What type of les paul should i get

For the most part, these guitars convey amazing, polished complections that truly exhibit the stripes. Lower-end alternatives like the Les Paul Studio will, in general, utilize darker complections, which don't uncover any fire on their tops. Different alternatives, similar to the Les Paul Tribute line, utilize "satin" completes, which obscure the wood inside and out.

Standard Les Pauls are commonly founded on the format set in the late '50s and incorporate humbucker pickups. Nowadays, most models use humbuckers enlivened by the first P. These sorts of pickups are known for their enormous, round tones and are a basic fixing in the great Les Paul formula. All things considered, there are a lot of models that utilize various pickups, for example, the more slender smaller than expected humbuckers found on the old Les Paul Deluxe and the more established old school P90s found on various models.

Obviously, when you purchase a Les Paul, you can generally swap in new pickups and investigate different alternatives—simply ensure you keep the first to keep your re-sale value high! While the quantity of Les Paul varieties out there is really shocking, there stay some center groupings that have existed during the previous couple of decades. While obviously, inside each of these, there are bounty more varieties and special cases to each standard.

As a rule, these groupings give a decent beginning stage to any Les Paul customer. Continue looking for a high-level breakdown of what characterizes every one of these Les Paul sub-species. The Les Paul Standard is, as the name infers, the backbone of the lineup and fits into an inheritance returning to the '50s.

Present day Standards—regularly ones from the '80s ahead—can shift a great deal the extent that particular parts utilized, yet completely they'll incorporate humbucker pickups and some level of fire on the top. They additionally ordinarily have more slender neck profiles than their vintage progenitors and lighter bodies because of present day weight-alleviation rehearses.

This guitar is built for comfort and speed, and the ultra-modern weight relief means this instrument is no longer a back-breaker. The contoured heel joint gives unprecedented access to the higher frets, and the asymmetrical neck profile and compound radius ebony fingerboard give this guitar an incredibly slinky feel, which is a joy to play - especially for fast playing or metal.

So if you find yourself longing for a Les Paul with modern playability, then this is definitely the Gibson for you. Read our Gibson Les Paul Modern review. These guitars were created during Gibson's golden era and have been the weapon of choice for so many rock gods, such as Slash , Jimmy Page , Joe Bonamassa , and Bernie Marsden.

If you're anything like us, then you don't exactly have a spare k sitting around - and even if you did, there's no way you'd blow it on a single guitar - well, the next best thing would have to be the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Standard Reissue.

The clever people over at the Gibson Custom Shop have meticulously recreated every detail of this priceless vintage guitar. From using lasers to scan the original dimensions, to the use of period correct hide glue, and even going as far as to recreate the plastics down to a molecular level, they really have tried to capture every detail of this rare guitar. If you thought the '59 was accurate to its vintage counterpart, then the Murphy Lab takes it to a whole new level.

The brainchild of master builder and guitar aging pioneer Tom Murphy, the Murphy Lab has one goal - to make highly precise aged guitars indistinguishable from the originals. If you have ever been lucky enough to play an original gold top, you'll probably have noticed that the finish has cracked. This is referred to as "checking. The Murphy Lab has managed to expertly recreate the look and feel of this, bringing an air of authenticity to this Les Paul.

Even the light aging around the headstock, and yellowing lacquer over the Gibson logo, make this guitar feel like a true vintage example. Still, if you're looking for a custom shop guitar with an added level of detail, then it's worth looking at a Custom Shop Murphy Lab Les Paul.

The Gibson Les Paul has gone through many, many changes over the years. Quite frankly, we don't have time to go through every variation, so let's just discuss the most critical milestones in the evolution of the most famous single-cut guitar of all time.

Although there are varying stories about this, depending on who you ask… Some say Gibson had the final design before contacting Les, and some say Les came up with the design himself. We know that Les approached Gibson in with an idea for a solid-body guitar - The Log.

In an attempt to catch up to their Californian rivals, Gibson needed a solid-body guitar, and they needed it fast. This version of the Les Paul featured a trapeze tailpiece and a set of "soap bar" P pickups. It was also gold - yes, that's right, the first Les Paul models were all Gold Tops. By the Les Paul went through some significant changes. Now sporting a set of PAF patent applied for humbucker pickups and the far more recognizable Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece.

So with guitars this good, the next few years must have been looking good for the Les Paul? It's unfathomable now, but these guitars really weren't that popular back in the day. The sales of the Gibson Les Paul had been steadily declining for years. Gibson needed to do something drastic to keep up with the rising popularity of the Fender Stratocaster.

This led us to the Les Paul redesign - the SG. Although still bearing the Les Paul name, the guitar we now know as the SG would take on the mantle for the next few years. Gibson would later re-introduce the Les Paul in its single-cut glory in Since then, Gibson has been churning out an array of Les Pauls at differing price points, from various factories over the years, from Kalamazoo, Nashville, and Memphis.

We could go on all day about the history of the Gibson Les Paul, but let's leave it there and move on to some buying advice. We know that buying a Les Paul can be daunting. At the end of the day, these are expensive guitars, and you want to make the right choice. Don't worry, we have your back. Here, we will discuss a few things to bear in mind when purchasing your new Les Paul.

