Gibson Les Paul Standard Double Cut Plus

I've owned music stores, and still deal in guitars a little. I can not tell you how many Les Paul Guitars I've had in the last 20 years ever since I switched from 335's. When I found this Amber DC AAA top at the Dallas Vintage Guitar Show last year, I've not put it down yet. I tis my number one gigging guitar. With 24 frets, easy access beyond octive position, and a nice easy comfortable neck, this guitar is fast and accurate. The Nashville style bridge allows for longer swing to tune and dial in the bridge. Mine had god hardware, and unlike other Gibson gold hardware, what is on this guitar is staying in great shape without the normal tarnished look. I like the grover mushroom button tuners. The top is split butterflied, and the back is one piece solid mahogany. The body is chambered, and has and 498t and 490r humbuckers, which I really like. Nice combo. Neck is smooth, and fat. The bridge will give you a sunburn.

This is the second double cut I've owned. The first one three years ago, was a blue one. I did not like it at all. This Amber one has a better feel, fast neck and the AAA top will match any PRS or Hamer DC. I like the chambering, as in the neck I get more of a 335 purr, than the normal chunky Lester sound. I do wish the neck and bridge PU had a blend knob, for the B and N PU's. One tone and volume is just like a Tele, which is my second guitar. I am so pleased with the sound of this guitar, as I play blend of Blues, Jazz and Roadhouse.

Action is perfect. I use DR 10's, and this guitar just loves them. The finish is first cabin, and the overall craftsmanship is great. Not like a lot of the flawed stuff coming out of manufactures today. This guitar is 2002 model. They didn't make may of these, and the Plus was the AAA top. I get compliments on this guitar at each show we do on the tours. At festivals we see and bump into a lot of other touring bands, and it never fails that guitar players go nuts over the looks of this guitar. They also said it sounded great while we were doing our sets.

Well, it is a Gibson, but I am the second owner. I take care of my equipment, so I don't imagine anything going wrong. I also do guitar repair for a few guitar shops, and keep my gear in perfect gigging condition. It's a Gibson, and bound to appreciate in value as time goes by.

Gibson did send me a web page explaining the chambering, and how it looks under the maple top. I thought that was good of them to send it to me, after I contacted their customer service dept by email.

I've owned hundreds of guitars for my own personal use, and had thousands of them in my guitar shops back in the 80's out in California. I sold a vintage 1976 Les Paul, to pay this one off. The guitar is also feather light. Don't let them fool you. It doesn't have to be two tons of slab wood to sustain, as this puppy will sustain as long as you want to hold the note. Also, at the end of the gig your strap hasn't cut of your blood circulation leaving a permanent gouge in your shoulder. Ha. I need three things out of a guitar. It has to turn me on when I open the case and look at it. It has got to stay in tune all night on the gig. It just has to have a neck I don't think about when I play ??? the neck has to disappear in my mind???s eye. This does all three.

2005
Rootbeer finish
Carved figured AAA maple top
Chambered mahogany body
Mahogany neck
'60s-style slim taper neck profile
Rosewood fingerboard
24-3/4" scale length
24 frets
Pearloid trapezoid inlays
Single-ply fingerboard binding
Gold hardware
Stopbar tailpiece
Tune-o-matic bridge
Amber top hat knobs
Grover kidney tuners
490R Alnico magnet neck humbucker
498T Alnico magnet bridge humbucker
One volume, one tone, and three-way pickup switch

Pretty much all you need...

This guitar sounds absolutely amazing playing any number of styles.
I'm playing with Ernie-Ball Regular-Slinky Strings, through an Orange AD140 and an Orange Overdrive 120 with their corresponding cabinets.
I normally use about 18 pedals, but for the purpose of sound testing the guitar i'm playing the guitar straight into the amp with a monster cable.
Overdriven, the tone hits that Fall of Troy/ At the Drive-In sound right on the head, rich, full and agressive with much clearer note articulation than in a standard les paul; this has a little less middle and more bite, though it's not as bright as an SG.
For cleaner sounds the guitar just sings, it's a very colourful and musical sounding guitar. What I mean by this is that the sound has tonnes of character to it. You can hear every little nuance of your playing!!! on the neck pickup it's a very bluesy sound, even with some hollowbody characteristics coming out - maybe the chambered body. It's very sweet sounding, not the neck tone i'm used to hearing, but it's really nice; generally neck sounds can be too fat and bassy - this is still very warm, but alot clearer note-to-note(to keep the neck joint from being liable to breaking gibson moved the neck pickup over closer to the bridge).
The only thing that i'd say people would really miss on this guitar is the absence of independant volume and tone controls for each pickup, which i suppose can limit to an extent the tones available, but generally speaking i can play everything from classical baroque to oldschool jazz to weezer pop-punk to modern progressive stuff like tera melos, and it always sound top notch :]
A 9 because i suppose it can't do it ALL...

