NGD: 2020 Gibson Les Paul Standard 1950s

[toomanycats]

It's here. I'm speechless. Seriously. Look at the pics.

[toomanycats]

[toomanycats]

[BrianSkeezer]

Congrats!!!!!

[jtcnj]

Outstanding TMC!!

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[Gear_Junky]

Awesome! I love that look of glossy wet laquered mahogany, possibly my favorite finished wood look.

[toomanycats]

Haven't plugged it in yet because I put it back in the case to acclimate more. But I can say that it plays like buttah. Put it this way: Any of you guys prefer .09s because of the slinky feel, ease of bending, lower tension, and increased expressiveness? Well, this LP is strung with .10s, but it plays as if it is strung with .09s. Yeah, it's super good like that. Just perfect action and set up on this one.

I mentioned in my "incoming" post that it was the lightest LP Standard 50s that Sweetwater had listed. This was out of more than a dozen. It's exactly 8lbs. 13oz. This guitar must be made out of some well seasoned timber, as it is about a full pound lighter than many of those others. I had to do the "knock test" on the body to convince myself it isn't chambered. Nope, it definitely seems to be solid.

[uwmcscott]

I can smell the lacquer from here, that's a beauty. I know what you mean about the slinky feel too, my 2013 traditional is exactly the same way, even with 10's.

Glad to see they are moving back to the solid body with no weight relief too, my 2013 was the last year they did that I think in the USA line anyway. I bought mine from sweetwater as well and sorted through at least a dozen, the lightest one I could find with a top I liked was 9 lbs even, which is still not bad for a solid chunk of mahog.

I'll be interested to hear how it stacks up against your R8. When I bought my traditional, I just couldn't stomach the cost of an R8 even though I wanted it, but to be honest I'm very happy I made that decision. Of course back then you could buy an R8 for what a USA standard costs now...

[Partscaster]

That is a a handsome guitar top.
2TSB is my favorite finish. And thats a great one.

[mark_morton]

[Rollin Hand]

Ok, I am a Strat/Superstrat kinda guy, but that one pretty guitar. Congrats.

I am very interested to hear how it sounds.

[LightWingStudios]

NOICE!

[Spike]

Beautiful!

[motowntom]

Nice! Play it in good health brother..........
Cheers

[Mossman]

Looks good! An unchambered Les Paul under 9lbs is almost unbelievable.

[Chocol8]

Well, this LP is strung with .10s, but it plays as if it is strung with .09s.

Imagine how nice it will play if you string it with ,08’s!

Congrats on a great looking guitar!

[Tiga]

Dang....

[BygDaddy]

That's a gorgeous guitar. My favorite LP finish. I've owned 4 or 5 Gibson Les Pauls. They were great guitars. They are beautiful and expensive. I was almost afraid to play them. Sounds silly but true. Play the hell outta that thing. Congratulations!

[LancerTheGreat]

Looks like there's some tree reflections stuck in the finish, I'm afraid there's no easy fix for that, but I'll tell ya what man, I'll take 'er off your hands no problem

[toomanycats]

Okay, so I played the new Les Paul at two gigs this weekend. The first was on Saturday night at Blowing Rock Brewery in Hickory and the second was on Sunday afternoon at BrickTree Brewing Co. in Lincolnton. The guitar has now been properly baptized in sprinkled stout via aspersion off my beard. Below is a video from Saturday night of Fried Melon Blues Band doing "Blues With a Feeling" in the style of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. There should be a video of Sunday's gig turning up sometime soon, and I'll post that too when available.




Now to speak specifically about how the guitar performed. I cannot express to you guys how ecstatic I am with this instrument. It is so far above and beyond my expectations, which were already high, that these questions keep swirling around in my head: "Did I get a really special one?" "and, "Why in the world was this returned to Sweetwater by the first buyer?"

You guys can see how it looks in the pictures, so there is no need to emphasize how beautiful it is. The instrument exudes quality in every way, from the materials, to its construction, to its operation.

I am still amazed at how light it is for a non chambered Les Paul. That being said, it still has such fullness and incredible sustain. It's the best of both worlds.

[mention]uwmcscott[/mention] asked how it compares to my Custom Shop Historic, and my answer is, "Extremely favorably." They look and feel different in that while the Historic could possibly be mistaken for a fifty year old guitar at first glance or by someone without sufficient knowledge, the 2020 looks like a new guitar. But strictly in terms of playability, and even tone, they are equal. The major differences are that the 2020 has a fatter neck and the volume controls are not independent. But in terms of quality of tone, expressiveness, nuance, dynamics . . . all the stuff that really good guitars excel at . . . . the two guitars are so close as to be equal in my eyes. Not once during the two gigs this weekend did I think to myself, "I wish I'd have brought my Historic." That says a lot right there.

I've previously written about my puzzlement over how light this guitar is compared with other Standards. Looking on Sweetwater I see that just like this Standard, all the Custom Shop Historics are typically between eight and nine pounds. The Historics are lighter not because they're weight relieved, but because they are made from the most choice, select, aged wood. It seems a freakish thing that this Standard has such an exemplary flame top mated to such a light mahogany body. Again, I've gotta wonder why in the world the original purchaser returned it?!?!

In short, I LOVE THIS GUITAR! It is worth every penny I paid for it. If I knew I could get another that was just as good as this one I would be willing to pay even more. If this is not a fluke, and this instrument is representative of the quality of instruments Gibson is putting out at the moment, then I've gotta say that I feel this is a good time to buy a Gibson. Earlier this year I posted about my desire to acquire a Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, and I had assumed I'd have to find a used one from a good production year. However, I am now seriously looking at a 2020.

[voodoorat]

damn, son

[Gergo]

That is a beauty! Congrats!

[JeffBeck]

Holy crap. This was a return? It's gorgeous! And if it plays as nicely as you say, then their mistake is your good fortune. Absolutely beautiful top and the back ain't bad, either. Glad it went to someone who could put it to good use.

[toomanycats]

Holy crap. This was a return? It's gorgeous! And if it plays as nicely as you say, then their mistake is your good fortune. Absolutely beautiful top and the back ain't bad, either. Glad it went to someone who could put it to good use.

Yes, that is correct, it was listed a a "demo" at Sweetwater. I asked the salesman (guy named Perry), if it had been a floor model. He looked it up and said, "No." According to his records another customer had tried it for a couple days and returned it. I asked if he knew the reason why it was returned. Perry said the reason was that it was too heavy. That right there sounded very fishy to me, because I knew its weight was 8 lbs. 13 ozs, which is by no means heavy for a Les Paul.

If you ask me, I personally think that this customer was either 1) A Fender guy who took his first foray into Les Paul world and decided it wasn't for him, or 2) Someone who used the "too heavy" story as a cover for the fact that his wife was pissed about his expensive purchase and was making him return it.

How else would you guys explain it? Now that I have the guitar and have had a chance to really put it through the paces it I can say unequivocally that it is perfection both aesthetically and sonically. Not a damn thing wrong with this guitar. In fact, it's up there with the best Les Pauls I've ever played.

This is a guitar I will play the rest of my life and that will grow old and crusty with me, Lord wiling.

The backstory about how I found my way to this guitar is here:
http://www.aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.p ... 1550ddf73a

[dearlpitts]

Congrats, super nice guitar. Nice jam too.