Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway Electric Guitar  

Great piece of American made equipment. Who needs 4 knobs when you can have 2?!

Simplicity sometimes works better. The neck is just the perfect size (60's), perfect balance as well. The double-cuaway will allow you to easily access notes that were before a pain before. Perfect combo of colors (goldtop, dark brown back/neck).

Great action and sweet sustain. From playing epiphones, fenders, fernandes guitars this one is definately a keeper. Sustain, neck action and pick-ups are all great. Great for rocky blues, but will handle any style with ease, but this baby can handle any style with ease.

Dont think twice and get it. Its an unheard of price for an American made Gibson model and it's wirth every penny.

Overall this is an excellent guitar. Right out of the box played great, the action was a little high for my taste, but that will be taken care of. Mine is a gold top and it looks just awesome. If youre looking for great thick/full sound and sustain this is the guitar to get. Save your pennies and buy this guitar, its not often that you get a great deal for a high quality piece of gear.

I got the gold top which is beautiful and renids me of the color of my old surf woody back in 1966.

One volume control and one tone control makes it very easy to play even when tired after surfing all day. The neck is very smooth and sleek makes it easy to play the classics like "Wipeout" and "Pipeline". The sound is simmilar to the great Dick Dale's tone.

Totally tubular and out there!  Surfs up with this guitar!

Pricey but as everyone  knows, sometimes  you have to pay alot to travel to find the best waves. Nothing compares to a Gibson except getting locked in a wave at Banzai Pipeline.

1. This guitar could not be further out there. It is so far out it is not easy to describe except to say that it is totally tubular and , like wow, i feel so out there.
   

I've been owning and using top-end Carvin guitars since 1983, so when I ordered my double-cutaway LP from MF I knew I was taking a chance (again) buyng an expensive instrument sight-unseen from a 'stranger' (Carvin builds them how I want, and ships just what you asked for; the only 'surprise' is the grain on your guitar's finish). I've only owned 2 Gibsons over the years, and never a carved-top (I had a flat-top LP 'The Paul'--like a Jr/MelodyMaker w/ satin matte over mahogany in 1981, and an SG '75th anniversary', also with satin finish some 10 years later). I didn't get to play either of those enough to come to love them--The 'Paul' got resold quickly; the SG had a great, twangy sound with the small humbuckers (like LP DeLuxe), but the headstock was too heavy and the otherwise light SG wouldn't stay put while playing...got rid of it. This double-cut LP is likely to last me a long time. My notes on its features (I'm giving it an 8) are as follows: by 'Gibson standards', this guitar--a 'special run' MF commissioned from Gibson for catalog customers--uses the lowest-priced appointments you'll find on a Gibson instrument: stamped 'tulip' tuners, one pair of vol/tone pots, plastic nut, mother-of-shower-curtain acrylic fingerboard inlays, no pickguard, chrome hardware. I'm sure the 'low' price (for a new Gibson) is largely due to these lesser-priced parts. The guitar's 'best features', to me, are:

*Chambered body---this guitar's significantly lighter than solid-body LPs; actually as light as a Strat! Still sounds like a dead ringer for the 10lb anchor other Les Pauls are....

*Pickup-selector switch is in the spot you can reach w/o stopping picking(!) since the double-cut precluded them from putting it in a separate cavity on the wrong side of the guitar (like most LPs).

*The single vol/tone pots are just fine (unless pushing a distortion pedal just leave them both on '10'; it's absolutely idealized PAF-tone). I expect I'll put push/pull pots in for single coil/humbucker choice in both pickups, but I don't think this guitar needs separate pickup vol/tone knobs.

*Chrome p/u covers and hardware---to me, these look stupid on a 'gold-top' (since they put gold-plated parts on black LPs as often as chrome...); just keeping the price down....

*You won't have any better access to your last couple of frets across the strings than any other LP (despite what you might've hoped), but the double cutaway provides a decidedly voluptious look....I can plink F# off the board by the neck pickup, BTW.

