Gordon Smith G-60

Made in England, quite old (pre-nineties I think), single cutaway Les Paul, 22 frets, twin humbuckers with two volumes which push-pull to coil split, two tones and three way switch, Gordon smith pickups but I changed bridge to Seymour Duncan distortion, body and neck all mahogany, rosewood finger board, natural finish, hybrid bridge a cross between fender and Gibson... held on with height adjustable bolts like a gibson, but containing fully adjustable fender saddles, fast neck with enourmous frets, bought (very) used so no accessories.

It is extremely versatile due to the coil splittable pickups, it can get as clean or as dirty as you want it to. Im playing through a Mesa Boogie DC-5 head on a recto 2x12 cab, playing punk ska, and this setup is ideal. It can only be noisy on high gain settings with the coils split like a single coil, but who cares about noise when you're not playing? If I really need silence I put the amp on the clean channel and get no noticable noise whatsoever. I replaced the bridge pickup because I had it before I bought the guitar, from my old Telecaster, which was sold to buy this. The pickups are in fact very similar, the output is indistinguishable, but the Gordon smith was slightly cleaner and less edgy in the distortion channel. I would not have bought a new pickup specifically for this guitar, the stock pickups are very good.

When I bought it, the guitar had seen it's fair share of abuse, the lacquer is all crazed, there are countless scratches and dents, and a small chunk has completely come away from the body. Look past all of this however, and the core of a great guitar is there. It plays so much better than any fender or similarly priced guitar, in fact it plays quite like an Ibanez or Jackson shredding machine, without looking like a cheesy eighties heavy metal relic. The action was pretty good when I got it, but I got it just right on my own. There is an inlay dot missing from the 5th fret, but that's obviously got nothing to do with the factory. Some of the knobs are a tiny bit scratchy, but that's understandable after time.

Just by looking at it anyone can see that it's taken a beating and survived, and by playing it you just know how solid and well built it is. I can definitely depend on it, and would gig it without a backup

I've been playing 3 years and it's my third electric guitar. The first was an Aria pro II ES335 copy, then the telecaster, now this. I play through a Mesa 1/4 stack, and no longer use any effects.If it were stolen, I would definitely try to track down another Gordon Smith, probably an SG. The best features are the feel, the sound, and the durability. What else is there?
I had not been looking for a new guitar when I started working at East End Music, but gradually this grew on me until I couldn't resist it. I don't know how much these cost new, but it plays better than a #2000 1960 reissue Gibson Les Paul that was in the shop recently.

Mine has a slim 35 mm mahogany body and a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. 22 frets, metal nut, seal tuners, angled headstock, single cutaway, wrap over bridge two humbucking seymour duncan pickups both coil tapped, two tones, two volumes. This guitar is simple but you can get any sound you want out of it. The neck is the best I have played not too wide and not too slim, just right.
It was made in 1997

The two seymour duncans were put in after the guitar was bought, i don't know which ones they are. They are both split coil giving a total of 8 different pickup configurations.
They sound amazing, any sound you could imagine you can get. I play heavy rock, blues and anything that sounds good.
I play a lot of Metallica and the pickups sound great with lots of distortion but then you switch to clean and they still sound bright and responsive, just amazing!!!!!!!
I got no problems with the pickups I love 'em!!!!!!

I have had this guitar for just over a year and half and haven't touched the action cos it is so good.
It is nice and low (which I like for my fast lead playing) but no so low that chords are a problem. I really like the height of the strings over the body as they aid easy right hand picking.
There is a small strach plate but wiring is back routed, nice and tidy.
The fit and finish is first class as you would expect from a hand built guitar, i have had no problems with its construction so far.

I have used it for live playing and it with stands it fine and it always stays in tune!!
This guitar is rock solid but i would always have a back up. It is a natural finsih so it will last a life time.
I love this guitar it will always be with me.

I e-mailed them reguards its history and they were very helpful.

I have been playing for about 3 years and own a Encore electric, Fender Squire Strat, an Ovation copy and i used to own but Jackson PS2 but never again ARHHHHHHH
If i lost this guitar or it was stolen first i would have a break down and then find the bastard that took it and cut their heart out with a spoon!
This guitar is like a PRS (not as pretty though), a Les Paul, a Strat all rolled into one.
If you have never heard of Gordon Smith or never played one then get your self to a music shop that sells one and try one. I can ensure your want one!

