Home Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar What’s the best Gibson on a limited budget?

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  • #22128
    rayc
    Participant

    What are the drawbacks to the lower end Les Pauls and SGs? What features affect the sound/intonation/durability of the guitar and which ones are just cosmetic?

    I just spent more than my total budget on my new accoustic but would still like to upgrade my electric to something with humbuckers (ideally I would like to own a strat as well — but I think that would be a very long term solution unless there is a reasonably priced hybrid that will get me both the strat and lp/sg sounds I like.

    Anyway, I would love to see some discussion on this. Are the LP studio models decent guitars? What about the “faded” LPs and SGs? Are any of the knockoffs especially good?

    PS. The thing has to stay in tune. That is my pet peeve.

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    • #71526
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Lets face it, you can get any Gibson (except a Marauder) and get a great guitar, but for resale value go for a standard model in a standard colour.
      Whats the budget?

    • #71501
      glw
      Participant

      [quote=”HigherPerspective”]Go for a lespaul[/quote]
      Any particular model you had in mind?

    • #71519
      glw
      Participant

      I bought a Gibson “Faded Cherry” Flying V last year. Very nice guitar and it has that classic Gibson sound, but the set-up on it was crap. I’ve also had problems with the low E string popping off the nut!

    • #71509
      HigherPerspective
      Participant

      Go for a lespaul

    • #71508
      HigherPerspective
      Participant

      What’s your spending limit?

    • #71530
      Michael
      Participant

      Looks the nuts? thought u said looks like for a moment…
      Must be a British thing 😛

    • #71516
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Theres not a lot of tonal difference between a LP studio and a LP standard or Custom, the pups are basicaly the same, but the crunch comes with the look and detail of the guitars, and Gibson know this, Most buyers want a standard LP with binding on the front of the body and neck and no paint or Burst on the back, but you have to pay more, so if you purely want sound then go for the Studio and save yourself a few notes, same goes with the SG’s, the open coild pups and the closed basicaly give a very similar sound, the Special has no binding and open pups (HB versions) and the Standard and Custom have closed covers, i personaly like the SG standard, i like the binding on the neck as without it i can feel the unbound frets under my hand whilst playing, I think there is a sound difference on the Faded models, the bodies are lighter and the guitar doesnt sound as ‘Ballsy’ as the Common SG’s, if i was on a strict budget i would get a used SG Standard, but if could go a few quid more i’d go for a used 61′ reissue SG, it feels a lot better, plays like a dream, has a lot more attention to detail, and looks the NUTS! 😆

    • #71506
      rayc
      Participant

      One more try to get some feedback on this. Have I phrased my questions too broadly? I could ask more specific questions.

      I really valued the information and suggestions I got on my accoustic purchase (even though I did not by the Larrivee — I did like the ones I played).

    • #71512
      rayc
      Participant

      Peavy Classic 30. I like it. I don’t think we can blame the amp. Some of my gripe is from running the guitar right into my 4 track (sometimes through a Digitech RP200).

    • #71535
      pedalboardguy
      Participant

      what amp are ya runnin’?
      Stevie

    • #71490
      rayc
      Participant

      My current electric is a Epiphone Les Paul Special (from the early-mid nineties – not the special 2 that they sell now). It has P-90s and I am not thrilled with the sound. It actually seems like the worst of both worlds. You can’t get the nice thin, out of phase, strat sound and you can’t get the fat LP sound either.

    • #71498
      pedalboardguy
      Participant

      What type of pickup are ya thinking? P90 style maybe? I’m a strat guy myself, but I love them SG soapbar pickups. Break up just the right amount! IMHO.

      Stevie

      ➡ this is an unpaid popup ➡ http://www.epedalboards.com

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