Gibson Les Paul Gothic

Basically a Les Paul Studio with different cosmetics - flat black finish, no fret markers except fo a 12th fret Moon and Star inlay.
Cam with a Gibson Hardcase. USA made, two pick-ups, 3-way switch, tune-o-matic bridge, etc...you know all this already.
Standard features with a cosmetic tweak. (That's the extra point.)

I play mostly "ethereal pop" with some "Goth Rock" thrown in (ala Sisters of Mercy) through a Laney VC210 amplifier.
The sound is pretty darn good. Although (thanks to the thinner body I guess) it has more cutting power than a Standard Les Paul but can sound thin at times. For what I'm using it for that's ok. A true Les Paul purist probably wouldn't be satisfied though.

This guitar needed a bit of tweaking. Sharp fret ends and the neck bowed after a few months settling in. I expect better considering the cost. Since then (I've had this 7 months) no complaints. The place I purchased the guitar from set it up for me upon request so all that is fixed. Pretty shoddy QC from Gibson with the frets though.
Also, the fretboard doesn't quite fit snug with the rest of the neck. This doesn't affect playability but is annoying cosmetically at this price.
After the tweaking this guitar is a dream to play though.

I have only had this for 7 months and haven't gigged with it live yet. (My gigging days may well be behind me.) That being said it's pretty solid and I would gig without a backup if forced to. (I don't believe in not having a backup.) So far the finish and hardware has lasted. 7 months isn't a fair amount of time to judge though.

Supposedly a lifetime warranty - but I've heard bad things about Gibson. I can't speak from personal experience other than some minor e-mail exchanges which were promptly answered.

I've been playing on and off for 10 years. The only other electric I currently have is a Rickenbacker 370 which the LP Gothic can't compare to.
That being said this LP Gothic is a great guitar. I'm sure you could do as well for less but I'm happy with her.
If it was stolen I'd be upset and would get another one if the quality was better on the one I found. (The only other LP Gothics I've personally seen/played haven't been as well constructed as mine.)
I love this guitar as the idiosyncratic beast it is.
It plays well and sounds great.

This is a brand new 2001 USA Les Paul Studio Gothic. It features 22 awesome frets on a beautiful smooth ebony fretboard (with wicked cool moon and star inlay). It's a mahagony body with a carved maple top with a sexy looking black satin finish. Its heavy, but it SOUNDS heavy too!

The pickups are passive Gibson 490 and 500 pickups, which kick ass, and im used to Seymour Duncans, DiMarzios and sometimes EMGs. It has a stop tailpiece and it stays in tune incredibly, even when you tune it down. The guitar was tuned to drop B (B-F#-B-E-G#-C#) at Guitar Center, with just the standard .009-.046 strings, and somehow it stayed in tune perfectly well (and i'm used to using .052-.056 for the low string). Nicely made! I'm not sure of the tuners but they rock, and look cool too. Another cool feature is the picture of Orville Gibson on the back of the headstock, i love it. I also like how the entire guitar (headstock, back of neck, body, back of body, everything) is all painted in the sleek satin black finish, its so killer.

This guitar sounds AWESOME! I mostly play heavy stuff (anything from Sabbath, Ozzy to Type O Negative, to Fear Factory to whatever). This guitar sounds so brutal on the low end, and just as elite on the high end. Pinch harmonics squeal like ive never heard before! I've never played a better playing guitar, and i've gone through numerous USA Jacksons and BC Rich's, and plenty of ESP/Ibanez's. I love this guitar! It looks cool, it sounds cool, it plays great, cant go wrong. The clean sound is tremendous too, especially on the neck pickup. I dislike NOTHING about this sound, and im very picky!

Flawless finish and setup. No complaints whatsoever! It was down-tuned when I went to play it at the store, but I like lower tunings anyway so I didn't care.

I haven't had it for too long so i cant really say this for sure. Knowing Gibson's tradition for quality though, I have no doubts. But to be fair i wont give this a rating for now.

I've been playing for many years.

I've owned dozens of guitars over the years, but right now I only currently own four:

1) the Gibson Les Paul Gothic w/ stock pickups
2) a 2001 Ibanez 7421XL 7-string with 27" scale with (real) DiMarzio's
3) a Custom USA BC Rich BEAST 7-String with a Seymour Duncan Invader
4) a Custom USA BC Rich Ignitor 6-String with Seymour Duncans

This guitar is incredible. I hear not all Gibsons sound the same, even if its the same model, so definitely check out more than one if you're not impressed, but if you do find a good one, wow.. its awesome.

Oh by the way I play through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head through a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier 4x12.

