Gibson Les Paul Junior

well .. this one was made in 1955 and is one mean sounding ax! Made in the US of A and is a solid piece of mahogany (aged.. mmmmm).. it has a fat neck and a single P-90 (all original except for finish).. it is a gibson factory refinish, and looks like the older historic pauls.. the p-90 has aged from being 50 years old and all the harshness from too much treble has mellowed out.. and it is sooo smooth. It has medium frets on it.. again also original.. this guitar hasnt gotten much play time! but has been broken in very well.. the main features of this ax are just a single volume and tone knob configuration.. as far as usability goes.. the guitars tone is so thick and chunky that when you roll back on the volume and tone to about 8, then you get this really thick rythm sound.. really thick!.. when you roll them up.. you still have a thick screaming lead tone.. incredible, and very usable.. even with the one pickup

the sound of this ax suits my music style very well.. i play modern rock, classic rock, blues, jazz, and everything in between.. i use it with two different halfstack configs... a jcm 800 with a fulltone clyde wah, delay of some sort (rare that i use it), ibanez cs-9 chorus, and then into a fulltone fat boost.. with this amp... the fat boost really does work like an overdrive with that guitar!.. or i use a 66 fender showman with the fulltone clyde, bonzai fireball overdrive (awsome!!!), my modified ts-9 (i do mods a lot and i modded this one to actually scream.. i added about 4 times the amount of gain, and way more bass.. then all the other goodies from the other setup.. or even both amps together.. great tone! very full sound.. chunky.. like i said earlier.

this guitar is very well setup and has remained so after 50 years.. it plays like the new reissue jr's except just sounds so much better.. its refinished so it doesnt look 50 years old.. but still has all the character!

i would gig this thing until the day i die!

never dealt with them.. but buy gibsons all the time

LOVE IT!

this is a 2001. it has a LP flat-top body, one p-90, a volume and a tone control, a wraparound bridge, and vintage style tuner. very simple. it's set-neck, with a mohogany neck and 3-peice mohogany body.

incredible. unusally bright for a Gibson, with plenty of punch and smoothness. i can get almost any sound if i work the tone/ volume control right; from jazz to punk.

the finish on this guitar is very nice, but its a nitrocellulose, so its very easy to scratch. the pickup was adjusted nicely, and there were no flaws. i had to lower the action and set the intonation, but would have had to do that with any new axe.

this guitar is very simple, and very solid, but it has a thin finish which is easy to scratch. the bridge is good, but the tuners aren't too great (easy to replace). strap buttons are a little small for me, but thats easy to fix, too. i wouldn't gig without a backup ever.

they have a decent warranty, but ive never had to deal with them

ive been playing for a few years, and this is my first gibson. ive pretty much been a fender guy, but i reallyliked the tone from this axe. i love the p-90 (its very hot and suprisingly quiet), and the overdriven tone. some nicer tuners would be nice, but the ones on there work fine for now. if it were stolen id be very sad, but wouldn't have the cash to get another one (i would if i could though).

1987ish Herritage cherry colour. Mahogany neck and body (seems to be one piece body). Single P90 (no p100 in this one) tune-o-matic bridge and stop tail piece. gibson deluxe machine heads.
Neck is wide and fairly thin on this one, not the "classic" gibson neck but fairly good none the less.
The guitar is about 14 years old now and the wood is starting to season nicely. You can't give high marks for fearures on these guitars because they don't have many, although the features they do have work very well.

P90 powered gibsons suit my playing style very well (the p90 is my favorite guitar pickup!). I try to play a melodic progressive style (someware inbetween classical folk and science fiction).
The midrange push of a good p90 guitar is somthing to behold. In a clean setting they sound soulfull and pure, and with overdrive they roar like a lion and scream like a banshee and still sound soulfull and pure at the same time. all and all they have buckets of tone and rich harmonics. For a one p/u guitar they are suprisingly versitile.
This junior has yet to fully develop its tone (most guitars improve with age), But it is well on the way to being a great guitar, the "mahogany resonance thing" is starting to happen. Good sustain too!
I'm primarly a "home recording studio dude" and that is where I give off my best thus explaining the equipment.... I use a DOD compressor, Tube screamer, DOD chorus and DOD digital delay (not all at the same time) running through a Fender Champ 25se OR I will plug straight into a Sansamp GT2 using the reverbs and delays in the recording program (cubase). Mixing the live amp sound in parallel with the Sansamp can give a great sound (the best of both worlds so to speak).
One major problem the p90 p/u is although having (in my opinon) one of the greatest sounds around, they are the NOISIEST pickup on the planet. some times it cam be a real chore trying to get the sound recorded without all the Hums, Buzzes, Pops, Squeals and Farts that always seems to be around when you use these guitars.
For that reason I must deduct 1 from the sound score of this guitar.

