Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus

2001 Honeyburst Les Paul Standard Plus. This guitar is a beautiful example of a Les Paul for someone that wants a great Paul but doesn't want to plop down $5000. I just received it from Musician's Friend four days ago, but I've put in a solid 12 hours playing it. The "Plus" has a AA maple top that is just right for my taste. This guitar is a gordeous Honeyburst that screams Jimmy Page. Depending on the light and the angle the guitar takes on several personalities which is very cool. By checking the serial number I discovered that it was only three weeks old when I received it! Other guitars that I own include a '62 Reissue USA Burst Strat, Danelectro DC-3, '82 Gretsch Beast and a Fender Mex Tele. This fills a void in my arsenal and does so very well. By the way...This Sonofabitch weighs 11 pounds!!

The stock pickups are fairly balanced. I have to admit that I have a Dimarzio Pro-Track in the neck position of my Strat that sounds more like a Les Paul than this Les Paul does. If you like a guitar that is very versatile this is it. The bridge pickup almost has the bite of a P-90. But that was only after I installed a set of 10-48 Nickel Rockers. Both pickups give just enough Umph to do Slash, Angus, Jimmy, Joe, Tracii, Keith but stay articulate enough to do some Chet.

Since I got this from Musician's Friend I did not have the luxury of a quality set-up. But the factory actually did a very good job. The guitar actually came strung correctly (they used the technique of locking the string on the tuner with a little bend). The nut is slightly high, I may have that filed down at somepoint. The pickups were both adjusted to have the same volume which is rare. The string height is slightly high. The intonation was dead on! The binding and inlays are done superbly as is the headstock. The lacquer finish is sticky on the back of the neck, but that should improve with time. Overall the guitar looks amazing. Whoever packed this guitar actually gave a Rat's Ass. It had no finger prints and there were little tufts of polishing cloth on the strings... Ahhh how sweet For a new Gibson I am rating this very high. It really does deserve it.

This guitar should be able to stand up to live playing very easily. I'll have to play it a while and see if it chews up strings. It does stay in tune very well. Straplocks are going to be slapped on this thing very quickly (before I drop it on my toe and get a nasty black nail) The chrome hardware should last many years. I think I'll resist the urge to install Nickel parts on it though.

I think Gibson is on a quality control kick. It seems like the guitars from just a year ago weren't put together as nice as the current models. If their customer support is as good as the quality control they should be fine.

If you have ever owned a guitar that you have instantly bonded with you probably know how I feel about my Les Paul. It doesn't have that "Looks nice but plays like Shit" thing happening. It plays as good as it looks. 2001 is a good year for Gibson. If you are thinking of getting one, do it now before they go to Hell-in-a- handbasket again.

This is 1995 model with a AA grade heritage cherry finish, paid about 1500US$ for it, money well spent. Came with brown Gibson hard case, tags etc. Original pickups are 400R and 480T Alnico 2 h/bs, since changed to Seymour Duncan Vintage 59s.
The neck is thicker (but not much) than a 1960 style found on the Classic series.

This guitar is good for all styles of music and is very quiet in operation - no pickup buzz here folks. I use it thru a Marshall JCM800 50 watt head model 2205 with a 2 x 12 in Celestion box and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watt amp. The original pickups worked fine thru the Marshall distortion channel, the treble pickup being perfect when driven hard.It has great crunch, sustain and not too trebly, pretty hard to beat this sound. The Marshall clean channel doesnt work with this guitar at all but was fine with a strat! FOr instance, you cant clean the sound up in the clean channel by backing the guitar volume off, pretty annoying.
The Fender amp didnt work so well with this guitar - the first thing you notice is that the rythum pickup lost all its bass definition in the clean channel- it went all mushy, not pleasant at all. Changed the pickup height at first which solved this problem but curiousity prevailed ..
SO, I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncan 59s which gave a mellower clean sound and the rythum p/u sounding beautiful with distortion from a Zoom 505! Classic singing PAF sound here, no complaints at all. The treble SD 59 p/u whilst very good, does not have the grunt of the original 480T Gibson pickup. I may change to a Seymour JB p/u soon as it is claimed to have more bite, although some say too trebly!

The neck is a pure joy to play, maybe the 1960 style is better but I cant really comment much on that. It is not too chunky like a '59, somewhere in between for sure. Personally, I like the shorter Gibson scale length over the longer Fender one for the simple reason that there is less string tension - that is fact! This means that even .10 guage E strings are much easier to bend even for those Hendrix 2nd fret bends! You will notice how much harder it is to do this on the longer scale, given the same tuning and string guage, if you swap. If I were Gibson, I would make a big deal about this as it means much less work for the guitarist. In fact, I really cant take to playing a Fender nowadays.
The action was as low as you could get at first although thru lots of playing (home use)I have had to raise it due to fret wear, to get rid of fret buzz. My only complaint so far but this happens to any guitar. I guess its time to get the frets levelled, which means lowered in height, hence the whole feel changes..ah well, or perhaps a total re-fret, like new again. The fret buzz definitely affects sustain as well, some notes dont exactly hold for as long as they should a-la Gary Moore live, bummer!

