Gibson Les Paul DC Classic

Mine is a 2002 model.

The truly great things about this guitar are the following: 24 frets (hallelujah - you can reach the high notes on a Les Paul!!); superb looks (AAA flame maple top and the usual high standard of finish on a Gibson); one volume and one tone (so much simpler than the silly four-knob "normal" Les Pauls) and the chambered body (making it lighter than other Les Pauls and giving it THE MOST AWESOME sound when you stick it through a moderately-cranked hand wired 50th anniversay Vox AC30 - 1957 channel).

Chambered body and a good amp give this guitar a unique sound quality.

Perfectly made and set up. Beautiful instrument.

It's a 2002 model that has been well looked after. I intend to do the same.

It will probably get better with age as the wood dries a little.

Never asked for support

This is a rare beast. There really aren't so many around - especially the 24 fret, two-knob variety.

This guitar has class and it has mojo.

Try one, buy one - NOW!

2003 Gibson Les Paul DC Classic Goldtop, 24 Frets, Chambered Mahogany Body, Carved Maple Top, 1 Volume, 1 Tone Control, Dual Alnico Magnet Humbucker Pickups (GIBSON 490R and 498T), 1960-Style Slim-tapered Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, Tune-o-matic Bridge with Stopbar, Aged Trapezoid Inlays, 24.75" Scale. Light-weight and sexy! (The chicks REALLY dig it too!!!). Discontinued in 2005.... Better get one if you are lucky enough to find one.

From Jazz to Metal, this guitar has it all. Great tone, hardcore bottom end crunch and chop, warm, brilliant masterful acoustic tone. Nice clean angelic to demonic rip-you-lungs-out low-end crunch and chop metal goodness. The chambered body makes this baby sing both clean and distorted, and oh....the sustain...Lord have mercy! These babies are few and far between, get one now!

Factory set-up was impeccable, no buzz, great action. Slight adjustment required to fit my playing style. Pickup heights were bang-on, the cream binding was perfect, not a blem or scratch on this Goldtop. The 1960-Style Slim-tapered Mahogany Neck surprised me the most! It is soooo buttery smooth and better than I expected. I used to favor the 50's style neck, but after playing the 60's style neck, I'm a changed man. The most pristine axe I've ever seen and played!

On stage this is my primary guitar, my back-up guitar is a 1991 (Pre-CNC!!!) PRS Custom 24. My PRS feels lonely and un-loved because the Goldtop DC is too damn durable that I barely get to use it (the PRS I mean). Everyone likes to complain about the Gibson Deluxe tuners, but I find them pretty darn awesome and they've never let me down. Although chambered, this is one tank of a guitar. I bring it to battle with me all the time.

I never had to deal with them. This category therefore, gets no rating.

I can go on about this guitar and how awesome it is for eons and still not run out of good things to say about it. I've been playing for over 16 years and have owned many high-end and expensive, vintage and modern Gibsons, Fenders, PRS's yadda-yadda-yadda, and I feel that this one truly means the most to me. Almost like an appendage if you will. If it were stolen or lost I would get another one. If I don't find one, I'll get Gibson to make me one and pay through the teeth if need be. I've paid thousands of dollars for guitars; even tens-of-thousands, but if I only new that I could obtain the ultimate supreme quality of this goltop for only $2075 before hand, I would have bought five of them.

Les Paul Classic DC w/P90s Nashville Tennessee USA
2000 3/4
If you pull out the neck-side P90, you find long tenon and minimum routing.

warm and brite tone.
High quality curved maple brings good sustain.
The air chamber gives an acoustic tone.

the neck binding is very smooth.
your fingers get freedom of 22 frets.

good balance and light-weight.stability.

Over the Les Paul Standard Goldtop of Custom Art/Historic Division.

The features have been discussed before: humbuckers, chambered mahogany body with carved maple top, cream binding, gold top, slim taper 60's neck with medium sized frets, and greenish inlays...IT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!! And there's one feature that I really appreciate: it's the master volume control, which can be easily reached with the pinky without moving the right hand out of playing position. No other Gibson guitar offers you that (as far as I know).

This guitar offers a very loud, balanced, 3-dimensional sound with clear treble and twangy (!) bass response when played dry, which may be due to the chambering. That`s what attracted me to the DC - aside from the looks. The amplified tone was kinda disappointing because the pups speak a different language: the 490R and 498T humbuckers emphasize the midrange and don't seem to 'hear' the livelyness of this fine axe. So I bought it and immediately replaced the pickups for a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge position. Added coil-splitting option made the DC a versatile and fantastic sounding guitar which suites my playing style - Robben Ford style blues fused with Steve Morse style rock - perfectly. One fellow guitarist stated it sounds like a cross between a Les Paul, an SG and a Tele, which I confirm. Without the pickup change the rating would be 7, but Seymour is a great guy..

