Gordon Smith GS1 Single Cutaway

Gordon Smith single cutaway Les Paul Junior copy. Thin, light body with natural finish, purchased second hand so it has a few gigging dints inthe finish. Nothing major.

Single humbucking pickup that isnt original - i think it is a Kent Armstrong one - coil tap intact unlike some bastardised instruments.

Bigsby tremolo fitted to this one, but no adjustable or tunamatic bridge so the strings come off the trem and over the original wraparound stop tail peice. As result there is no intonation adjustment. Have sent an email to GS requesting measurement details on the posts for a retrofit. Tuning goes haywire on the G and B after substantial bending and trem, though this is starting to settle down following a setup.

Wide neck, but still very playable. Jumbo frets X 22. Brass bridge (ooh classy!)

My playing is a mixture of folk and country finger picking, flatpicking blues, rock and post-punk with some 'alternative' and noise thrown in. As a result i need guitars that have a very taut response and quite a defined tone/seperation despite distortion. My other main guitar is a Fender Telecaster to give you some context.

The sounds available are very varied despite the single humbucker due to the coil tap. When tapped it gives a lovely thin snappy / stratocaster like edginess. When using the full humbucker, the sound is raunchy, though a little too full for open chords - partials and barres only.

Sustain isnt brilliant, but this guitar isnt ever going to be able to match a Les Paul due the lack of body mass.

Ive tried this with a valve JTM series Marshall, and a modified EVJ Champ (with alnicomagnet brownface mod) and got some cool tones. Very retro with a nice pokeyness that lends itself to percussive playing. Good for recording.

Cant comment on the factory setup, but as purchased it was pretty awful. 9 gauge strings and a back bowed neck.

All problems solved with some judicious cleaning, oiling and lubriacation and a tackling of the truss rod. 10 gauge strings make a big difference, though im thinking of going to 11 as my other guitars are fenders and the shorter scale length is difficult to adjust to. THis should also give a better tone aswell.

Finish = fantastic! If utilitarian.

Guitar's tuning isnt great at the mo, but im looking at replacing the bridge and tuners to improve this.

At the moment wouldnt gig it, may do in the future.

I really like this guitar despite some tuning problems. The finish is nice and smooth and with a satin feel on the back of the neck. It is an 'honest' guitar that does a simple job well, and is built by hand to last.

I have been playing 15 years and compared to my other guitars, it is performing favourably. I have 3 USA Fenders, 2 Jap Fenders, and a USA Gibson Les Paul so have a fair range of experience.

I would definately buy a Gordon Smith again, though next time, may look at a higher end model.

Single Cut mahogany body in TV yellow with one bridge P 90 pickup , one tone and one volume . Nice and simple which is how I like it .

Truely superb . I have used and owned many guitars Strat USA deluxe and 3 Gibson les Pauls included ) but this is the first P90 guitar . I guess the output would be classified as medium .The versitility is amazing clean jangily pop one minute ( tone on 8 )or if overdriven punky brashness , to classic rock ( tone 6 -7 ), neck pickup blues tones ( tone on 4- 5 ) .Never would I have believed the range of tones with just one pick up and use of the tone switch .Overdriven sounds clean up very well using the volume

This is a hand made guitar in England.Excellent set up from the off with a very low action, lovely neck very easy to play .Much easier than a PRS SE I use to own .Nice finish

Very reliable . I have used this gigging and for practising every weekend since the start of December 2007 .It has become my main guitar in fact I have nt played my other since I got it . I always take a back up to gigs but have nt needed one . Schaller straps locks were fitted to make the strap more secure.

Ive had no need to use them

Been playing for 20 years . I use Orange valve amps .This is the best sounding guitar I have and the versitility is incredible .The value for money is amazing when u compare it to USA made guitars which cost twice as much . I really cant fault it . Highly recommended

I find this section hard to score as the reason I bought this guitar was that it was really simple in the features department (too much choice scares me). Anyhow, the guitar's constructed out of mahogany, sports 22 frets and a seamless joint between the neck and body. I bought the P90 pick-up version and this is controlled solely by a volume and a tone knob while the bridge is an exercise in simplicity (being nothing but a soap bar). For someone like myself who just likes the very basics on a guitar, this set-up is a dream.