Gibson have great quality control. This means that all of the good ones stay in the USA and they send the crappy ones to Australia and New Zealand (Fender and Rickenbacker are guilty of this as well, I think!) and I (and many others) live in Australia. Most of the new gibsons we see are usually well below standard (and some are absolutely appalling). By some minor miracle this one must have slipped past USA quality control, is as good as it need be, It's a good guitar and one day the ageing process should make it a great guitar.
The only real problem I could find is that the Pickup had been badly assembeled with the magnets sitting at one end of the pickup not in the middle where they should be (can upset string volume balance).
The woods are not as good as they used to be! This is not gibsons fault, good wood is getting hard to find. as I said earlier, in time this one will come right.

It's a simple guitar with little to go wrong, and it's built to last.
Tuners could be more stable though.

Got it second hand so no warranty.
In Australia trying to get gibson parts can be tough. It is, in fact easier to get PRS parts......SO THERE!

Been playing since 1986 (and still feel like a new learner!)
I got this one cheap, to sell at a higher price but may keep it.
If it got lost or stolen I still have plenty of other guitars (sg, strats, prs etc) so I would not really need to get another one.
It's a very good guitar and I recommend it, but gibsons of this age in Australia can be truly horrible guitars so look carefully and choose wisely!

1962, 22 frets, rosewood finger board, neck is flush with body unlike teh waste of time epiphone reissues, and it extends into the body to where the neck would be an another guitar...makes routing and putting a second pickup on not a good idea. replaced schaller strip tuners with grovers and replaced ridged one-piece bridge...intonated for a wound g...w/ a badass bridge so I could play in tune...no loss in the wonderfull sustain. One p90 on an sg shaped body fat (width) thin (depth) neck, Cherry finish, faux-alligator case, 1 p90 in bridge pos. I got this guitar in 1973, after I had been playing some cheapo electric for about a year. The guy I bought it from had gotten it as a high-school graduation present, played it for a week or three and then put it in a closet with the original set of strings on it'til 1973...figured it was worth $150 new so was worth about half that ten years old, so I got it on the up and up for $75! Played it in various punk and blues outfits until 1981, when it got stolen the day before we started a gig as a house band. Only thing the music store owner would front me was a Fender Coronado...completely changed my playing. I still dream about that guitar...oh well....

Suited my style as a teenager wonderfully...massive sound could be used to break out jail with proper amp. It was actually more versatile than it looks. I played it through an Ampeg vt40 tube amp (also stolen, but I replaced it with another one about 15 years ago...very versatile and sweet amp!). The ampeg has all sorts of neat tone settings that go from fenderish twang (midrange to 0 with bass and treble on ten and midrange setting in the middle with reverb on about four through the normal channel...or with more reverb on bright channel with guitar turned down to about 7, treble on 10 and all else on 0...gave real spooky 3 in the morning blues sound) to whoish-thunderish-richardish snot-crank (turn the amp's midrange up, mess with the tones on the amp and guitar) to Marshall sounds (midrange switch at low-end setting, everything on 10, turn the treble down on the jr). Ecellent for controlled feedback. If you turn the volume on teh guitar up to ten it screams, at seven it just barely distorts, good for blues leads...below that is a thin clean sound awesome for playing rhythm cachinks and so forth. I faked a bridge position tone well enough by playing the right hand part between teh twelfth and 15th frets...I would bend the neck to get about a whole tone of downward bends a la Townshend...did that for seventeen yrs without the neck coming off in my hand...Yer mileage may vary, as I have noticed a tremendous variation in how well juniors hold up over time...some are nearly unplayable...mine was 'bout perfect. Only flaw in sound is that some jackass stole it.