Setup on arrival was sub-standard. It had a very high action and the notation was out. worst part was the fret crowning though. the frets were practically square, and would even stop my fingers if i wasn't paying close enough attention.
i've since had a full setup including a stoning and re-profiling for the frets.
It's astounding... It's the best player out of all my guitars, it's just amazing to play now.
The Rootbeer finish is stunning. it's also very very dark, bordering black, unlike many photographs of these guitars on the net which show a much paler colour. The best thing though is that when the light hits this guitar just right, the flame in the maple just pops out through the finish and i just smile everytime i pick it up, haha.

I've gigged this guitar a few times so-far. However, after alot of general playing the gold plating on the hardware has begen to wear in where i rest my hand on the bridge, but i'd expected this from the number of people that has mentioned this problem with the Gibson hardware.
i play my guitars hard, and generally jump and spazz about alot on-stage so you can trust in my saying that this guitar is solid!!! I'm pretty absessive about looking after my guitars and have Dunlop Straplocks on all of them, but were it to fall i can imagine it handling it unscathed :]
But i say again, this is a solid guitar.

Never had to deal with Gibson???

I have been playing guitar for over 2 years, and have played bass for 7 (though the last 2 don't really count as much since i switched :b).
I use This guitar alongside a Gibson Les Paul Doublecut Faded in TV Yellow, a Gibson SG Classic (the reissue with p-90s) in Classic Cherry, a Gibson SG Standard in Natural Burst, a Gibson SG-X in Canary Yellow, a Gibson ES-135 in Sunburst, a '70s Gibson Marauder in Natural Maple, a Gibson Les Paul Studio in Natural Swamp Ash and a Fender '65 Mustang Reissue in White.
I play through an Orange AD140 twin channel head with a modern Orange cabinet (4x12 Celestion vintage 30s), and an '70s Orange Overdrive 120 head with the origional cabinet (4x12 Celestion "Greenbacks").
My pedalboard consists of;
an Ernie Ball Volume Jr. - Boss TU2 - Dunlop Bass Wah - EH Big Muff Pi - Ibanez TS9DX - Boss PH2 - Digitech Whammy 4 - Maxon AD 999 - Boss DD3 - Boss DD6 - Boss DD5 with FS2 extension - Line6 FM4 with expression pedal - Line6 DL4 with expression pedal - Boss NS2 - Morley Little Alligator.

I've pretty much put together my dream setup over the past 2 years and this guitar pretty much finishes the lineup. If this thing were stolen or lost i would probably cry a whole bunch before ordering another one, same colour and everything. I've had it for a couple of months now and it's my favourite guitar no question, and i've built a decent selection to pick from.
You will not be disappointed with this guitar, it's just a phenominal piece of kit.

Bought this great guitar as an impulse buy in I think 2000. It was on sale new for $999 at Guitar Centers and I just could not let that deal go. In fact, the salesman was sorry cause he was going to buy it. My guitar is stock and gorgeous.....a blue burst with gold trim. Only thing I miss is my Floyd Rose, which I have on other guitars.

I play the classics - Deep Purple, Sabath, Zep, GNR, Van halen etc. This guitar can play it all...deep warm and unbelievable sustain. I was a Fender guy until I got this. Definitely a premium guitar. I do like the sound of the Les Paul Standard a bit more. Not at all noisy like my single coiled Fenders.

No issue....every thing worked as it should...color is awesome. Only problem was I roughed guitar up and broke the pick-up holder...I was a bit shocked cause I did not hit it hard. Anyway...easy fix and no other issues at all.

This guitar is solid in every way. No issues.

This is a great premium guitar. Compares well to the other great guitars but it is not the best...all a matter of taste. The guitar can do it all...I play it through a Line 6 AX2 combo and a Marshall Half Stack and it sounds great. I own a Peavey EVH,a Custom Carvin 127, and 2 Fender Strats. I prefer This guitar over the EVH (though on some songs I play the EVH cause it is the best choice) and it simply sounds better than my Fender Strats. The Carvin w/ the Floyd Rose is an even match though the tone of the Gibson is a tad better. I played 2 guitars I might like better. I played a Gibson les Paul Standard (New) last week through a marshall combo and its was simply unbelievable....and over $2 grand. I know I like that guitar better. I also played a Music Man Axis through a vintage marshall halfstack - a $2000 head and it realy rocked. Not sure if I like that guitar better but it is in the same league. Bottom line, a great guitar at a decent price....a very good value. Killer looks and Killer sounds!!

