Help me find the best Lester!

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Tex MexicoTex Mexico Frets: 1196
After years of putting it off, blowing half the budget on something else, myself or other people convincing myself I couldn't afford it, and so on, I've finally squared that I need to satisfy my urge to own a good Lester.

The question might be a little redundant as I do know a LOT about Les Pauls (or just production guitars in general), that said I'd never assume that I don't have lots to learn from other people about them.

I'll just make a numbered list of questions, so if you have answers to all or even just one can you share with me?

1. I'm a brand snob so it has to be a Gibson. I think Tokai, etc. make great high-end guitars, but those for me are guitars that are now no longer even all that cheap comparatively and therefore have even less of an edge over a good Gibson. Am I tragically wrong?

2. I like the idea of older guitars. I can't afford a real vintage, natch, but An '88 Std's already 25 years old and can be had for not much more than a used '08 Std. Is there any reason, other than condition, I should be wary? Are there periods I should avoid?

3. I want a Std, a Classic, Trad or if I'm lucky perhaps one of the cheaper VOS models. The Std look is key. Customs are too fancy, Juniors are too basic. Is there anything else I should be looking at?

4. Is there any reason I shouldn't be after a Goldtop?

5. I'm not bothered what the neck profile is as I like all kinds of different profiles. Should I be after a specific profile?

6. I need the pickups to be as un-modern (I'm not sure what 'vintage' sounds like so I won't say that) as possible. Is there a Gibson set I want, or should I sell what's in there and be looking aftermarket?

7. The most difficult one: The Std/Trad/Classics list on the Bay for between £1025 and around £1400 (as far as £1700 for optimistic sellers, and let's say starting at £1650+ for a used R7), but the Bay isn't really a good indication of what people are actually paying (and eBayers are trying to claw back fees, too). How much money should I have available before I start listing WTB threads? Is £900 too low (it's what some people have suggested, and I know a guy did sell one privately for £950 a week ago), or are there really lots of people who would sell me a used Std for that?

Any and all info really appreciated.

Cheers!
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Comments

  • Zodiac51Zodiac51 Frets: 340
    edited January 2014
    So you want a Lester that Plays like Butter?

    <edit - after thought>

    For me I would avoid the more recent Gibsons with the laminated fretboards, (2012/2013?) but I think they have gone back to real wood for 2014
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  • Tex MexicoTex Mexico Frets: 1196
    Zodiac51 said:
    So you want a Lester that Plays like Butter?
    I want a Lester that plays like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
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  • ESchapESchap Frets: 1428
    edited January 2014

    Lester ...Lester! .... we don't know no stinking Lester .... :-S

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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7472
    edited January 2014
    Okay, I'm not an expert, but the best LP's I've played have always said Gibson on them :)

    No idea what it is, but they do something right.  Mostly.  

    Regardless of the advice on here, you absolutely MUST go out to a shop and try several of them out.  Seriously, you get the odd lemon - you don't want to wind up with one.  

    Lastly, and this is personal taste, I find most of the Gibson pickups to be a bit... Naff.  So don't let that worry you too much, as they are easy to swap out.  The 57 classics are really, really nice though.  Very much a classic sounding pickup, so that's your best bet :)

    Also, they come with 300k pots as standard unless you get a Custom.  Cynically, this is probably so if you try them side by side, the Custom sounds clearer and better compared to the standard.  They can be swapped out for the proper 500k's quite easily, though, just pass it on to a tech.  
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  • not_the_djnot_the_dj Frets: 7306
    Answer to (1). If you want a Gibson get a Gibson. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
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  • ESchapESchap Frets: 1428

    Only kidding!   I just hate the term Lester for a Les Paul.  Very glad to see that you're looking for a REAL Les Paul i.e. a Gibson ... Good luck with the search!

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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    edited November 2014
    Zodiac51 said:
    So you want a Lester that Plays like Butter?

