NGD: What I bought at the Brum Show (Gibson haters worst nightmare)

YellowLedBetterMan

I wasn't going to do the NGD post, but everyone else is showing off what they bought at The Guitar Show so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

Was 50/50 going into the show whether I was going to spend any money. I know I needed a solid body guitar with humbuckers. The best tones I have got with the new band have been with a 335-alike, but I also get the dreaded feedback, so wanted something solid body.

The PMT booth had a used PRS Starla that was quite nice, but the booth was busy so I said I'd come back and try it later. A few hours later I wandered back intent on trying that PRS, but at the back of the booth I saw a Gibson headstock with a low price tag attached. I knew what it might've been.

I plugged it into the Kemper they had there, A/Bed it against the PRS, and fell in love with this Gibson. I took my debit card out and bought it there and then. I know the long-haired bloke who was working the booth (he's sold me a lot of stuff over the years, and we bonded over a shared love of Pro Wrestling) - and he did me a decent deal on it and threw in a gig bag and some other bits and pieces. So Jamie - thank you.

What did I buy you ask? Well its a 2017 "S Series" Gibson Les Paul Custom Special. I had originally mistaken it for the M2 Melody Maker from the same line, but the covered humbuckers apparently makes this the most "upmarket" of the S Series guitars. It's janky, some would call it ugly even, but I love the look of it, it's set up perfectly and after giving it a bash with the band yesterday, it fits the plethora of grunge, pop punk and indie tunes that we cover perfectly. It sounds fantastic too.

I'm quite smitten, regardless of what it says on the headstock. These S-series guitars got a lot of hate when they first came out - I think in part because 2017 was peak Gibson hater meme era - but my early impressions of this guitar are very positive. At under £300 I have a made in Nashville Gibson guitar, nitro finished, plays good, feels good, sounds good and (to me at least) looks fantastic, very punk rock.

"This thread is pointless without pics!" Ok... here you go.

sweepy

I see nothing wrong there, enjoy

Looks really nice, always worth putting a set of locking studs on wraparound bridges, makes a noticeable difference 

snowblind

Before I put my reading glasses on I saw this as something you found at the back of the PRS stand. Was this their idea of a shonky Gibson they could use to show off how good PRSs are I wondered? Like one of those computer benchmarks where SUN used to brag about how their latest chip was X times faster than something IBM brought out 10 years ago. (yes I know SUN doesn't exist any more)

If it plays how you like then good for you. I keep seeing it modded to have the yin/yang thing on it but that's just persistence of vision.

EricTheWeary

I like that. If I ever put the ska band back together that would be ideal. 

Philly_Q

It's cool, I like sort-of-ugly but functional guitars and I'm a fan of scratchplates, they give you that flexibility to mess around with the electronics and add (or subtract) controls if you want to. 

Do you know if the bridge is original?  I have a feeling these came with one-piece wraparounds rather than adjustable ones.

Offset

I like it too 

randella

Really like that - no-nonsense rock machine. Like @Philly_Q I did wonder about the bridge too.

Happy new guitar day, it's a belter.

YellowLedBetterMan

Just found this - the serial numbers match! The only difference is I paid about half of that

https://www.wealdofguitar.co.uk/product-page/gibson-s-series-les-paul-custom-special-2017-ebony

From what I can see of others (like below) the bridge and pickups are stock?

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Gibson-Les-Paul-Custom-Special-Ebony-SHOWROOM/art-GIT0049553-000

Jonathangus

Nowt wrong with that at all.  Is that a maple neck?  A bit of added robustness on a gigging guitar is no bad thing.

YellowLedBetterMan

Jonathangus said:

Nowt wrong with that at all.  Is that a maple neck?  A bit of added robustness on a gigging guitar is no bad thing.

It is a maple neck with thick slab of rosewood board. It's disputed whether the bodies on them are poplar, maple or mahogany, and I guess I'd have no means to check without some digging (not that I can tell what wood is what even being able to see the grain). But yes, the maple neck is what I immediately bonded with - the whole guitar feels remarkably like a Telecaster.

randella

YellowLedBetterMan said:

From what I can see of others (like below) the bridge and pickups are stock?

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Gibson-Les-Paul-Custom-Special-Ebony-SHOWROOM/art-GIT0049553-000

Yep, spot on. That's that question answered!

I like the look of the forearm contour too - my own Les Paul is great, I love it, but I do get a bit of aggro in the forearm if I've been playing Strats for a while beforehand.

Philly_Q

YellowLedBetterMan said:

Just found this - the serial numbers match! The only difference is I paid about half of that

https://www.wealdofguitar.co.uk/product-page/gibson-s-series-les-paul-custom-special-2017-ebony

From what I can see of others (like below) the bridge and pickups are stock?

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Gibson-Les-Paul-Custom-Special-Ebony-SHOWROOM/art-GIT0049553-000

Right enough!  I guess it's so rare for them to use that Badass-style bridge that I just assumed it would be a replacement.

noisepolluter

I could imagine Joan Jett playing one of these, which makes it Very Cool Indeed

Philly_Q

I just remembered they were available in a rather fetching shade of green.  I did consider buying one at the time, only the slim taper neck put me off.

Jonathangus

noisepolluter said:

I could imagine Joan Jett playing one of these, which makes it Very Cool Indeed

Indeed.  Have a Wis.

YellowLedBetterMan

noisepolluter said:

I could imagine Joan Jett playing one of these, which makes it Very Cool Indeed

I said when I was trying it, it reminded me a bit of her Epiphone signature (Olympia or something?). Its definitely that punky vibe anyway - a Blooz Lawyer/Dentists guitar it most certainly is not.

Philly_Q said:

I just remembered they were available in a rather fetching shade of green.  I did consider buying one at the time, only the slim taper neck put me off.

I nearly bought one of the sky blue M2s when they first launched, but ended up joining a band as a bassist so put guitar on hold for a while. It's why I recognised it and mistook it for an M2 originally - I think just the arm contour (or lack thereof) and pickups are what separate the models.

Philly_Q

YellowLedBetterMan said:

noisepolluter said:

I could imagine Joan Jett playing one of these, which makes it Very Cool Indeed

I said when I was trying it, it reminded me a bit of her Epiphone signature (Olympia or something?). Its definitely that punky vibe anyway - a Blooz Lawyer/Dentists guitar it most certainly is not.

I had to look that up.... Olympic Special.  Quite clever of them, they've basically copied the specs of her white 1965(?) Melody Maker - definitely not an Epiphone - but used a similar, not identical, Epiphone model's shape and name.

Funkfingers

randella said:
I like the look of the forearm contour.

Reminds me of the Sonex.

ElectricXII

Congrats and welcome to the LP Special club. That's a cracking looking guitar, and I can't believe you paid under £300!

mo6020

I really like this, and what a bargain. Congrats. 

DartmoorHedgehog

Very nice - I like that (should be yellow though, although black is the next best).

sweepy said:

always worth putting a set of locking studs on wraparound bridges, makes a noticeable difference 

What's the advantage of that then? Is it just that the bridge doesn't fall off when you're restringing or is there some other benefit? Only asking because my most-used guitar is a Melody Maker Special so your comment makes me wonder (although I don't have any problem with the existing bridge setup tbh)