Opinions on Gibson Class 5 Les Paul

welshboyo

Been looking at a Class 5 Custom Shop Les Paul which the owner is happy to do a trade with my CS Strat.

Due to the frankly obscene amount of differing models Gibson tend to churn out, I get a little lost outside the Standard/Custom/R series guitars...

I know the Class 5 is a top grading but what about these guitars in general - are they a decent model? I assume being a CS model, the playability etc is the same as my VOS R7?

Any opinions or owners care to chip in?

stickyfiddle

It's a modern CS Les Paul, isn't it. I thought it was super flamy top (ie AAAAA, hence the 5 in class 5), and compound radius, but Coda have one that's fairly plain topped, so basically I have no idea.

Voxman

I don't know what a class 5 LP is either   :-S

strtdv

Originally they all came with AAAAA maple tops (hence class 5), but that is no longer the case as a variety of custom shop LPs are sold as Class 5 including silverbursts

They have long neck tenons, compound radius fretboards and nicer woods.

They also have 17 hole weight relieving rather than 9 hole or chambering.

I'm not sure if they're quite up there with historics, but they are nice.

Moltisanti

i had one for a while and it was very light for a LP, and sounded the best of all the LPs I have owned.

The only thing I didn't love was the colour(blue)...which has since grown on me

I traded it on the old MR site

bandmaster188

I thought gibson had the local kids in "class 5" make them to try and improve build quality ! :O)

fretfinder

I think they're expensive new and Custom Shop quality but hard to sell used, as they're not a Standard, not a Historic, not a Custom etc, and maybe a bit blingy and modern for yer average LP player. An LP for dentists maybe...!

Setzer

I have a Class 5 that looks very similar to the Rosso Corsa in the NGD thread here. Mine is about 8lbs so its a nice weight that suits my bad back, definitely not a dentists guitar as its quite subtle.

I have played dozens of Les Pauls and owned a few and swore never to own another Gibson because none were ever any good, I had decided to approach Feline to build me one when I had the spare cash then I came across my Class 5, I agree totally with what Moltisanti has said above, its the best sounding LP I have ever heard plus the build quality of mine is exceptional. On the bridge pickup it roars but in the middle position with the neck pickup rolled back to about 5 it has an amazing thickness of tone that I have never heard from another guitar (not only LP's) and I own/have owned some great top end stuff.

If its within travelling distance I would highly recommend you go try it, mine is my favourite guitar I have ever owned and I really dislike Gibsons!

welshboyo

Thanks for the opinions guys, really appreciate it.

I have a bit of thinking to do on this one, mainly around do I need another CS LP - the R7 never fails with getting comments about its tone and that should be more than enough!! But sometimes I'm not keen on the GoldTop (weirdo)

Perhaps I should just stick where I am and put the Strat away in its case, again it's a corker but I have a multitude of Strats...

Choices, Choices....

The LP I have seen is only a few miles away so it might be worth having a sniff anyway...

Moltisanti

pics always help get the unruly mob mobilised into railroading a forumite into making a decision

Gassage

This is a tough one- I've played thse and they're great and beautifully made. However, as an analogy, there the Custom Deluxe strat is, IMO the best teambuilt CS strat made! but they are murdered on resale by the relics and sig models due to demand. The Class 5 is R9 money, plays as well or better, but will be worth shy of 2k if you resell it. So if you're buying to keep, go for it, if you think you'll flip, avoid it.

welshboyo

Yeah, really in 2 minds on this one...might just stay as is and keep my eye out for an R8 in the New Year...

Moltisanti

if you LOVE the colour, go and see it, if it plays like a dream then buy it, if you're 50/50 wait for an R8/9