Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Plus Electric Guitar  

For a guitar this expensive and with the traditional tuning issues with sticky nuts, why didn't they use graphite or tusq nut? Nut lubribcants help for a while...but it's a pain.  My son's tusq-nutted LP stays in tune much better.   The 57's lacked punched (too bright and tinny even, but a great sound for jazz and other clean tones). I tried to sell it on account of the crunchless tone I originally sought when I bought it sight unseen (after getting rid of a chambered Studio also with tinny tone, despite the 490's)  and finally my son talked me into putting in some SeyDunc Jeff Becks and now it rocks as it should!  Cleans still sound great.  I also noticed a nice smooth and gradual balanced transition between neck and bridge pups with the SD's pups.  

Amazing neck and overall quality. So far (almost two years of ownership) no problems with the bridge selector switch (my son's keep going bad).  I play about 10 hours per week.

You get what you paid for.  I don't regret the purchase even if it's twice that of my SG (which also sound fantastic).  The beast will last you a lifetime and bring you much pleasure to boot.

It's a thing of beauty in any color scheme. Lefties have come down in price in recent years. The weight (though weight relieved) is not too bad but I believe necessary to ensure that traditional crunchy LP tone.  

Tone is what we are all looking for when we play. So in my book tone comes first before looks and this guitar has tone for days as the 57 pickups are fantastic! Though as someone mentioned in a previous review the electronics could use some work. This Les Paul Standard Traditional Plus plays very well and requires very little setup. String hieght was a little high for my taste but that is very easily corrected. The Plek machining of the frets seems to be very good as I good detect no fret buzzing at all.

The reason that I'm rating the Quality 7 and it really pains me to do so. Is the fact one of the tuners was not centered properly on the headstock. Also, as mentioned in other reviews the paint and finish are not what I would expect from an instrument of this price range. Plus the fact the guitar is supposed to be a plus top figured maple, I'm not that impressed with the figured maple top.

Gibson's Quality Control Department is sadly lacking or non-existant these days. It also appears their luthiers no longer take much pride in their work anymore. What's up with this Gibson? Your company has been having quality control issues for several years now. Do you not hear the customer complaints out there??? For the prices we have to pay for your instruments and equipment, we should at that very least get what we are paying for....

The 57 pickups are the main selling point of this instrument as playability is always very good on any Les Paul. The overall rating of 8 is due to the quality control issues which Gibson continues to have with their instruments. Hopefully, some day they will wake up and correct these issues.

Where should I start?  I actually have received 3 of them in Chicago blue and each of them had minor paint flaws, but in my opionion when you get up into this price level the paint should be absolutely flawless.  I had to really put a lot of thought into returning each one because I really wanted one.  But when I looked at the rest of my guitar collection:  3 ESPs, Jackson USA soloist, and an older Charvel/Jackson, all I could think was that each of those guitars have flawless paint jobs and they were about 25% the cost of a Les Paul.  And yes, with the exception of the Jackson USA the rest were made in Asia.  I am bothered by the fact that the "Gibson USA" label is not turning out what in my opinion is the same quality of "paint products" as the foreign made guitars.  I really can't see how difficult it could be to ensure that when a guitar leaves the factory that it is absolutely flawless.  A guitar does not have that much surface to paint and for guitars that cost over $2,000, I believe as a consumer, I have the right to demand a flawless and perfect paint job. As I told them, I want to be the one that puts the dents/dings in my instrument.  I will add the "character" to my own guitar.  With that being said, the predicament lies in that the instrument sounds awesome and plays awesome.  And nothing further needs to be said about that....Gibson sound ROCKS!!   Again, my only complaint is that I believe there should be a higher quality in the aesthetic/cosmetic aspect of the guitar, after all they do carry a pretty hefty price tag.

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Overall, I believe that when people pay this type of money for an instrument it should be flawless.  I know it can be done because I bought another Gibson Les Paul last year and it is an awesome instrument with absolutely no problems  It is beautiful in appearance and it an amazing guitar to play.  In fact, because of that guitar, it made me want to buy more Gibson guitars.  But I am a consumer that believes that something as expensive as a Gibson guitar should live up to my expectations......and that means a flawless paint job, etc.  Yeah, some may say you should be more interested in the sound than the appearance.  And that is true to some extent.  But when I buy something brand new, it needs to be "brand new" and meet up to the standards that Gibson advertises.  Plus if I wanted one with paint dings/dents, I could buy a used one and probably save some money.  But I want to be the first one to play my guitar, and I love the feel of brand new guitar!!  

If you're looking for a les paul, then this has what you need. Pickups are good, playability is great. I could see changing the electronics in the future, but no complaints to the factory installed. Locking tuners are just a bonus, even tho I prefer the kluson. The weight is also another wow factor. Can you still get LP tone with a chambered body? Uh.....yes.

Fantastic worksmanship. No issues here,

Can't score this one too high, or too low. I, like most, feel it is over-priced, but we still came back......All in a brand? Just love the Gibson LP. Simple.Beautiful.

Awesome guitar. I tried to justify spending this much money for a guitar but finally just bought one.

I haven't been disappointed! great quality and sound everything was as advertised. All I had to do was put a new set of strings on it and start rocking. Love it!

absolutely flawless finish awesome sound the intonation is dead on.

I'm only giving it an 8 for value because it is alot of money, I have much cheaper Ibanez RG that plays equally as nice

overall this is an awesome guitar, really the only thing I needed to do was install strap locks, because the strap pegs were on the small side and the strap kept falling off. This guitar is pretty heavy, as its supposed to be, and I wasn't taking any chances of bouncing it off the floor.