Gibson Les Paul Special Single Cutaway  

Okay...it does not have a fancy carved maple top, body/neck binding or a nice translucent finish.  But for a "stripped down" and "basic" guitar, Gibson did not skimp on features.  Unlike some Les Paul Specials or Juniors....this guitar has features of a Standard Les Paul such as a 2 volume, 2 tone controls, a stopbar tailpiece and 3 way selector toggle.  It has a simple, but elegant finish that shines with stage lights, and an undeniable sonic presence. I absolutely adore the P90 sound over humbuckers, but that is a personal matter.

No major issues. Overall construction, fit/finish and setup were impeccable. I gave it an "8" for quality simply because some of the screws jiggled themselves loose over a period of about 3 months of playing. Not a show-stopper, but for any guitar in this price range, I would expect that the screws would remain in place during normal use.

In my humble opinion, this guitar can do as much, or more than a standard Les Paul.  I admit, the carved maple top with humbuckers does provide a more beautiful appearance with a fatter sound.  However, this guitar can keep up with its big brother without a problem.

Very simple and versatile guitar. The size, weight and balance are perfect. The P90's can do ANYTHING from the cleanest clean to the raunchiest distortion with ease.  I love the way I can set up the neck pickup to an almost acoustic quality, and then punch in the bridge pickup with a high output distorted tone without touching the volume pedal or switching effects.

No bells or whistles.   But, it has P90 pickups and a mahogony body.  This thing wails.  I have several Les Pauls with humbuckers, even an LP goldtop with P90s, this thing is a great guitar I can gig without worrying somebody will rip it off. If you haven't played Gibson P90s, you need to.  I know why Billy Joe Armstrong prefers P90s.  These are the earthy foundation of rock, punk and even indie.  I  love my Gibsons with P90s.  And the Gibson Special is a way of flying tourist, while sipping champagne and getting a massage......with a happy ending.

This

Great guitar for a number of reasons. 1. Its a Les Paul with tremendous sustain and great sounding P-90 pickups. 2. Its a Gibson at a reasonable price (For this day and age) 3. Looks really nice and has a vintage look. Comes with the standard les paul controls. Toggle switch and 4 tone/volume knobs. Tuners are very good and it was set up quite nicely. The string holes in the nut could be dug just a tad deeper (atleast in the guitar I got) but its no big deal. This also comes with an ebony fretboard which I really like. Feels great. I was able to get mine on ebay in Gloss Yellow which they dont make anymore.

The neck, I'd say, is a middle ground between the 60's Slim Taper and the 50's Rounded. Kind of feels alittle like the necks on the lower end epiphones but slimer, faster and more comfortable.

The set up, finish, tuners and electronics are very good. The frets on mine were flawless.

A Gibson Les Paul with P-90 pickups for this price? Its a very reasonable deal. I would get this anyday over a GIbson LP Standard. The only reason why those are pricier is because of the effort involved in their complex finnishes. Quality wise I'd say these two are the same.

Sound-wise, this thing has amazing sustain. The P-90s are an excellent match for a Les Paul body. It has that really raw rock sound when distorted, and bright and clear when clean. This makes an excellent blues guitar as well. With the pickups in the middle position with the volume tone knobs adjusted to your liking this thing has some really sweet and organic tones.

Not much I can add to compliment this stripped down Blues and Rock And Roll machine, just that I am glad it came my way at such a cool reduced price! I got mine as a mint condition return, and that was after the other finishes were no longer available. I gave it a 9 because the slat for the top E string seemsto be cut too narrow.l. I'll have to remedy that soon.

The quality is top shelf all the way. Ebony fingerboard, nicely polished frets, deadly P-90 pups, exquisit case. A really nice TV Yellow gloss finish.

The value is there all the way. Gibson quality, alot of asttention to the details. Epert craftmanship. The sound is incredible. Warm, resonant, and the P-90 pick-ups are wound just right. Very clean when you lower the voloume, and they quack and squeel when you pus them through a tube amp.

If you play Classic Rock, Jazz, Country and especially Blues, this guitar does it all! As you can tell, I am a big fan of the P-90,and especially in a Gibson les Paul Special. Beautiful tone woods, fast neck, sweet pups, smooth fretboard, polished frets extraordinaire, tone for days.

I took a chance and bought this Les Paul even though I am an SG man. The price was right, it came with a hard shell case, and it has a very vintage look. Turns out it is a very nice guitar for the money. Sure, it is a slab style body with no maple top but you can not tought one of those for this kind of money.

The head stock on thing is soooooo sleek and sexy! The tuners do their jobs by keeping it in tune, the P-90 pick ups rock out, and it is overall, very well made!!! The only trouble I had was some very slight buzzing on my A string and a very slight bit of deadness to my high E string on the frets between 16-22. I will spend the money to have this fine guitar set up by a professional.

Pretty nice guitar all the way around.....it just needs a bit of TLC by a qualified guitar pro to be a "10" over all. Nice look, nice sound, it is a tad heavy (as I said, I am use to SGs), beautiful black binding on the sides of the neck, a gorgeous head stock, nice action, with good playability! I rolled the dice and bought this on-line without playing it, and my gamble payed off.