Gibson Les Paul Traditional

It's black and it is heavy, so this is anything a Les Paul needs!
It has a nice Fat Neck.

Nice clean Sound, smooth, clear and punchy.
Smooth bluesy neck pickup and a bit more power on the bridge, fits perfect.
Perfect crunch rock sound. Fat and with balls.
Typical classic Les Paul Sounds.

I love the Classic '57 and '57-Plus pickups.

Perfect Factory Set up.
No buzz on the frets (PLEK System), no dead spots.
No negative points.

A Les Paul is a Les Paul, is a Les Paul.....

Don't know,!

I play since 1977.
It's my first Les Paul and i love it.
I compared different Les Pauls (Standard 2008, CS 57 Custom, Classic) and it won.

MADE IN 2008, USA. 22 FRET MAHOG BODY(WEIGHT RELEIVED, NOT CHAMBERED) LES PAUL, AA MAPLE TOP.

EBONY WITH CREAM COLOR PICKGAURD AND BINDING. '57 CLASSIC NECK AND '57 CLASSIC PLUS BRIDGE PICKUPS. ROSEWODD NECK OF COURSE. KLUSON TUNERS. GIBSON/USA LES PAUL CASE (VERY NICE).

This guitar has that Classic, Vintage Les Paul Rock tone that I have always been searching for, BUT COULD NEVER AFFORD.

I love any style of music that has a soulful, emotional vibes about it... from Carlton, Bonamassa, Beck and Johnson to Metheny, Page... and Any other Guitar God that ever lived. This guitar is good for anything that you want to use it for... but mostly, a ROCK and BLUES MACHINE.

The '57 Pickups are the Sweetest if ever experinced.

Main Amp is a Crate VTX 212 50 watt Tube and Marshall JCM 600.

Effects: Boss ME-50.

Incredibly Versitile, especially for a Les Paul. The volume and tone knobs are highly sensitive, as are the pickups to the player's touch. VINTAGE tone all the Way!

Amazingly playable. Unbelievable tone.

Just needed to drop the bridge some and also lower the bridge pickup. Took 3 or 4 minutes to get it where I wanted it. Did not affect the intonation. Got very low action and Great sound with Zero buzz and Zero dead notes.

A little Disappointed in the finsh (even though it is Ebony). Paint around the neck and body joint caught some air... But It's not really noticible unless you hold the guitar 6 or 7 inches from your face.

Not willing to risk a great sounding and playing guitar for a minor cosmetic imperfection.

Les Pauls live forever... even the crappy ones. Got a lifetime "Gibson Gold" warranty included with the purchase price from AMS.

no need de custmomer supporters.............

32 yrs of playing and hands on Hundreds of guitars. This is "The Paul" that I've been looking for since day One.

Now that I finally found it, I definitely couldn'y live without it.

The neck is just right for my medium sized hands... and it's NOT TOO Heavy, feels like a Les Paul. Just right (ABOUT 10LBS).

Buy it from AMS at no risk (if your looking for a Great Paul that won't bust up your checking account.

They have a 45 day return policy that can't be beat.

The Traditional is one of the new LP models, introduced in 2008. Practically it's the conservative version of the old 80s LP Standard. The new Standard 08 got a few different features which shall be discussed elsewhere.

Now, I will not tell you that this LP's got a mahogany body and such, 'cause... well, go look it up! There are a few noticable things though: first there's the nice and thick 50s neck. My pretty was gifted with a very shiny Desert Burst finish, in my opinion the grandest variant of the sunbursts. Then there's the pickups: '57 humbuckers. The neckpiece is traditional and quite stylish.

And make no mistake: this thing is heavy. No chambers.

Of course you get a case.

Ah, now here come the good news. This is the best sounding LP I've ever played. I guess that the '57 pickups are at least partly responsible for that. My rig: LP - TC Vintage Compressor - H&K Replex - H&K Duotone.

In a clean setting the tone's incredibly complex, smooth and harmonious. The bridge pickup is rather bright but not as unnerving as the Burstbucker Pro. The neck pickup, now here's the music. Warm, oily, sweet and gigantic. Especially the deep strings demonstrate a tone and attack that I'd call magical. Could play like that for hours.