The P90 is an awesome little pick-up. I like to play Dillinger 4/NOFX type punk through a Laney Linebacker 100R head and when the tone is maxed out to 10, this guitar does really well at producing a snarly/aggressive tone. I also like messing about with a bit of Fu Manchu-esque stoner rock and the P90 covers this base commendably when cranked down a few notches on the tone front. Despite having always played single-coil guitars in the past and valuing the brightness that comes with them, I think it's P90's for me from now on as they give me the sound I want, but with loads more versatility.

These guitars are hand made and it shows. While it may not be as perfect in terms of finish (there's a few tiny flaws here and there, but they are really minor) as many mass produced models, this guitar oozes quality and character. For me, the stella point is the action which is extremely quick and set-up perfectly from the get-go. There's plenty of room for manoveur on the fretboard and the extent to which you can bend strings is amazing. Even better, after you played it for a few minutes, your hands start to smell of mahogany! Amazing!

This guitar has been used live on a regular basis and it has never given me any problems at all. With the aid, of some Grolsh bottle seals, the strap is going nowhere and the output socket is so tight that you can happily lark about with no fear of your cable pinging out. It's also pretty light which is a bonus, especially as my other guitar is a Gibson Sonex which appears to made out of anti-matter (a 25 minute set = slipped disks and lumbago). I don't use a back-up at the moment, which is a testament to it's build quality and reliability.

I sent Gordon Smith a totally rookie email about whether they recommend Fast Fret and I got a non-patronising response within 12 hours. I've never had any real problems with the guitar, but from what I hear, their customer support is spot on.

I've been playing for around 12 years and I've never found myself so emotionally attached to a a guitar. The hand built feel covers every aspect of this axe and being a Gordon Smith owner almost feels like owning a vintage car and having the compulsion to wave at everyone who also has one. In terms of the sound, it does what I want without fuss or effort while playing it is a dream. I cannot see me ever selling this guitar and I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone, beginner or pro, to give one a rip if they ever get the chance.

Only a single pickup passive guitar, so not many features. Soapbar bridge, one GS humbucking pickup, one volume, one tone, thin slab mahogany single cutaway body, fairly chuncky 21 fret mahogany neck. Humbucker could be tapped by pulling volume knob up, giving nice single coil sound.

Full tone range for one pup, good attack. Sharper when tapped. Great for rock, driving blues, grunge. Turning tone pot to 10 took it right out of the circuit. Why don't all guitars have this?

Action quite high when I got it via eBay, probably because of bowed neck. Adjusting truss rod produced slight improvement but was unable to get any better than medium action. Unspectacular tobacco burst finish.

Tuning went out very quickly, good cleanup of machines & nut didn't help, so not suitable for live playing. Finish very fragile, scratched/chipped very easily. Met someone with a GS SG who said he had similar trouble.

Guitar out of warranty when I got it.

Maybe I got a lemon here. Because of the tuning probs it could not be relied on for gigging so I sold it on at a knock down price. Based on this experience would not get another.

Gordon Smith GS1 Single Cutaway w/ single p90 at Bridge 1xVolume, 1xTone, wrap-around one piece Bridge, what looks like 3-tone sunburst. This guitar only NEEDS one pickup too! The neck is dead comfortable, if a little wide for my tastes (I prefer old tele-style c-shape narrow necks), so if this thing had a narrower but deeper neck by a couple of mm, then it'd be just perfect. The guy in the shop said the pickup was a seymour duncan, but he's wrong! they're hand-wired by Gordon Smith Guitars themselves, so coupled with my trusty Roto-Sound 11s strings, I have the ultimate all-English set-up - who needs the yanks with their over-rated gibsons!? No mate, get yerself a Gordon Smith - true quality without the overblown price-tag bullsh*t.

