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TOTAL GUITAR FEBRUARY 2019

E G

SORTED SINGLE-CUTS

UNDER A GRAND

Words Ed Mitchell / Photography Neil Godwin

If you want a Les Paul you scrimp and save for a Gibson, right?

Here’s four more affordable single-cuts that beg to differ...

TGR315.gear_test.indd 98 1/3/19 4:34 PM

Summary of content (6 pages)

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T H E GA S STATION 98 Words Ed Mitchell / Photography Neil Godwin SORTED SINGLE-CUTS UNDER A GRAND If you want a Les Paul you scrimp and save for a Gibson, right? Here’s four more affordable single-cuts that beg to differ... TOTAL GUITAR FEBRUARY 2019 TGR315.gear_test.
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the tg test 99 I t’s hard to imagine in this post-Led Zeppelin and Appetite For Destruction universe but the Gibson Les Paul was not an overnight success. In fact, the original single cutaway model was discontinued in the early 60s due to poor sales. The Les Paul was ultimately saved from oblivion when it was rediscovered by Eric Clapton and Peter Green in the mid-60s. These days, an original ’59 Les Paul costs the same as nice house.
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T H E GA S STATION EPIPHONE LES PAUL STANDARD PLUSTOP PRO £499 One of the family... PRS £475 SE 245 A scaled-down modern classic... What do they mean by ‘PlusTop’? What’s the significance of the ‘245’ in the model name? Have you actually seen this guitar? Just take a look at it and you’ll see why it carries the PlusTop name. This Les Paul has a AAA flame maple veneer glued to its maple top to give it the eyeball pleasuring looks of a ’59 Les Paul.
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the tg test GRETSCH G5220 ELECTROMATIC JET BT £450 Cash in your chips! HAMER MONACO £799 Back from the dead... So, Gretsch ripped off the Les Paul? I thought Hamer Guitars was defunct... Well, I think we can just safely say that the Les Paul inspired Gretsch to release its own single cutaway electric solid body – but they are actually very different designs. The original Les Paul design featured a solid mahogany back and maple top.
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the tg test Head to head Four single cutaways with a touch of the Gibson T 102 he four guitars on offer here obviously cast a similar LP-style shadow yet there are some important differences in scale length and neck profiles. The Epiphone Les Paul has the thinnest neck of the group. It’s based on the well-known 60s tapered feel that you’d expect to find on early 60s SGs. That will narrow its appeal.
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T H E GA S STATION FINaL VeRdICt Which single cutaway is the one for you? t hose of you that didn’t nod off in history class might recall the old Harold MacMillan quote, “you’ve never had it so good...” Our old Prime Minister uttered those words back in 1957, and he certainly wasn’t referring to guitar players. In those days, if you wanted to play electric guitar your options for a great playing and sounding affordable six-string amounted to the square root of bugger all.