Gibson Les Paul 100 Junior

BeardyAndy

Whats the deal with these? I've always wanted a Jr, and every time i see a LPJ come up for a great price it's got "Les Paul 100" on the head stock written in gold felt tip!

Are they not a full fat Gibson, surely there's not many corners to cut on a Junior?.....
And whats the deal with that nut??

merciful-evans

That is a 2015 model. It is a proper Gibson. There were changes across the board for all Nashville models in 2015 that were despised by almost all of the Gibson faithful.

The necks were 0.10" inch wider than std.
The nut is an adjustable with integral zero fret (in pic its titanium which replaced the softer brass)
They all had G-Force 'robot' tuners.
LPs had removable pickguards (no screws)
There were cosmetic differences too. The 'Les Paul 100' silkscreen on headstock and a hologram sticker on back of headstock

I like the 2015 models. 

SteveRobinson

2015 was a bit of an aberration at Gibson. With that headstock, hologram, robot tuners, wide neck and the brass/titanium nut.

Amazon was pushing these out on clearance for (IIRC) £185 at the time as few wanted one. They are not quite so cheap now but still cheaper than others are they are still relatively undesrable.

WezV

SteveRobinson said:

2015 was a bit of an aberration at Gibson. With that headstock, hologram, robot tuners, wide neck and the brass/titanium nut.

Amazon was pushing these out on clearance for (IIRC) £185 at the time as few wanted one. They are not quite so cheap now but still cheaper than others are they are still relatively undesrable.

not quite that cheap.  It was a  £295 Black Friday deal  

BeardyAndy

Thanks both, I thought it might be something to do with the Gibson "experimental" era! 

BeardyAndy

WezV said:

SteveRobinson said:

2015 was a bit of an aberration at Gibson. With that headstock, hologram, robot tuners, wide neck and the brass/titanium nut.

Amazon was pushing these out on clearance for (IIRC) £185 at the time as few wanted one. They are not quite so cheap now but still cheaper than others are they are still relatively undesrable.

not quite that cheap.  It was a  £295 Black Friday deal  

So the one in Guitar Guitar pre-owned for £700 isn't quite the deal it looks like!

darhart

I know I always stick up for the 2015 Gibsons, but I really think they are some of the best put together and playing guitars Gibson have put out in recent times. The materials used are good as well (Woods and inlays etc). I think as they were making such a push to try and up their game and to justify the related price hike (remember the initial rrp on these were huge) they put extra effort into production and materials, only to be shot down by the internet purists. 

BeardyAndy

darhart said:

I know I always stick up for the 2015 Gibsons, but I really think they are some of the best put together and playing guitars Gibson have put out in recent times. The materials used are good as well (Woods and inlays etc). I think as they were making such a push to try and up their game and to justify the related price hike (remember the initial rrp on these were huge) they put extra effort into production and materials, only to be shot down by the internet purists. 

At the right price they are deal of the century, there's one on the GG website with Kluson dlx tuners for £699. It's still a lot of guitar for the money but it could owe the original owner as little as £350!

Whitecat

One other change not mentioned yet is that the P90s they used in 2015 were constructed differently than usual and not quite "classic" sounding... they sounded very good, mind you, but different from a traditional vintage or vintage repro example.

Fiftyshadesofjay

They’re actually really well made guitars and pretty much everything most people don’t like can be swapped out.

The wider neck is the only thing that you’ll need to decide is right for you really. 

Funkfingers

BeardyAndy said:

"Les Paul 100" on the head stock written in gold felt tip!

The LP100 headstock decal is a scan of the old man’s signature, in his own (by then) shaky hand.

I dare say that there exists a video recording of him making the original scribble.

darhart

In not sure the price they may or may not have been originally bought at is really of any relevance? It may have been bought at £1500 from new or £285, its the same guitar so I can't see what it matters? It's like an original Klon's new price has no bearing on its value now. If the 2015 Jr in question is a better guitar than the 2019 one in the shop next to it (metaphorically speaking) , why would you pay more for the 2019?

Winny_Pooh

I'd have bought a 2015 if it were not for the neck width, everything else was tolerable or able to be modded.

ICBM

BeardyAndy said:

Whats the deal with these? I've always wanted a Jr, and every time i see a LPJ come up for a great price it's got "Les Paul 100" on the head stock written in gold felt tip!

Are they not a full fat Gibson, surely there's not many corners to cut on a Junior?.....
And whats the deal with that nut??

The deal on that nut is that they used robot tuners. They first fitted a brass one because the robot tuners constantly saw the strings back and forward which cause tuning and wear problems with a standard nut. They then replaced the brass with titanium because the brass was still wearing too fast.

They also made the neck - but not the string spacing - wider because that design of nut has 'end pieces' which stick out further than a standard nut, which is why the string spacing is then too narrow for the neck... just a succession of bad ideas, each of which forced the next.

You may or may not like the wider neck. You may or may not like the idea of the robot tuners. But the whole package just isn't right - and the robot tuners *will* stop working reliably sooner or later, even if that's not for some years.

If you want to replace the tuners with standard ones, fit a bone or plastic nut with string spacing that correctly matches the neck - and while you're at it, remove the well-intentioned but just plain awful logo and refinish the head with a normal Les paul one - then you'll have a decent Les Paul Junior for someone who likes wider necks.

I'm not averse to new technology or changes at all - when they work right and don't cause more problems than they solve.

BeardyAndy

@darhart I agree, and if i was standing in a shop and able to play them i'd go with the better one. Trouble is that buying used is usually a long range thing based on pictures and honesty. If it arrives and it's not "the one" i'd just rather the security of owning the more desirable guitar when it comes to moving it back on.
Like my Laney amp in the classified. Irrespective of what an incredible amp it is, if it had Marshall or Vox on the front i'd get twice what i'm asking and it would have sold weeks ago!

lustycourtier

What’s a great deal? I paid 184 Quid for mine, so to see them for £500+ is laughable. They are ok, but not a patch on some other years of Jnrs 

underdog

I have one and I love it, bought because Amazon had them knocked down from £800 ish to less than £300 brand new with case. It's my most played guitar and yes I love the tuners too.

WezV

darhart said:

I know I always stick up for the 2015 Gibsons, but I really think they are some of the best put together and playing guitars Gibson have put out in recent times. The materials used are good as well (Woods and inlays etc). I think as they were making such a push to try and up their game and to justify the related price hike (remember the initial rrp on these were huge) they put extra effort into production and materials, only to be shot down by the internet purists. 

i don't think the RRP was huge - seem to remember it being about the £700 mark for the juniors.  It was certainly at a point where they would have sold every one they could make if they had avoided the 2015 features that made them less desirable.

BeardyAndy said:

WezV said:

SteveRobinson said:

2015 was a bit of an aberration at Gibson. With that headstock, hologram, robot tuners, wide neck and the brass/titanium nut.

Amazon was pushing these out on clearance for (IIRC) £185 at the time as few wanted one. They are not quite so cheap now but still cheaper than others are they are still relatively undesrable.

not quite that cheap.  It was a  £295 Black Friday deal  

So the one in Guitar Guitar pre-owned for £700 isn't quite the deal it looks like!

maybe   i think they are currently fetching about £5-600 in a private sale. so its not too far out for a shop really but is pushing  what i would want to pay

LPManic

Somebody seen them for cheap on Guitarguitar today...!

roberty

I hesitated and didn't get this at £280 and I regret it to this day

skunkwerx

roberty said:

I hesitated and didn't get this at £280 and I regret it to this day

Damn. I mean the 2019 original collections are £1000 on top of that almost!