Gordon Smith Graduate 60

Manufactured in mid 90's and bought by me in 1997 for ??300 from a local second hand store. Great sunburst finish and lovely weighted body for great resonance. Same pickup configuration as described previously - coil taps etc. No scratchplate and chrome fittings.

Suits me just fine!! I play for myself now having given up gigging with the GS a few years ago. It handles most styles really well and I've not been searching for another guitar to deal with any situation or style that I wanted to play.

Superb action for me - nice and low - straight from the off. The overall finish of the guitar attracted me before I even picked it up. The beutifully lustrous top matched to the satin backside works very well and marks the guitar out from some others I've seen.

In the last couple of years, the laquer has started to craze and peel a bit from the back of the neck. Doesn't affect its playing, but looks a little unsightly - should get it sorted I guess?!? All strap buttons and hardware are very durable, and I have gigged this guitar alot in the past with no need for another instrument.

Not needed - guitar bought second hand so warranty not an issue.

This is really my only remaining electric guitar now, and I can't see me ever parting with it. I just keep an old Marshall VS30 Amp and a Zoom effects box which gives me enough volume for the house, and enough sound options for whatever I like. This is the nicest guitar I've played or owned and is still different enough for people to ask what it is and where it's from - great to tell them it's a British guitar!!

Made in 2000, 22 frets. Two volume (coil tap) and two tone. Regular 3 way selector switch.
Seymour Duncan humbuckers. Tabbacco sunburst. GS locking machine heads. The necks comfortable, Heavy body but thats what you get for great tone.

Good range of sounds, Sweet to Heavy and powerful. Really versatile but does the classic les paul sound the best.

Great action, adjustable brass nut. Good quality and well designed bridge with adjustable saddles.

Very solid and well made. Hats off to British made craftmanship. Its a players guitar, not the prettiest but I prefer understated quality than decoration.

emailed them to find out guitar model year - quick response.

Awesome guitar. Recommend one to anyone after a non Gibson guitar with a bit more to offer. A workhorse of a guitar. You only have to spend a few minutes to appreciate how good these guitars are.

Mahoganey body and neck, maple cap and rosewood fretboard. Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in bridge position and Seymour Duncan 59 PAF in the Neck position, both coil tapped. See other review for more info'.

Since I had the Seymour Duncan pickups fitted the sound is everything you would want and more. This turned a good guitar into a great guitar. It will do all styles with little difficulty. From Slash, Gary Moore, Eagles 60s music you try and it will do it. I don't know which to pick up and play sometimes, my EC strat or my Gordon Smith.Through an AC 30 2x12 CCX it sounds wonderful.

If I had wanted furniture perfection I would have saved up for a Gordon Smith, as it is I believe the quality is as good as most if not all guitars in this price range.

It rocks and is well made, reliable and robust.

I have never needed to find out.

I am 60 now and have played on and off since the age of 12. I will not sell this guitar and if it was stolen I would get anothwer on and have Seymour Duncan pickups fitted.

See my review of September 2002.
Just to add...I now play the Graduate through a (marvellous) Ashdown Peacemaker 60 combo. I can tell you that all the tones and power of the guitar - that were there when pushing the Laney LC15 - are even more real and impressive when played through a more powerful amp. Live and rehearsal - the Graduate is a great guitar.

Features already mentioned but ill say again:
1)Gibson les paul style guitar, mahogany body and neck, 2 gordon smith built humbuckers, carved spruce top with maple veneer.
2)Coil taps on both pickups.
3)Tone controls are bypassed when clicked into the higest setting giving a more trebely sound.
4)Fully adjustable bras nut and Van Gent tuners.
5) Quite a fat, round neck but not like a big acoustic neck, or a skinny speed neck, an inbetweeny, very comfy.
6)gordon smith designed bridge, very tasty and functional.

USe this guitar straight into a marshall mg100hdfx into a 2*12 custom built cab with a celestion vintage 30 and a celestion g12-100 (taken from an avt 275) in it. Use the crunch setting on the clean channel, used to use a few of the onboard effects but dont now, just use some reverb.

Play mostly rock stuff like G n R, ozzy and hendrix but oter stuff like blues e.g gary moore, you could throw any kind of music at it and it would cope. Sounds very trebely at higest tone settings but take off some tone to about 7 or 8 and it sounds beautiful, really powerful. Due to the coil taps i reckon this guitar could do almost anything. fave settings are: bridge pup, tone slightly rolled off to aout 7 for general rock sound, or coil tapped neck pup with tone also rolled off for a fruity smooth yngwie tyoe sound.