The guitar was set up perfectly with 10-46 strings. No flaws.

Solid construction, have been playing several gigs without a backup guitar, no problems so far.

I've not dealt with the company so far

I have been playing for nearly 30 years now. Amp-wise I found my holy grail of sound in a Fender Tone Master. Currently my other guitars are a Fender Custom Shop Nocaster and a custom-made Strat with soapbars, but my main guitar is the DC. If it got stolen or lost I would definitely buy it again.

2002 Model Goldtop
Soapbar P90 Pickups - the reason I bought it!!!!!
Single Tone and Volume Controls
Standard Gibson Hardcase
24 frets

I'm a huge Who fan, the sound I've been hunting for years is the Pete Townsend tone from Woodstock ro the "Live at Leeds" recording. Pete was using a P90 loaded SG, which I have tried to get hold of for years without any joy, so when I saw this on ebay, I had to have it! The pickups are superb. I play it through a Marshall TSL100 and they growl amazingly - they are noisy, but you can forgive them that as they sound so good. Great blues tone from the neck pickup and loads of bite from the bridge. React well to the tone control too.

Bought this one second hand, but it came setup to perfection. Intonation was spot on and the action was perfect for me. Paint job is great except for some bubles where the back of the neck meets the body - this is my third Les Paul plus I have an SG and they have all had dodgy paint at the joint - must be a gibson thing, my Ric 330 doesn't have this problem.

It's a Les Paul - built like a tank, will last forever as long as you don't drop it on the headstock. But let's face it, anyone stupid enough to drop any guitar on it's headstock deserves to have the thing break.
Will soon be fitting straplocks to it though - why aren't these standard on Gibsons like they are on Rics and new USA Fenders.

Second hand, so no warranty.
My first Les Paul had a problem with the binding coming away from the body and the UK importer exchanged it straight away.
Also, when I emailed Gibson with a query on my LP Custom, they responded within 4 hours.
Cannot fault this.

Been playing for about 15 years. Own a Les Paul Custom, SG Standard, USA Strat, Ric 330 and an Ibanez EDR470 (piece of crap).My amps are an Engl Screamer 50W Combo and a Marshall TSL100 + 1960 Cab. I play classic rock (hence the valve amps - tubes for Americans) this guitar fits superbly into my collection. It is a dream to play and I have played it for at least an hour a day since I bought it. It never goes out of tune, not a buzz anywhere and a really fast neck. Apart from a decent accoustic, my collection is now full - I am content at last!

Gibson Les Paul Classic Double Cut GOLDTOP!!!!!

The Double Cut has the common features of most Gibson guitars, 490R and 498T humbuckers, AGED pearl trapezoid inlays to match the glorious gold, Gibson classic tuners, rosewood fingerboard and the body and neck is mahogany with a carved maple top.....

This guitar is a dream come true and has blown me away just as I had expected it to...

I own a Gibson SG standard (cherry) and a Gibson Les Paul Standard (Desertburst) and both these brilliant guitars possess such distinctively unique/amazing tones from one another when plugged into my Marshall (JCM2000 DSL100 soon to be fullstack)....

I just pot down enough cash today to take home this Les Paul Classic and I'm already in love with it as much as my other two Gibsons.

The greatest part about this guitar is that it does a great job of combining the crispy/bright tone from my SG and the chunky sound I get from the Les Paul Standard.

This guitar is perfect for me... I play many styles of music, but mainly different branches of straight up fuckin ROCK AND ROLL...

The sounds I get from this guitar make me happy...

I couldnt ask for anything more in a guitar..... Its got the amazing tone of an SG and Les Paul combined, but without all the weight that comes with the Les Pauls (except the cheap studios)

This guitar came setup perfectly for my style, the action wasnt too high and the neck has such a great feel I could run up and down it all day, its as smooth as silk....

The famous GOLDTOP finish has been something that I have dreamed of making part of my rig for years... DO NOT BE FOOLED!!! YOU CANNOT TRULY APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THIS GUITARS GOLD FINISH IN PICTURES ON THE INTERNET!!!

This guitar came brand new from the Gibson factory with a new Black Gibson USA hardshell case which looks AMAZING by the way... its got a snakeskin feel on the outside I love it....

