Gordon Smith Graduate 60

I just bought this guitar. It should have been #575 (list price is #635, but I've never seen it advertised at that price) but it had some cosmetic flaws on the back so I got it cheaper. I use a Gordon Smith GS1 (twin cutaway, single tappable humbucker) and Richie Sambora Fender Stratocaster (Floyd Rose, bridge humbucker). The GS1 is a delight to play, but I was missing the sound of a neck humbucker. The Graduate 60 is very much like a Gibson Les Paul Studio, without a scratchplate. Two GS humbuckers, individual volume/tone controls, and a pickup switch, typical LP layout. The volume pots are of the push/pull type and act as coil tap switches. When in the middle position, both volumes become master volumes: the volume is controlled by whichever pot is set the lowest. You can't select one pickup to be full and the other 3/4, for instance (this is the only reason it doesn't get a 10). The tuners in my GS1 were schaller (kluson type) (but broke one and now have a set of Gibson Grover). The tuners here are more like those on a Fender strat. No brand stamped on them, and it's early to tell how good they are, but I trust they'll do the job well. I don't see GS saving a few pounds on this guitar by using crap tuners and spoiling what amounts to be a really nice guitar. The bridge is unusual, I think is made by GS. It allows raising the bridge like in a tunomatic or wrapover, but each individual saddle can be moved up/down/front/back like those in a telecaster. The nut is their trade mark height adjustable brass, like in the other GS guitars that I have seen. Good! Amber sunburst subtle tiger stripe maple top. The rest of the guitar is mahogany, I believe. Set neck. The fingerboard is interesting: there isn't a "real" fingerboard, but rather a sort of veneer on the actual neck. It feels alright. Thick body, and weighs and feels like a Les Paul.

Great sound! I don't see a reason to buy a Gibson Les Paul costing about twice as much when you can buy this, unless you can't live without *that name* on your headstock. Both pickups sound really good. Powerful beast. The neck in particular sounds wonderful, the bridge is a bit not so good, in my opinion, and this is why I don't give it a 10. Although I'm still unsure, maybe I'll give it a 10 after all. I might end up changing this pickup... one day, but I'm not in a hurry, I like very much it as it is anyway. The tone controls can be only subtle at high gains, but anything less heavy-sounding, they do a good job. Oh, and the sustain... what a sustain! (I often use a compressor, and with it on you'll get bored before the sustained note dies out). Most of the time I play through a Boss GX700, into my Tascam 424 4-track (my neighbours are happy and I can play LOUD at 3am if I want to) and using headphones. I can get some very realistic sounds and each guitar maintains its character...

The action is usually very low in GS guitars. This one was too low (lower than my GS1), with a little buzz on the bottom E and A strings, but easily corrected by raising the action a bit. There were a few minor flaws at the back, and I got it cheaper for that reason. The pickup switch was a bit scratchy, and the neck tone control was also a little scratchy towards the end (at 10). This should have been sorted prior to the sale... (I got it delivered without my trying this actual guitar, as I couldn't find one near where I live). Otherwise, it is a well built guitar. Much better than the Epiphone Les Paul standard that I have tried, and not much but still better than the Gibson Les Paul studio.

I just got it, but it appears well and solidly built. Better standard than my GS1 (as expected by their price difference).

Never talked to the guys at Gordon Smith. I have a 1-year warranty from the shop I got this guitar from.

Really nice guitar. Feels superb. The action is low low low (typical GS), and in fact the bottom E, A strings rattle a little... the action on this guitar is even lower than that in my already low GS1, so I will raise it a bit (neck is fine). Other than that, this guitar is incredible! Sounds beautiful, produces those LesPauly sounds, sustains forever, the neck is a bit bigger than that in my very slim GS1, but it feels very good. This guitar, made in UK, would cost a lot more if only it had a different name on the headstock, I am sure. So if you want the sound of a Les Paul, but don't want to spend that much money, or you want to be just a bit different (there aren't that many GS guitars out there, out front and visible), this is the one!

British-made very gibson influenced guitar. The closest I can get to this is a "natural" looking LP Studio with rib and forearm contours. Carved top LP stlye guitar which is a scaled down "racier" version of their popular "Graduate" LP copies. Obviously, the guitar has a solid top construction with a kind of Oiled sunburst finish and it's one of the slightly older models with a proper fretboard rather than the "veneer" type which they now use. Pickups and controls are two tappable HBs with the standard control layout of 2Volume & 2Tone. One thing differs! When the selector switch is in the "split" position, both volumes become like master volume controls e.g. whichever one is set to the lowest setting, that becomes the master control. I think the whole thing is made of mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. Hardware is all made by the Gordon Smith Company with possible exception of the Machineheads. The bridge is a kind of Tune-O-Matic/Stopbar combination unit but works well. The Neck is of a very large radius and feels like a cricket bat or even one of those old 50s strats that are reissued now. There were no accessories with the guitar! It dosen't have tons of features but that's not always the most important thing. If you want loads of knobs and switches, go buy a Burns!

It sounds like a Gibson SG, more bite and attitude than a Les Paul, with a much quicker temper! There's no other way to describe it except that it's more versatile because of the split coils. OK you don't get a true single coil sound but it as close as you'll get. It goes from a rich rich, jazzy fromt-pickup sound through to the classic bluesy bridge pickup a la page & Kossof. I've often considered getting it rewired to the "out of phase" setup of Peter Green's early recordings but never got round to it because I don't know how it would affect the tap coils. Yes, it is powerful! Yes it will push the valves on my amp to make a very warm and rounded tone. One thing I don't like is that the bridge pickup sometimes sounds a little "thin" but you can't have it all.

When I got it, the guitar had been hanging on a shop wall for about six months so it needed a little adjustment but once that was done it worked fine. No buzzing anywhere but I like what some people would call heavy strings (12s) so there's not much chance of that anyway. The actual construction of the guitar is shit hot and absolutley second to none and over the six years I've had it, it's seen a lot of use. Nothing has rusted or tarnished or broken or anything.

Over the last six or so years, the guitar has had loads of abuse. It's been dropped, burned and sweated on and still there's very few marks on it. The finish started to wear away quite quickly. I liked this because it looks cool but some people like a flawless appearance so??? I did change the buttons for locking ones because I'm always a bit frightened of dropping guitars anyway.

I've never had to contact the company about this guitar. I had a Graduate Std. and wanted it dating and the lady I spoke to was very helpful but that's the only time. I don't think it was under warranty.

On the whole, this guitar is superb, I've never had any problems at all with it. Sometimes I think I should have ordered one with a slightly slimmer neck but that's by the way and there's not much I can do about it now. Besides, I also have a telecaster so I don't really need it too thin. If it got nicked, I'd definately buy another. I think a good hard case would be nice though. Gordon Smiths are excellent value and everybody asks questions about it. This is the kind of thng you'd pay upwards of a grand for if the "G" stood for something else. I wanted one ever since seeing them at the Manchester music show when I was about 14. A few years ago I took it to the US and people were always asking me about it because they'd never seen one before. Any Gordon Smith is worth buying. They're distinctive, rare, fantastic value for money and hard as fucking nails. Get one!