In an overdriven channel the bridge pick is the king of rock. Very punchy and full of charakter. The neck pick is good for blues and the like. Sings like a soul woman. If you like a cold, clean cut tone for heavy distortion, you might have a problem. 'Cause that's everything this guitar is not.

I play straight Rock mostly, a little blues and jazz. What can I say. This guitar has become my second voice. And probably the love of my life.

The factory setting could be better. Plek'd or non-Plek'd, I didn't notive any improvement. I had the guitar tuned by specialist and it works ok now. But not brilliant.
The frets are not well filed. Which is the usual problem with Gibson guitars.

The rest is all neat. And the finish is simply stunning.

Looks all solid to me. Made for the road. I've had for five weeks now. We'll see I guess.

No experience yet.

There are a G&L Legacy, a Hamer Special and an Epiphone LP Studio that I call my own. But this one is my princess. It is the most beautiful guitar I've ever laid eyes upon and sounds like a dream.

Before I bought it I compared it to seven other LPs, among them the new 08 Standard, a Studio, a 50s Reissue, a Custom etc. The Traditional beat them all easily. It's a matter of taste of couse. The guy who sold it to me prefered the new Standard.

Should I lose this baby, I'd go to the ends of the known world to retrieve it.

2008 Gibson Les Paul Traditional Plus (flamed maple top) in Iced Tea (perimeter burst pattern). Constructed in July at the Nashville, TN plant. Solid body (weight-relieved), about 9.75 to 10.0 lbs. 57 Classic neck, 57 Classic Plus bridge pickups, 22 Frets, bookmatched AA maple top, rosewood fretboard w. acrylic swirl trapezoid inlays. The standard appointments of an oldchool Gibson LP Standard. Tone Pros repro Kluson Tuners w. acrylic swirl tuner buttons & a Nashville TOM bridge. All normal case candy w. the new standard Gibson "snakeskin" Gibson USA Les Paul Case.

I bought this guitar for the 'traditional' Les Paul tone: big, fat, woody, and vocal. And this guitar definitely delivers. Maybe not as much as a Historic Reissue or a vintage piece but compared to pretty much all the current production LPs, this one remains a winner. I play this guitar through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Roadster head with a 3/4 stack (212 V30s + 412 C90s) and an Orange Tiny Terror head (through the same 212 cabinet).

The guitar has a very earthy, round tone, clear highs, and a very warm and vocal midrange, the way a Les Paul should. The neck pickup is a little on the muddy side with the stock capacitors & pots, but those will be changed out for an RS Guitarworks custom electronics harness anyways to clear up the sound a little. Very nice neck pickup lead sounds that are very reminiscent of some of my favorite songs. The bridge pickup is surprisingly versatile and raunchy, edgy, and has tons of balls. Strangely enough it has a very solid metal as well as blues tone, and I discovered that the best cleans come from the middle position. The tone and volume controls are responsive enough for factory-stock electronics.

Overall, this guitar has some great resonance (I handpicked it from several other very good examples) and sustain. With a nice cranked up tube amp, it has sustain that would make Nigel Tufnel proud. I prefer the sound a lot better than the other, chambered Les Pauls currently in production. Weight-relieved LPs sound so much better.

The Traditional gets a PLEK machine job (along with the obnoxious PLEK'D decal on the bridge pickup, easy enough to remove, thankfully) for the fret dressing/finishing and nut slotting. As is pretty typical of Gibson, the nut is not ideally cut but it's better than I normally expect of them. Passable. Some graphite in the nut slots solved any interim tuning/nut binding issues. It'll be getting a new, custom bone nut anyhow, so I really don't care. The factory setup was decent; no buzz but the action was too high for my taste past the 12th fret. No adjustment needed at the truss rod, however.

The finish is great, a nice, (smelly) nitrocellulose Iced Tea perimeter burst (as opposed to teardrop) finish over an average, if somewhat uneven, flamed maple bookmatched top. I've seen better-looking traditionals, but I can deal with owning a Plain Jane. It's a player guitar, not a show piece for me. In the right light though, the top really pops.