The set up was beautiful, however the finish was not as good although I have no problems with the finish some people might. There are a few very small chips along the endges of the body and headstock, not even noticable unless you know where your looking. Aslo some dirt trappe dunder the finish. I dont mind these flaws but others will wnat their guitar perfect, if so, ha ha! you will buy a gibson which sucks in comparision at twice the price! ha! small chips on the veneer on the fret board at 12th fret, doesnt affect playability. Best playing guitar Ive played, read the other reviews they all say this. Also selector switch is playing up but i ca get it fixed for free so dont really care.

this guitar ways a f*%$ing ton! it would kill you if someone hit you with it. changed the strap buttons for schaller strap locks, i feared for me feet after i almost dropped it several tims when my strap dropped off. once the selector switch is changed I would ahve to depend on it, i wouldnt want to play anyhting else. will last forever me thinks.

only e-mailed them once, but they replyed immediatly, heard great things about customer suport but never really dealt with them, being such a small company i guess they can deal with complaints better, rather than just being pushed around various call centres or whatever. Cant realy see why people would complain about them anyways!

LOve it to bits, words cant describe how tasty ths guitar is, go try one they are ace. Didnt compare it to anything but heard such good things about them, and wasnt disappointed. Was looking for something less mainstream (i.e. a les paul style guitar but not a gibson). Wasnt disapointed, and even better, its made in Great Britain. If it was stolen id find the punk and beat him to death with it, and it would really hurt cus its very heavy! mwa ha ha ha.
LOVE IT!

My Graduate 60 was made in 2000 and I bought it second-hand for around 500 quid. It's got a red quilted top and ebony veneered fingerboard. Two humbuckers can be tapped by pulling the volume pots - each has a tone pot which seems to boost the treble at the higest setting. The tuners are not named but hold the pitch very well indeed and the Gordon-Smith bridge allows full adjustment in a small, neat unit. Stylishly simple and effective.

This guitar has the largest range of sounds I've heard for one instrument - from the smooth, rich, jazzy tone of the neck pickup to the bright, twangy sound of the tapped bridge pickup with the treble boost on. Wonderful, just wonderful. Even on the latter setting, there is very little noise from the guitar.
I'm running it straight into a Marshall 30 watt solid-state at the moment (DFX30) and through the overdriven channel, the sound is bright, rich and creamy.

One of the things that attracted me to this guitar was the very low action - it's really fast without compromising accuracy for people like me with telegraph poles for fingers. My machine was (presumably)set up by the shop I bought it at it it has retained the perfect intonation, action and - get this - even tuning through three months of my amateurish thrashing of the 10 gauge strings.

The finish was fine - the top is cherry red showing the quilt underneath and the sides and back are the same colour but a nice, natural matt finish. There was a small dent in the headstock but I have added a couple more so it isn't lonely.

It really is quite heavy (probably too heavy for all you pale, waif-like goths out there). A wide strap is essential if you don't want your shoulder blade surgically incised from the rest of your body but, to be honest, the can tell the mass of the guitar adds to the great feeling of solidity and no doubt the tone and sustain.

The Graduate 60 is built like a brick outhouse and could take any onstage antics. It will last forever. Maybe the finish will rub off in time but to me that'd just add to the charm of the guitar. I'm not so sure about the veneered fingerboard - it seems pretty thin to me but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. The pots could have slightly more resistance to them but that's really like critising a ferrari 'caust the cup holder's in the wrong place.

I was so impressed with the Graduate 60 that I sent an email to Gordon Smith guitars just to point this out. They even replied to this. They were friendly and offered any help in the future.

This was the first guitar I bought that wasn't in the 'beginners' bracket or price range. I really couldn't decide what I wanted - the twang of singlecoils or the meat of double coils and so coil-tap was ideal. This guitar has the tone of a Gibson that costs twice as much, it wasn't mass-produced (Hand Made in England - what beautiful words) and will last longer than I do. A really beaut.

This Graduate was made in 2002; features as other ones listed here - two tappable humbuckers, no scratchplate, GS's own make of bridge. Design wise, the Graduate follows Gibson's Les Paul, but having played both, I'd consider them to be fairly different guitars in all but looks.