Les Paul Std. DC plus, 2005, made in the USA. 24 frets, Mahogany neck and body with flamed maple cap on the body. Gibson 490R & 498T Humbuckers, volume and tone control. Grover tuners, all hardware is gold plated. The color is amber and the top is the nicest flamed maple top I have ever seen! ( and I've owned several PRS's with ten tops)

I went to my local music store to purchase a PRS (they had a wide selection)and while I was trying the different models the saleman asked if I had ever tried the LP DC, so I picked it up and was immediately impressed by the light weight and the beautiful amber top. The neck was a nice fit for my hand and the guitar had a wonderful sound unplugged. The guitar has a huge range of sounds plugged into my amps (Super Reverb, Vibroverb, Sewell Texaplex), the front pickup can be very warm and jazzy sounding if you turn down the tone control and bright and punchy if you turn the tone control up. The bridge pickup is pure rock and roll and loves to push your amp into overdrive, very nice midrange and tight bottom end. I noticed that several people who have written reviews here trash the stock pickups, I have found that if you spend some time adjusting the height and polepieces and the pickups actually sounded better than the PRS pickups to my ear. I'm very happy with the stock pickups and intend to stay with them. Overall I find this a very good guitar for a working musician and a joy to play!! This guitar was $1000 less than the PRS I was looking at and in all honesty the Gibson had a nicer flame top so I bought it on the spot.

I looked this instrument over very well and could not find any flaws, you have to be careful with Gibson's because at times there quality control can really vary, but this particular guitar was as good as any I've seen and equal to the PRS in quality of fit and finish.

If properly taken care of it should last me a long time.

Never dealt with Gibson, my dealer E.M. Shorts in Wichita, Kansas is excellent and always takes care of the customer.

I've been playing for over 30 years and have had one of every guitar made and this guitar and my "57" Goldtop I bought 2 years ago are amazing and rival any of the vintage guitars I've owned in the past. If stolen I would get another one. This guitar covers more sonic range than a Les Paul or an SG and is very easy to play, and is probably the most underrated guitar in the Gibson lineup as far as I'm concerned.

24 fret
1 volume 1 tone 3 way tone selector
pick up config is the gibson stock H in the neck and i put a Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge.
it's a double cutaway..i'm sure you know what's on it
i got it with the brown leather hardshell case

sound is decent....i play rock and classical (2 extremes i know) but yeah it's not that bad. only problem i had was..i play through a marshall tsl 100 (which is a piece of utter crap...do not buy this amplifier......MARSHALL IS SLACKING OFF AND DOES NOT MAKE AMPS LIKE THEY USED TO....THE PEDAL ON THIS AMP HAS BROKEN 3 TIMES IN A SPAN OF 2 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and the stock bridge pick up was squealing like somebody was getting murdered due to microphonic problems. that's why i installed a duncan pearly gates...the pearly gates is zebra so it even looks nicer. neck pickup...is still stock..i might switch that out soon cause it's very punchy and sounds basically like poop. rich sound...sustain could probably be nicer. overall i like the sound.

i love the action on this guitar...i just got it reset up and it's a dream. everythings fine..but i bought mine from an independently run store so they take good care of their instruments and customers. already i put some dings in it but it just makes it more my own. pick up selector....i wish there were more options with this....cause on my previous guitar i had a 5 way selector. and i used all 5 sounds. but oh well.

i've only had it for about a week. i'm planning on putting some strap locks on it only because i swing it around my body at shows. i always use a back up guitar anyway because breaking strings on stage is not fun. but yeah it seems like a very dependable guitar. i trust gibson.

well i went back to the shop i bought it at they were so helpful...if you're on long island get in touch with the store Music Services. it's on the corner of wantaugh avenue and sunrise highway.

i've been playing around 5 to 6 years now...i normally played through an ernie ball music man axis supersport...i love that guitar. the custom dimarzio's are something i learned to appreciate. i wish i knew that the stock pickups were pieces of shit before i bought the guitar. i wish it came with nicer pickups because the duncan i installed was an extra 60 bucks. but oh well.

Wame as all the others. This one, however, has a gorgeous deep green finish (jalapeno burst, I believe it's called) that I've never seen or heard of before. I've tried looking for others with this color, but to no avail.

I suppose I'm rather ecletic in what I play, although rock tends to be the standard fare. I play it through an Ernie Ball volume pedal and straight to my Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602. I used to play it through an old Yamaha (G-50 III, I believe - from the 80s), which still sounded pretty good, but the amp makes such a difference. Even with the one volume and one tone, I'm able to get most any humbucker sound I want. Generally a rather bright, yet full sound, but again, the amp has a lot to do with this. It's chambered, so the sustain is a bit lacking, but I shouldn't complain (this was a birthday gift).

Got it used, so I don't know how factory set up is. Guitar Center sets all their stuff up perfectly.

I play at church weekly, and it's been amazing. Held up wonderfully so far. The gold had begun to tarnish when I got it (September 23, 2002). Also had a few belt buckle scratches from the previous owner, but I don't care. The sound is really what matters! I put strap locks on it, so there's no chance of this one coming loose. I'd advise putting strap locks on every guitar - they're a great investment. The only reason I'd use a backup is in case I break a string; I have no concerns about its reliability.

I've only been playing about 4 years (electric for closer to two years), but this is one heck of a guitar. I took it in to Guitar Center a while ago to test some effects, and half the staff must have come up to me and remarked on how good it looked and sounded. If stolen/lost, I'd get a new one provided I had the money (I'm a poor student).