I wore the finish off the neck from playin...actually improved playability...nice thin frets probably could have been redone. Difficult to keep in tune at gigs for more than a song or two without the mods mentioned above. No buzz anywhere, nice low action. tens gave fat enough sound...tried 9s once, but lost too much tone, would probable put 11s on it now, raise the action a tiny bit and use fer slide too. This is a slab of wood or three with a pickup on it. The neck on mine was perfect, but watch out for lousy ones...if the neck sucks, it probably cannot be fixed no matter how good yer guitar guy is. Finish on body was worn from playing a lot and was eggshelled a little from spending a couple of nights in the cold, but a pretty guitar, excellent color, aged well without fading like the wine colored SGs of later

Used as a gig guitar for about ten years, mostly with no backup as I could not afford one...we had a string break song, cuz that was the only problem I ever had with the thing. Durable workhorse...others had problems with neck breaking easily...not me...I hope it snapped off teh jackass-who-stole-it's hands...

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I've been playing 28 years and someday will replace this guitar, but not for the 1300 or so people seem to wnat for them now. It was a real simple design that could be milked for a million sounds with the right amp tweaks and playing styles. Tried replacing it with an SG with a nice neck, but the pickups sound like cheeze whiz...now looking at an L6s to trade teh sg for...still have the coronado and have grudgingly grown to like it some, and have ahad a pre-cbs jaguar for last 18 yrs too as well as some acoustics...but this was the one guitar I'd keep if I had to get rid of the rest. Too bad I can't. Only gripe was the tuning, and intonation, but that got fixed...

1986 Reissue with the tune-a-matic. You know what it looks like, one pick-up, single cut, tobacco burst.
I had one that was strange, it was all white, like thick white almost sparkly with an Ebony fretboard! I couldn't get used to the neck, so I lucked out and found this one and was able to trade. I wish I still had the white one but like Johnny Thunders says "you can't put your arms around a memory." Man, I saw his Junior in the Rock and Roll hall of fame, gave me goose bumps!

Straight up Rock and Roll, no fluff, no foo foos. Play it through a fender tweed, just roll back the volume if you want to clean it up.

My volume and tone knobs on the junior actually go to eleven! I thank the previous owner for that.

I'm pretty comfortable with a tele, but this one feels like part of my arm. Sometimes when I'm soloing I'll lose the note, I think I might be killing the P-90. Too much sweat, too much rust.
Oh, I thought of a complaint! When I got it the input jack was kind of busted, not a big deal, but if Gibson had made the jack plate out of metal instead of plastic, could've been avoided.

I never play without a backup. I bring this, my deluxe and a tele. Different rooms, different temperature, sometimes I don't feel like myself... I wish I played with only one guitar, but I won't let myself. I love playing in open g tuning with this guitar, makes me feel like Rick Richards!

I've bitched about Gibson before. I still own 4 Gibsons and I'll buy more. They could come out to my house and pee on my lawn and I'd still love this guitar.

I've been playing since 1988, I remember then looking at the junior and looking at the Tele and trying to figure out which one would be better. Some days I still don't know. But I do love this guitar. My cofusion causes me to do guitar parts twice, once with a tele and once with the junior. Works nicely when mixed together.
If this guitar was stolen, I'd want another one.
I love the simplicity of it. It's almost like the acoustic of electric guitars. Most acoustics have more knobs on them then this now! I love the way you can be playing a solo, holding a note and tweak the tone knob and get a wah-wah type sound and then sink the tone to zero and just hold a note.
At one point I wished it had a bigsby, so I put one on it. Bad idea, it changed the tone completely. So I wish I didn't do that because now it has some screw holes in it. I'm not worried about trade in value, it's not ever being traded in.

1987 re-issue of the early sixties version of the single cut-away model -the one closely associated with Leslie West (Mississippi Queen.) I remember alot of hype at the time about a Lesile West signiture Les Paul Jr. except for the finish (cherry, see-through, very-very glossy)) it's the same. One p-90 re-issue pickup at the bridge...I'm pretty sure it's a p-90 and not a p-100 because I don't think they made the p-100 back then -but who cares the thing bloody screams) and the typical single tone and volume pots. This guitar also features a tune-o-matic/stop tailpiece bridge set-up instead of the usual one piece found on most LPjrs. No Binding on the neck, dot markers and "bean" tuners -pretty plain ,but a LPjr can't be too fancy -it's supposed to be a "one-trick-pony" -but it's got one-Hell-of-a-trick this guitar shimmers and screams and has FAT FAT tone. The neck's a little fat, not half as fat as other LPjrs I've played -but I played an SG for 10 years -so I think the neck's pretty fat. Getting back to the "one-trick-pony" thing I'm going to rate the features very well because of what the guitar delivers with just the plain bridge and single pick-up.