Let me start by saying, I don't rush into judging. But this guitar kicks butt ! I love the look ( flat black, ebony fret board. black chrome hardware, even the pick guard is all black, NO, 3 layer w/ white. I like the "top hat" knobs, & love the grover
tuners.) The only problem i had from the start was the toggle switch. The plastic cap was cracked & inside a wire had been
tanggled up in the swich. which of corse broke off when tried to un-tanggle it. I was a bit surprized to how thin & weak the
wires & connections were inside. But easly worked out! As for the pickups, Alnico 490r & 498t, I like them. Plenty of out put
not a lot of distortion, feedback, or noise. I've had this guitar for over a year now & i play the hell out of it. As w/ any new
Guitar you have to tweek,& tweek, for a while to get it acustomed to your personal specks. And this Guitar has faired very well
Althow it did need a LOT ! of tweeking !! But on to the paint job...out of the box it is the coolest looking, smoothest paint ever,
BUT...after a year of Playing, it tends to absorb oil. So the nec & points on the face where you rest your arm or palm... become
shiny, & the look starts to take on a poorly wet sanded former gloss look. That i cant seem to fix!! If you get past that & a few bugs, it is a Gibson & a fine insterment!!

I'm a monster!! But i demand quality, I want you to here the chords & notes that are killing you!! And this guitar is great for
that. The bridge pickup: loud & clear, slightly distorted when playing hard on a clean channel. The nec pickup: perfect! great for
fat leads, & sweet ballad'y stuff i.e.(Diary of a madman intro). bolth pickups: good balance of bright & thick tones. there is a
lot variety in sounds you can produce w/ this guitar. The sustaine is Gibson, I play w/ a Crate GX1200, a custom built Eminence driven 4x12, my distortion is Zoom driver 5000 (the best dist. petal ever created) , Zoom multi FX 505, orig. cry baby (Dunlop)
The sound I get when combined w/ the Gothic Les Paul...is for lack of a better word, SICK !! I here a lot of people complaining
about the Alnico pickups, but don't be too fast to ditch'um. I found that after re-wiring the Guitar w/ a heavier guage wire.
It made all the differance in the world. The Alnicos are A+ pickups, so before you go out & $200 bucks on a pair of EMG's of
Duncon's,try wiring the guitar using better wire & the trusted (Pos+ Neg- Grownd) only!! Also check all the factory connections
too. W/ 6 wires comming from each pickup, it's easy to mix something up.

It took a while to get the action the way i like it. But I got it just the same! A lot of tweeking !! It wasn't bad out of box,
but it wasn't great eather. I'm not sure who set the guitar up ( Gibson or Guitar trader.com) but i was impressed w/ the fact
that after being shipped from San Diago, CA. to Philadelphia, PA. It was still in tune. I thaught the Frets were a litte rough
around the edges. Not too bad, The finish was great, was.... It needed work but not enough to complain.

guitar has faired well excaept for the paint (see, Features ). the chrome hardware has held up great. the neck has stayed nice &
straight. I use washers on my strap buttons & have never had a problem. I totally trust this guitar !! It takes a beating & likes
it !! It dosn't seem to dent easly, (not that I've tryed). Just the paint seemed to dissapoint me a bit.

Dealt W/ them once, when the guitar came & the plastic toggle switch knob was cracked. They send me a little kit free, w/
not only the part a needed but also the toggle plate cover, & new washers. Thaught that was nice !! fast shipping, nice guy on
the phone.

I've been playing for 17 years, Gone through dozens of guitars. this one is a keeper !! If your thinking of buying one for your
self i'd say don't hessitate. A good solid Guitar, cool looks, great sound, well wearth the money!!
If you own one need some free tech info. Or are thinking of getting one & have other ?'s feel free to email me.

Either a 2000 or 2001 American Les Paul Gothic. 22 Frets, two tone, two volume controls, all black. The finish is a flat black color that covers the neck. The fretboard is a dark ebony that matches the color of the body exactly. The pickups are exposed 490's and 498's. All black hardware. The tuners are nice, but could be a little better for that price. Has everything I want on a guitar, but the neck has a weird finish on it, so my hand sticks to the neck. I love the moon and star inlay though.

I play hard rock and this does fine. I'm using a Marshall VS 102R, a comptortion, tubescreamer, and boss flanger and super chorus. This sounds BEAUTIFUL on my amp. It sounds rich and full on the clean channel and I don't need the effects to make this baby scream on the overdriven channels. It produces every sound you would expect from two humbuckers, from full and deep to thin and bright. Absolutely beautiful sound.

The finish is great, but it seems like it would scratch very easily. The pickups were pretty much where I wanted them, not too far off. The action was perfect, no string buzz or anything. The frets were nicely filed so they don't cut up your hands. A very sturdy guitar even with the set neck. Only problem is the taping around the pickups wasn't done properly so it sticks up around the edge of the pickups and left tape glue on the actual pickups. I would have expected a little better.