I play rock n roll tinged Punk Rock. The GS1 is capable of bright tele-like trebly sounds with the tone on full, or rich beefy SG-bridge-position-style balls with the tone cut back to 6 or 7, or LP-neckposition-style warmth with the tone cut right back. The features are thin on the ground, with the one single coil p90, but the sounds it is capable of are truly astounding. I'm using it with a 2x12 150w line6 with boss OS2 and Digitech Grunge pedal - pure balls! The guitar is not noisy at all, amazing considering it has a single coil p/up. No dislikes at all soundwise

The action is about as low as you can go without straying into shred territory, but that's how I like it. Everything adjusted just perfectly. No flaws at all on the guitar - the finish is truly beautiful - if you look up close you can see that the thing has not been made on some super-duper fender or gibson style sanitised production line - it's been made by human beings! And it looks all the better for it! The neck is beautifully set up too, much better than brand new gibsons - I bought a USA SG for a grand and the Gordon Smith for 500, and the Gordon Smith plays infinitely better than the SG, so I'm selling the SG and keeping the Smith!

This guitar is simply made. It has already withstood a serious knock with no discernible effect, and string breakages are non-existent. It's reliability is astounding. I never gig without a back-up, although very often my GSmith IS my backup as I usually gig with a custom tele I put together myself out of parts, but the reason I use the GSmith as backup is because I KNOW it won't let me down.

I've not needed to rely on Gordon Smith's customer support yet. It doesn't look like I'll have to because I can't see anything ever going wrong with this beast. I'm reassured that they're only a car-ride up the M6 if I ever need it though.

I've been playing for 10 years and have owned: Gibson SG, various Teles, 335, Gretsch Jet, Burns Brian May, Ibanez SA, Aria Pro semi-hollow, and this Gordon Smith GS1 w/P90. I'm over all a Tele kinda bloke, but my Gordon Smith turned me on to the delights of P90s, so the next guitar I acquired was a Tele I put together out of Fender parts and equipped with a P90 at Bridge and a HBucker at neck and this is still my favourite guitar, but the Gordon Smith comes a very close second and is always there as my reliable backup, and occasionally as my first guitar when I need that extra bite! I'm considering selling all my guitars apart from the aforementioned franken-tele and the Gordon Smith because these two p*ss all over any Fender, Gibson or indeed Gretsch you're ever likely to play!

The Gordon Smith made in the UK, is a beautiful piece of wood! It is a naural finish, has one humbucker, with one volume control and one tone, the volume is also a coil tap. Made as a les paul junior it is an amazing guitar, i havn't got a bad word to say about it,it looks good, it plays great,and it only cost #375.

The sound quality is incredible for the price I payed, opposed to a lot of other guitars you get a huge range of tone with this guitar, and the gordon smith guitar pickups are perfectly fitting for this guitar, I use this guitar with a 30 watt laney and don't let the wattage fool you, it is a loud amp! I also use a great deal of boss pedals including digital delay (DD6), metal zone, flanger and mega distortion, and i also use a boss volume pedal, and this guitar works perfect through all of them. With this guitar you can get pretty much any sound you need of it, when i buy another guitar, it is definattly gonna be a Gordon Smith.

The guitar is built to last, it is a very light guitar which some of you may find quite annoying if you like the weight. When i got the guitar the volume knob kept comming off in my hand, but if you widen the device underneath then it fits like a glove!

This is a really solid guitar and when gigging I never need a backup, there have been no problems with it aat all, and as anyone knows always use strap locks, i was foolish enough not to once and I ended up dropping it, it made a dent in the corner but had no more damage than it would every other guitar.

When i dropped my guitar I sent it back to the manufacturer, it was taken care of relatively quickly under normal circumstances, and they done a great job. Thanks Guys!!

I have been playing 2 years, although this is not much i can tell the difference between a good guitar and a lemon, and this is definatly a good guitar, wheneever i buy another guitar it will definatly be a Gordon Smith SG, i would never buy from anyone else, my favourite thing is the natural finish the guitars are available in. GO...BUY ONE NOW!!

Single P90 pick up directly from hell, the best sounding pick up guitar that I have ever owned or used.
One volume 1 tone no coil tap obviously. 1 neck, 1 body 6 tuners brass nut wrap around bride and thats it! What more do you need, the tone knob is so usefull it makes more sounds than a fender strat!

I play balls out punk rocknew rock and roll shouty stuff!
Check out www.rhesus.info
Pics of guitar on there too, I have a Shergold 12 string, a 72 gold top and a 1 off Eggle Fret king but the Gordon Smith is the best by far. Sound cuts through even a telecaster and that takes some cutting!

