Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar Satin Cherry

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

Good solid working guitarist's guitar. Traditional Gibson tone and about 8 pounds for great balance. The 60s neck shape is the most accurate since 1995. Very comfortable and very similar to the early custom shop 60s profile, not the flat back-square shouldered uncomfortable shape of the so called slim 60s neck made in recent years. Some may say the finish is a bit fragile, but for the price, "Hey"! I've read negative comments about the baked Maple fret boards, although I find no faults with it, and Maple has proven to be great guitar wood since electric guitars have existed. I've played guitar for decades and I am a former Gibson quality control Employee, I have to give them a thumbs up on this one. I would choose this guitar over any import anywhere close to this price range. I would have given it 5 stars if it had forearm and belly body contours.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

This is probably the best modern day bargain basement Gibson that has been produced (now discontinued)in the last 20 years. I purchased the TV Yellow Satin and was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box. Finish was surprisingly sound and hardware looks & performs amazing, great that these are US Made and still available at very reasonable prices. I have always been a huge P90's fan and was unsure about the humbuckers, these have a truly unique early 1960's sound that are very satisfying. Buy this while still available, have purchased $1200 Gibsons that aren't as good...

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

This guitar represents an exceptional value - Made in the USA - Genuine Gibson Les Paul. Sure, it doesn't have a fancy (and heavy) figured maple top, but still sustains beautifully, it's bare bones - but what else do you expect for the price?! When I received the guitar, it was packaged beautifully, came with a gig bag and played wonderfully right out of the box - just plugged it in to my Marshall JCM800 and was ready to rock! Everything about this guitar feels great! I once owned a Les Paul Junior and wasn't particularly fond of the neck profile (it was quite chunky), the neck on this guitar is nice and slim, there's no fret buzz, the neck binding is beautiful (not to mention a real aesthetic bonus), the 490R&T pickups sound good, the solid mahogany body and neck are nice and light (compared to maple topped LPs), the nitrocellulose lacquer finish is beautiful (I went for the satin finish) and it will wear beautifully. All in all - exceptional guitar and where else could you get a real Made in the USA guitar for such a great price?!

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

I had to take a chance on Gibson's only truly low priced Gibson guitar on Musician's Friend and get this Les Paul Junior Special. Well, my curiosity has apparently paid off, as this stripped down LP is better than I expected. How well it holds up remains to be seen, but on first sight, it's much better than low-end models Gibson produced just a few short years ago.

The first thing I checked out were the frets. In the past, Gibson was turning out some awful frets, even on higher end models. It's why I stopped buying Gibsons. But the dressing on these frets are good. No jagged edges, nice and low and without buzz.

Everything works on this guitar. No lose knobs. No crooked tuning pegs. Neck is straight, action is low. The yellow satin finish is understated but fine at this price. Glossy finishes aren't my thing anyway. The only thing that has gone wrong is that I immediately broke the E string when first tuning the guitar.

Now, this is still a bargain basement guitar, so it's far from perfect. You can tell the workmanship around the neck binding is a tiny bit off. I am glad a low-end guitar has the binding, but I would have liked for it to be a little better finished.

The only other thing which surprised me about the guitar is that the output of the pickups isn't as high as I would have expected from Gibson USA humbuckers. In fact, my Fender Telecaster Special has higher output pickups with more grind. That said, the Les Paul's pickups are acceptable and have virtually no hum even on high gain amp settings.

I am not sure whether this model goes through Gibson Plek system, but something has changed for the better in Nashville. I was all set to return this guitar, even before it arrived, but it's a keeper because quality control at Gibson has apparently caught up to PRS, Fender and other companies.

I can't comment on the quality of the woods and all of that, nor do I really care because I go on feel and balance, but I would say if you're considering a guitar that should last, better to go with a base Gibson model than a higher end Epiphone. PRS SE models are very nice, maybe the best in the low range range, but I'd still rather play a Nashville-made guitar as long as Gibson doesn't revert back to turning out sloppy work.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

Loved my American Strat so much.... but can't stop playing my LP Special. The output from these pickups is amazing. So much fun to play distored. I threw some fuzz on it and got a great black keys sound. The neck pickup is great. I dont care for bridge pickups in general and only use them if I play with the neck. I can get good sounds out of this one by adjusting the tone nob.

The sale price on these are amazing. Best value you can find on an american made guitar imo. I got satin suburst and in the sunlight shows great wood coming through.

Setup was great. The action was so low. It plays so fast. no fret buzz. Intonation on one string was slightly off but not by much.

My only complaint is that I wish it had the belly cutout. At this price you cant complian. neck binding is great, thats the cherry on top. Just like the specials of old.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

Satin models are marked down a lot, couldn't resist. Always liked the Junior/Special body and already had P-90s on an Epiphone SG. Mine has 490s on both pickups and a bound neck. Needed a set-up (by me) and the bass side in down all the way, almost like Gibson doesn't want a close action. But it sounds and plays great with substantial frets that give the fingerboard an almost scalloped feel. I have a bit of static tick when first touching the strings. Not sure what that's about.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

It's a poor man's Gibson Les Paul. I won't even pony-up for the Studio, so the dual humbucker Jr. Special is my ticket to the Gibson solid body party. Surprisingly great deal on the Satin Yellow. The finish is better than the satins on the cheapie USA Melody Makers. (I still have a white splinter in my palm.)

On the downside, the only thing more suspect than the Gibson factory packaging (mine arrived safe) is the fingerboard wood. It's certainly not rosewood, not nearly ebony, and I hope it's not plastic. Baked potato chips don't hit the sweet spot for me and so far I feel the same way about baked maple. I suppose it's okay, but I'm not in love.

I don't know who plays Jazz on this baby. It dirties up really quickly. Like on 2. Nice crunchy sound. I must be banging it too hard because it's buzzing on the top frets. If this keeps up I'll need to raise the action a bit when I change the strings. The looks may benefit from a pair of chrome humbucker covers. I like the tuners. They look vintage cool and they work.

I like the guitar just fine. A perfectly good guitar. MF has always been good to me and I never hesitate to give them business when I see a deal that appeals to me.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

I really like the action on this guitar and the flat neck. Only trouble so far is static electricity which may be a function of ionized finishing. It is getting less and less noticeable (wipeing with dryer sheets help.)

The pickups are fairly bright but I still can find a nice jazz sound.

A nice compact guitar. It is my new favourite.

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

So I was a bit skeptical about buying a cheap American made guitar. Sure it's a Gibson, they have a respectable name and reputation, but can you get a good playing and good sounding guitar for so cheap? Yes you can! Gibsons tend to have thick necks and heavy bodies. But for a junior this guitar is great. The tone on this guitar is amazing. The neck is not thick and ideal for players with smaller hands. For the price you get a guitar that not only sounds good, but feels good to play. This is by far one of my favorite guitars!

Comments about Gibson Les Paul Junior Special with Humbuckers Electric Guitar:

I'm glad Gibson is attempting some lower priced guitars for people such as myself. this guitar is great to play, sounds good, looks great (tobacco burst, bound fingerboard, green key tuners (my first Gibson had green key tuners-it gives it a cool vibe)).
AND...I am oddly proud of the Made In USA stamp on back.
Ta Da