Custom shop juniors and PRICES see page 4 :)

Exorcist

Its all good.

IvisonGuitars

Exorcist said:

I do understand what your saying, (and I know your not aiming it at me, it also frustrates me when people judge a guitar without playing it - some of my best sounding guitars are 70's handmade B C Rich's - but people see the spikey 80's things and write them off) I guess that with a junior, the more it is polished and pampered, the less of the spirit of a junior is left? Hence my point about it being different rather than better. It was always meant to be an affordable rock machine, plug in and crank it up. 
I would like to try one though. My old SG custom is one of the nicest guitars I own, the inlays, the three gold humbuckers, the one piece resonant body, I find it beautiful, so I totally get it about C/Shop guitars.

Maybe I should have just stuck to the 'concept' of a CS Jnr being wrong. Still, different folks...

Right, well, I totally agree with you on that @Excorcist, especially as the Junior was the 'student' model that Gibson knocked out for $150! The idea of their being a 'Custom Shop' model does seem daft really!

And, to a point, I would agree that the £2.5k (current price??) probably isn't that much (£2k or whatever) better sonically than the £500 standard model. BUT, classic Gibson, it's the only way a buyer will get close to the aesthetic of the original Junior - the classic vintage sunburst, neck shape - without stumping up for a genuine vintage.

They did do a Billy Joe Armstrong single cut Junior for a while - think it had a humbucking P90 though - that was about £800 and was painted in the old style sunburst and looked superb - unsurprisingly they flew out....and then Gibson stopped making them.

monoamine

And a few limited runs with ebony boards... man i am still keen for one of those but rare as hens teeth!

Exorcist

Sorry @miserneil I edited that out as I thought I was ranting too much - I totally get it about the aesthetic and historically correct aspect that some people want to pay a premium for. I liked it when Lesley West called them a 'tree with a microphone' - that captures the spirit of them for me. - Also I have to say I think I got lucky with mine, the QC is a bit suspect on production models, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few were dead sounding lumps of wood, which you wouldn't get with CS... at least I hope not!

IvisonGuitars

Exorcist said:

Sorry @miserneil I edited that out as I thought I was ranting too much  

Ha! I edited mine too as I thought the same - we're all so polite around here! ;-)

I think you'd surprised with the CS actually, they do still retain all that 'tree with a mic'/basic thing that I also love...they just seem to have smoothed out some of the variables that the originals have...which is either a good or bad thing depending on ones view.

Nunogilberto

All I know is, I'd quite readily try a CS Junior, a vintage Junior and a standard run Junior to see what the differences are - I've had a 2015 model but couldn't get on with the G Force...

fretfinder

miserneil said:

hootsmon said:

are the CS juniors like the LPs...you know various LP years 57 58 59s

do Gibson have a selection of juniors from different years too?

No, the Custom Shop do a '57 Single Cut or a '59 DC which (i think) is the rarer of the two.

They do a 60 DC which I have. It has a slim neck not a fatty.  

Beautiful guitar though, weighs a smidgin under 7lbs. Yep under 7lbs.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/A0331719-AC82-4D76-9996-105C99BCD54C.jpg

usedtobe

Awwww.. I do love a happy ending..! 

  

stimpsonslostson

fretfinder said:

miserneil said:

hootsmon said:

are the CS juniors like the LPs...you know various LP years 57 58 59s

do Gibson have a selection of juniors from different years too?

No, the Custom Shop do a '57 Single Cut or a '59 DC which (i think) is the rarer of the two.

They do a 60 DC which I have. It has a slim neck not a fatty.  

Beautiful guitar though, weighs a smidgin under 7lbs. Yep under 7lbs.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/A0331719-AC82-4D76-9996-105C99BCD54C.jpg

usedtobe said:

Awwww.. I do love a happy ending..! 

  

That photo has certainly got me close to one too! 

Moltisanti

you could make the argument that a Jr is too simple to have great variance in quality for a Tele, or even a strat.
Just because the design is simple doesn;t mean the quality can't vary wildly.
Here's a comparison that works better than the car one.

a £10 steak in a cafe is just a piece of beef from a cow cooked in a pan.
so is a £200 steak in a michelin star restaurant - they are inherently the same, but the quality of the meat, the preparation, the expertise in handling it, seasoning, and cooking make the £200 taste vastly better, and accounts for the price increase.

SRich

SidNewton said:

I once knew someone who owned a Mk2 Golf GTi. I asked him if he ever fancied getting something quicker to which he replied "I couldn't imagine anything quicker". Er......yeah.

Besides which, we all know the Mk1 Golf GTi is the true GTi...................

monoamine

good steak analogy

richardhomer

monoamine said:

good steak analogy

And older ones tend to be rare....

Exorcist

I still think the steak analogy would be better if its the same steak but one served on an expensive plate with loads of garnish. The meat is the same.

Neil

fretfinder said:

miserneil said:

hootsmon said:

are the CS juniors like the LPs...you know various LP years 57 58 59s

do Gibson have a selection of juniors from different years too?

No, the Custom Shop do a '57 Single Cut or a '59 DC which (i think) is the rarer of the two.

They do a 60 DC which I have. It has a slim neck not a fatty.  

Beautiful guitar though, weighs a smidgin under 7lbs. Yep under 7lbs.

That is gorgeous.

One of my favourite ever guitars.

Hootsmon

fretfinder said:

miserneil said:

hootsmon said:

are the CS juniors like the LPs...you know various LP years 57 58 59s

do Gibson have a selection of juniors from different years too?

No, the Custom Shop do a '57 Single Cut or a '59 DC which (i think) is the rarer of the two.

They do a 60 DC which I have. It has a slim neck not a fatty.  

Beautiful guitar though, weighs a smidgin under 7lbs. Yep under 7lbs.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/A0331719-AC82-4D76-9996-105C99BCD54C.jpg

is that the TV yellow there?  it's nice

Hootsmon

Peeps

what could I expect tae pay for a recent(ish) good shape SC  Custom shopJunior...? with case of course

Exorcist

Thought I saw one on the bay for about £2K? Dunno if that's overpriced.

Moltisanti

Exorcist said:

I still think the steak analogy would be better if its the same steak but one served on an expensive plate with loads of garnish. The meat is the same.

The meat isn't the same just like the wood the custom shop uses isn't the same.
They select the best quality, driest, most resonant etc vs the std models that get the bulk wood that is not hand selected for a specific purpose.
Same with the cows - some are normal cows, some are bred by experts to taste a certain way

Exorcist

Moltisanti said:

Exorcist said:

I still think the steak analogy would be better if its the same steak but one served on an expensive plate with loads of garnish. The meat is the same.

The meat isn't the same just like the wood the custom shop uses isn't the same.
They select the best quality, driest, most resonant etc vs the std models that get the bulk wood that is not hand selected for a specific purpose.
Same with the cows - some are normal cows, some are bred by experts to taste a certain way

Yep, I agree that the wood is consistently better. But I don't think a good production model is going to be much different to a CS. The pickup is the same, there is no cap, just a slap of mahogany and that may make a touch of difference if you get a bad production one. I think we will have to agree to disagree - put a CS next to mine, crank up an amp with a touch of overdrive and I don't think people will consistently pick the custom shop. You will feel better playing it though I don't doubt, it will look nicer and be 'historically correct' and you will no doubt get a kick out of knowing its value. Its a stripped down rock machine though, lets not get carried away.