anyone prefer the LP custom over the standard?

Hootsmon

Well don't just stand there,explain!

gazrichards

It’s cooler 

breezytele

Yes, on aesthetics alone (not tone)
I prefer the inlays, binding, split diamond on headstock etc

ICBM

Yes. They sound better.

Voxman

ICBM said:

Yes. They sound better.

This, although I'd accept 'different' as I like Standards too. 

And this

breezytele said:

Yes, on aesthetics alone (not tone)
I prefer the inlays, binding, split diamond on headstock etc

... I'd add way better quality Grover tuners, I like the gold fittings, the ebony board is smoother and more comfortable to play, and aside from the front and back binding, the neck binding with the tidier fret nips looks so much nicer. 

Brize

ICBM said:

Yes. They sound better.

Given that the guitars are so close in construction, what makes the Custom sound better - the ebony board, or the one-piece mahogany body on the 50s models?

mikem8634

breezytele said:

Yes, on aesthetics alone (not tone)
I prefer the inlays, binding, split diamond on headstock etc

Says it all.

My ideal would be a beat up black one with a bigsby (sacrilege) b7 (heresy) 

ICBM

Brize said:

Given that the guitars are so close in construction, what makes the Custom sound better - the ebony board, or the one-piece mahogany body on the 50s models?

I think it's the ebony board mostly, although I wouldn't rule out the larger headstock either - it adds mass, which changes the resonance of the neck.

Mahogany-body ones do sound great as well, but since maple-top ones also have the 'thing' I like about Customs, that's not it.

Maple-neck ones usually sound even better to me, but irritatingly they're all from the late 70s when they also almost always have the wrong cutaway shape and weigh as much as a car...

pintspiller

They do look brilliant. I don't like ebony boards, they just don't feel nice under the fingers.

Jez6345789

Prefer the sound of the standard but the look of the custom. 
Its one of those Gibson things they suffer from none of their superior models get the accolades of the standard. 

Few people rave about the 345/355 its all my amazing 335 same with Les Paul most crave a standard

Brize

ICBM said:

Brize said:

Given that the guitars are so close in construction, what makes the Custom sound better - the ebony board, or the one-piece mahogany body on the 50s models?

I think it's the ebony board mostly, although I wouldn't rule out the larger headstock either - it adds mass, which changes the resonance of the neck.

Mahogany-body ones do sound great as well, but since maple-top ones also have the 'thing' I like about Customs, that's not it.

Maple-neck ones usually sound even better to me, but irritatingly they're all from the late 70s when they also almost always have the wrong cutaway shape and weigh as much as a car...

Brize

pintspiller said:

They do look brilliant. I don't like ebony boards, they just don't feel nice under the fingers.

I have to agree with that - rosewood over ebony any day for me.

ICBM

To be fair, the heaviest one I've ever played was actually a Deluxe, 1979 I think. I didn't weigh it - we didn't in those days - but I think it must have been around 14 or 15lb. It was so heavy it was actually uncomfortable to play sitting down, on a strap at the same time - it really did seem to have its own gravitational field that was trying to suck in everything around it.

Voxman

Brize said:

pintspiller said:

They do look brilliant. I don't like ebony boards, they just don't feel nice under the fingers.

I have to agree with that - rosewood over ebony any day for me.

Don't get that. Ebony is smoother and faster. It's also much harder so you don't get those dips and indents from fingernails that you can get with the softer rosewood, and arguably it helps give a bit more sustain too. My only other guitar with an ebony board is my 1997 Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro, that has a similar feel. 

Mudcrutch

Gibson are overpriced and over here.
They just don’t do it for me.
So many better build sounding guitars out there now for shed loads less money.

SquireJapan

ICBM said:

To be fair, the heaviest one I've ever played was actually a Deluxe, 1979 I think. I didn't weigh it - we didn't in those days - but I think it must have been around 14 or 15lb. It was so heavy it was actually uncomfortable to play sitting down, on a strap at the same time - it really did seem to have its own gravitational field that was trying to suck in everything around it.

Wow ... I had a 1980 LP which I thought was the heaviest I'd played. That clocked at 4.9kg ... I converted it, that's "only" 10.8 lbs.

That was heavy enough to put me off LPs for a very very long time (first and last I've ever owned).

Brize

Voxman said:

Brize said:

pintspiller said:

They do look brilliant. I don't like ebony boards, they just don't feel nice under the fingers.

I have to agree with that - rosewood over ebony any day for me.

Don't get that. Ebony is smoother and faster. It's also much harder so you don't get those dips and indents from fingernails that you can get with the softer rosewood, and arguably it helps give a bit more sustain too. My only other guitar with an ebony board is my 1997 Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro, that has a similar feel. 

I feel that I can dig in more on a rosewood board, if that makes sense.

riffpowers

Yep , always .
i think the customs (or at least the one I have ) have a bigger , grittier, more focused and aggressive sound, which translates to a very clear piano like clean sound.

To me the standards sound more “blues” the customs sound more rock.

Stevepage

Yes. But the older ones with ebony fretboards (if they haven't switched back to ebony already).

They look cooler and found the Customs I've played tend to be heavier than the Standards (there are exceptions of course)

ICBM

Stevepage said:

They look cooler and found the Customs I've played tend to be heavier than the Standards (there are exceptions of course)

I think they reserve the lighter bodies for Standards, since Standard buyers seem to be fussy about light weight, whereas Custom buyers seem to either want, or at least tolerate, heavier guitars as being more associated with that ‘Custom sound’.

I do like a good Standard too, but not overly light ones - to me it robs them of the power and ringing clean sound I love in a Les Paul.

Slash'N'burn

pintspiller said:

They do look brilliant. I don't like ebony boards, they just don't feel nice under the fingers.

How low are your frets? Usually the rails on LP’s are that tall my fingers never make contact with the fretboard.