What's 6.5lbs, various shades of brown and 1/18th of the price of a 50's LP?

[JSett]

This little thing:







Fender take note what Gibson are giving with a £1300 guitar. Decent hardcase, strap, polishing cloth, a fucking guitar multitool...



Now, I don't buy a lot of brand new guitars, and they have to be something kinda special if I do. I went to Guitar Village in Farnham today (my local) with my '56 LPC in hand to try a bunch of stuff and get some inspiration and direction as to possible alternatives that aren't so backbreaking. The mission was clear: try and find something that plays and sounds as close as possible but without the backbreaking weight and massive pricetag.

First I shot it against a literal clone out of the Gibson Custom Shop:



That sounded absolutely nothing like the OG. Thin and brash on the bridge and WAY too hot. And £6700. Nope.

I didn't get pictures of the others but I shot out 3 Gibson Juniors, an Eastman Junior w/Lollar P90 (this was actually VERY good and well appointed for the money. Sounded weird to me though), then I picked up a 79 LPC (humbuckers) and felt that old 70s Gibson weight again for the first time in about 25 years. Nope.

This one, however, sounded pretty damn close to my Custom. So much so I asked the employee helping me to stand facing away and blind test which was which. He failed. So I did the thing. Obviously it's had proper strings put on already (12-54) and setup in Eb. Intonation is about as good as you can hope for...I'm cool with it. I got a bit of money off for being a regular there and a bit more because one of the tuning pegs is a bit fussy. Neck is FAT but the nut is a fine-by-me 43mm exactly. Weight is 6.5lbs - which is 2/3 of the LPC. A significant drop.

And I can happily stick a sticker on it if I want. I'll probably put a Brian Baker parchment guard on there for the lolz because I always thought his one looked amazing and he's a total hero of mine.

So there you go.

Oh, shit, one more thing. They also had the ugliest offset I've ever seen:



Off to play it

[Dr Tony Balls]

Fender take note what Gibson are giving with a £1300 guitar. Decent hardcase...

To be fair, Fender also offers a drastically more durable guitar that will survive well without a hard case.

[JSett]

Fender take note what Gibson are giving with a £1300 guitar. Decent hardcase...

To be fair, Fender also offers a drastically more durable guitar that will survive well without a hard case.

That is a very fair point I've thrown Fenders literally across a stage and they've been absolutely fine.

[GreenKnee]

Yeah nice! I was impressed with everything that came with my SG Special too, and the quality is flawless, really impressed with modern Gibson.

I'll be interested to see if you go for a different bridge and if you do, what it will be. I've had a look at a few different wraparound replacements but can't decide. The intonation is good enough, but occasionally I do hear it further up the neck. Would a Gibson Lightning compensated replacement do much?

And the '56 lives on, excellent!

[F15hface]

That’s hot. I love juniors. Somehow I’ve only ever played vintage or custom shop ones. Hopefully one day I’ll get a BJA.

I definitely agree that the CS 56 isn’t an accurate representation. Hard to directly compare as I played one through a mesa and a cab sim, but definitely found that the bridge pickup was too thin. The reissue staples sounded too muddy to me as well.

[JSett]

Yeah nice! I was impressed with everything that came with my SG Special too, and the quality is flawless, really impressed with modern Gibson.

I'll be interested to see if you go for a different bridge and if you do, what it will be. I've had a look at a few different wraparound replacements but can't decide. The intonation is good enough, but occasionally I do hear it further up the neck. Would a Gibson Lightning compensated replacement do much?

And the '56 lives on, excellent!

Well, You know I don't go up the dusty end of the fretboard much so it's not that much of an issue. We'll see

That’s hot. I love juniors. Somehow I’ve only ever played vintage or custom shop ones. Hopefully one day I’ll get a BJA.

I definitely agree that the CS 56 isn’t an accurate representation. Hard to directly compare as I played one through a mesa and a cab sim, but definitely found that the bridge pickup was too thin. The reissue staples sounded too muddy to me as well.

The BJA ones come with a cool case. I'd like one of those. But yeah, the LPC 54 was really disappointing.

And now I've just heard that Albini has died suddenly, so my day is ruined

[i love sharin foo]

I love Juniors! Mine is about 4 or 5 years old now. It has a MojoAxe bridge which looks right and intonates better than the original. I put some Faber locking studs on it too. I swapped all the wiring out and added a Wolfetone Meaner 90 pickup. I liked it stock but I love it now. And yeah, the necks are big.. real big. It feels perfect to me. It’s pretty much the same as my LP Traditional and SG Classic. I used an Emerson 0.022uF cap and 500k tone pot. With the new pickup, I get usable tones from wide open to full off. I’m really pleased. I play it a bunch. I have light strings on mine. Either 9s or 9.5s. I bend a lot though and hitting pretty much every fret everyday. I’ve been learning some faux pedal steel bending too and the Jr is every bit as good as the trusty Telecaster for that.

[JSett]

I love Juniors! Mine is about 4 or 5 years old now. It has a MojoAxe bridge which looks right and intonates better than the original. I put some Faber locking studs on it too. I swapped all the wiring out and added a Wolfetone Meaner 90 pickup. I liked it stock but I love it now. And yeah, the necks are big.. real big. It feels perfect to me. It’s pretty much the same as my LP Traditional and SG Classic. I used an Emerson 0.022uF cap and 500k tone pot. With the new pickup, I get usable tones from wide open to full off. I’m really pleased. I play it a bunch. I have light strings on mine. Either 9s or 9.5s. I bend a lot though and hitting pretty much every fret everyday. I’ve been learning some faux pedal steel bending too and the Jr is every bit as good as the trusty Telecaster for that.

I think the wiring on this isn't the 50's style, but I've yet to look. In fact, I'll look now.

The pickup does seem VERY lively, likely to be a feedback monster so that might all have to get switched out for something (maybe a Kinman noiseless, I've yet to be disappointed with any of them).

[i love sharin foo]

I just looked, mine was built in 2020. It had modern wiring before. I much prefer ‘50s style for my purposes and went that route with this one too. I swapped over to a steel jack plate. The factory one was barely clinging on when I got it The only thing I wish were different are the tuners. I like the look of 3 on a plate with small bushings. I’d swap them over but I figure the peg head most likely has dents from the modern ones.

[JSett]

I just looked, mine was built in 2020. It had modern wiring before. I much prefer ‘50s style for my purposes and went that route with this one too. I swapped over to a steel jack plate. The factory one was barely clinging on when I got it The only thing I wish were different are the tuners. I like the look of 3 on a plate with small bushings. I’d swap them over but I figure the peg head most likely has dents from the modern ones.

I do t really mind the tuners.

Wiring was indeed modern style but a quick swaparoo sorted it...

[garyptaszek]

Esquire not good enough for you anymore?

[JSett]

Esquire not good enough for you anymore?

It definitely is. But more guitars is more fun

[F15hface]

But more guitars is more fun

Desperately clinging to this quote after getting post today

[garyptaszek]

But more guitars is more fun

Desperately clinging to this quote after getting post today

I have 14 guitars so I can’t really say shit

[DaddyDom]

I fully endorse this sort of behaviour.
My 35-year old was a dealer special-order with ebony board, Grovers and pearl logo.
It is the most versatile and righteous-sounding guitar I own.