This is definitely a strong guitar. I would bring it to a gig, but I'd be wary of anything sharp that might scratch it or anything that might break the neck. I have straplocks on my guitar so I won't accidently drop it. I can depend on it, nothing has shown the slightest sign of falling apart. As I said, the finish doesn't look that thick and a scratch would be pretty noticeable on this finish. I always bring a backup to a gig just in case something goes wrong like a snapped string, but I have full confidence in this guitar.

No idea. Lifetime Warranty sounds pretty nice though.

Absolutely beautiful. I would have expected a slightly more perfect guitar for $1050, but this thing is pretty perfect as it is. Besides slight asthetic problems, this guitar is absolutely beautiful and perfect. I would buy another Les Paul if something happened to this one, but I might go with the Studio. Only thing is I hate the small trapezoid inlays on the Studio, so that's why I went for the Gothic. I love this guitar (I'd prefer it in a shiny black) go out and buy a Les Paul.

This is just basically a Les Paul Studio with a slick satan black finish and a mad moon and star inlay on the 12th fret. It has 22 frets ,double humbuckers with individual volume and tone controls. It is made of mahogany and maple with an ebony fretboard. The fretboard on this guitar is amazing. It is the best i have ever played. It is so smooth and responsive.

I am currently running this through a 30W marshall amp and the sound is great. It gives a beautiful clean tone and overdrive. The sustain is not quite as good as i would like but you cant get everything

The action was a bit too high but that was easily adjusted. Otherwise it arrived in absolutely perfect condition.

It will not go out of tune. I havent gigged with it yet but it is rock solid. The paint is typically easily scratched so you have to be careful with it. I also had to get strap locks as the strap was slipping off way too easily. However this guitar is built like a tank and you would be hard pushed to seriously damage it

n/a

I love this guitar. If it was stolen i would definetely replace it. It is so sweet to play and the tone is just beaut. It looks absolutely gorgeous. It is quite pricey though so you would really would be needing to love guitars to buy one. Its worth it though if you do.

A normal Les Paul studio only gets 5 but the ebony fretboard, grover tuners and nice big frets on the gothic pushes it to a 6. I assume everyone already knows the basic features of a Les Paul. I also find it outrageous that a case isnt included..1500$ and not even a case???!!!!!!

I play really extreme metal and this will do just fine, changing pickups is just silly unless its EMGs but then you take away some low-end which you want if you want to sound real heavy(Entombed play gibsons with the standard pickups). This guitar is only half as thick as a Standard or Custom which means slightly less bottom and less sustain.

The only flaw I found was that the ebony fretboard isnt completely black att all places, it has slightly lighter areas by the nut. This is probably just this guitar. Everythng else was really good, finish, intonation and the inlay at the 12th fret was flawlessly laid in, no glue around the edges, which is REALLY rare when it comes to gibsons, all other gibsons I have seen had glue around the edges of the inlays.

Gibson are notorious for their small strap buttons, sensitive Nitro-cellulose paint(scrathces easily, cracks with time, melts away if you dont clean your guitar of sweat and fat stains), the black hardware at will probably be rubbed away when your rest your hand against it or atleast loose its glossiness.
The Gothics havent been around long enough to show the faults that show up with time but I dont think they're any better than other gibsons.
I would gig with this without a backup but Id get straplocks because you can move around or you will drop the guitar. A big plus for the quality grover machineheads.

This guitar is too expensive, it is not worth ca15000 SEK(1500 US dollars) a reasonable price for it would be 8-9000 SEK (8-900 USD).
Too expensive, do not buy. You could get 2 decent guitars for this price.

This is basically a Les Paul Studio, except it's very black. Black matte finish, black exposed buckers (490R, 498T), black ebony board with only a 12th fret "moon & star" inlay, black Grover tuners, all black hardware. Has a cool white "ghost" image of Orville Gibson (at least, I think that's who it is?) on the back of the headstock. Too cool. The rest is just Studio features: 59 neck, flat radius, short scale, mahogany body/neck w/maple cap. Came with Gibson gig bag.

Excellent for rock and roll. Feeds back in the good way really well. Drives a tube amp well. Surprisingly, it also "cleans up" pretty nicely, tho it definitely won't be mistaken for a jazz box or anything (I'm not sure you'd be allowed to play jazz on this thing!). I like the matte finish on the back of the neck, cuz it doesn't get sticky like some Gibson glossy necks can.

Really, really good. I know Gibson has taken a hit the last few years on quality. This guit was good to go right off the hanger. That might be attributed to the place I bought it. Frets are smooth and appear to be well-dressed. Intonation, spot on. I'm pleased.

Also, very heavy though it's thinner like a Studio. Wish it had the body mass of a Standard, but you can't have it all. I'm glad it's solid and very heavy though.

I assume Gibson hold up well. Mine's new with warranty, but I honestly don't know what all that includes/excludes.

No idea.

I really dig this axe. Wish it came with the cool Gibson hardshell case, but of course that would add to the price. I'm very pleased.