This guitar is one of the most feature light guitars I've ever had the pleasure to play. It's a brand spanker - Dec 1998 and was shipped to me direct from the factory. It's all mahogany, natural finish, typical Gordon Smith body thickness. I also owned another one (sadly, the headstock was broken off at a gig by part of the PA falling on it)and I've noticed a few differences: the rounding of the body edges is now more pronounced and the pickguard is a slightly different shape. It has a tapped humbucker (pull up volume knob to activate), said volume knob and a tone knob and thats it! Minimalist to say the least - but everything you really need.

Plugged into my Marshall JCM800 100W master volume valve stack's 'high' input this guitar has a quite dark sound similar to my LP Special- just perfect for rock - and, with the coil tap activated and plugged into my Boogie's clean channel, a bright country flavour. Yes, the coil tap is a little noisy but, lets face it, at gigging volumes noone's going to notice. Beautiful sound

Action, fit and finish on this guitar is superb for the price. No problems with frets, bridge, pickups or machineheads. . .

I know from experience that these guitars can take a beating. My old GSG had no problems with the finish wearing off whereas the finish on my LP has worn totally off in places! Stap buttons are solid but I still recommend straplocks for *all* guitars. I have never turned up to a gig without a backup guitar - my two main guitars are my LP and this GSG. I interchange as I feel like.

John and Linda Smith are very helpful and prompt in their service. I approached them to get a replacement for my broken GSG and they manufactured it for me and arranged transport to me in Australia. I would not hesitate to call them again should the need arise - actually I'll probably keep in contact with them anyway.

I've been gigging around five years and have used my Les Paul Special and the GSG exclusively. Without doubt, the GSG is an excellent guitar but at the price it really is a genuine bargain. Anyone who thinks twice about buying one as a main or backup guitar must not know much about guitars. This is my second GSG and I did not hesitate buying it. An absolute winner - get one if you can.

This excellent guitar is made in Manchester, UK and is as basic as they come. It's very similar to a 1954 Les Paul Junior - single (tappable) humbucker, single cutaway, thin slab body probably made of mahogany, tone and volume controls, combined wrap around saddle and bridge with virtually nothing to adjust - there aren't even slots for the strings to fit in - they just go where you put them. Other users claim this reduces string breakage significantly as there are no sharp edges on the bridge. The nut is brass (very 80s).
The neck is glued in and a bit thinner and more 'U' shaped than I would like - I'd prefer a deeper 'C' section if it was available. Frets are fairly wide and well finished. There's no binding on the body or neck and it comes with standard 3 a side machine heads. There's a small amount of scratchplate to cover up the trussrod access (and not really the right shape for the body - overhangs the outline in places).
I was given a free gig bag but don't think this is standard.
I bought it as something basic but high quality - there's nothing to go wrong with something like this!
There are options for double cutaway, additional front single coil, additional front humbucker and also for a thicker body (about 10mm extra I think). Lefties can be made for no extra charge

I'm using this mainly for rock through my Park 50W valve combo (don't ask me what it is - it was made in the 70s I think). The way I use it is to set the gain all the way up on the amp and use the volume control on the guitar to alter the amount of overdrive. The electronics in this guitar have been set up for this - as you turn down the volume the bass rolls off and the whole sound cleans up. All guitars should be like this. I usually have to rewire my guitars to get this level of control.

The action was set up well but I had to change to the heavier strings I prefer

I don't know how long the finish (minimal) will last on this guitar but I don't think it's an issue. As I said earlier, there's nothing to go wrong. I just hope the headstock doesn't snap off as some guitars (notably the SGs) are prone to.

Don't know

I've been playing for over ten years and have had loads of guitars. I've had four fender stratocasters of various types (I love stratocasters but they're a bit crap for rock. They need just the right humbucker in the bridge to sort them out but I haven't found a decent one yet), a thinline Tele (not bad), a Les Paul Studio (OK for rock but no good for anything else) plus your usual junk learner electrics that everyone has.
What I love about this guitar is it's single mindedness. It doesn't pretend to be all things to all people and has the minimum of features. It's down to the player to make the sounds with their fingers rather than bugger about with settings. I bought this to sound a bit like an SG - it cetainly has an excellent level of harmonics but needs to be tapped to give it sufficent top end.
To make it an ideal guitar I would like a deeper 'C' neck profile and possibly put in a P100 pickup instead of the standard. This pickup is excellent but in coil tap can be a bit noisy (I took it apart to see if I could wire the pickup in parallel but the wires needed from the pickup are not available). Personally, I would ditch the tone control as I never use it and keep the design even simpler.
If you want a basic, excellent build quality, hand made(?) British guitar for the same price as some Korean crap, look no further.