Guitar arrived from Sounds Great Music manchester where it was had rearerd between Rick at the shop , John at Gordon Smith and myself calling them twice a day until it was ready!
No flaws action to die for pick up perfect hieght!
Finish is chipping slightly but that I guess is my fault. They went out of there way to mak it Johnny Thunders TV yellow for me! I would love to give them a 10 again but nothing is totally perfect.

1 piece of wood , light as a feather and hard as a nail
Never gig without a back up, What if a string breaks!!!!
Strap buttons could be wider.....
Finish may wear a bit but that makes it more cool!

This should go up to 11.

Would buy 2 more if I could find them second hand!
Condition irrelevant!
Cash waiting!
Been playing 10 years and owned almost every type of guitar except for a PRS and an SG.
Wish it had two of their hand wound P90s can you imagine!
The best thing about this guitar is the fact that it is not over priced but it plays like a 59 les paul.
Actually my Mum helped me pay for it so if anyone stole it I would be mortified!
Its pretty unique so I am sure it wouldbe found, they only fetch 200 quid second hand anyway!
If you can fine one of these BUY IT TRUST ME

GORDON SMITH GS 1.60 CUSTOM. 2001, Les Paul Junior style single cutaway, made in England, 22 frets, two piece mahogany body (35mm thick), mahogany neck, 6mm rosewood fingerboard, single 'coil tapped' GSG humbucker in bridge position, one push/pull volume pot, one tone pot (with treble bypass mode, more about that later), Van Gent Tuners, wraparound GSG bridge, Brass nut, finished in matte black, with the headstock in satin black. Everything you need!

This guitar is incredibly versatile! My favourite setting is the humbucker with the volume and tone both on about 7. Which results in a nice Les Paul sound. With both volume and tone on full, the sound is too bright, and a little shrill, backing off the tone allows the capacitor to kick in, filtering out some of the highs (otherwise, the capacitor is bypassed for maximum treble response). If you listen carefully you can hear a reassuring ?tut? as the capacitor starts to provide resistance. Comparing it to a Les Paul, the primary difference is that it is a touch more aggressive, due to the lack of a maple cap, so it is probably more akin to an SG, albeit a bright one. Using the coil tap produces surprisingly convincing Fender-esque sounds considering the materials, and playing with the controls gives a broad range of voices which tend to work better, in my opinion when used on the clean setting of an amp.

Straight form the shop, the guitar played beautifully (although there was a small amount of buzz on the low E string it was easily fixed). I went to the shop expecting to find blemishes in the paintwork as I had heard that the finish was not always perfect, but I found it to be very good. If you look very hard you can find a few tiny bubbles but nothing to worry about. Having played it for a few weeks, I have made a shiny patch of paint where my arm rests which was a bit of a disappointment, but I didn?t really buy this guitar to polish it! A word of warning, don?t use conventional polishes on these guitars, it won?t do them any good.. The fretboard was a little dry, but no problems after it was oiled.

I would certainly trust this guitar live, as there is very little to go wrong, the hardware is definitely made to last, and I can imagine it playing this well for a long time to come. As mentioned before, the finish is beginning to shine, but I wouldn?t worry about the wood coming through for a long time yet It seems as though the paint has stained the wood, rather than simply sat on top, as gloss finishes do. Never gig without a backup.

Before buying this specific model, I contacted the company to see about having a guitar built to my own specifications, they were very helpful, answering all my questions in a very succinct manner without the usual company blurb. However, I couldn?t wait 5 months to allow for building so I got this instead. I don?t know of any warranty, but I imagine they would be happy to help wherever possible.

I?ve been playing properly for about 18 months, besides this I have a Squier Telecaster Std, a Tanglewood Les Paul , and a P Bass copy. This is by far my favourite, and easily the most versatile. I would buy another straight away if I had the money. I compared it to many Les Paul type guitars of eastern origin, Epihones, Hamers and it outshone all of them by miles. Do not be taken in by bells and whistles on cheaper guitars, they compromise build quality and materials, I think that everyone should have the pleasure of owning a Gordon Smith guitar at some time, they are quite simply divine!

