needs mother of pearl inlays ,, they always looked a little to glitterly for me anyway.. So I'll give it a 10 on features cause it has exactly what you need no more no less..

I plug this baby into my 1969 Fender Princeton and the AlNiCo 490R and 498T pickups just overdrive the pre section on the Princeton nicely... If you turn it up you can hear the tube rectifier compress the signal from the AlNiCos and get you a real warm/sweet natural creamy distortion with lots of bottom & bite.... Absolutly amazing sound.. Traditional Gibson Les Paul sweet tone.

Very Solid guitar,, typical USA Gibson quality,, what more can I say .. The amber flamed maple looks amazing on the flat top,, we're so used to seeing this on the arch tops.. Basically ,, it's a Les Paul Junior in an Armadi suite.

Its a USA made Gibson Les Paul,, no need to say anything else.

Never had to deal with them,, so I really dunno...

One of the best sounding Les Paul Juniors I've ever play'd ... It simply feels light on your shoulders,, but sounds just as big and has just as much sustain as the higher end Archtops. At least thats my opinion.. I'll pass this one down to my kids,, I won't sell this one as I know there were only so many made..

Picked this up on ebay. Put a set of Gibson burst bucker Pro's in it and it sounds wonderful. great guitar!

original pickups ok but reccomend the burst bucker pro's

Good solid guitar with beautiful top

playing 2yrs, would buy it again. plays like butter.

This particular model was made in 2001 in the US. it comes with a standard 22 fret neck (i guess the slim-tapered 60's neck), and the beautiful gibson headstock. It comes with a flat maple top that looks great with the flamed amber finish. 2 vol and 2 tone switches, standard lp crap but this guitar is so beautiful. i bought it used on ebay and i saved a shitload of money doing it that way. 490r and 498t pickups sound great to me, and it's a good solid/heavy guitar.

i love zeppelin, the doors, any classic rock really from the 60's and 70's, and i appreciate any type of music that someone can play on this sweet guitar. i own a couple of amps including a peavey classic 50 head ($175) with my own 4x12 cab that i built ($160), a vox bass amp that sounds pretty good even though its made for bass (free from a friend), a marshall vs232 amp which is nice but wasn't everything i expected it to be ($400) and a traynor ycv40 (beautiful clean and okay dist. channel $375). i have a lot of amps because i'm fickle and can't find a sound that i really like enough to keep just one. besides i can't find it in myself to sell any of my precious guitar supplies! this guitar is amazing in the fact that it can make a shitty amp sound good. but in the end its pretty much all up to how creative you are and how well you and the guitar can relate. this guitar can put me to sleep because it sounds so beautiful. my previous guitar was a red cort with crappy pickups. but i dealt with all that for 9 years and then finally upgraded to a very nice guitar. i can't stand these kids who play for 1 or 2 years and then buy a 2000 dollar guitar and say that it sounds great. your fucking right it sounds great because if it didn't, then i'd ask for my money back. i don't even deserve a guitar of this quality because i'm not even playing in a band right now. i've been playing for 10 years but for some reason i haven't been too ademate about committing to a band. but if i did, this guitar would be all that i could ever want. its a fucking les paul, what more could you ask for?

the action was already set up by the previous owner who took pretty good care of the guitar. the pickups are set up correctly and there is only a minor volume change when switching from rhythm to treble. it's just a beautifully set up guitar that screams "Play me goddammit!"

This guitar is all that I'll ever need if I play a show sometime, but I always keep it in the case when i'm not playing because it's not like it's a cheap guitar, this thing is beautiful and i'd like to keep it that way.

never had to deal with them, but they are a major company so i woudln't be surprised if they took a while to fix something.

I love this guitar and couldn't ask for anything more for what I'm doing. I feel spoiled having it and if anyone gets a chance to play one, you might want to think about buying one yourself. It's a fucking les paul!

Quick points:
'60 Slim taper neck (nearly the same thickness all along)
Neck pu like '57 with more upper mids - AlNiCo modern classic (490R)
Bridge is hot alnico (498T) - very smooth also AlNiCo magnet
AA (+.5) figured maple top

USA 2 vol, 2 tone, single cutout mahagony body and set neck, flamed maple top (mine is AAa <- add small a ;) more figured than website) on body with Amber transparent color and gold hardware, 2 humbucking pickups. Weights about 3.5 kilograms and is about 1/4 inch thinner than standard model and also has a flat top not carved into a rounded hump like the standard LP. Also no neck binding, and has dots for fret marking.

This says it all.