The AA grade top had one birds-eye knot in it which might upset a few folks but I prefer to refer to this as her 'beauty spot' and it makes for unique ID anyway, if the unthinkable should happen. The hardware is all stainless steel, so there is not a hint of tarnish after 6 years. Unlike the Classic series with the nickel hardware which tarnishes immediately - bear this in mind if choosing here.

The finish on this guitar is the best around. I use Gibson polish which brings it up like new each time and I put plenty on the armrest area as this is the first place to really wear (look at the photos of original 59-60 examples)- but it is still like new.
Unlike other guys, I have not ever broken a tring on this but I use .10 guage and up, not those thin .9 things which I suspect will break easier .
ALl over solid axe, better value than the historic re-issues by a mile. Mine weighs in at 8 1/4 pounds , not too heavy at all.

never bothered

Nothing to add here, only a die-hard Fender guy would bitch about this guitar. Probably doesnt suit country sounds but then they can ride their Teles with matching boots for that stuff..

I wish it had the flying-saucer knobs like the Classic series as they are easier to get your hands on. And the pickguard should really be on to protect those lovely flames(I didnt mention that the flame is really impressive and that you can spend long periods just admiring the top, did I?)Sounds and looks a million bucks.

My 1999 LP Standard Plus has everything a Les Paul has, except it has no pickgaurd.

Not as bluesy as I would like. Treble is too tinny.

Everything was great. The finish is vintage sunburst. It is amazing looking

This guitar stays in tune for days. The knobs on other guitars crackle when you turn them. The sound on some may even konk out if you turn them too much. Not these, they will last forever.

Everything is perfect but the sound. Its a little weak. I expected more for such a famous guitar

It's a rather new guitar with all the les paul settings: 3-way switch, two volumecontrols, two tonecontrols, single cutaway etc.
with a beatyfull boby: brown combinated with black!

I use my guitar with a Fender Performer 1000 and a Fox amplifier.
I personally really like the distortion sound on the Fender amp. and the clean sound on the Fox amp.
The distortion on the Fender amp. is really great, from the treble solo sound till the full Rock sound! absolutely great!!
The clean sound on the Fox amp is extremely warm and full. wonderfull!!

The only thing I had to do when I bought the guitar is to let lower and higher the strings and bend the neck a little because my strings were sometimes touching the wrong frets while playing. (this of course a big mistake of the Gibson-factory).
But besides that I have really no complains about this guitar, it,s a fantastic instrument.

I think this guitar will last for my lifetime. It looks really solid and the finish doesn't seem to be willing to let go.
All the hardware seems verry strong to mee too.
Technically I would use it on a gig without backup.
The only reason I don't is that the strings break very easily on this guitar.

I have never had any real problems with this guitar that I couldn't solve myself, so I don't know how the customer service at Gibson is, but Gibson seems very reliable to me.

It is really a great guitar, and I will keep it for all my life.
I have been playing on some other guitars too, bt there was only one of them wich could keep up with this one; a les paul in the same price-catagory.
just great.

this guitar was made in 1999 .i had to get it from the custom shop because when i looked around for one everyone told me they were discontinued.its got 22 frets and a kick ass flame top.its got a 3 way switch,two humbuckers and two volume and tone controls.it has a really cool looking heritige cherry sunburst finish. i asked them to finish it like a 59 because i hate when the cherry sunburst finish is solid red on the outside and bright yellow in the center.so its got red on the outside and an orange-ish color in the center.the reason i didnt give the features any ratings is because its a les paul,theres really nothing fancy to it as far as features go.its basicly a stripped down rock n roll guitar.

i play hard rock (led zep,rolling stones,aerosmith,guns n roses)and it suits my needs very well. i use a marshall 100 watt dsl head and a marshall 300 watt angled cab with no effects except for a dunlop crybaby wah.i put alinco II pro humbuckers in it and it has a very powerful sound .i can get really good vintage tones as well as really kick ass hard rock tone out of this guitar.the neck position has a really creamy bluesy sound to it which is good because i play the blues too. i also play punk (the ramones,sex pistols,fear) and the bridge pickup is really good for the rock and punk music.i honestly found my dream tone.

the guitar wasnt set up that good when i got it.the strings were really high. and the pickups sounded awesome but i wanted to try something different so thats why i changed them to the duncan alinco II pros.the top is about a 3 AAA and it is perfectly bookmatched . nothing was wrong with the guitar at all when i got it,except for the high action but i got that fixed when i changed the pickups.

this is a gibson les paul , it is the panzer fuckin tank of rock n roll guitars. this is really a solid guitar.i wouldnt gig with it without a backup simply because i would be fucked if i broke a string.

i dont know ,i never dealt with gibson .although they were nice enough to help me out with my order while they were at namm 99.

ive only been playing for about 4 years.i own a gibson les paul studio and it has held up like a les paul should.i also own a usa made bc rich warlock whs deluxe and a customized bich.i love all my guitars but this one is my main guitar and i think it will be for as long as i keep playing.i havent found any brand of guitar that can beat the sound of this baby.a lot of kids my age are into the cookie cutter ibanez guitars tuned down to A# or whatever and need a bazillion digital effects and amps.im only 17 and i know nothing beats a les paul through a marshall.ive tried prs guitars,strats,teles and although some were ok the only guitars that i could find that were up to gibsons were bc rich guitars ,other than those i think everything else pretty much sucks.