2001, US made
* Carved AAA quilted maple top, mahogany back
* Translucent Black
* 24-fret, 24 3/4" scale,
* '59 slim-taper neck, single-bound rosewood fingerboard w/
trapezoid inlays
* 490R and 498T Alnico mag humbuckers
* Gold hardware w/ Grover tuners
* 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way p/u selector

I play heavy rock and blues.I have 3 full DSL 100 stacks and a Randall half stack.I usually use my boss pedals but have about 4 or 5 other multi effects.The sound is beautiful. I pretty much gave up on Gibson many years ago and I'm now enjoying their quality once again.I have a few PRS's and now 2 beautiful Gibsons.Sound wise this guitar is really giving my Custom PRS a run for it's money.

Action is great just needed to be lowered a tad and it was fine.The only flaw on the finish was right were the body met the back of the neck. It was not finished very well and you see rough wood under the finish(it doesn't bother me).

It's a Gibson so I'm sure it will pass the test of time but only time will tell!!!!

N/A

I've been playing over 30.This is a perfect example of Gibson quality.Pick one up and enjoy this sweet piece of art work!

2003 Les Paul Standard Double Cut Plus with 24 frets, it has a Drop Dead Gorgeous Translucent Amber carved figured AAA maple top. Even with simple controls (1 tone / 1 volume), the 490R and 498T Alnico magnet humbucker pickups and chambered mahogany back provides unbelievable sustain and tone that revels the heavier LP Standard and Custom Models. It has a maple ?60s style slim tapered neck for fast action and brilliant gold plated hardware.

I used to play professionally on the club seen for about 6 years and had numerous studio gigs. I play a variety of music (alternative, blues, contemporary, jazz, pop, r&b, and rock) and the guitar handles them all very well. I use a BOSS GT-6 as the preamp connected into the returns of 2 - 50Watt Fender Princeton Chorus Amps to get the stereo effect. Even though there is only 1 volume and 1 Tone control, the guitar can produce a large range of tones.

The guitar was setup near perfect from the factor with the low strings a little higher off the neck (to eliminate buzz) than the high strings; however, I did have to adjust the intonation. The pickups where setup perfectly and there where absolutely no flaws in the Translucent Amber finish.

I have only had the guitar for about 6 weeks; however, I can say that everything appears to be of the highest quality, from the hardware to the finish. Even though I know I could depend on the guitar, I always have a backup when I gig (just in case a string breaks).

Lifetime warranty; however, I have never had to use it.

I have been playing for about 27 years. Over the years I have played Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Gibson Explorer, Gibson LP Standard, Ibanez, Yamaha, and quite a few more. In my opinion, this guitar has all of the tone of the higher priced LP Standard/Custom and is easier to play than the others that I have played (especially the high notes, 24 frets).

Les Paul Standard Double Cut-away, 24 frets(jumbo!), binding on neck and body, rosewood fingerboard with nice inlays(the best professional detailed fretwork and neck I ever seen or played besides the Gibson Firebird VII), gold hardware, grover tuners, AAA flame top(BAD ASS MEGA 3-D.. the best I ever seen), chambered mahogany back, 490R+498T pickups with master vol, tone and 3 way switch, includes case.

The sound is great. I thought I would swap the factory installed pickups. Keep in mind a Good amp has alot to do with it. I used a Vox 120 Valvetronix. The chambered body produces alot of resonance.

Everything was set up properly. There was fret buzz, but once you play on it and break the strings in and re-tune it was just dandy. The finish on this guitar is superb. It has a great neck.. 59 slim taper. PLEASE NOTE I have a complaint! The body is a double cutaway, but my hands are too big to grasp the neck around the base of the neck. It kind of defeats the double cut-away for me. If it was NOT for this I would have kept the guitar. I sent it back because of this. This is the only beef I have with the guitar.

I'd suggest installing straplocks on any guitar that costs $1000+ The guitar is pretty much great all around. I didn't partake in trying to damage this to check durability!!!!!!

Sometimes Gibsons answers email and sometimes not. It depends who's working that day. I had my email answered within 5 hours.

Gary Taylor at 02/23/2002 wrote about punching small holes in a replacement control plate and installing it on the guitar. I went to Guitar Center today and had them make one. It cost $15 and I am floored as to how much better the mids sound - all the cloudiness is gone. The guitar now also has better volume when played unplugged.

Great recomeendation, Gary. Worked like a dream.

Will submit a full review once the guitar has had it's first aniversery with me.

this is an update to my earlier review below. I just want to say that this guitar should definately have a coil tapped neck pick-up. also the frets are a little too tall from the factory. the gold on the bridge is wearing off already and I've been playing this guitar for less than a year! I still love the sound of this guitar even with the factory pick-ups...well,I'm considering replacing the neck pick-up or coil tapping it.I had to adjust the intonation (in my first review I mention the saddles buzzing...the intonation was off) and the pick-up height and bridge height to suit me. I paid $1095 for this guitar NEW and really I'm very happy with it overall. If you are looking for a gibson this is a great deal! its brighter then a regular LP and not quite as thick sounding...maybe a bit 'bitey-er'...perfect for my lead sound! its also lighter and the hollowed out chambers add to the sound character. this guitar looks great under stage lights,too! (mine's trans red) I rate it an 8 because of the things I mentioned above...I dont think I will ever find a 10 rated guitar.