Guitar
http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/lespaul/lpjplus.html

Pickups
http://www.gibsonstrings.com/pickups/modern.shtml

I find this guitar to bloom really well, to respond exceptionally well to picking dynamics, to be VERY warm and rich sounding. It can be a very unwieldy guitar in terms of to get the most out of this one a lot of control is needed however the intimacy between you and the sound is the rich reward. For example it has such resonance and strong character that you can overcook a cordal ryhthm and loose definition. On the otherhand drop the extended intervals and go in a bit harder with a P5 and it's very PHAT!!!

Blues with some drive - very tasty.

Neck alone is very pure, singularly rounded very smooth. Both pickups, well better turn all the knobs for bloody ages until you get it to sound right, but when it does man it's pretty good. Slight adjustments effect the sounds you can get with this guitar much more than haveing a single volume and tone control as is the case when useing either pickup alone.

Bridge alone can be more obviously bitey but still very much on the warm side. It's warmer on the bridge at 10/10 than a strat would be on it's neck with the tone and volume rolled back to 5/5 (just an estimate)

Clean Jazz sound, hmmm should be good considering what Les Paul made these things for however clean is a highly subjective area. Lets say it can be a little bit reminiscent of an ES335 and the resonance of the wood shines through with an almost accoustic quality.

Clean cords can get accoustic sounding with a certain delicacy of picking and a tiny bit of breakup. This surprised me a lot. It has a lot of clarity and just uncluttered body to the sound.

I like that it has NO binding, and NO trapizoidal fret markers. I also like that it has a flat top and NO cherry sunburst. The flat top means the grain continues unlike say a DC Standard Plus whereby the AAA figured top breaks through the grain levels with that mounded hump in the middle. Speaking of no hump the pickup covers sit lower to the body from your arm on bodies edge to pickup region.

Stupid carved hump, only their because of the archtop era of it's origins. I like this LP a hell of lot more than other ones for it's straight forward parts and then the flamed top with transparent amber to perfectly set this off with the gold hardware.

Very pretty, very solid and eligant guitar.

Playing since 1985, here and there. I have owned Ibanez sound gear bass, washburn 5 string bass, Fender Bassman 100 all valve, Fender BXR400 amp, Hartke 350watt, EV, Mesa/Boogie bins, Fender Twin Guitar Amp, EPiphone SHeraton II, Epiphone LP standard birdseye, Fender USA standard strat, Samick Valley Arts Strat, Ibanez AX30, Marshall valvestate 8080.

Lost?? um how pathetic would that be. I'd be looking for it till I remembered where I left it of course!!

Stollen?? I have been thinking about insuring this one seperately from house and contents.

If I found the culprit I would ask them Jules from Pulp Fiction style if they too had been called to by this guitar. If they looked puzzled I would say wrong answer muther fucker and spray their brains all over the far wall. I would then brush the blood of my axe and leave the scene and go get a cheeseburger.

2002 les paul junior special plus, amber finish "flamed maple", gorgeous, gold hardware. 2 std humbuckers. cutaway, flat top

I play it w/ a Marshall JCM900 100w 1/2stack. Quite simply I love it. My old guitar was an SG. Loved that, but was always envying my bandmate's les paul warmth/fatness. This guitar is the perfect compromise for me. On treble, I can get the super bity aggressive SG like sound. With no effects, just lead channel. Middle position, I get a perfect classic gibson/marshall sound that is well suited for the style of punk I play. Rhythm, clean, is just so nice and warm.

Ditto the last reviewer- I had the guy immediately put on DR Pure Blues 11s. Sticky neck is solved w/ lemon oil and gibson polish.

Everything fine. However, l8ly the intonations are off- suspect b/c I've switched to a new band that plays in dropped tuning, and the change in weather. Other than that it's played and held up great.

Used it for 4 or 5 shows so far, no probs whatsoever.

I put on strap lock pegs.

Starting to notice some pick scratches in the finish. But considering it's been used 2-3x/week for 6 months now, not surprising. Polish takes care of it.

I ALWAYS have the backup (SG), for broken string episodes.

warranty is solid. had strings, intonations, etc. done for free.
but that may have more to do w/ my guitar store.

been playing about 11 years. i own a 1971 SG, Marshall JCM900, Rocktron 50w, Boss TU-9 and Metal Zone pedals, other random stuff

If it were heisted i would definitely consider another one.

only thing i don't like is the G string goes outta tune constantly? But that may just be my playing.

After reading the Canadian's post, I just had to add my two cents. I have a 2002 Les Paul Junior Special Plus. 22 Frets, Solid Mahongany, Rosewood fretboard (1960 slim taper neck) and a flat, figured maple AA top. Mine is a fantastic Translucent Amber. It has sort of a "quilted" look that I just love. I didn't think the Translucent Red was that spectacular. You be the judge.


