Gibson Les Paul Standard 60

Where as the 50's one has the thicker, baseball bat neck, the 60's has the smaller neck. Even though I say smaller, this is still a very "medium" neck. It's no Ibanez Wizard by any means. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar was put together nicely, and that's a good thing for Gibson as their QC has been a bit iffy at times. The guitar had a properly cut nut, and as everyone knows, that's rule #1 for staying in tune. The frets were nicely leveled, the nubs were done correctly and they weren't sharp at all. I was able to get some pretty low action on this guitar despite it having a 12'' radius. Access to the upper frets is the same as every other Les Paul in that it sucks pretty hard. The neck joint gets in the way, but you learn to live with it as that joint is an important aspect in tone.

SOUNDS

I wasn't a huge fan of the stock pickups in this thing. Then again, I'm not the biggest fan of Gibson pickups to begin with. The bridge was powerful, but it lacked what I usually look for in a bridge pickup. I like the pickup to be clear and tight, but it seemed to be voiced more towards the vintage side of things. The neck sounded decent, but I'd like it to be more powerful and smoother sounding. I'm a sucker for those ultra smooth guitar tones for leads, but that's probably because I use them as a bit of a crutch for lead playing.

OVERALL OPINION

If you've always complained about the neck size on the Gibson guitars, check out this model. It has a much more medium "player friendly" neck than the 50s and other models out there. Still, it's a medium sized neck that some might not like. Personally, the biggest thing that annoys me is the finish on these as they can get sticky. Some 0000 wool helps fix that, but I find it comes back after a few weeks.

This is an absolute classic, the 1960 Les Paul. This was the last year that Les Pauls were made by Gibson for a while (until people started realizing how awesome they were). It's an American made guitar that has 2 humbucking Burstbucker pickups ( a Les Paul classic) and has a three-way pickup selector switch. It has a volume and tone knob for each pickup. The switch selector is in the top left corner (from the player's perspective), which is typical of Gibson guitars and others. It's made of maple with a rosewood fretboard.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is a really comfortable guitar to play. it's really got a great feel to it and it's great for playing lead and rhythm. It's smooth and well-suited to playing fast runs or just pulling out some fat chords. Due to the cutaway, it's easy to reach the top notes and really pick some crazy leads. It's got a slimmer neck which allows chords to be fretted really easily, but it's not so thin that you're fumbling over yourself playing leads. It's definitely a heavy guitar, it's going to hurt your back if you aren't careful so keep that in mind while carrying it and playing it.

SOUNDS

This has an absolutely magnificent sound. It's got a great tone for rock music especially. Even though it wasn't very popular in 1960, it certainly caught on soon afterwards, and it's easy to see why. The pickups are great in that they act like humbuckers but don't sacrifice brightness too much, so they can get classic rock tones easily but still be capable of tearing the roof off if necessary. I can plug it into a Fender Twin and get a great overdriven clean sound just by cranking it, or I can put some distortion or overdrive on it and rock a little harder. Through a Marshall it absolutely rips. This is a phenomenal sounding guitar by any means.

OVERALL OPINION

This thing is certainly among the best guitars I've played, and I must say that most people would probably agree, as the guitar costs an arm and a leg. This is only for serious collectors, and hopefully that means people who are really good, as only great players deserve a guitar like this. Anyway, the sound and feel of it are great, so I'd have to highly recommend it, even compared to other Les Pauls it's phenomenal and a cut above.

USA, then flattened handle sixties (not all need comfort compared to a D-handle in my opinion)
Alnico pickups Burstbucker V home with my gear that does not sound good in the treble ... therefore replaced since 2010 by EMG 81/85. Big difference in sound, I have appreciated the active pickups, but I will one day return to passive types seymour duncan (signature slash when the wallet will be filled ...?)

UTILIZATION

heavy enough (happens when you are young)
nice handle, flattened C (no real difference with the handle of the 50s when it was normally sized hands ... access to acute stays hot, as on most les paul)

its much better obtained with EMG active alnico V magnets with the original ... purists must hate me ...

SOUNDS

is quite Shredd, this is not the best suited for fast picking (and no floyd ...), but being a fan of Slash, no worries for the rest

cristllin his medium with a lot of plain, fat with a lot of sustain in saturation (thank you EMG)

OVERALL OPINION

since 2005

bugjet limited at the time, I could buy more expensive model but I am very happy lightburst color is beautiful.

The +: I have a gibson les paul since I was 15! comfort, sustain ...

the -: I love the ebony keys, as the custom, which is not the case here (rosewood)

never asked to redo choice or not ... a first les paul, it's worth what it's worth

Made in America
Mahogany body, Maple Table, mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard.
Microphones verify the models, mine was in 1999 with 498 and 490R pickups of T. .. pure bliss!
Tune-o-matic, mechanical groove.
4 knobs: 2 volumes and 2 tones
3 position selector.

UTILIZATION

Handle great! Hand grip (though in fender before it!)
Access to acute ... delicate! ... But you get done.
Scratches well balanced, a little heavy but you get a correct bp with a belt wide enough and padded.
... That the sound of happiness!
Clear, warm and round as clear that in saturated Gibson ... what!

SOUNDS

Played with lots of effects, style Rock / Pop ... on a Vox AC30, the mixture is rather successful.
Love + in + the neck pickup is more "cozy" but Always a strong presence.
All styles are possible with this guitar: good output level microphones.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a year .. almost everyday ..
I lean toward a classic old to try the classic 57 '.
I love the look, the finishes are perfect and the varnish is a true mirror.
One can find beautiful OCCAZ without breaking the bank completely (still counts € 1500) ... but hey, it's a Scratch for the Cure!
Without hesitation I would do this choice, great value!