Better than average fit, finish, & factory setup from Gibson, but definitely below my other favorite, PRS.

Les Pauls are tanks. These guitars are designed with the gigging, professional musician in mind. There are LPs that are older than many a musician I know that are still out there, used and abused, ready to take the stage.

A main complaint I have with Gibson LPs are their strapbuttons--too small, almost always demanding of a straplock replacement. But, I have a cheap and easy solution to that which doesn't require glue & toothpicks: the rubber gaskets off of bottles of Grolsch beer.

This is one of two main guitars in my arsenal. The other is a PRS Custom 24. I don't think this guitar will ever fail me (short of popping a string, which is inevitable, see Murphy's Law) but I never gig without a backup.

Once a LP is properly set up, it's pretty damn hard to find a fault with it.

I've never dealt with Gibson, nor do I need to. I registered the guitar's warranty online but that's about it. All other guitar-related service is delegated to my techs & luthiers.

If this were stolen or lost, and I had the same exact amount of cash to replace it, I'd buy it all over again. Excellent guitar. But more likely I'd find some way to get a Historic.

I grew up wanting a Les Paul, and though this is not my first 'expensive' guitar, it definitely feels the most unreal to own. It's comfortable, awesome-sounding, and just has tons of vibe.

Hands-down this is the best non-Custom Shop guitar that Gibson is currently making in the Les Paul line. I compared it with the full range of available Gibson USA Les Pauls and it won easily.

2008 Gibson Les Paul Traditional, Left Hand, heritage cherry, 22 frets, obviously (as every respectable Les Paul) mahogany body with AA flame top.
The usual controls (2 volumes and 2 tones, both controlling the 2 different pickups), a 3 ways selector, 2 Gibson Classic '57 pickups, Kluson tuners, Tune-O-Matic bridge, rosewood neck and a nice hard case included.
Frets are mounted with PLEK system (I hope I wrote it correctly!) which should mean they are sitting perfectly right on the neck.
The guitar came with a certificate of authenticity and with another paper from Gibson Europe certifying the local inspection of the instrument. Everything was fine except for a few details I'll tell about later.

atocaBeing left hand I pursue a personal policy: own few but really good guitars (in terms of quality and name).
I own an American ST Fender Stratocaster and an Ibanez RG1570L.
Both guitars have a very distinctive sound and a very different role in the making of my performances/music.
This Les Paul is obviously a 1th division instrument: it solid like a rock, nice like Miss Italy and sings like an angel (with or without distortion).
The overall sound is a bit more brighter than how I would expected.
Both cleans and distortions sound superb through my Engl Screamer Combo.
The Neck pickup is a bit "hollow" (it's not a lack of something), it reminds me a lot something between a SD '59 and a Dimarzio Air Norton while the bridge is perfect for tight rhytms and rude solos.
I think you could use it for almost everything.
Obviously a fixed bridge has a different reaction from a spring-mounting one, affecting the sound very hard. But we wouldn't be here writing about a Les Paul if it would have sounded like a strat!

The guitar had a good setup. maybe just the pickups were a bit too high.
I brought it to my personal luthier and we didn't have to change anything on it.
After buying it I immediately changed the strings from 0.10 to 0.11 without noticing any reaction from the neck.
Action seems to be fine at every height but I'm still locking for a personal regulation (I'm just experimenting).
Luckly there where no flaws on the body and the top's color is beautiful!
I had some problems with the jack input that was not fixed well on the body (it needs to thightneed from time to time).
The guitar stays in tune very good and the tuners work really fine.

I changed the strap buttons with DiMarzio's (I had a black strap that I had put apart as a kind of a present for the LP when I ordered it).
I've also found a different reactions to my sweat.
On the stratocaster I can play all night long without any problem.
LP needs to be cleaned from time to time as the sweat slows donw m performances.
This is nothing you can't solve by using a cloth to clean the back of the neck during the space between two songs!
I've had a hard time adapting my old sounds to this new guitar.
I had got used to play the Stratocaster for so long that now I find difficult to obtain a decent clean sound from the LP.
It not a problem with the guitar, I guess it is more about me adapting to the LP than LP adapting to me.
I have a lot to learn about LPs in the future..

