Help choosing a Gibson LP

horse

p90fool said:

...

It all sounds like a mixture of bullshit with a hint of mistranslation to me.

+1

The idea that the weak point in a band is that a guitarist should play an LP rather than a tele sounds daft. If he needs a heavier tone then there are lots of ways to get there without changing the guitar.

If your son loves LPs and wants to get one then great, but don't feel that an LP is in any way 'necessary', and if he does spend a grand on a different guitar then that should get him a fantastic sounding and playing reliable instrument - not a compromise in any way!

not_the_dj

If you buy a Les Paul you do instantly make it and become a rock star. It's a fact*

 

 

(*might not actually be a fact)

Forge

not_the_dj said:

If you buy a Les Paul you do instantly make it and become a rock star. It's a fact*

 

 

(*might not actually be a fact)

I will have to ask Gibson for a refund !

sunshinewelly

Don't forget there are other companies out there. I would put my tokai les paul against any standard or traditional

Forge

Tokais are excellent and a steal second hand - not biased because I like and use both brands.

xSkarloey

Get the lad to keep the Tele, but to say to the pro who offered the advice re. the Les Paul that he wants to borrow his Gibbo to help him make up his mind. 

See if his advice changes then.  

horse

I've heard that a les paul with a tele pickup in the neck position offers the best of both worlds.

Clingy

Skarloey said:

Get the lad to keep the Tele, but to say to the pro who offered the advice re. the Les Paul that he wants to borrow his Gibbo to help him make up his mind. 

See if his advice changes then.  

He's not a guitarist or indeed musician so that might be tricky!  And I did offer to lend the lad mine, but at £4000 value he is too afraid that he might damage it!  Shame, the guitar could do with someone playing it who knows what they are doing!

I hear what you all say, but I am reluctant to pass this on.  The lad is getting help from someone for free and it would not be a wise career move to ignore.

Now assuming I had not put the full story down and just asked what woudl be a "bang for buck" Gibson LP for around £1000.  Is there anyone here who can help at all?

not_the_dj

There's a few Standard's arouind the £1200 mark in the classifieds. He'll need to try a few neck profiles though to decide what's comfortable (50s or 60s, but there are variations in those classifications anyway).

You'll get change from £1000 going for the cheaper current models (LPJ etc).

There's a few 2013 models in the shops discounted as well. The Signature T is nice (coil tap option) but some people don't like the non traditional fingerboard wood used on those, but it wouldn't bother me.

He needs to try a Traditional, as they're 50s necks and not weight relieved, so for a young guy gigging one it might just be too much of a beast to tame.

These days there are loads of options with Les Pauls so difficult to recomend a particular model without knowing what he likes, especially the neck profile and weight.

JDE

Sorry for ignoring your question with my previous comments. Best bang for buck in a Gibson is, IMO, a used Traditional. Alternatively a used SG Std. is even better value.
Look into Tokai - the 80 series made in Japan Love Rocks are great, moderately affordable LP's.
Perhaps a semi would also be good - Peerless make nice affordable models: Hardtail, Revolver HB.



Were it me (and I know it's not) and it had to be an LP style, I'd get a Tokai LS85 (I think it's called) or a used SG Std, a RAT and a Big Muff. All together would be less than 1K.

Fretwired

The new Studios are quite cool .. they start at £799 and rise to around £1,050.

http://www.andertons.co.uk/solid-body-electric-guitars/pid31556/cid671/gibson-les-paul-studio-in-honeyburst-vintage-gloss.asp

underdog

Clingy;201667" said:

Skarloey said:





Get the lad to keep

the Tele, but to say to the pro who offered the advice re. the Les Paul

that he wants to borrow his Gibbo to help him make up his mind. 

See if his advice changes then.  













He's not a

guitarist or indeed musician so that might be tricky!  And I did offer

to lend the lad mine, but at £4000 value he is too afraid that he might

damage it!  Shame, the guitar could do with someone playing it who knows

what they are doing!



I hear what you all say, but I am reluctant

to pass this on.  The lad is getting help from someone for free and it

would not be a wise career move to ignore.



Now assuming I had not

put the full story down and just asked what woudl be a "bang for buck"

Gibson LP for around £1000.  Is there anyone here who can help at all?

2013 LPJ, well under a grand, has all the LP sounds, will look good a bit battered.

p90fool

Sorry, but even though I'm totally in love with my own Les Paul, the guy teliing a young lad he must buy one for the sake of his career prospects is full of shit.

Saying the band would benefit from a warmer, fatter guitar sound is perfectly valid, but telling someone how to get there when they plainly don't have a clue themselves is ridiculous.

He's just trotting out something he's picked up somewhere else, and now a family has to find a grand to pander to an offhand, ignorant whim because of who he is.