If you have been looking at Les Pauls for a while, you'll have noticed that Gibson offers different neck profiles. That said, are they actually good guitars for beginners?

In a word - yes. Epiphone even offers a few Player Packs that include a low-wattage amplifier, cables, gig bag, and picks - everything an aspiring rock star needs to get started. First and foremost, I'm a guitar enthusiast — a fanatic, some might say.

I'm a firm believer that most of the world's problems can be solved with a Gibson SG and a catastrophically loud amp. Before writing about guitars for a living as a Junior Deals Writer on Guitar Player, I worked in music retail for 7 years, giving advice on guitars, basses, drums, pianos, and PA systems. I also have a passion for live sound; I'm a fully qualified sound engineer with experience working in various venues in Scotland.

GP logo Created with Sketch. Included in this guide: 1. Epiphone Les Paul Studio. Body: Mahogany. Neck: Mahogany. Scale: Fingerboard: Indian laurel. Frets: 22 medium jumbo. Reasons to avoid - Too basic for some players. Epiphone Les Paul Junior. Pickups: Dog-ear P Controls: Volume, Tone. Finish: Sunburst. Epiphone Les Paul Muse. Body: Mahogany chambered, thin, belly scarf , Maple Cap.

Frets: 22 medium-jumbo. Pickups: Alnico Classic Pro. Controls: 2 Volume with coil-splitting, 2 Tone with phase switch. Reasons to avoid - Chamber body delivers a different tone. Epiphone Les Paul Modern. Fingerboard: Ebony. Reasons to avoid - May have too much going on for some players. Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s. Body: Mahogany with maple veneer.

Pickups: 2 x ProBucker humbuckers. Controls: Two volume, two-tone, one three-way selector switch. Reasons to avoid - Would prefer a rosewood fingerboard. Pickups: Seymour Duncan P Finish: Aged Gloss Ebony. Reasons to avoid - Wrap bridge isn't great for drop tunings. Epiphone Les Paul Custom. Finish: Alpine White, Ebony. Reasons to avoid - Gold hardware will tarnish quickly.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Finish: Tobacco Burst. Reasons to avoid - Expensive for an Epiphone. Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy. Add to this different pickups, different levels and styles of overdrive etc, and it becomes really rather difficult to be definitive about whether the weight relief affects tone one way or another. What we would say is that, if light guitars are appealing or necessary to you, look out for the weight relief: Gibson offer it with several models, and it may make a lot for difference for you!

Some guitarists are put off using Les Pauls because they have back or shoulder problems: this need no longer be the case! So, moving on, we love the R rhythm and T treble pickups used here.

Gibson use these pickups on many models and they always sound rich and sustaining with grit and bite. This is where we find American-made Gibsons which look, sound and feel like the iconic myth we all know and love. More expensive than the Tributes and Studios, the choices in this section are still within the reach of serious players.

They are professional tools and things of beauty. As with the Epiphones, Gibson offer 50s and 60s variants, and for most players, the main difference will be noticed with the neck profile. Which is better? Make sure you have a good look at all the bursts, though, because the Iced Tea and Unburst Les Pauls look absolutely stunning too!

Now, what of the other features? First off, we have absolutely no weight relief in these models. The pickups are Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2 humbuckers. These guitars, and the pickups in them, are widely regarded as the most glorious, most beautiful sounding and most sought-after sounds in the guitar universe. Beautiful burst finishes, hand-wired circuitry, a feel to die for and a tone to be swiftly resurrected for make the current Gibson Les Paul Standards indecently good.

If this was the model you already had your eye on, then buy without hesitation, because they are fantastic. Broadly speaking, guitars in the Original Collection from which the Les Paul Standard we just looked at is from stick to more historical specs, like full body weight, traditional cirtuitry and so on. Despite looking very similar to the Standard, there are some key differences that make this guitar ultimately quite distinct. Again, the holes are made in the Mahogany and hidden by the Maple top.

In other words, there are no metal covers here, which some argue dull the tone slightly. Less windings generally mean a brighter tone. Keep that in mind! The brightness is relative to other Les Pauls, which all have a darker tonality than other guitar types. There are some cool finishes available for the Les Paul Classic on top of the expected bursts like Translucent Cherry and Ebony , so if you want your Les Paul to be a little more individual, the Classic may well be your top bet!

Now, as you already know, Les Pauls are powerful sounding guitars to begin with, so the idea of a hot-rodded model will perhaps be more for players of hard rock and metal.

Our heads were all quite significantly turned when these guitars first arrived recently. The Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy is a mighty beast indeed, and looks pitch-perfect as a hard rock animal with its satin finish and brushed metal appointments.

The major things to check out here are the fret Ebony fingerboard and Fishman Fluence active pickups. These significant upgrades put this Les Paul on another level altogether! As mentioned before, 24 frets is highly unorthodox on a Les Paul, so this is quite important!

Jumbo frets let you play notes without having to use as much finger pressure, so the lighter touch results in faster playing. In addition to this, the Les Paul Prophecy has a sculpted heel when the neck joins the body to allow you easier access to those extra frets.

The neck carve is slim and asymmetrical, so it fits the shape of your inner hand better. Now, the pickups.