Bang (Gibson The Paul)

Member Name: Lemniscate

Product:	Gibson The Paul
Date:	27/04/02 (658 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gibson

Disadvantages: Wiring, Quality Control

for your buck..I'm reproducing my 2 reviews from Harmony Central as the last one got deleted in the process of writing it.

Any questions email me.

Appologies if it seems a bit garbled.

Pro -Basically great value lightweight Les Paul.

Con - Watch that wiring!




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Price Paid: £425 (gbp -inc trade in)
Purchased from: N/A
PJ Walker,Southampton .Good guy, great prices.

Features: 9
98 The Paul in ""very" red with slight grain showing through close up -v.nice.


Bought New/old stock at a bargain price.


The guy who said it's basically an LP shaped SG is just about right.


I played this back to back with a Junior Special for over an hour and preferred the weight,tone and feel.All the details are in other reviews. I have added a pick guard,as:


a) The finish may get scratched - doubtful as it's quite tough.
b) It looked a bit toooo basic without.


It will be getting Pickup covers (and a new amp) for looks and tonal "improvements".

Sound: 10
Blues,Rock and Dinosaur rock band/Rock n Roll. My shitty little marshall practice amp sucks the sustain out of it and the 490 and 498 make the speaker dance!


When I get a better amp,i'll tell ya. Sounded great in a decent amp in the shop, but don't they always..Sounds good even in a crappy amp.


Good Gibson LP leaning toward SG sound.


ANY sound you want (apart from stratty), Any style you want. Just set the amp and tone cotrols and boogie.


My first Gibson the only other "real" guitar i've got is a worn out ibanez. Let me tell you, buying a basic guitar from a Good maker seems to pay off..although this aint always the case as instrument are sensitive individuals..

Action, Fit,
& Finish: 8
Action a little high and slight fret buzz on high e [barely detectable]. No real flaws. Looks like a plank.. so it's nickname IS "The Plank". v.good setup but not perfect,so i re did it.

Reliability/Durability: N/A
Proverbial tank. It's a Gibson..and it aint plywood!
Only had it a month can't really say

Customer Support: N/A
Shop were very good. Gibson can be reticent.

Overall Rating: 9
Playing for about 18 yrs. Ibinhad Roadstar,Kramer st copy,Pacifica,Fresher LP copy,Cheri Telecaster,Fender acoustic.


The Paul is BASIC but a very FINE guitar for the money..


9.7 Overall


.. because of the slight buzz,i'll let you know if she deteriorates,in any way.


Neck and the Pickups are the greatest. Neck takes a little getting used to from Fender copies, BUT it aint a baseball bat and my small hands find there way around it just fine.


Has an excellent neck and pups, which is what I paid for plus it's light for a Gibson,well ballanced and has a versatile range of tones and styles..you name it and you can probably play it on this.


Just adding to my previous review> i've cured the slight high e buzz by raising that side of the tunomatic [ever so slightly] and intonating it again..it does seem very sensitive to intonation.


As I suspected in my last review the switch was a bit TOO "crackly" and eventually the neck [front] pickup failed to make a noise at all.. so i resoldered the switch - which is a quick job on these, much better after that,but i think the switch is a bit duff as i still get occasional crackles, though only when switching from neck or bridge to both.


.No crackle at all when switching neck to bridge and vice versa. I also had a look in the control cavity and although it's strongly put together they've used enough solder to sink a friggin battleship
, plus it's a bit untidy.. Come on Gibson, i'm an electronic hobbyist and i can do better than this with a really bad hangover!!


Bit disapointed with the sustain as my strat sytyled Ibanez with single coils sustains about as well as this, either unplugged or plugged in - mind you the Ibanez has 10s on it this has the standard 9s.


Gibson strings seem excellent though, they seem to last a lot better than most other makes of strings.


7.5 overall -Come off it Gibson we pay for your quality of build as much as the playability,tone or anything else. My cheapo guitars are better sorted electrically than this!


Yamaha can beat this with their eyes shut for wiring.

Reliability/Durability: N/A
Strap button need locks. All else seems A OK.


Everything else I said before still stands.

Summary: