NGD....this time it's serious

[Greg_L]

Great job. That thing looks wonderful.

Thanks Ray!

The guy that did the fret job was really receptive to my concerns and demands. He really did a pretty beautiful job.

[Greg_L]

Update: This guitar has not been back in it's case since I got it.

[JD01]

Well worth the cash then. Well done.

[WhiskeyJack]

Nice!!!! It was definitely a quintessential aquisition.

[Greg_L]

Lol. I plink around on it pretty much every day but I also like just looking at it. I still can't believe I actually have a real Mosrite. I think they're the most aesthetically beautiful guitars ever made.

I have a 5-guitar stand in the corner and there are two guitars that never leave it -the Goldtop and the Mosrite. The rest get rotated in and out as necessary.

[WhiskeyJack]

Lol. I plink around on it pretty much every day but I also like just looking at it. I still can't believe I actually have a real Mosrite. I think they're the most aesthetically beautiful guitars ever made.

I have a 5-guitar stand in the corner and there are two guitars that never leave it -the Goldtop and the Mosrite. The rest get rotated in and out as necessary.

Whats the story on your gold top. I knew you had one. It played really nice the time you let me fingerbang it and that did very little for my gassing for one but is it an older one or like one of those reissues?

[Greg_L]

Whats the story on your gold top. I knew you had one. It played really nice the time you let me fingerbang it and that did very little for my gassing for one but is it an older one or like one of those reissues?

No it's really nothing special in the grand scheme of things. It's a run of the mill Les Paul Traditional. I think it's a 2011, I'll have to look. I bought it new in 2012. It looks exactly like a 57 reissue, but it's not. The beauty of the Traditional models from mine's time period is they are what Standards are supposed to be, but aren't anymore. The Les Paul Traditional line up is like a vintage Standard, while modern Standards have gone off the rails with weirdness.

What's special to me about mine is that I really hunted for it and found one. I finger-banged at least a hundred Les Pauls and SGs back then looking for the just-right one. I wanted a Goldtop and finally found one that was perfect to me. It is still my #1 guitar.

[WhiskeyJack]

Whats the story on your gold top. I knew you had one. It played really nice the time you let me fingerbang it and that did very little for my gassing for one but is it an older one or like one of those reissues?

No it's really nothing special in the grand scheme of things. It's a run of the mill Les Paul Traditional. I think it's a 2011, I'll have to look. I bought it new in 2012. It looks exactly like a 57 reissue, but it's not. The beauty of the Traditional models from mine's time period is they are what Standards are supposed to be, but aren't anymore. The Les Paul Traditional line up is like a vintage Standard, while modern Standards have gone off the rails with weirdness.

What's special to me about mine is that I really hunted for it and found one. I finger-banged at least a hundred Les Pauls and SGs back then looking for the just-right one. I wanted a Goldtop and finally found one that was perfect to me. It is still my #1 guitar.

Ahh yes! those were pretty good years for Gibson. like 2010 and 2012. Makes sense. Well it is a beast of guitar for sure i can't say I'd be doing anything different.

I don't understand why they (Gibson) need to go changing the flavors. Like their recipe hasn't been broke for years. Just leave the good stuff as is.

[Greg_L]

I don't understand why they (Gibson) need to go changing the flavors. Like their recipe hasn't been broke for years. Just leave the good stuff as is.

The problem is they try to be everything to everyone and end up screwing themselves on everything.

New ideas infuriate the Gibson purist crowd.
Sticking to tradition turns off the people that want advancement.

It's like, if you like your Gibsons to be "old school" then there's no shortage of instruments out there that meet that criteria. The used market has any Gibson you could want. But once you track down your one or two or three perfect Gibsons, how many more are you gonna buy? You're not gonna buy new, and you already have what you want, so that type of customer is out of play for Gibson.

And there's the modern guitarist that wants modern features. A standard old school spec'd Gibson is a turn off, and there are other companies that are Gibson-ish - like ESP and PRS - that do the modern thing better. So those guys are out of play too.

And finally, suppose Gibson does have a new model that ticks all the boxes - vintage looks and style with well done modern features. Cool! But then they price it out of the realm of reality for regular people. Their line up and pricing has gotten better recently though.

[WhiskeyJack]

I don't understand why they (Gibson) need to go changing the flavors. Like their recipe hasn't been broke for years. Just leave the good stuff as is.

The problem is they try to be everything to everyone and end up screwing themselves on everything.

New ideas infuriate the Gibson purist crowd.
Sticking to tradition turns off the people that want advancement.

It's like, if you like your Gibsons to be "old school" then there's no shortage of instruments out there that meet that criteria. The used market has any Gibson you could want. But once you track down your one or two or three perfect Gibsons, how many more are you gonna buy? You're not gonna buy new, and you already have what you want, so that type of customer is out of play for Gibson.