Much like every other guitar I own, this Gibson will be treated like a precious baby for the rest of MY life along with the rest of my axes... These babies never leave my sight at shows or anywhere else for that matter...

I can depend on this guitar just as much as Ive depended on Gibson in the past... THEIR MADE TO BE PLAYED FOR LIFE!!!

Ive never personally tried to deal with Gibson and I dont think Ill ever need to.....so thats that....

Ive been playing for about 8 years now and I have to say that this guitar is one of the best purchases I've ever made..

This is the best looking/sounding guitar that I have ever bought. The double cut is perfect for my style, and the sound is just spectacular. I'd recommend this guitar to anyone and personally love the double cut les paul classic and all its features...... Its damn worth 3 weeks work thats for damn sure...

Rock on...
God knows I will...

I just bought this guitar a month ago so I'm guessing its a 2004 model year. It has a gold top, old style "green" tuning keys and aged trapezoid inlays, two alnico humbuckers and 1 volume and 1 tone knob. Neck binding covers the frets, which I would say are medium jumbos, a little thinner but as tall as the frets on my Fender Strat Plus. Overall fatures are perfrect. I had been looking at buying the DC Standard but was'nt real crazy about the flame top look. I just happened to have seen this guitar hanging on the wall in my local music store, I didnt even know they were making them at the time, and it became an instant infatuation. Maybe the honeymoon has worn off some, so I can give a subjective review, NOT! I absolutely love this guitar and cant say enough good things about it.

I play blues, jazz, rock, funk and this guitar will work well for all but I really like it best for the jazz style using the the neck pick up. It offers a rich, warm, round tone with excellent sustain. I thinking the chambered body gives it some additional acoustic tone that you wont get out of a regular Les Paul which for me makes it even better for my playing style.

The action was horrible when I bought it. The neck had quite a bit of relief and I dont like any so I tightened up the truss rod (they provide you with a really cool tool to adjust the neck) and lowered the bridge some. So the neck is now flat and plays with no buzz anywhere. I didnt think it was possible, but I actually think the action is a little too low now, even though there are no buzzes anywhere on the neck. I plan on raising the bridge back to where it was. Besides the bowed neck from the factory which was easily corected (maybe they did this intentionally to ship?), everything else is flawless.

Not sure yet about the relaibility or durability, but I assume it rock solid. I can tell you that I have'nt had to re-tune much since the store put new strings on it the day I bought it (a month ago).

I've been playing seriously (playing out) for about 3 years but have played almost daily (noodling around) for 20 years using a Strat for most of that time. While this guitar is obviously not a replacement for my start, I hope to never be without this guitar again since it has already become an integral part of my playing. I cant imaging likeing any other Les Pauls better and compared to the price of other les pauls, I would say this is a tremendous bang for the buck.

It's a double cutaway version of the Les Paul, with a chambered mahogany body and 1960-style neck. It has two Gibson humbuckers, three-way selector, 1 volume. 1 tone. Bridge is a Tune-o-Matic. The finish is breathtaking - bullion gold. The guitar came with a Gibson hard case. The only minor quibble is that an excess of oil seems to have been used on the neck, so at the moment playing it leaves me with dirty fingertips! Nothing that a vigorous wipe with a cloth can't sort out.

The sound of this guitar is gorgeous. Rich, well-defined bass end, sweet midrange, singing treble. Everything you'd hope it would be basically. I only got mine last night and almost had to be forcibly parted from it at the end of the evening as my flatmate wanted to sleep! I have a Fender HotRod Deluxe at home and I was playing the DC through that. OK - a pretty good amp but not the ideal choice for a guitar of this standard....however it's currently my practice amp until I sell it. Live and in the studio, I'll be using this guitar with a '59 Bassman reissue. I should really wait until I play it through the Bassman, but even through the HotRod, it was impossible to get a bad sound out of the DC. I use double dropped D tuning and my style is very chordal. The DC is great for that - it conveys complex voicings with ease. However, the fastness of the neck - by far, the most comfortable neck I have EVER played - also had me doing single string work that I would normally not try to do.

A couple of minor niggles - one or two points on the neck where there is a little buzz but no more than you'd expect. The action is set low and I might need to raise it a little as I tune down.

The neck, as I've said, is amazing. 1960 was a very good year! It's so comfortable to play and after 15 minutes, the guitar felt like it had been mine for about 10 years.

It's beautifully finished and elegantly designed. It seems built to last and I will definitely be gigging with it!

Haven't had cause to call them yet.