Made in the USA in '97. 24 3/4" scale, 24-fret rosewood on mahogany set neck. Chambered mahogany body with AA (AAA?) flamed maple top. Finished in Transparent Amber polyurethane. Master Vol, Master Tone. Two humbuckers (originally Gibson factory pickups, replaced with Duncan '59 and JB). Passive electronics. Tune-O-Matic with stopbar, stock tuners, all gold hardware. GIbson hardshell case.

This guitar is great for rock, blues (though I still prefer my Strat for blues), jazz and even hymns at church. I play through a Line-6 Flextone for clean and a Marshall JCM 800 2204 for crunch. Generally the only effects I use are phaser, wah and chorus with a little reverb when necessary. It's got the classic Les Paul crunch, with better cleans due to the sound chamber in the body. The stock pickups sounded really muddy (which I feel is true of all Gibsons), so I swapped them. Now it sounds great. Ringing cleans, down and dirty crunch, gutsy overdriven blues, it'll do it all. Rating with new pickups: 10, rating with factory pickups, 8.

Quality was suprisingly good for an overpriced Gibson (that's why I won't buy them new). The only real flaw was that the fret-ends were pushing through the binding a little. You'd think Gibson would trim the tangs to prevent that. Oh, well. Bookmatched top is gorgeous, better than many AAAAA and PRS "10" tops I've seen. The lack of body binding is nice, mainly as that's one of the areas where Gibson quality is sketchy and it keeps the price down.

I gig this guitar about once a week. It's gotten a few dings and nicks, but the damage doesn't seem to be spreading. The fret ends have pushed through the neck binding in a few places, worse than when I bought it. The gold is wearing off the bridge and tailpiece where my hand rests on them. Replaced the strap buttons with Schaller strap locks. This is the only guitar I generally need (barring the need for a tremolo on certain songs). The only reason I use a back up is in case a string breaks.

No experience.

Basically, Gibsons are overpriced, and this is no exception. But getting it in pristine condition used for only $1000 was a good deal. It has some of the common Gibson quality issues (mostly with the neck binding) and the stock pickups are crap, but it's a highly versatile gutiar with great tone (when using Duncans). The neck feels great, the guitar is exceptionally light for a Les Paul (about 9-10 lbs, I think) due to the second cutaway and the body chamber. It's my favorite axe and would definitely get replaced immediately if lost. Rating is for stock configuration. With my setup, I give it an overall 9.5.

GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD PLUS AAA carved flame top. Mahogany body and neck. Of course the flame top is maple. 490,498 humbuckers, Tune-o-matic bridge stop tail, volume and tone control, 3 way selector switch. Also gold hardware, honeyburst finish. boundneck, trap. inlays. 24 frets, this ax has the 60 thin style neck. The mahogany body is hollowed out for weight reduction vs tone. Natural body binding. Gibson standard size frets, rosewood board 24th scale. Ax comes with Gibsons Deluxe hard shell case. Also Grover tuners.

Typical Les Paul sounds. Although a little more mid range honk. I play through Fender Twins, Devilles, and a Carvin Tweed Bel-Air 212.

I bought the ax from a pro musician used, the guitar wasn't liked and used maybe a dozen times. Set up is flawless, strings changed to 10s then re-set. Strap- locks added. No complaints, His misfortune is my treasure. No flaws, although I've seen them on Gibson from time to time none here.

This ax is made to play and play and play. Don't need a back-up, unless I'm looking for single coil, p-90s. Already has strap locks, what can I say here, its all here.

Gibson is a.o.k. with me. First DC was a studio. Had intonation problems with the stop-bridge. Gibson recommended a Leo Quan BADASS. A part not made by them. What could you say about these guys?

Now this is were it gets good. Like I said the first DC STUDIO was not quite right. 59 style neck made the ax neck heavy, Intonation problems, Bridge holes drilled off center. [watch this with Gibson] and truss-rod problems. With all this aside, when I played that ax next to my Les Paul Standard and Artist Hamer Custom. I perfered the sound of the DC. More MID-RANGE CREAMY SOUND. Like a vintage Paul. Now theres also one little trick I made a perferated control plate. [remember the ax is actually semi-hollow] to act like a F-Hole. Sound was good before, now its incredable. Of course I saved the original plate. You MUST keep GIBSONS ORIGINAL. Add the 60 neck to relieve neck weight problems. Trash the wrap around stop-bridge [garbage] Now this updated version of that old studio is just super. I feel like Gibson custom made the ax for me. OH ya I also wrote Gibson years ago and told them about the sound with the electronics control plate removed. Told the don't take my word for it TRY-IT, TRY-IT. You know what they came out with the es-336 a short time later. Basically a DC-PRO with F-HOLES. But don't listen to me, I only been playing since 66. One other thought......Put the 22fret neck on the ax. Better stability and less truss-rod adjustments. Oh ya put the 57 pick-ups in all your guitars.

