82 GUITARIST AUGUST 2019 GIT448.rev_gibson.
GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE review Back On Track Back in issue 443 we looked at what we thought were the new Les Pauls for 2019. But no: just in advance of this year’s January NAMM show, Gibson – now under new management – set out another new-for-2019 range Words Dave Burrluck Photography Neil Godwin GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S £1,999, LES PAUL CLASSIC £1,649 & LES PAUL TRIBUTE £999 AUGUST 2019 GUITARIST GIT448.rev_gibson.
review GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE 1. A very common retrofit back in the day was to fit Grover tuners to your Les Paul. And that’s what we have here on the Standard ’60s model http://bit.ly/guitaristextra 2.
GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE 3 review 4 3. Each of the Classic’s four controls has an additional function via high-quality CTS pullpush switched pots 4.
review GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra GIBSON LES PAUL DIMENSIONS (in mm unless stated) STANDARD ’50S STANDARD ’60s CLASSIC TRIBUTE Neck width (nut) 42.95 42.73 43.05 42.07 Neck width (12th) 53.04 52.4 53 52.25 22.2 20.3 20.9 20.8 25 23 23.3 24.5 4.02/8.84 4.37/9.61 4.1/9.02 3.27/7.2 51 51 51 50.
GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE review The Tribute’s tune-o-matic is the slightly wider Nashville style, which gives more intonation adjustment range for each saddle HEAVY LOAD Does a good LP have to be weighty? Not so, says our Tribute One of the many myths that surround the Les Paul is that somehow its classic sound is directly affected by its weight. Some believe heavier is better, that it’s crucial to the design’s notoriously thick sound and legendary sustain.
review GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE 7. These more vintage-style tuners are also used on the Standard ’50s model. Note the quite sharp contours as the neck flares into the headstock 7 8. The covered 490 humbuckers use Alnico II magnets according to Gibson, but all the pickups here have very similar DCRs, despite the subtle differences 8 88 GUITARIST AUGUST 2019 GIT448.rev_gibson.
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE review UNDER THE HOOD A close-up on the new range’s wiring, pots and switches STANDARD ’50s CONTROLS U nlike the previous 2019 Les Paul Standard, the new Standard ’50s, like the previous Traditional, offers little surprise with 500kohm Gibson-branded pots (wired to a shielding or grounding plate) with two large ‘Orange Drop’ 0.022 microfarad (223J) tone caps (223J).
review GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE 9. The Standard ’50s tuners ape a more vintage style, but in terms of fitting are more modern with a larger-diameter mounting hole and a threaded bolt on the headstock face http://bit.ly/guitaristextra 10. Gibson states that the Burstbucker 1 in the neck position on the Standard ’50s uses slightly offset coil winds and an Alnico II bar magnet 9 on p86).
GIBSON 2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S & ’60S, CLASSIC & TRIBUTE review GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD ’60S GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC 2019 GIBSON LES PAUL TRIBUTE 2019 PRICE: £1,999 (inc case) ORIGIN: USA TYPE: Single-cut, solidbody electric BODY: 2-piece mahogany with carved maple top NECK: 1-piece mahogany, Vintage ’50s profile, glued-in SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.
