Page 108 - Guitar Classics Magazine - The Les Paul Bible 2019

REVIEWS

KEY FEATURES
LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S
PRICE £1,999 (inc. hard case)
DESCRIPTION Solidbody single-cutaway electric guitar.
ABOVE The Les Paul Standard certainly sound good in this context. It’s simply a well Made in USA
’50s features a breathtaking put-together, fuss-free instrument that does exactly BUILD Solid mahogany back with igured maple top, set
figured maple top what it’s supposed to and can cover a lot of ground. mahogany neck with 12"/304.8mm radius rosewood ingerboard
Moving on to the Standard, the out of the box with acrylic trapezoid inlays, 22 medium-jumbo frets,
OPPOSITE TOP The view Graph Tech nut
inside the control cavity of setup is again very good indeed. It’s dreamily HARDWARE Nickel ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge,
the Les Paul Standard ’50s playable, and unlike many original Bursts and slavish aluminium stop tailpiece, vintage-style machineheads
reveals hand-wiring and reissues, you don’t have to flip the G saddle around ELECTRICS Burstbucker 1 (neck), Burstbucker 2 (bridge),
Orange Drop capacitors to get it to intonate correctly. We love the neck – 2x volume, 2x tone, Orange Drop tone capacitors, 3-way toggle
Gibson has resisted the temptation to go for a huge selector switch
OPPOSITE BOTTOM The mid-50s profile and instead, this beautifully rounded SCALE LENGTH 24.75"/628.6mm
vintage-style machineheads carve has a medium-depth more akin to a ’59. NECK WIDTH 43.3mm at nut, 52.4mm at 12th fret
operate smoothly and NECK DEPTH 21.9mm at irst fret, 24.6mm at 12th fret
inspire confidence Comparing the two neck carves is interesting, STRING SPACING 35.3mm at nut, 52.4mm at bridge
because it illustrates that dimensions only tell part of WEIGHT 4.07kg/8.98lb
the story. Even though the Tribute fattens out a little FINISH Heritage Cherry Sunburst gloss nitrocellulose
more at the 12th fret, it feels sleeker overall, while (as reviewed), Tobacco Burst, Gold Top
the ’50s model feels fuller because of its more even,
gradual taper as you head up to the octave marker. With its return to classic specs, this straight-ahead
Does double the price mean double the tone? 8/10
The reality is it never does, but the Standard’s Standard will win friends
Burstbucker tones do feel a little more complex in
the midrange, with more sophistication and depth Neither instrument has too thick or syrupy a neck
overall. While it isn’t as vintage-authentic as an R9 pickup and there’s much more versatility across the
loaded with unpotted pickups wired 50s-style, there’s board as a result – especially in the often-overlooked
still more subtlety here than some of the production- middle setting, where experimenting with your
line Standards of the last couple of decades. controls delivers a wide range of sounds. We’ve said

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