Made in 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee. Body: double cut chambered mahogany with carved figured AAA maple top, trans amber finish. Neck: 1959 asymmetrical slim taper mahogany with 2 octave, 24 fret, single bound rosewood fretboard, pearloid trapezoid inlay. Scale: 24 ?. Nut: 1 11/16. Hardware: all gold, tune-o-matic bridge, stop bar tailpiece, grover tuners. Controls: volume, tone, 3-way switch. Pickups: 490R Alnico magnet humbucker at the neck, 498T ?Hot Alnico? magnet humbucker at the Bridge. 490R: coil offers ?57 classic tone with slight increase in the mids, special Alnico 2 magnet, neck spaced pole pieces, four conductor shield wiring. 498T: Alnico V magnet, specially wound coil offers higher output with emphasis on mids and highs, four conductor shield wiring. Strings: Les Paul Signature .009 - .046. Case: vinyl covered Gibson USA.

Right away, the classic Gibson humbucker tone is all here. After 6 months of playing, these are my opinions. Gibson has taken the 490R pickup and increased its mid-range response to offer a more contemporary tone based on classic ?57 tonal characteristics. Roll off the tone and you get that classic jazz sound. However, I find that as you roll the tone back toward the high end it doesn?t go far enough. To really offer a contemporary tone, I think Gibson should seriously consider offering a coil tap on this pickup or probably even come up with a 498R they can match to the 498T. That to me would be a big step toward helping this guitar become contemporary. The 498T pickup is basically a rock-oriented pickup offering higher output and emphasis on the mid- to high- end tone range. When combined with the neck pickup, it helps to offer tones the neck pickup can?t. But without separate tone and volume controls for each pickup it is not possible to dial in all the tones you want. Obviously, this is not the Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul. But it is a Les Paul and all the basic Les Paul tones are there. In all fairness to Gibson, I think for the money they are offering a good tone palette and this guitar indicates to me that this guitar-making behemoth is attempting to respond to contemporary player preferences.

This is the area where I think Gibson has really nailed it. Everything about this guitar reflects a commitment to quality. The binding on the neck melds with the frets as though they were a one-piece unit. The neck and fretboard are fast and consistent. The action is typical Gibson, soft and lively. The pickups are noiseless and reflect contemporary preferences. The set neck joint is solid and tight and offers good accessibility to the top end frets. The guitar is light, simple, and well balanced. If I have to comment on anything I must say it?s high time to adopt the lockable bridge and stop tailpiece. Everybody on all fronts has always complained about having to pick these up off the floor during string changes and routine maintenance. Not only can they get damaged, but having to handle these parts affects set-up. On the issue of set-up, the guitar really just needed to be tuned and it was very playable. It was set-up for .009s at the point of purchase. I changed to .010s with minimal set-up issues. One area where Gibson always gets itself into trouble is with the varying presentation quality of their figured maple tops. Even the AAA tops vary widely and the ones you see in the hands of collectors never seem to find their way to the market place. If collectibility is something you are thinking about, exercise extreme scrutiny. As far as my top goes, I couldn?t give a rat?s ass. It?s figured, it?s flamed, there is lots of grain, and it has personality. More importantly, it fits the guitar and looks like a quality job. PS ? If you want your Gibson to appreciate in value, baby it and don?t change anything - keep it stock!!!

Like most guitars out there, Gibsons can fall victim to all of the pitfalls any player might encounter. I am quite certain that this guitar would be stolen long before it ever broke down. The gold hardware will wear faster than any other material you can make hardware with. Strap locks are almost never included with stock guitars including Gibson. Gigging without a backup is a personal choice. If you could do it with any guitar, you could do it with this one.

Never had any reason to complain about Gibson customer service. My experience to date has been 24 hour response.