The body is mahogany, with a maple veneer over the front. The neck is quite chunky, but very comfortable for me to play.

The shop threw in hard case and a good quality strap.

The Graduate has got everything that I need in a guitar, so gets top marks. I'm not after a whammy bar, super thin neck, or screeching heavy metal pick ups. If I was, I wouldn't be wanting to buy a Gordon Smith. I give it a 10 because the only improvement beyond a Les Paul's spec has been made - tappable pick ups.

This guitar sounds great!

The sound choices allowed by the 2 tappable humbuckers and volume pots allow you to create many drastically different sounds. Good for meaty power chords but also surprisingly usable for jangly strumming.

Set up well by the shop. The overall finish is fine for me - GS guitars market themselves as being tools rather than decorations, so the final finish is maybe not as great as on a more expensive guitar. There were a couple of dirty marks under the lacquer, and the maple veneer had chipped a bit where the pick up toggle had been set - but these don't affect the way the guitar plays, and can only be seen close up. It doesn't really bother me, but I can't give it top marks, as this is a top-of-the-range guitar and if I was fussy I'd expect it to be PERFECT!.

The only problem I've had in my year of owning the guitar is with the pick up toggle. The connection on the neck pick up seems a bit dodgy sometimes. Apart from that, no problems, and yes, I expect it to last until I get too old to play.

This was built to order. Great little company, building guitars because they love them as much as we do. I'd give it 11/10 if I could.

This guitar is fantastic value for money. I also own a GS1, which I rate even more highly for the price paid.

The guitar plays beautifully and looks great. I've only marked a couple of categories down from 10 because of a few very minor problems.

If you are looking to spend between #400 and #700 on a guitar, and want a 'traditional looking' - perhaps 'Gibson' - design with different character, take a look at Gordon Smith guitars. Any one who has played one will tell you that they are great guitars, good value for money, and by buying one, you're helping to support a small company that loves it's instruments as much as we do.

Brand new Ebony Graduate 60, built just before Christmas, but I only got it a couple of weeks OK (see later comments). Pretty much standard except that I went for chrome pickup covers, for asthetic reasons only. Gloss front, satin back & sides, looks beautiful. The option of being able to split the two GS made pickups make it incredibly flexible sound-wise. It doesn't have a tremelo, or any other fancy bits & pieces that I don't want. Oh, also no extra cost for lefties.

I play sixties rock, indie, punk, britpop type stuff & it covers all of this pretty well. Currently I'm playing it through a Fender Blues Junior. I tend not to use effects, as I like to keep things simple & 'natural'. The option to split the pickups really does give a wide variety of sound & the tone knobs are incredibly responsive (far to much treble for my taste on max - but I believe that it is meant to be a kind of teble boost at those levels). The next pickup does seem more powerful that the bridge, so that we you play with both I think the neck dominates, so you should just roll the volume off a bit. My preference is actually the bridge untapped, the neck tapped & the combination of these two. All pickup combinations are useable though - just play a bit with the tone & your amp and you will find what you want.

Was shipped to me in Taiwan is a nice quality hiscox case, all properly wrapped up. The set up is perfect - no rattles or buzzes & a nice low action. I believe the strings are 9's & I will probably end up changing them to 10's. I would say there are some real minor flaws in the finish, but to me that adds a little to the 'hand made' feel. They are certainly not significant enough to alter the overall look and feel of quality.

Difficult to comment from the point of view that I've only had it a couple of weeks. However it feels the most solid guitar I've owned & judging by some of the other comments from GS users, I am expecting this to last well. Also stays in tune very well. I mainly play at home now, but if I were to gig with one guitar only, I reckon this would be as reliable as any.

OK so here's the point of me submitting the review. Having initially contacted Dave McCawley about Graduates, he was incredibly helpful about options, ranges of colours etc. Doing this remote from Taiwan, I was a little worried about making a commitment to order with out trying one. Again no problems, they would build the guitar in time for when I got back at Christmas - if I didn't like it after trying it, then I didn't have to buy it.

Then we had a little snag. The guitar was built on time, but accidently send to Music Ground in Leeds rather than London. I only found out what had happened once I got back to Taiwan. Again Dave was really helpful & between him and Music Ground the arranged to get it shipped to me at a subsidised cost. No waiting for three months etc, it got here in a couple of weeks.