Here's where the few 'issues' I have with this guitar come up. My guitar arrived with a 'Quality Control Inspection' checklist, and everything was checked off as inspected and passed. However, BOTH of this guitar's knobs (the gold-colored plastic 'pork-pie hat' knobs) were cracked when it arrived, and 'vol' split in two and fell off when first touched. The 3-way pickup selector switch fails to activate the bridge pickup about 50% of the time I switch to it. My guitar was (apparantly) soldered with 'Made in USA' quality and pride....oops; I'll fix it myself---while I'm replacing the broken plastic knobs with useful knurled metal ones. I'm afraid to return (exchange) this guitar over the knobs and partly-working selector, though; I'm sure I won't get this one back fixed. I'll be shipped another one with what could be LOTS worse problems (at least the one I got has excellent woodwork, neck feel, frets are well-dressed). I'm bothered that someone looked at this guitar's visibly-cracked knobs and checked the 'passed' box (Michigan's other big manufacturing industry--autos--got hammered for this type of approach recently!) even if the loosely-soldered 3-way switch escaped inspection (since it works intermittently). Gibson sells their instruments in a premium price range largely because of the buying public's perceptions about "1st quality workmanship" and so on; I did expect proper attention be paid to 'the little things' as well as the big, for a (more or less) $1500 Gibson guitar. The 'big things' are outstanding: it sounds, plays, and looks (except for the chrome) GREAT. You'll probably want to adjust your action a bit; mine's needed no truss-rod twist and came intonated properly, but the strings are a little high at the moment and it came with .010--.046 anyway. I'll set it up when I put on .009--.042s. The trapezoidal inlays are plastic but they do go with the look (as do the retro-type tuners). I decided that this coolest-looking and lightest Les Paul was dirt-cheap for "new Gibson" prices; cheap enough that I can add the price of what it 'needs' (push/pull pots, speed knobs, gold hardware/pickup covers, metal or graphite nut, and probably a set of Wilkinson quick-lock tuners) and still have paid less for it all than I might've for any generic off-the-rack Les Paul---which I wouldn't have bought!

It has what you like about Les Pauls (feel, sound), but it looks better, and it both weighs and costs HALF of what the rest of them do. It came with a first-quality hardshell case....

If you've ever wanted a Les Paul but were put off by their weight, get this guitar. If you're one of those freaks with a room full of high-end guitars you never play, you should have one of these, too (it'll look better than most--if not all--of the rest of your collection). I've been playing this guitar through a 16w tweed tube head knocked down to 5w and it just sings; it's the tiniest bit 'spanky' with the tone open (due to the chambered body), but it's still know-it-when-you-hear-it Les Paul/PAF-tone. Through a hi-gain 3-channel 50w head w/ closed-back cab it's a rock-and-roll beast. Overall, I'm glad I have this guitar and you don't...so you really should go get your own. Before they're all gone. Did I mention how easy it is on your shoulder?

Stripped to the bone full of tone. No muss no fuss! Waited a long time to get this one....2011 Les Paul Double Cutaway. The sticker also mentioned the word "regular". Not sure what that's all about! Beautiful fretboard and flawless frets. Pick-ups sound great, maybe a little more bite than the LP Standard. One volume and one tone...perfect. Three way switch does what it should. Tuners seem alright for now although I don't see them lasting forever (seem a little fragile). The 60's neck may take some getting used to but it feels great already!

I give it an 8 only because mine had some flaws in the binding on the top of the body (you can feel a little lip where the binding ends and the body wood begins). Set up was acceptable right out of the case, however will try to have it lowered just a bit more! Hopefully no buzzing! I have ordered a couple of Les Pauls in the past only to send them back because they appeared to be hanging on some shop wall for a millenium (dust all over, smears and smudges, and fretboard dry as a bone). Must of got a fresh one this time because the guitar looked as if it was just polished, packed, and shipped right from the factory! Not a mark on it! Fretboard was dark and beautiful. I could see my reflection in the gold top finish. Truth be told, I almost shed a tear when I opened the case (no lies!). Beautiful!!!!

I think the chambered body does sacrifice some tone campared to a "traditional" Les Paul. That being said, at this price this thing still sounds like a million bucks! And I'm pretty certain my back will thank me in the long run! I've purchased five guitars in the past (fender, hagstrom, samick, ibanez, epiphone), each valued at about $$$ each only to sell them (at a loss) to purchase another in search of something that came close to a Les Paul. Save yourself the trouble...bite the bullet...and buy this one  right off the hop!  Beg, borrow, or steal! You will not be dissappointed! Pinky swear!

I am not a professional player or even a great player but this thing makes me sound as good as I possibly can. It also gives me inspiration to improve and continue on the journey. Looking forward to many years of wear and tear. By the time I get done with this guitar, it will look like it's been through a war! I can't wait! Rock on my brothers.............

Two knobs and a switch — simple. Lighter than a standard less paul, though not significantly so.

Generally very good.  Finish not rubbed out at the back of the neck heel/body joint, but that's expected in a Gibson these days.  Gold Top is flawless. I think they tinted the back and neck too dark, but that's personal preference.

As Gibsons go, the price is right.

Overall a great guitar if you want simplicity, quality and a Les Paul that won't break your back (or the bank).