2 tone/2 volume with standard 490R/498T Humbucking pickups. 3-way toggle selector switch. Dot inlays. Tune-a-matic with stop bar. 24 3/4 scale. Gold hardware. Standard Gibson Deluxe tuners. The guitar came with a beautiful hard shell case with the funky pink cloth fabric.

Sounds fantastic. I love the sound. Snappy with a warm, full and thick tone. Teriffic classic Les Paul tone. I own an older Les Paul DC Studio that has a carved maple top, but its body is much thinner and it's a little lighter than the LP Junior Plus. The DC Studio sounds comparatively "thinner". It's not as rich and full as the Junior Plus, but I prefer it because of the double cutaway and its neck (1959 slim taper). I can coax traditional Les Paul tone from it, but I can't get that full, thick sound like I can with the Junior Plus. What can I say, I like both for different reasons. How's that?

I bought the guitar from Mars Music and out-of-the-box it was decent. Of course, all Gibsons come with .09s and I promptly told my salesman that I wanted him to put a new set of .10 Blue Steels. I inspect all guitars that I buy with a fine-tooth comb and I noticed that the 3-way toggle switch was a little loose. I had the tech adjust and tighten it. I also asked him to pay attention to the nut and after performing the mods, the guitar was mint. I played the guitar through a Fender "The Twin" and I was sold almost immediately. I played it for about 20 minutes and I knew it was coming home with me.


This guitar had been "handled" a few times in the store. There is quite a noticable nick/indentation on the back (someone obviously wasn't careful standing it up). Looking really carefully, there is a tiny nick on the top, but its right on the edge and its hard to see. There are some small finsih "smears" but they are very hard to detect. The finish flaws are due to people not being careful handling it. I haggled with the salesman on these issues and I got him to chop off $150 off the retail price of $1,049.99. I don't care about small imperfections. All my other guitars I bought used and they all had a few dents, dings, smears, smudges, or scars, of some kind. I take care of all my guitars, but the inevitable, proverbial "ding" is unavoidable.

I don't play out much anymore (damn, I'm getting old), but this guitar should stand up to the rigors of the road and heavy gigging. You just need to pay a little attention to details, keep it clean, put new strings on it and keep it in its case at all times. Be a sport and pay attention to it while you're doing your thing on stage or practicing. Don't drop it - unless you want to risk snapping off the neck or cracking it. Common freakin' sense man!

I have absolutely no idea here. I've bought all my other guitars used. This is my first new guitar. I was an idiot and didn't send in the warranty card, etc. Please ... be smart ... and send this card in as soon as you get the sucker home. If only I wasn't so lazy!

I've been playing over 10 years. My first electric guitar was a '92 Gibson SG Special, and I paid $250 for it. I absolutely adored it, but after 6 years of ownership, I needed a new guitar (don't you ever miss that new car smell?) I traded it in for an Epiphone Dot ES-335. They gave me $250 in trade in - you gotta love that! Shortly after purchasing the Epi, I got an '82 Fender American Standard Statocaster (maple neck). I put Texas Special pickups in it, and I've been happy ever since. After about a year or so, I realized I didn't really care for the arch-top Epi and got a Les Paul DC Studio (which I will never sell!). I also have a Martin DM Dreadnaught Acoustic and a Martin Backpacker (as a gift). I just recently bought the Les Paul Junior Special (for my 30th birthday) and I just adore it! For amps, I have a '94 Peavey Classic 30 which is a terrific amplifier. I've never changed the tubes in over 8 years and it still sounds great. I just special ordered a Mesa Boogie F-30 amplifier and as soon as I take delivery of it, I'll get new tubes and maybe a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker for the Classic 30. I've heard in other posts that these mods will significantly improve the sound of the amp! I have (3) Zoom pedals, an Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer, an Ibanez Delay/Echo pedal, a SansAmp GT-2 and a Morley Wah.


I chose this guitar because I had always wanted a "traditional" Les Paul, but since they are single cutaway, extremely heavy and sometimes uncomfortable to play, I stayed away from them. After seeing this new model on the Gibson web site, I knew I had to check it out. It's lighter than your average Les Paul, has the same pickups, has a gorgeous finish that rivals Les Pauls that cost over $2000. Sure, you don't get a neck binding or trapezoid inlays, but I've never had a Gibson with these elite features anyway. My only concern was to get a Les Paul that was fairly light that had a stellar, knock-out maple top. This guitar is absolutely stunning (if you can live without the binding and trapezoid inlays, of course). I can't justify spending an extra $600 on a Les Paul Classic that has an inferior finish. Sure it was a true "carved maple top", but it has an ordinary, bland finish (blah, blah, blah). I want stunning good looks and terrific playability. This Les Paul has it nailed! Good luck shopping!

