Gibson Custom Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar

The custom shop does the les paul right, with front and back layered binding, which wraps around the edge of the entire guitar. (not layered on the neck though) The pickups are hot, clear, fat, and warm at the same time. Between the locking tuners, to the Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, the guitar has all you need. Some may prefer to install push/pull knobs like the new Traditional Pro comes equipped with but if you're spending this kind of money on a guitar, you probably have the money to pick up a nice Strat instead of trying to get those tones out of a Les Paul. Don't get me wrong, it can work and it's cheaper but nothing will match up to the real thing, much like a PRS will never be able to feel like a Les Paul. Period.

I went with the Custom Shop model because in my opinion, it's the only way to go as far as Les Pauls go. With quality control the way it is now in the standard Gibson production lines, you never know what you're gonna get. That's just too unsettling for me. Some Standards and Traditionals are sweet, some are the worst things I've ever picked up for 2K bucks. Going with a Custom, I knew I could order it sight unseen and probably end up keeping it. Not to mention, Private Reserve has a really cool crew who don't mind you checking out the guitar for a few days before you make up your mind. And as I assumed would be the case, the guitar was very nice as soon as I opened up the box. It did need some adjustments here and there to get it a little more to my liking but it all looked good -- the binding was clean and straight, the finish was top-notch (aside from some brush strokes you can see on the body, which is pretty normal for Gibson), and the fret work is tight. In my opinion, there's no such thing as a perfect guitar. Whether a 10K dollar PRS, or a 4K dollar Les Paul, they all have their glitches. This one's no exception. There was a little buzz on the 4th fret on both the G and D strings but it appears to be fairly common on Les Pauls, customs and others. There were a few scratches on the pickups running up and down the length of the bobbins when in the playing position. As the salesperson told me, it's probably due to the Custom Shop having to remove a covered pickup after running out of factory uncovered p/ups. I'm okay with this. Let's be honest, after a few hours of heavy playing, what guitar doesn't have scratches on it?

Due to the fact that there is a cult-like following of Gibson guitars now, as there has been for decades now, the guitars are over-priced. You can buy guitars as good as or almost as nice as Custom Shop models for a fraction of the price. I won't get into where and what brands as that would be like bringing politics into a review but suffice it to say that people who can't afford a Custom Shop Les Paul don't have to go lonely at night. But this does unfortunately mean that they may never own a Les Paul and that customers like you and I, who MUST have something that looks and plays like one of these, have to pay out the rear for it. Bottomline: the guitars are great. They aren't exotic Lamborghini's, they just cost as much as one.

I can't tell you anything you haven't heard before. If you love the Les Paul, it's an infatuation that will sooner or later get the best of you. It took Gibson 15 years but it eventually beat me and I'm sitting next to a black Custom Shop Les Paul as I type this. As you can probably tell, it hasn't been an easy road for me. I struggle, even today, with how there are some minor issues with the guitar, the cost, etc. But, I've never questioned how I strongly feel that it's the most beautfiful guitar ever made. Others can argue there own points, but this will undoubtedly forever stand against them with millions of believers to support it. It may not play perfectly and it may have issues with manufacturing occasionally but these may be the things that make the guitar so beloved. Perhaps we identify with something that is slightly flawed as we are. Perhaps it may be complete nonsense that we want to play heavy guitars, ringing with sustain. But we guitarists are almost all romantics at heart about a musical instrument that has captivated us since we were young. It appears there will always be room inside us for an idealist to exist, if only about a single cut guitar designed in the '50s.

I love Gibson and don't want to bad mouth them but this was not a good guitar for me