And there's the modern guitarist that wants modern features. A standard old school spec'd Gibson is a turn off, and there are other companies that are Gibson-ish - like ESP and PRS - that do the modern thing better. So those guys are out of play too.

And finally, suppose Gibson does have a new model that ticks all the boxes - vintage looks and style with well done modern features. Cool! But then they price it out of the realm of reality for regular people. Their line up and pricing has gotten better recently though.

I don't know that i could have done a better job of wording it any better. But yea that sums it up right nice. And as a matter of fact I am going to send this to someone who is shopping for a new axe and is reluctant to buy a new one. I really couldn't have explained the gibson thing any better!


I have also been hearing that the new Epiphone Moderns for 2020 are quite the guitar! Obviously not Gibbys but i know two guys that said they chose those over a Gibson.

[Greg_L]

I have also been hearing that the new Epiphone Moderns for 2020 are quite the guitar! Obviously not Gibbys but i know two guys that said they chose those over a Gibson.

Yeah I've seen some new epiphones and they have really stepped their game up.

[CrowsofFritz]

I have also been hearing that the new Epiphone Moderns for 2020 are quite the guitar! Obviously not Gibbys but i know two guys that said they chose those over a Gibson.

Yeah I've seen some new epiphones and they have really stepped their game up.

I still miss my Epiphone. It was a wonderful guitar.

[Armistice]

Gibson are in the business of selling guitars. If they just churn out the same Les Paul guitar year in, year out with just different colours, then they won't sell as many, hence they split the brand and give people options. Businesses are usually trying to improve their product - but guitars are simple machines so there's only so much they can try.

I think Gibson have learnt a lot of things that didn't work and didn't have that much appeal along the way. When I bought mine (2017 Standard) I tossed up whether to go to whatever the top of the line one was with the stainless zero fret and the improved upper fret access and various other bits and bobs, but I didn't. I liked (conceptually) the increased tonal options of having 4 push pull knobs, but now that I have it, I can never remember what does what, so what seemed like a good idea at the time I have little use for now. Apart from that it's a fairly 'standard' Les Paul just without the poker chip switchguard and the pickguard, which, as it's not a gigging guitar, I like.

I notice that they've done nothing to "fix" the inherent flaws of the Les Paul - the snappability of the headstock, the string angle across the nut etc. because that would interfere with the aesthetic and if they did do something they'd probably lose legions of buyers because it looked different...

[Greg_L]

It's easy to not break the headstock on a Gibson. Just don't drop it. Problem solved. They don't just break off on their own.

[JD01]

I don't understand why they (Gibson) need to go changing the flavors. Like their recipe hasn't been broke for years. Just leave the good stuff as is.

The problem is they try to be everything to everyone and end up screwing themselves on everything.

New ideas infuriate the Gibson purist crowd.
Sticking to tradition turns off the people that want advancement.

It's like, if you like your Gibsons to be "old school" then there's no shortage of instruments out there that meet that criteria. The used market has any Gibson you could want. But once you track down your one or two or three perfect Gibsons, how many more are you gonna buy? You're not gonna buy new, and you already have what you want, so that type of customer is out of play for Gibson.

And there's the modern guitarist that wants modern features. A standard old school spec'd Gibson is a turn off, and there are other companies that are Gibson-ish - like ESP and PRS - that do the modern thing better. So those guys are out of play too.

And finally, suppose Gibson does have a new model that ticks all the boxes - vintage looks and style with well done modern features. Cool! But then they price it out of the realm of reality for regular people. Their line up and pricing has gotten better recently though.

Sounds like what you're saying is their actual market is saturated and they're trying to expand into other markets which they're struggling to compete in.

[Tadpui]

There's nothing quite like having a guitar that makes you happy just by looking at it. Even when you're not playing it, it's an inspiration. I find myself just looking at my guitars a lot. Damned if I find myself actually looking at my guitars more than playing them lately. The muse shall return eventually!

[WhiskeyJack]

There's nothing quite like having a guitar that makes you happy just by looking at it. Even when you're not playing it, it's an inspiration. I find myself just looking at my guitars a lot. Damned if I find myself actually looking at my guitars more than playing them lately. The muse shall return eventually!

I feel that way about guitars i dont own. Lol. For real. Ill look at guitar and think to myself "god dammit i want that, i could write so much rad shit on that" then i start day dreaming about cool riffs and then i just go try to materilaize it on one of my own guitars. The riff gets out but it doesnt curb the gas

The gas always comes back.

[muttley]

Gibson peaked with the L5.

[Lt. Bob]

Gibson peaked with the L5S.

fixed that for ya'.

[Greg_L]

Lol yeah Gibson really did peak by the early 70s. Any Gibson design anyone would want had already been made by like 1974-ish.