Let's tell it as I see it, which means that this review is purely subjective. Secondly, just beccause I say what 'I think', it's nothing more than an opinion, in other words sometimes I don't know what I'm talking about but I talk anyway.

After playing a Lace Sensor Telecaster (1992 Tele Plus) for the last ten years I decided that I wanted a Gibson with humbuckers for plain old variety. Being a hobbyist (no musical revenue any longer) and wanting to stay married (no explanation required although my wife is very supportive in these matters), I decided to try a budget L/P Junior Lite (double cutaway, slab top and twin P-100s) for a week. I was impressed with the workmanship for an entry-level model but the P-100s did nothing for me (my apologies to P-100 lovers but I found the pickups to be mousy - remember, this is pure subjectivity).

Next and finally to review what I purchased four months ago, I tried (again for a week - God love my music shop Manager)a 22 medium jumbo fret, mahogany body, single cutaway Les Paul Junior Special Plus with Gibson hardshell case. Does it have gold plate hardware? Yes but I like gold plate hardware because I like what I like instead of what everyone says I should like. Does it have a carved top like real Les Pauls? Nope, it's a slab-top. Does it have a 'AA' amber flame maple cap? Yes, but again I like flame tops. Sorry traditionalists but I bought it for me to play and enjoy, not for others to admire. Most importantly it has mainstream 490/498 humbuckers which do me well thank you. Am I happy with this purchase? Oh yes, quite so. Will you like one? How the hell do I know - go and try one. If you don't like it you can mumble under your breath but I'm too old to recommend emotional remedies to strangers.

My style is a blend of jazz (I studied with a jazz guitarist for three years in the 1960s)and blues with all of the everyday influences. My earliest influence was rockabilly having grown-up in the 1950s. My style is mine i.e. I try to copy or sound like nobody - I just have fun. Amplification is 1995 Fender Custom Vibrolux and my poor man's pedal system is a Digitech RP5 which is used mainly for equalization and delay. The guitar is a typical three-sound Les Paul with minor tonal variations that everyone knows about already. I am able to extract fairly warm output from the neck pickup and ample bark from the bridge pickup. Both pickups are fairly high output especially when compared to the aforementioned P-100s. I really have no dislikes with this piece worthly of mention although I am still having difficulty finding a place to rest my hand as this guitar has no pickguard to hide the snappy finish. The bottom line is that I was looking for an inexpensive jazz (a stretch)instrument to compliment the Telecaster and I think that I found it. I still can't believe how little I paid for how much I got.

I got to bring this guitar home right out of the box i.e. no indifferent Saturday afternoon 'nothing-else-to-do'dabblers got to it first. The action was a little high, the bridge pickup was a little high and I was a little high when I first saw the guitar. The neck is barebones with dot markers (it wouldn't surprise me if they're plastic), no binding and the tuners look like traditional 'green-keys'. I had to return the guitar to the shop to have the bridge pickup lowered (6th string was slapping the pickup at the 5th fret) and the jack was cutting out occasionally when the cable was moved (I often sit on the floor in front of the amp when I play so the cable was getting squeezed between the carpet and the guitar). My trusty dealer had the instrument completely setup at no cost and there's nothing more to say...yet. Fit and finish is remarkable all things considered with the exception of small imperfections (this is a mass produced guitar my friends) where the neck meets the body but you have to closely examine the guitar to see the 'flaws'.

Talk about subjectivity...only time will tell if this thing will hold together. It sure looks like it will but the rigours of stage use, especially in the hands of a young rocker is the true test. In my case the guitar probably won't see a stage (my live days are over)and I care for my equipment like we had to work to pay for the stuff with cash outlays approved by my wife. I'm sure the gold plate will wear (I've been through that before) but I have my trusty cloth nearby to routinely wipe sweat away from the neck and hardware. If I were 'gigging' I would use both of my guitars. As my brother-in-law (another guitarist) said to me some time ago: "Stop analyzing and just have fun with the damned thing".

Short of e-mailing Gibson about the 'sticky' neck that others have eluded to, I have had no real contact with Gibson perse. The dealer that I buy through is so good that I don't think about the manufacturer, instead I let the dealer interact with Gibson as needed.

It's all been said. I've been playing since 1959 but that doesn't make me a good guitarist, just one having fun. I've had a hell of a lot of gear over the years but so what...the stuff is gone because it didn't have lasting power like 30-year marriages. The current instruments are just plain thrilling me but maybe my attitude has changed. Just have fun out there kids!