    Don't get a red Lester, it'll play like cheese.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • chrisj1602chrisj1602 Frets: 3897
    I own an R7, and it's great. It's probably the cheapest way to get a custom shop "standard" Les Paul. I've played Standards and Traditionals that have been great too, but you can get R7s and R8s used for less money. There's an R8 on here now for £1700 I think, that's a great price.
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31371
    the Bay isn't really a good indication of what people are actually paying


    Yes it is, tick the  "completed listings" box on eBay, and that'll tell you what people actually paid, rather than what sellers are hoping for. You usually find that the price most people assume is the going rate is in red, meaning it didn't sell.
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31371
    Zodiac51 said:
    For me I would avoid the more recent Gibsons with the laminated fretboards, (2012/2013?) but I think they have gone back to real wood for 2014
    The laminated board IS real rosewood, and each of the two layers is thicker than some pre-CBS Strat boards.
    The prejudice against them is exactly why you SHOULD buy one, it makes them slightly cheaper without sacrificing anything.

    The other bargain is a used R7, Goldtops are cooler than almost any sunburst other than a genuinely battered 50s plaintop, and they're cheaper too. Win/win.
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  • BrizeBrize Frets: 5619
    Zodiac51 said:
    For me I would avoid the more recent Gibsons with the laminated fretboards, (2012/2013?) but I think they have gone back to real wood for 2014
    They went back to one-piece boards in 2013.
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  • RichardjRichardj Frets: 1538
    viz said:
    Don't get a red Lester, it'll play like cheese.
    I like a bit of Red Lester!
    image
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Actually so do I - that is gorgeous!
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • I started playing at the age of 11 & now at 61 I have bought & sold a good many les pauls while trying to find the holy grail of tones that was inside my head, in my humble opinion the only gibson that came close is my '72 sg std ( which I bought second hand in the late 70's ) second was a mid 70's lp gold top deluxe with the sandwich body, swapped the mini hum buckers for p90's & that guitar sang, sold it for stupid money that helped pay for some new windows. If you want my advice buy yourself a prs custom 22 or mcarthy, best of luck in your quest, mike b. 

    ps, I no longer own any les pauls, still have my sg & my gigging guitar is a cu22
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  • Tex MexicoTex Mexico Frets: 1196
    If you want my advice buy yourself a prs custom 22 or mcarthy,
    No offence, but I'd rather slam my dick in a door. There's just something about PRS that makes me cringe myself inside out.

    I have considered a '70s LP deluxe and chucking in P90s, and I have played a couple that were nice, but I've also played some proper shit ones, and I'm reliably informed that enough of them are shit to make the search for a good one very difficult - that and I personally don't think most of them will ever really increase much in value. Most early '80s Lesters I see go for more than a '70s LP, and you can usually find a half dozen Deluxes going for about a grand and a half or less. If I'm honest I'd probably avoid anything earlier than 1980. But either way I'm looking for a really nice player that will still be really nice in 30+ years.
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  • gusman2xgusman2x Frets: 919
    I had a '94 std which was really nice. Pickups might have wanted changing, but it was an excellent guitar. Sold it for £900, which i think is still the going rate for mid 90s LPs. Incidentaly, i kept my '96 studio gem with P90s. I think if i ever bought another lp, it'd be another with P90s. There just such great pickups.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Why not plump for 12 months interest free .... http://www.hartnollguitars.co.uk/finance.aspx

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • Tex MexicoTex Mexico Frets: 1196
    Fretwired said:
    Why not plump for 12 months interest free .... http://www.hartnollguitars.co.uk/finance.aspx
    Like cars, buying a new guitar just doesn't make any financial sense.
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  • RichardjRichardj Frets: 1538
    If you want my advice buy yourself a prs custom 22 or mcarthy,
    No offence, but I'd rather slam my dick in a door. There's just something about PRS that makes me cringe myself inside out.

    Maybe it's the excellent build quality by staff who appear interested in what they are doing, the factory backup, and that there seem very few instruments that leave the factory with terrible finishing or other quality issues that make them so terrible.  I'm no PRS fanboy, I've had a few and they have all been very good.  I am currently on my fifth Gibson and have three in the house at the moment and I like 'em.  Any realist however will acknowledge that Gibson have work to do to achieve the consistent quality of makers like PRS. 
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  • LixartoLixarto Frets: 1618
    Nah, it's the shit headstock, awful looking woods and silly bird inlays.
    "I can see you for what you are; an idiot barely in control of your own life. And smoking weed doesn't make you cool; it just makes you more of an idiot."
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