-used to play punk and my current band started out as such, but we've evolved into an early 70's MotorCity/MotorHead/Mountain arena type thing. So only a Gibson will do, and being the lead player, only the LPjr will do for this band. Through my early 70's HiWatt, with a Dallas-Arbiter 4x12, and a Ratt this guitar says bussiness, I can play a rich solid-choppy rhythm and then lay a soaring lead over the other insturments (distorted bass and a Marshall/Gibson rhythm gtr) without boosting or altering the signal in any way!!!! A lead players dream! -the P-90's really scoop out the mids on single notes. I use Earnie Ball Power Slinkys (10's) and I can really dig some down and dirty "Squeal and Squak" harmonics out of this beast -get the "Best of Mountain" to hear what I mean. The only draw back I have is that I haven't found how to get a wah pedal to sound sweet -I get to many mirror shattering highends whenever I try. I played an early 70's SG special (with an original super distortion dimarzio) at every show I played for 10 years and it's been the dust covered back-up ever since I got the this one.

-this guitar's 14 years old now but it's had only one owner before me and it's in great shape, I had the local music store re-set everything (action, intonation) but it didn't need much. This guitar was the original owner's back-up (brought to every show for 10 years) but seldom played. However he did take it out on the road for winter tours as his only axe -he figured touring in Canada in the winter would be too much on his much-loved 1978 LP deluxe...but it didn't seem to hurt the jr. at all. I've heard many tales of having the neck snap off WHEN dropped on it's headstock (note: it's not an "IF" but a "WHEN" when playing punk) ...and I did drop it on it's headstock -first gig I played with it!!!!...and only have a large chip on the headstocks side (the whole strip between the D and low E tuners) to show for it. -you'll note my fingers are crossed as I type this....

-this guitar's not in mint condition, the jack comes loose often, but the tuning pegs are in good shape, the frets are good, no crakle in the pots, the G-string isn't wonky (like my SG) and it's 14 years old! I played my SG for every practice, and show for 10 years -very hard, and had to replace all the hardware this year (about a year overdue too!) new pick-ups, new tuners, bridge, pots, switch, wires -everything....it's too delicate for how hard i play, the JR tho' -I really don't see having any problems ever, it feels so solid, sounds better. If I had new strings I wouldn't even bother to bring the SG anymore (I only bring it along 'cause I play slide w/ open E tuning on a few songs and it's just quicker to change than re-tune)

-don't know about Gibson, (I've never had a new guitar) I don't think I want a new guitar, Gibson made great guitars in the 70's and you can find 'em for pretty cheap, I've been playing 18 years now and don't really see a need to get a new guitar. Just get 'em set-up 'round the corner every few years.

I've always wanted an LPjr (especially the single sut-away model) since I first saw Leslie West wit one. I also feel in love with SG when I first sw 'em, I got one of those first -but now I with I'd gotten the JR first, way better in every way -way more durable. I'm going to buy the next one I see (that's in good condition, and was made in the same time period) I've seen the new re-issues and they seem way too expensive and not as sturdy) I would re-place is guitar at any cost right away. I would sulk for a week if I had to play a gig without it.

i own a 1956 all original les paul junior heavy friggin body big chunk ol wood and it has a slab board body. all tuning keys, knobs are completely original. the neck is as straight as an arrow.

i paid only unbelievably $400 bux for it yes 4 bills

the kenningson p-100 screams

i like bluesy music-punk rock and the person who mainly used a les paul junior double cutaway in the business was the fabulous Johnny Thunders and i totally could imintate his sound know i mean i'm 19 years old and this is a big achivement for me

i mean the early late 50's were the golden age for gibson and fender guitars. this says enough

the guitar is very relieable and it lasted 44 years so far and it will probably last 144 more.

i own a few guitars a fender telecaster ri and its a vintage white the yellow color

i own a 1971 epeiphone et275 look like a mosrite ventures

a 1960's univox hollowbody

a fender strat

a fender jagstang the fiesta red one

a danelectro dc3 in turquoise sparkle

Mine is a 1959 cherry...usual single P90, etc, Cherry red.
Just the two knobs!
Mahogany neck + body.
Unusually, though, it says "Les Paul TV Model" on the headstock.
Maybe the neck was replaced??

I have far too many guitars, and the other night I took them all out and listened hard...I narrowed down to a few I wouldn't sell, and this one is included.

This is the SOUL of rock and roll. Yes, only one "sound" but if you back the tone off, there is a bit to play with. I like it around 8.

Clean, it is very toneful and responds well to how you play. If you want to change tone a bit, play towards, or even up the neck.