This has been a rare experience for me, actually dealing with a company who really seem to care about their customers. Always a quick response & very flexible.

I've been playing for about 17 years now. It sounds a lot & really I should be an awful lot better - but it's not my job & not my only hobby. I've had a couple of faily decent cheaper guitars in the past including a Tokai Strat (nice, but too thin & bright sounding for my tastes) and a Jap Telecaster (better than the strat, but again a little too bright). The only other electric I own at the moment is an Epiphone Casino (nice clean chimes & jangles). I have been pleased with all of them, & am probably lucky not to have ever really brought a duffer. I don't think my ability justifies spending over a thousand sterling for a guitar, but honestly believe I have that kind of quality with the Graduate for a lot less. I love the fact that it is British, 'hand made' and fairly rare too. Being a leftie, you are often limited with your choices - but I have a feeling I've just made a very good one.

1992 model, solid mahogany top with double cutaway in tobacco burst and a rosewood fingerboard. Slightly different to the other models I've seen in that body and neck have traditional plastic binding rather than the usual 'masked off' effect GS uses now on the body only. The other difference is that the finish is gloss all over rather than satin back and sides. Overall beautifully finished and absolutely gorgeous in looks (wish it was flamed but hey!)

Coil tapped humbuckers really are the biz - full-on its got that creamy, sustainy Les Paul tone in bucketfulls and whilst the coil tap's thinner sound aint exactly a tele twang it's great for cutting through the mix when playing rythmm or arpeggio'd chords

Fit and finish are excellent as you would expect from a handmade guitar. I know GS guitars have a reputation as being workhorses first and foremost with looks secondary but I really couldnt fault this one (oh hang on one - one of the pearl markers on the 15th fret isn't quite seated properly and the Gordon Smith transfer on the headstock is a bit naff - but otherwise nothing)

Only thing that would improve this guitar would be a flame top (which John Smith does supply at a reasonable cost if you are having one made ). I must admit I've hankered after one but this was such a lovely guitar at such a good price that I couldnt pass it up!

Solid? It would probably break your foot if it fell on it...otherwise only time will tell I guess (tho after its first 10 years there's not a mark on it).

Spoken to both John Smith (who makes em) and Dave McCawley who flogs em - both dead down to earth and very helpful. Get the impression they both care about guitars and customers and the stories Ive heard of fantastic customer service tend to bear this out

Been playing 20 years - own a USA strat, Marshall AVT and some top end accoustics - Martin, Santa Cruz. This guitar gives that LP tone without paying #1500+ and has the advantage of more tone varieties via the coli taps plus it's that little bit different style wise. I love this guitar already - only drawback I can see is the LP-like weight and the lack of a body contour on the back which takes some getting used to after a strat. I believe the Graduate slimline addresses both of these. I'd buy this again in a heartbeat.

Serial Number 5361, so early nineties? It's as per all the other detailed reports on this site. Two coil tapped humbuckers in a sunburst maple finish.It's got anything you'd ever need.

I play rock/ metal so it's refect. Power and yet more power. Sustains forever. I've had no problems with the pots that one or two people mention but I get it electrically serviced annually anyway.Nothing to dislike variation unpon variation. It is quite trebly but that due to the tone pot design, just knock it back to 8 and it's georgeous.

Typical GS set up - low & fast. I've just had the first fret dress carried out by a local guitar maker.If the action was any lower you'd have to push the strings up to the frets. I play with super slinkys and a .6mm plectrum so I don't get much rattle and don't break strings so the odd bridge design isn't a big problem. Though if I was heavier handed it would take a while to restring. Build quality & finish excellent.

Live playing - no problems it's a destroyer. Everything lasts well with just basic routine servicing. I use locking strap buttons, It'd break your foot if it fell off. 100% dependable - no question. Back up needed if you break strings frequently as the bridge design isn't easy for quick restringing.

Never needed to contact them, what more can you say. British quality.

Playing 27 years, almost always Gibson (one Yamaha SG 2000). I was trying out a couple and was unimpressed when I just liked the look of the GS. As soon as I played it the quality difference was remarkable. Favorite things are it's sound, its weight and when a Gibson owner looks down his nose at it before playing it, and then the look on his face afterwards. With the exception of some early Les Paul Standards I wouldn't thank you for a Gibson now. British is best. Gordon Smith and a Marshall - Heaven.