For starters this model is discontinued Slash from Guns & Roses was especially fond of these guitars.This particular guitar was ordered from the custom shop in 1996. Reason being Loved the feel of the newer Les Paul Standard's but wanted a killer Flame Top AAAAA like the once on the 59 Les Pauls Standards he suggested a 59 Ressiue.So I tried one not impressed then he suggested a Standard PLUS with a custom flame AAAAA and all vintage hardware and parts. 9 months later my dream guitar arrives home only having to make one final adjustment (Seymour Duncan JB) in the bridge perfection.Back to the features 3-way pickup selector 4 control knobs 2 volume 2 tone nice and easy that way I like it.I'll give this a 10 plus for the simplicity

Sound (BIG,FAT,AND JUICY) monster tone remember I added the Seymour Duncan JB.What styles of music do I play almost anything goes but mostly modern and classic rock.This guitar is extremely versatile Amplifier I use most commonly with this guitar is of course a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Head & two 4x12 cabs absolutely incredible sounding once again a 10 plus

Set up good but not perfect just a little tweeking was necessary finish not perfect either but as far as book matched flame goes definitely a 10 plus the particular top on this guitar is much better than half of the 59 Reissues I've seen very happy with my AAAAA KILLER TOP

Reliability are you kidding me IT'S A GIBSON LES PAUL my great great grand kids will be enjoying this guitar.But I plan on installing some strap locks just for safe measure IM a semi professional musician playing out very often

Extremely helpful web page is always up to date and the new FORM is incredible they answer every question you to ask them

I have been playing for a little over 17 years semi professional and last 10.Ihave either owned or played every guitar on the market I was hooked on Les Paul's a few years back then I discovered PRS Guitar's.I sold off all my Les Paul's and started collecting PRS's but started really missing my LP's so I got this one and this one is not going nowhere.I still love my PRS's but this LP is my main guitar I would strongly suggest trying to find one of th(Les Paul Standard PLUS's) thatese babies our no longer produced but keep checking you never know you might just get lucky

A very happy LP Standard PLUS customer!

1996 Les Paul Standard Plus. The flame on the top is perfect. It seems to be mor of a AAA top than the newer models' AA tops. Thhhis one also came with a pickguard, which the newer model ones don't have. The pickguard gives it more of a vintage look. Standard Les Paul all the way...two humbuckers, tunomatic bridge, stop tail piece, Gibson tuners, 24 3/4" scale (a much faster neck than on my Fender Strat), and three way togle switch. The rating is an 8 on features because it's a plain straight forward electric guitar. No active pickups or floyd, etc. but that's what you want with a Les Paul isn't it?

Sound quality is great. Nice clean sound...chime like on the rhythm pickup and bright and snappy on the treble. With a Boss HM2, sounds great, with a Zoom 505 sounds better, throught the distortion on a 100 watt Crate with stereo chorus it's great. Nice thick smooth sound, fits my style fine (anywhere from old John Cougar to Guns and Roses to Stevie Ray. It's sound is much more versitile than people will admit to, especially with my Zoom.

Considering the price of the guitar and the reputation of Gibson making quality instruments, I was a little disappointed with the finish. The sunburst is flawless, one of the best I've seen, the laquer however is not as smooth on the top as I thought it should be. There is also a thin spot in the laquer on the inside of the cutaway, and there was the "orange-peel" ripple on the headstock laquer. A little roughness in the grain of fretboard where one of the frets was put in. Looks like the slot for the fret may have been cut with a dull blade. The set up was O.K. I lowered the action a bit (I would have liked to gone down a bit lower, but I started getting fret buzz) I also lowered the tailpiece all the way down. I believe that Lisa Sharken from "Guitar Gear" Mag said this would increase sustain more. Again bueatiful bookmatched flame top, perfect sunburst.

This guitar is built to rock and roll. The weight feels good. I played it pretty hard in a hot, hot, hot room for about three hours and it polished up nice and new looking when I was through. The last Les Paul I had seemed to have a very durable finish on both the wood and the hardware. It has the smallest strap buttons that I have seen in a while, it didn't matter though because I replaced them with some good quaity strap looks.

Never used it.

I make my living teaching music and I play professionally from time to time. I've been playing guitar for 21 years. I started with a Les Paul Copy in the 70's switched to a Fender HM Strat with heavy metal distortion in the 80's (hey if you were there, then you understand!) swithched back to the Les Pauls in the 90's. Because I teach, I get the opportunity to play a lot of different brands and styles of guitars (my students') I like Fender Strats and the Ibanez Generic Strat guitars, but I really love this Gibson. It just feels smoother and the sound is like silk, clean or distorted. It also has a very fast neck. I don't know what people are talking about when they say it has a "clubby" feel. It's the best feeling and playing electric guitar I've had. Even with the let-downs in the finish department, I feel that the guitar is worth the money I paid for it. 10's all the way!