I ordered the LP on May 4, 2008, with a "60 days delivery promise" from the shop and it arrived on october 6, 2008!!
I have spent the whole summer hoping to hear the cell ring but I must admit now that when at the end it arrived and was finally at home, it was probably a better moment than how I had imagined.

On the first time, I had ordered a Standard Les Paul. Not the 2008 version, just a "standard Les Paul", more or less like this one.
I didn't anything about the "Traditional".
After a month the person at the shop informed me that the old standard was discontinued and I would have received the 2008 version.
After reading some reviews, I realized I would have owned a very different LP rather than the one I wanted (locking tuners, tonal chambers etc etc..).
Something like this has happened whit all my guitars considering that I had to order all of them.

When the shop called me I was very surprised to find out I had the guitar I wanted at first, a Traditional!
So, I don't know now if it's been a mistake or not but I'm very happy to not have a chambered LP! Thanx Acustica and Thanx Gibson.
Also, the guys at shop have been really kind with me as I phoned them almost every week hopin' to hear good news from them.

This guitar is a classic. I still haven't had the possibility to use it in a hard rock situation where you need to rely less on clean sounds and more on distortions.
I play guitar since 1994, and have always considered myself a "strat player" but I'm definitively changing my attitude on the instrument.
I hope the play this guitar A LOT for the rest of my life...

Mine is not LP Traditional, but LP Traditional "Plus". Model 2008 USA. Finish is AA grade flamed DesertSunBurst: not AAAA nor BookMatched, but very nice & classy, well finish for the price (note, the back & neck is not flamed: it's very dark Brown/Purple, near black) . Tuners are from Kluson (TonePro ?) which are improved about turn ratio: quite smooth. Neck is 50's style, but as somebody said it's not very thick and easy to play. Pickups are humbucking 57 & 57+, with classic 3 way switch. (The pickguard was shipped already mounted on the body)

Ahh, what a super sound !! I lot of prefer these 57 PUs to the 1982'PU Buckburster LPaul Std. The 57Neck & 57+Bridge are clear, but organic and warm smooth: i hear all the notes, and well balanced: Fantastic for me, for blues, rock, and even jazz because the 2 PU's are complementary. They have more Bass "articulate" than my 1980's DiMarzio Super distorsion DP100 that i had mounted on my Bridge 1975'Stratocater. Impressive & differents sound with MesaBoogie & Marshall amps.

Thanks to the new Plek System (automation of the neck "settings"), the setUp is perfect from the factory. Strings are low without any buzz, and notes sound OK at the octave. PUs are well ajusted. It's a very good thing for me (and for Gibson, as i read some terrific string/neck setUp on the ES 335, so i bought an PM120 Ibanez Pat Metheny.. which i think will change the bridge PU for a 57 !).
The frets are not "jumbo" but bigger than may Strat: it's OK, and for making some "vibrato" like Ritchie Blackmore !

I dont know: just buyed 1 week ago !
All screw are well maintained, and finish & lacquish seems good.
I hope the hardware will last as is it now !

Don't know!

It is my first Gibson: if it was stolen, i will by another one immediately (the same as i was shipped !). Very good guitar for the price, and my dream is now reality !
I play for # 30years, i own an 1975'US Modified Strat, IbanezPM120, Accoustic Yamaha LL16, Marshall JCM900 (5881Tube), MesaBoogie Mark IV, pedals etc.

Typical Les Paul features done well. I like the 80's weight and the 50's neck. Not a thick as a 57 reissue I onced owned. The 57 pickups sound great. Mine has a black finish. I could find no issues worth mentioning. A set up is required like any guitar you would purchase to meet your individual taste.

Very nice. Sustain and vintage vibe.

It seems better than some others Les Pauls I have seen in the past few years. I hope Gibson can get back in the business of making quality guitars. This one is.

Heavy and tight. I think with resonable care this will last for many generations.

Have not used it yet on this guitar. My past experience with Gibson has not been very good. I think the benchmark is Martin. They will get back to you with lighting speed. I purchased a used Martin and was floored by the very professional and fast answers to my questions.