Sorry, but there it is.

bigdawg

hmm a quick google shows the guitarist with the subways playing an SG junior, so no neck pup there and only a P90 at the bridge...

This is obviously nothing more than an image issue rather than a sound issue, as has been pointed out many great guitarists have made a career nd some great records with a Tele 

couple more to add - joe strummer, keef, paul weller, townshend, jeff beck, steve cropper, frusciante, wilko johnson, gallagher and even this bloke

Skipped

Clingy - It is difficult to ignore your first post and just focus on £1k Les Pauls!

If someone in the music industry (even a non musician) has advice about the sound of a band, I don't see any harm in that, but telling someone that "they are playing the wrong guitar" is deserving of ridicule and I think the comments on this thread have been polite if anything.
There will be a reason why this lad is playing a Telecaster.
There are many ways to change the way a guitar sounds in a mix.

Fiftyshadesofjay

If the guy offering the advice is in your words "not a guitarist or indeed musician" why would you listen to him about this at all?  He obviously doesn't know what he's talking about.

Trust me, this guy is giving you bad advice, please don't listen to a word he says, especially on the premise he can help you make the lad in question famous or whatever.  I've been in the industry long enough to know that's not how it works at all.

ICBM

Clingy said:

He's not a guitarist or indeed musician so that might be tricky!  And I did offer to lend the lad mine, but at £4000 value he is too afraid that he might damage it!  Shame, the guitar could do with someone playing it who knows what they are doing!

I hear what you all say, but I am reluctant to pass this on.  The lad is getting help from someone for free and it would not be a wise career move to ignore.

This is interesting.

So is he a music industry professional in some other way?

Does he *genuinely* think the guitar sounds weak, or does he think it *looks* "weak" (ie "not rock enough").

I'm not discounting the opinion of a non-musician about sound, at all - most people can hear when a sound is really 'off' - but it's unusual for someone to have such specific views on what the best way to fix it is, if they aren't a musician.

If it's about the look and not the sound, I don't think that's necessarily wrong advice either, if the band are serious about making it.

Clingy said:

Now assuming I had not put the full story down and just asked what woudl be a "bang for buck" Gibson LP for around £1000.  Is there anyone here who can help at all?

Les Paul Studio, if he's buying new.

But make sure you get a proper case with it and not the gig bag it comes with, otherwise budget for a headstock repair sooner or later. (That's serious professional advice!)

xSkarloey

Clingy said:

Skarloey said:

Get the lad to keep the Tele, but to say to the pro who offered the advice re. the Les Paul that he wants to borrow his Gibbo to help him make up his mind. 

See if his advice changes then.  

He's not a guitarist or indeed musician so that might be tricky!  And I did offer to lend the lad mine, but at £4000 value he is too afraid that he might damage it!  Shame, the guitar could do with someone playing it who knows what they are doing!

I hear what you all say, but I am reluctant to pass this on.  The lad is getting help from someone for free and it would not be a wise career move to ignore.

Now assuming I had not put the full story down and just asked what woudl be a "bang for buck" Gibson LP for around £1000.  Is there anyone here who can help at all?

Would the fella be amenable to listening to the band again, this time to a few demo recordings of the band made with your mate's son playing the Tele? 

Edit: oh go on then, I'll be civil and answer your question 

I am looking to buy a Lester myself, and I'm currently trying to hunt down either a decent Studio or a second hand Traditional. 

But like others have said I would not overlook the cheaper LPJ models if one played and sounded right. 

horse

I they're dead set on blowing £1K on a gibson then you've got the advice you need already.

If they've got a bit more independent thought but are thinking that an LP shape will work better with their image then they could save a fair bit by trying some used far east LP copies available on local ebay. Something like a used Tokai, Burny, Greco, Edwards etc could be a great option and he should be able to tell what feels and sounds right to him when he tries them.

Clingy

Thanks everyone....I know I am trying the patience of many of you, but I really want to get the lad some help whilst trying to remain diplomatic.  And do you really think you need to be a musician to appreciate music/tone?  I'd have to take expception at that comment.    Surely most record buyers are not musicians.  Whether you need to be a guitarist to help find a solution is perhaps open to more debate.  Anyway, lets say the "help" is a record producer.

All comments have been read and I shall try and pass on diplomatically the advice here.  Thanks also for the more specfic LP advice toward the end of the thread here, I have never palyed a Tokai or even a Studio etc, so will have a go myself.  The one Gibson SG I played sounded great, but, boy, there are butt ugly .  In any event I shall try and get him to play as many models as possible and give him MY one bit of "diamond" advice.  When you feel you are bonding with the guitar go for it...trust your instincts.