I've been playing electric guitar for 17 years and owning this guitar is something of a dream come true. I'm a left-hander who plays stock righthanded instruments and so therefore have a hard time finding guitars to suit me. I'd tried a Godin LG with P90s (pretty good but not quite there), a Telecaster Custom (disappointing and unwieldy), an American Series Strat (thin and under-powered) and an ESP Hybrid (too harsh). A normal Les Paul would be impractical - just try and picture it! - but this guitar fits me like a glove. It also looks amazing, far better than any of the PRS guitars, which I think are gaudy and characterless. Who wants a guitar that looks like it's got about seven coats of lacquer on with a few ripples on the top? Not me.

The one thing I've learnt from trying all these instruments is that you really do have to love the guitar you buy. It has to compel you to hand the money over. The DC certainly did that for me. It exudes class and has attracted comment from everyone who's seen it so far. I'm really looking forward to making music with it - the biggest compliment I can pay it is to say that it's going take me into new directions as a player. And isn't that what we're all going for...?

2003 Les Paul Classic Double Cut w/two P-90's. 24 medium-jumbo frets on a rosewood fretboard 60's profile (thin front-to-back)neck, 25 3/4" scale length, mahogany neck & body, carved maple top, neck binding, gold top (only color in this model), single tone and volume controls, 3-way pickup selector switch mounted by tone/volume controls (as opposed to the upper bout like traditional LP's...this one's 'a la' Hamer), "tone chambered" (internal cutouts to lighten it), tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece, "vintage" (14:1) tuning machines w/'aged' plastic keys (have a greenish cast), 'aged' trapezoid pearloid fretboard inlays, 'aged' neck & body front binding (no back binding due to body contouring)& pickup selector switch knob. I'd prefer separate volume/tone controls, but this is simple enough...

I play blues, so I love the P-90's. It has a limitation, though: due to the 24 fret neck, the pickup spacing is narrowed from moving the neck pickup rearward so the routing for the pickup clears the neck joint. You don't get the separation of sounds from them that you can get from a traditional LP. It only affects the neck pickup. Overall, though, it sounds great to my ear, but it doesn't sound quite as 'nasal' as a traditional LP when playing 'neck pickup only' up around the 12th fret. My LP Special Faded DC w/P-90's has a 22 fret neck, and the pickups are traditionally spaced, so I have a fair basis for comparison. Overall, though, I would say it has great tone, but I could have lived with a 22 fret neck and traditional pickup spacing.

It was set up a bit high for me out of the box, so I had a little work to do there. No points off for that, though...everybody plays a little differently, and one setup won't work for all people. There is some dust in the finish on either side of the neck joint on the front of the guitar, but you have to look closely and catch the light just right to see it. The dust is confined to that area, though. The rest of the finish is flawless. Here's a gripe, though: the pickup tops aren't parallel with the strings (or each other), lengthwise (not E to E string, but in the tailpiect-to-nut direction). The neck pickup is badly cocked toward the bridge. This is a glaring error in the routing, especially if Gibson were trying to stay away from the neck joint with the neck pickup routing (see above comments about pickup spacing and tone, which this condition aggravates). From what I've seen and heard, the DC Classic P-90's are all like this. I think Gibson followed the body cap contour rather than considering the plane of the strings when routing the pickup hole. Given that the bridge pickup is almost parallel with the strings, I have to ask - what were they thinking !?! They have to sight on that plane when setting the action...how did they miss the routing jig setup by that much ? At the end of the day, though, I can't say it affects the tone, as the neck pickup must be set low in the body anyway, or it overpowers the bridge pickup. It's visually distressing, though, to see that in an instrument that costs what this does.

It'll take live playing, all right. In fact, it's much lighter and therefore more comfortable to play than a traditional LP. The hardware is basically the same on all American Gibsons. The tuning machines are a bit too vintage - sloppy and hard to keep in tune. Back in the day, folks regularly replaced the factory Gibsons with Grovers. I'll most likely use a TP-6, though, but it's something I shouldn't have to do...even cheap guitars have nice Gotohs these days. I do like the 'aged' vibe of the tuning keys, but Gibson could have done that with better machines, especially considering that this "Classic" model never existed in the 60's. I replace the strap buttons with Schaller straplocks on all my guitars, so that's not an issue for me. I opened up the rear access panel for the switch and tone/volume pots, and everything is well soldered/put together. I'd gig it without a backup, but I always have 2 or 3 guitars on hand for the different things they do, usually an ES-335 and a Custom Telecaster. Then there's that little complaint about the finish flaking off behind the bridge pickup...small and hard to see now, but it's starting. The fretboard edges could have been better rolled, too.