The Les Paul is one of the most successful guitars on the face of this planet. The double cut has been around for a while in various forms. This particular form appeared in the mid-90?s and has done very well. So much so, they reintroduced it for 2001 after having discontinued it in 1999. As to how collectible this guitar will be, only time will tell (so far, not very from what I can see). The buzz about this guitar seems to be that it is a PRS-beater. In terms of material, craftsmanship, and price I think Gibson is all over PRS. However, in terms of tone and general aesthetic I think most contemporary players would still probably choose PRS. That is because PRS has a sheen to its tone that this guitar does not have and, apart from that set neck from hell, the PRS still looks better (or should I say more contemporary). I personally prefer this instrument to PRS. Then again, I don?t consider myself a contemporary player. I consider myself a rock guitarist, but I come at it from the traditional styles of jazz, blues, and r&b, etc. That is probably why I feel perfectly at home with this guitar in hand. Considering where I come from musically, everything about this guitar is familiar. If it were lost or stolen, I would have to think twice about replacing it. If money were no object, I would probably approach a luthier about a custom job. I would love to see Gibson throw the guts from the Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul into this guitar. I think they would really have something if they did that. But, in all fairness to Gibson, they are a big fish in a small pond and it is easy to take a shot at them. As mentioned before, I think this guitar indicates that Gibson is willing to consider contemporary player preferences. But, they also could do a lot more to contemporize this instrument. Perhaps the legacy of the Les Paul only allows them to move so far, so fast. If you are a vintage Les Paul snob, it will pain you to hear that the clowns at the Kalamazoo plant didn?t now quality tone wood from firewood and often built those old guitars from whatever was on the woodpile. Rest assured, the new Gibsons might not be as collectible, but they are much better tonally and this guitar is no exception. Why pay more?!?

2001,made in nashville tenn usa,24 frets,carved aaa flame maple top,1 vol 1 tone 1 toggle,2 humbuckers:490r alnico neck,498t 'hot alnico' bridge, transparent red,slightly thinner body but basic les paul shape with 2 cutaways instead of usual 1,tune-o-matic bridge,grover tuners,gold hardware,24 3/4' scale,nice looking case with satiny inner cover sheet(case is vinyl covered and will probably loose it's looks quick with regular gigging)
could have better tuners

suits my style perfectly! I use a digitech rp2000 straight into our pa board. guitar is not noisy at all. the bridge pickup gives the greatest lead sound i've had from any guitar!(but that's just me!) not a super versatile sounding guitar...coil tapping the neck pick-up would help...but that would probably void the warrenty

set-up was not too bad...I'm still adjusting it to suit me.the only thing is the saddles buzz a little on certain notes...I'm still messing with it.

gold hardware supposedly wears out quick...had to install strap locks...finish should last...i rarely gig w/out a back up

dont know

20+ YEARS i also play a jap charvel/jackson if it were lost or stolen i'd want another one has a great look and feel and sounds terrific!! i did my homework before ordering this guitar...compared to les paul standard and lp classic. for the money i don't see how you can beat this guitar!

2001 US made, 24 Frets (very cool, most gibsons are only 22), 1 tone, 1 volume, AAA Flame top which is absolutely beautiful, the finish is midnight burst which is an exclusive from MARS, nickel hardware, Grover tuners as opposed to the normal Gibson plastic things, 59' style neck, came with the usual Gibson Case, its your standard Gibson stripped to the bare nessecities, its everything I need and nothing I dont

What can I say, classic Gibson tone, its great, the tone chambers at so much depth to this thing and are the reason that this baby can still sound like a les paul standard yet weigh about half as much, the humbuckers are extemely versitile and play both clean and distorted very well. I play variety of muscial styles and this thing has gone through all of em very well, from classic rock, to crystal clear clean playing, to all out distorted punk and metal, this thing can do it, I play through a GT-3 guitar processor which helps a lot and I play through a Crate GFX 65, the amp is ok, but when I plugged this baby in, everything instantly sounded better than before, it was awesome, I have been playing a yamaha tele copy, and this this had much higher output (humbuckers obviously help over tele singles), better sustain, better lows while still keeping the brightness in the bridge, the sounds are very tweekable with my processor and the variety is endless, this guitar does not have everything, I eventually want to put some black saddle peizo pickups in it, and put some seymour duncans in (not to say the stock gibsons sound bad, that is just a personal preferance), but for now, this baby is sweet

Factory set up was acceptable, I changed the strings to tens strait out of the box, and therefor had to do some truss rod adjustments and things of the sort, the intonation was not bad at all and required minimal tweeking, the pickups were a little high for my liking so I lowered them, once again at no fault of Gibsons, just a personal thing. The finish was beautiful, it contained a couple very minor flaws, but nothing noticable if you are over 3 feet away, the G string goes out of tune when bent, this is a problem that will have to be fixed and one I am not very pleased with, but all and all the guitar was good from the factory and it could have been much worse so Im not complaining to much

This guitar feels very solid and seems like it should last a long time, however only time will tell, I have heard stories about the fragile gibson headstocks and I will watch out for that, the finish isnt going anywhere, one thing I do not like about this guitar is the strap buttons, they are very small and seem very unreliable so strap locks are the next thing on my list, it seems very dependable, its a gibson, enough said. Anyone who would gig without a back up better have mad string changing skills and a few other packs with em, I prefer to always have a backup

OK, here is where I have a little problem with gibson. I ordered this guitar from mars after (to my great dismay) the one in the store had a ding in it. Since the guitar is exclusive to Mars, they only stock one at a time and had to order one from the company which is no problem, I was expecting to order it anyway. After a whole month of mixed up orders, misscommunication, and hard work, the dude at mars finally got it in, needless to say I was less than pleased with gibsons effort to get my guitar to me, however the people at mars were very helpfull and gave me an assload of free stuff, including a free set up and a few midifacations I wanted, so I am greatful to them, but once again very dissapointed in Gibson