My first Gibson in a number of years. I purchased it because I missed by old Les Paul from the 80's and they made it again. I think the 80's Pauls are some of the best.

2008 model - brand new for Gibson this year. These guitars are built to be a throwback to how Gibson used to make Standards in the 80's and 90's, BEFORE the chambering and 50's and 60's neck offerings. It is essentially the same construction as the modern Standard with the following differences: 1. It has a non-chambered mahogany body (weight relief holes are added instead like Gibson had been doing since 1982 on all production Les Pauls until chambering started in 2007); 2. TonePros Kluson tuners with a better tuning ratio (very nice); 3. It has 57 Classic Pickups instead of Burstbuckers; 4. A "large C" shape neck which is VERY comfortable - sort of a cross between a 60's and 50's neck; 5. A slightly more tilted headstock than was normally done on Les Pauls to give better tuning stability and tone. Basically its a Les Paul with different pickups, no chambering and a couple extra new features.

I've gone thru at least 10 Les Pauls before finding a good one - and that includes 3 Custom Shop Reissues (two '58's and one '57). It is amazing how many lousy sounding Les Pauls are being sold..you really have to just keep trying to get a good sounding one. It's not really Gibson's fault - its just that wood is wood and a very large percentage of Les Pauls are just not inherently good sounding guitars no matter what you do to them... at least to the discerning ear. However, FINALLY this one is it. It has great resonance acoustically and is very balanced tonally. All strings are even sounding (with a little adjustment of the pickups), the highs are not brittle (even on the bridge pickup) and the bass notes are full and distinct. This is definitely a good one. As for the tonal differences between a Traditional and a new Standard - that depends on whether or not you like Chambered Les Pauls. I personally never cared for a Chambered Les Paul because a Les Paul is supposed to be a SOLID BODY guitar...the more mahogany you have the better. The Traditionals DO emply the "weight relief" holes method - but if you owned any Les Paul Standard or Studio made since 1982 then you have a guitar with weight relief holes drilled in it and you probably didn't even know it. This is information is readily available online to anyone willing to spend the time to research the subject. Gibson did extensive studies on this process and determined that, as long as the holes were not near the tailpiece or the bridge, it had NO adverse affect on tone. This guitar is proof of that. Try several Les Pauls out before buying one, though.....it's really just a crap shoot if you're going to get a good sounding one. My Traditional kicks the s*** out of my '57 Reissue VOS, and I'm selling that Reissue asap. One other thing - the "neck tenon" comparison. The Custom Shop guitars have the "long neck tenons" and the Traditional will have the design common to the 80's and 90's guitars. Let me tell you this: my Traditional out-sustains my '57 Custom Shop VOS (and the other two I had before it) HANDS DOWN. There are zero dead notes anywhere on the guitar and all the strings are full and clear. A long tenon does NOT by itself guarantee you a superior sounding guitar...it's just one factor that MIGHT affect it. Play several guitars and pick the one that sounds best and forget all the hype about this or that.

These guitars get the same fret treatment (plek treatment) that the Custom Shop Reissue guitars get - mine came out very good and was very playable with no buzzing right out of the box. I play mostly clean jazzy stuff too so it isn't a case of distortion covering up the buzzing. Again, hit or miss here...there are plenty of Les Pauls that get the "plek" treatment that still have buzzing problems - so a simple set up is common for most new guitars. There were no cosmetic flaws or structural flaws. It has a beautiful Cherry Burst that is darker than others I have seen recently and has a nice dark red stain on the back. Gorgeous.

As reliable as any Les Paul in history has been I'm sure.

never dealt with them

Playing for over 10 years and had LOTS of gear. This is the best Les Paul I've had out of the ten Les Pauls that I've bought and sold in the last 5 years...definitely a keeper. It's got the weight of a traditional les paul and the resonance, tonal complexities and balance of the best Les Pauls you've heard. Add the upgraded Kluson tuners and 57 Classic Pickups (big improvement over the Burstbuckers) and this is the guitar that Gibson SHOULD have been making all along. It's the Les Paul as it should be without the Custom Shop price tag or the cheesy "chambering" of the modern standard. Go find a good one and enjoy.