Never had to deal with Gibson on repairs, but getting pre-purchase information from them is inconsistent...results seems to depend more on who you talk to/e-mail than a company culture of customer service. Some have been super great, some seem to ignore me. Product registration should be available on line, too. FENDER DOES IT - Gibson ought to, especially considering their website is much better done than Fender's, on the whole.

I've had this guitar about a year now, and it's the one I play the most often. It feels comfortable to me (light, well balanced, fairly comfortable neck), and the P-90's sound great, overall. If it had dual tone/volume controls and the pickup switch mounted on the upper bout I'd be happier. If the pickups were parallel with the string plane, I'd be happier yet. I'd definitely replace it if it were lost/stolen. Been playing on and off for 34 years, have several Gibson and Fender guitars and a couple of others, and have beenthrough a bunch over the years. I play through a Carr Rambler, a modded Bassman, and a Mesa Subway Rocket these days, using whatever ANALOG effects I think the song needs, and almost always use a compressor. This guitar, more than any other I have, sounds nice with every amp I play through.

New model for 2003,24 fret, gold top,the neck is fairly wide but not very fat, thinner and wider than my es-135, it seems fast and comfortable, binding on neck and body, two p-90s, one volume and one tone control, double cutaway, arched top, contoured body. The body has been hollowed out to remove some weight. I'd say it weighs about the same as my tele. I like the features of this guitar. The simple controls work well with lots of variation, I don't miss the extra knobs. A very comfortable guitar to play, not heavy and seems balanced hanging from the strap. I'm not super keen on the double cut or the twenty four frets, seems like it moves the neck pickup closer to the bridge and the upper fret access is only marginally better than the traditional LP shape, but I think the loss of weight and the controls on this guitar more than make up for these issues. Oh, and I'm really not into the gold top, too flashy for me. I wish it came in ebony, but I wanted the p-90s and the sound is much more important to me than the looks.

I think this guitar sounds fantastic. I play Blues and funky R&B. I either use a fender blues jr or a twin reverb. The guitar sounds great through both amps. I like the way it sounds through a fulltone '69 pedal. What can I say this guitar has the sound I was looking for, I wanted something different from the strat, tele, sound but I didn't want to go to the humbucker camp. I think if you like the sound of p-90's it would be hard not to love the sound of this guitar. I've played a strat for the last ten years, but this lp is now my number one guitar. It has a very full sound, great sustain, but it still cuts like a single coil guitar and when you turn it up it dishes the dirt in a way that my strat could only do with the help from a pedal.

Well it's a gibson, what can I say, are the lacquer fumes getting to those guys in nashville? Set up, what set up? I bought this on line sight unseen and I know what a risk I was taking. I own three other gibson guitars. Two I bought from dealers one I bought on line. The one I got on line has been nothing but a problem child. Anyway, I've always said that if gibson put this guitar out with p-90s I'd buy it. Haven't seen it in any stores and probably won't. So I ordered one. Well, I lucked out I got a keeper. No flaws in the finish, some of the binding work seems a little sloppy, fret work was excellent straight neck. The guitar was not set up properly and check this out there was no strap button in the lower bout. The hole was drilled but the button was not installed. I just think gibson's quality control sucks most of the time it's little things that are easily fixed or lived with, but come on these aren't cheap guitars! what does it take to look the thing over before it leaves the shop.

I think over all gibson makes very good guitars that will stand the test of time. Their strength is in their design and over all craftsmanship which is based on traditional building techniques which create vey soul full instruments. The tone and feel are unsurpassed in my opinion. It's a shame they can't go the extra yard on quality control. Getting a set up, a strap button, and better looking binding, would have made the experience of spending $1400 on this guitar a little more enjoyable, but in the end it's still a great guitar and I guess that is why they keep getting my money.

I've been playing guitar for 27 years. I've played professionally for the last thirteen years. Other guitars I own: am st. Strat, muddy waters tele, gibson es-135, j-185, blues hawk, national vintage steel, larivee parlor, horabe classical. I really like this guitar, it has become my main guitar for gigs. I've always been a strat player and I still love the sound, but I'm trying to find my own voice on the instrument and I wanted something that was a liitle more unique. I see this guitar as having many of the good features of a les paul while shedding some of the liabilities, for me this would be the weight and the humbuckers. If you are a fan of the P-90 pickup you owe it to yourself to try one of these out!