The guitar I am reviewing is a Gorden Smith GS.01.08 I bought in January 2001 with the money from my 18th birthday. After trying it out in the shop, I tried to haggle and ended up with the guitar and a boss metalzone for #400, in short, NICE!

The guitar was handmade in England in 2000, has 22 frets, is constructed from a solid block of mahogany with a glued on maple neck. It features one tapped humbucker which was produced in house. It is finished with a nice jet black laquer that matches the black scratchplate.

Despite having only one pickup, this guitar is damn versatile. I am however debating wether or not to add another pickup, (a major job) I wouldn't want to spoil it.

It suits my style down to the ground, I'm in love with the tone of Tool guitarist Adam Jones, and with the guitar running through my 1980 Marshall Jmp mark II it sounds just fantastic. You can vary the sound, with the coil tap, to make it bright, dirty, clean, whatever...

For a guitar with only one pickup, it is damn versatile.

Apart from a couple of aesthetic issues, the 'smith looks and feels damn fine, over a year after I purchased it, and believe me, I punish guitars.

This guitar is like a vintage marshall: it would withstand nuclear war and then some. Who needs backups with an axe like this?

From what i hear John Smith is the last word in customer service. I haven't needed to find out, and I doubt I will now.

I've been playing for 5 years. I've owned budget Gibsons and Fenders but, at this price, they don't compare.

I love this guitar for almost every reason. If I lost it or it got stolen I'd by another three.

Handmade in Manchester, UK, in 2001; 22 fret, single coil-tapped humbucker, 1 vol, 1 tone, GSG wrap-around bridge, mahogany slab body with maple veneer top, GSG 1-piece maple set neck with brass nut, satin finish, w/case.

The nice thing about this is that John Smith (that's his real name, too!) will put the thing together however you want it. "Stock" on the single cutaway is a natural finish mahogany top with a black plastic pickguard. I went by the workshop and ordered it with a maple veneer top (nice tiger striping across the entire thing, not 1/2 and 1/2 as in bookmatching) with no pickguard. No problem. I even called later and said I wanted strap-locs fitted. Again, no problem.

Now folks will probably balk when they see that I've given a one pickup guitar a 10 for features, but let's just say that it has all of the features that I wanted, and I could have chosen to change just about anything, anyway.

Coil tap on, tone at full: a bit Strat-y
Coil tap on, tone at 7: a bit Tele-y
Coil tap off, tone at 7-6: Les Paul without the mud
Coil tap off, tone at full: SG-ish, but somewhat brighter

That's the amount of versitility this things gives with one pickup. I'm not joking.

I picked this up from the workshop one Saturday (John came by specially, although he only lives next door), and it was as near to perfect as a guitar can be. I wasn't expecting the binding effect (the veneer is bevelled at the edge, exposing the mahogany and giving the look of a dark-bound top), nor the absolutely fantastic action, so it was better than I had imagined. No buzz, no dead spots (so that's better than my '79 Les Paul Custom), just pure tone.

I've only just had it a few months, but it's already replaced my LP Custom as my main guitar. Super light, super strong, doesn't shred strings, doesn't make any noise it isn't supposed to. You get a set (glued) neck. At this price. It's insane!

John Smith is one in a million. He loves what he does, and he wants you to love it. We had a terrific conversation about woods and pickups, and now he's got me thinking about ordering a Graduate with a coil-tapped humbucker in the bridge and a mini-humbucker at the neck. My financee is NOT happy, however...

I've been playing since 1977, and have owned several Gibsons (I'm not a Fender kinda guy). I bought this guitar because I had played one in the local music store and was blown away. Then I found out I could have it exactly the way I wanted it, and wouldn't have to part with any limbs to do so! This guitar is easier to play than my LP Custom, weighs less, and is more versatile. I can do Tele volume swells easily (never really possible on a LP), don't have to avoid any chord voicings, and can play on it for hours straight without having to visit the chiropractor afterwards. Clean sounds? Check. Dirty? Oh, yes! Handmade? You bet! Expensive? Not hardly. EXACTLY the way you want it? Just call! You be the judge.