I have been playing for about 5 years, I have never owned a guitar of this quality before and feel very lucky to have one. This is in my opinion the best deal that gibson has to offer. If it were stolen I would beat the hell out of the guy and then cry becuase I dont have enough money to get another one, my favorite feature on this guitar is the finish, it doesnt get any more beautiful that this, the color on top of the flames is gorgeous, the best looking guitar I have seen in a long time, I also prefer the double cut to the single, but until now they just havnt had a double cut of this quality, yay gibson finally got smart and wanted to work on the PRS market for a while, good choice! I compared this to many other les pauls in the store and this one had the most "life" to it, the others sounded somewhat sterile and when played unplugged, just didnt have that resonance and vibration that this one had. I wish the pickups were exposed coil, but that will be taken care of in my free set up, and I wish that Gibson would put a coil tap in there guitars, if I had all that and a peizo system on this baby I would be in heaven, but all and all this guitar rocks and I will cherish it for a long time to come

2001 100% kickass American axe!!! Just got it today. Trans Red, AAA top, gold hardware, VERY light. 2 hums (Alnico 2 490R, and Alnico 5 498T), 1 volume, 1 tone, Grovers.
Just what is needed, nothing more, nothing less. Perfect.

I play rock, blues, punk, ska, and a little metal. My main influences are Ben Harper, Aerosmith, Satriani, Hendrix and the Beatles. I play straight through a Marshall VS30R (soon to be upgraded). This guitar sounds very, VERY good. Very full sound, twice as thick as my old guitar. Not much variety, but what it does, it does well. Great distorted sound, great clean sound, and that's it. Just a little too bright on the bridge pickup with no distortion. Otherwise excellent.

Very well set up and everything, just not in tune at all. Nice craftsmanship, nothing like any of the horror stories I've heard about Gibson's new stuff. Beautiful wood and finish.

Seems durable, and reliable. I can depend on it as long as I get some straplocks. The stock ones are tiny.

I had to call Gibson once for a small question and they were very helpful. I had absolutely no problems with them at all. Great warranty.

I've been playing 7 years, and I'm only 16, so that's almost half my life. I've had many guitars, and right now I also own 2 Epiphones(PR200, and LP Special 2), a Gremlin, and a Washburn MG44 (yuck!). It was about time for a real guitar. If it was stolen I would probably go insane. I love everything about it, just a beautiful utilitarian guitar.

* 2001, US made (naturally!)
* Carved AAA quilted maple top, mahogany back
* Translucent Red ("oxblood?")
* 24-fret, 24 3/4" scale,
* '59 slim-taper neck, single-bound rosewood fingerboard w/
trapezoid inlays
* 490R and 498T Alnico mag humbuckers
* Gold hardware w/ Grover tuners
* 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way p/u selector

This guitar is all that I expected from something bearing the Les Paul signature! Brighter than a single cut, but still very full, due I suppose to the chambered body. Warm clear sound on clean channel and really delivers that classic LP voice when driven. Not quite as versatile as those single cut behemoths (only 1 each vol and tone knobs), but still able to get an excellent variety of sounds, and what great tone! It does everything I'd hoped for and more.

This thing was brand new out-of-the-box, and had just been put on the "wall" at Mars. I was quite surprised to find the factory set-up to be very adequate, however Mars offered a free set-up and I think I'll take them up on it and have the action lowered just a tad. Intonation and playability absolutely first-rate. The finish was absolutely perfect and I went over it like Sherlock Holmes. I had read of some bad experiences about LP quality, but I'm telling you this guitar was flawless. Perfectly bookmatched top and a quilted translucent finish that knocked my eyes out. I love that long scale neck and the way it screams at the extreme upper frets. It is a bit neck-heavy (no big deal to me) yet very light weight overall. Sleek and smooth, slim taper handle, silky binding and action like squeezing butter. But then again, I'm a heavy gauge Strat veteran and I've been used to mauling the fretboard so I've had to de-program myself into that "light finger" requirement for playing a Paul. As good as any PRS I've played or seen. This beauty is winning me over big-time!

I've read of the fragile headstocks on LPs, so I'll be extra careful. It seems to be durable enough to me - time will tell. I do know that I could bust rocks with my American Strat, though.

Never had to deal with Gibson and hope I never have to. Mars has an excellent staff of luthiers and I've had nothing but great experiences dealing with them.

I've been playing for over 32 years and have owned a small variety of acoustics and electrics, including a Silvertone (my first), Kay, Guild, Takamine, and Fender. My current amp is a 40W Fender HR Deluxe upgraded with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Perhaps a Marshall or a Mesa is in the future but this old fart is quite happy for now, as I haven't gigged in years. This is my first Gibson and the only thing I regret is that I waited so long to get one.