I dunno why I like it... (Les Paul content)

ICBM

EdGrip said:

If I remember correctly, the guitar was optimised for going straight into a desk, when people did that sort of thing. I wouldn't be surprised, therefore, if Gibson chose to make new pickups with normal amp-playing guitarists in mind, voiced to cop whatever was nice about the originals.

If so they're completely missing the point. This is not a guitar for the conventional guitarist, so it would be a shame if they've ruined the thing that does make it interesting to the small number of people who do like them. The low-impedance circuitry is the thing that makes them worthwhile.

I wouldn't put it past them though - they reissued the Silverburst Les Paul Custom with a mahogany neck for starters...

johnnyurq

No worries @ChrisMusic and no pressure because I take any excuse to wax lyrical about my main squeeze guitar.

Mine is a 1971/1972 one and I love it even with its quirky looks and when I bought it all those years (early 80's) ago it looked cool to em and still does to me.


It is hands down the most flexible guitar I have ever owned and has a load of really useable tones from thin single coil to big fat humbucker tones. The decade switch and small 3 way tone control give really musical variation changed easily and accurately.

The phse switch is excellent too and gives some really nice pseudo strat-ish and tele-ish tones if dialled in right. The neck is really nice and feels to me like an LPC neck minus the ebony and a slightly different radius.

The low impedence mode is switched thruogh a transformer and analogue circuitry and is mainly for jacking straight into a desk or recorder of some sort and beng low impedence it is pretty noise free, great for getting a clean guitar recording and then re-amp to to add FX etc.

For most amps you would not use the low impedence mode as it makes it awful quiet although one or two valveamps I owned seemed to love been driven in low Z mode.

One of the best sounds ever was the LPR into an ME-5 then to a JC800 2 X 12" combo (Model No 4211) and I could get almost any sound I liked with that rig.

The newer one is similar ish but lacks the decade, 3 way tone switch and a few other internal gubbins. It does sound similar but cannot approximate as many tones as the original, I was going to buy one but passed due to that and other difference like neck etc and not too keen on the bigsby.

For that sort money you can get an older original model and have change for extras, althouhg the prices of the older ones are increasing probably as a reaction to the newer ones.

I am biased but it instantly felt like home when I bought it and has not disappointed over the years. It is to date the only guitar I have held on to and will never be on the to sell list and oveer the years I have owned a great many that came and went (damned GAS) so high praise from me.

Herer is a nice resource to get some background of the whole family of low impedence LPs, if you can stand the early internet web look.

http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/lprusers/lprusers.html

Les Paul used them a fair bit and almost exlusively at the Iridium club because he pimped and modded them in a variety of ways including a multi track recorder and an XLR mic jack on the topmost upper bout LOL.

Anyway here are some pics of mine and a link to some I have in Photobucket.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i474/johnnyurq/Gibson LPR/LPR2_zps4d2523dd.jpg

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i474/johnnyurq/Gibson LPR/Bodymarks_zps2da48851.jpg

http://s1095.photobucket.com/user/johnnyurq/library/Gibson LPR?sort=3&page=1

Any questions I have missed feel free to ask away and if I can give answers I will.

GavRichList

Iamnobody said:

You could definitely argue a case for this one being a better buy:

https://reverb.com/item/157925-gibson-les-paul-recording-1978-walnut

This

Octahedron

Well I didn't think the guitar would get such a reaction...  

But hey. I was wrong.

It's for a niche, definitely. I wanna take one for a spin. 

But I agree (and I admit I'd watched the video from Gibson before posting) - it's interesting that they changed the electronics in it from the original. Hmmmm. And oh did I mention the fact that I still want one? 

57Deluxe

..do you think Les Paul was rebelling with this? It is a bunch of disparate parts he had lying about surely...??