Through a box or with amp distortion, it turns into a raging beast of no quarter given, one of the most sensational singing, screaming sounds I have heard in (gulp) over 30 years of playing.

Yes, single coil.....

Mine has a "vee" neck.
The shop had a few to choose from, one was just too fat, one too thin.....
this was the best, although I am not a fan of the sharp vee.

Mine is completely battered and scarred, looks like it had a cracked neck....the bridge is a "badass" (sensible for intonation)..,
but it is just like a worn in pair of shoes...I hate mint guitars...no soul.

This is almost the ultimate in no frills!
One pick up, two knobs, the rest is how you play plus how you set it up.

Will last another 50 years just fine.

no point

As I say, I have, maybe 13 guitars...Strats, Les Pauls, and more...but this is just the purest guitar .....like all guitars, you need to play and listen...I found an almost mint Jr the other day at seven times the price of mine, but it wasn't as good in tone and playability...just in good condition...

Overall, you understand why Keith, etc, with the choice of anything, still keep coming back to these.

If you are serious about rock, try a few of these!!

Made in 1961, like me. So light you could play tennis with it, too (less than 4 pounds). SG type body, wide flat neck with small heel (they changed this around 1962), big frets, brazilian rosewood board, three on a side tuners, slant non-ridged tailpiece, one P90, one tone and one volume knob, crappy alligator case, you cannot get cooler than this.

One thing I cannot understand -this seems to be the only guitar NOT reissued by Gibson in the hist(o)(y)ric series. The recent late sixties RI is certainly not as cool. But the sound -I play rock and blues through tube amps (Fender 80's Concert, 70's Champ, Electar), and the first time I plugged this thing in my jaw dropped -it is simply amazing! Loud, fat and rich tone with enough edge, and born to rock. Amazing acoustic resonance and lots of sustain. This thing is more versatile than you think - Bill Frisell used it for jazz for some time... Tone control is very musical.

Although this is such a simple guitar, it is amazingly well made and works still great after almost forty years. Nice wood, good (original) fretwork -good thing about this one is that notes do not choke when you bend them high up the neck, I have played a lot of Juniors who suck in this department- all adding to the conclusion that less is definitely more.

I own currently seventeen guitars and had this for two years, so I do not suffer from 'post-acquisition euphoria'. This thing is from 1961 and still rocks -do I need say more? Just do not drop it on its neck, that's all.

I tried getting information on my '68 reissue LP Custom and posted questions three times. Nothing except "we will get back to you".

I have a lot of guitars and can only say: buy this thing -it is very underrated on the vintage market. Make sure that you try a couple before buying, they are not that rare and clunkers do exist.

Has p-100's with the look of soapbars. 22 frets. 2 humbuckers. 2 volume and 2 tone top hat knobs. Mahogony kneck with a slim taper. Mini trapezoid fret inlays. Rosewood fretboard. Tune-o-matic bridge with a stopbar tailpiece. 3-way pickup selection with chrome hardware. The pickguard is shaped kind of weird. Ebony.

The sound this ax give is in my opinion, phenominal! I love it. I run it through a digitech RP3(my own personaly created effects), a Peavey Studio Chorus 210 and occasionaly a Dunlop Limited Edition Wha-Wha pedal(it kicks!).When set on a clean setting and using the neck or middle selection on the selector switch, it gives beutiful, fat, rich sound. Wsitch it to the bridge pickup and run it through some grunge and it turns into a monster! I really like the sestain it gives. The frets are wide for easier playing. I have absolutely no complaints with the sound.

Everything was great when I got it except on the 21st fret, there was a little bit of goue or something on it. It was yellow. I scraped it off. You couldn't really notice it in the first place but I got rid of it anyway. Other than that, there wasn't anything else wrong with it. The action was set perfectly the way I like it.

It is ebony so everytime you touch it, you leave you fingerprints all over it. The finish would still last though. It has withstanded plenty of playing and abuse from me and still sounds as great as the day I got it. I would use use in a gig without a backup only if I had to, but I usually don't. This is just a personal preferance of mine. I wouldn't go on stage with any 1 guitar without a backup just because you never know what might happen.

Never dealt with Gibson

When I first seen it, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not(it was a gift from my parents so I didn't get to pick it out myself). After I picked it up and hit a chord, I knew immediately that it was the perfect guitar for me. I woulnd't want anything else if I had a choice. I love the sound and the feel. There is nothing that I hate about it. I think that my favorite feature is the fact that its made by Gibson, so you are guarunteed the best.