dkbemb10
September 5th, 2010, 08:29 PM
Anybody on here have a Gibson Les paul Double Cutaway reissue? Preferrably the 2 pickup version in TV Yellow?.
Im getting really interested in getting one but the harmony central reviews didn't have too nice of things to say about them so I was wondering if any of you had any experience with them. The HC reviewers said the P-90's in them are noisy and don't sound good so any input would help.
Also is there a major difference between Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway VOS and the Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cutaway other than price? The junior is almost half the price and to me it appears more close to the TV Yellow color of the originals... Any info on that?
otaypanky
September 5th, 2010, 09:27 PM
I don't have a Gibson but I do have a Bombshell which is a wonderful guitar. www.bombshellguitars.com
And here's a link to a Gibson I just came across.
http://www.thepawnshopper.com/consumer/item/4118/1978_Gibson_Les_Paul_Special_DC_Guitar.aspx
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w49/otaypanky/bombshell-1.jpg
Tdot
September 5th, 2010, 09:36 PM
I really thought I'd like one, and was excited to see one at GC once. Hated it. Don't remember specifics but I remember it just felt so bad I didn't want to plug it in. Tried another, felt the same.
Sorry. But it may fit you better.
h2otorched
September 5th, 2010, 11:20 PM
I wasn't a fan of TV Yellow, but that guitar ^up^ there looks pretty nice!
Good luck in your search.
: } ~
Tim Bowen
September 6th, 2010, 12:04 AM
I had a reissue LP Special Double Cut in TV yellow (the pricier one, not the Junior) for a few years.
Absolutely gorgeous guitar. I broke my Golden Rule and used to just sit and stare at this instrument and admire it.
The stock P90 pickups sounded great. P90 pickups are sort of a cool marriage between humbuckers and Fender-type singles; they're more clucky and nuanced than 'buckers, more beefy than most/typical single coils. They were noisy, because all true P90's are noisy as hell. That's the deal.
Played great, and low action was no issue.
It broke my heart to do so, but I eventually parted ways with it because I could never quite get it together with the tuning stability. It wasn't the old school tuning pegs (although I had some suspicion as to such early on), and it wasn't the setup or anything like that. I carried the instrument to a couple of trusted techs for setups, including meticulous intonation tweaks. I finally came to the conclusion that - at least in *my* hands - a heavy LP with a double cutaway just didn't support the neck enough not to be wobbly sounding. I did my usual tricks of tweaking finger pressure right or left with chords and double stops and whatnot for a while, but tired of fighting with it, so I sold it.
For my Gibby P90 jones, I've hung onto a cherry SG Classic, which, for my purposes has been a far more reliable and practical guitar than was the double cut LP, as beautiful as it was.
I'll always have a soft spot for LP Specials and Juniors. I only really like Les Pauls with a bare bones look (no binding, bursts, flames, etc.) - TV yellow is my fave - and I'm not a huge fan of solid body electric guitars with humbuckers anyway, so it's gotta be P90's. I fell in love with Specials after hearing Rick Richards (Georgia Satellites, Hellhounds, Izzy Stradlin & Juju Hounds) sound so great with them through Marshall plexi amps. If I revisit these guitars at some point, it will certainly be single cut models.
dkbemb10
September 6th, 2010, 09:06 AM
Tim... See I'm the total opposite of you. I want to get rid of my Gibson '61 Reissue SG... To me it's just too light and the notes die off real quick. There's not enough weight in it to carry any kind of sustain.
And I've always been found of the double cutaways look so naturally this is the one that caught my eye. Now I'm just concerned with how they play. Wonder if the junior's will have less problems?
StrangerNY
September 7th, 2010, 12:24 AM
I've got a DC (I believe it's a 2001), but the guy who I bought it from tried to do a TV Yellow paint job and really screwed it up. I took all of the paint off and finished the top in white while leaving the rest natural.
http://nurse-diesel.com/gear/dc-white.jpg
Love that guitar.
- D
Tim Bowen
September 8th, 2010, 02:58 AM
Tim... See I'm the total opposite of you. I want to get rid of my Gibson '61 Reissue SG... To me it's just too light and the notes die off real quick. There's not enough weight in it to carry any kind of sustain.
And I've always been found of the double cutaways look so naturally this is the one that caught my eye. Now I'm just concerned with how they play. Wonder if the junior's will have less problems?
Yeah, I guess it's about what you're used to. As for electric guitars, I've always been a Tele and Strat guy with traditional output singles, so I set up my gain structure around those guitars. Moving to an SG with P90's was definitely a move upward as to output and gain, but not total culture shock. For me, a big chunky LP always meant totally rethinking the gain and output of my amps and pedals. Makes me really appreciate a guy like Doug Pettibone with Lucinda Williams that seems to move effortlessly from guitar to guitar and always get delicious tones with a workable output level.
The LP Special that I had played like a dream, as to action and loosey goosey bending and all that. Like I said, my issue ultimately was intonation. If you find one that plays to your liking, I'd suggest tuning it up really well, and playing several chord voicings and double stop passages and such up and down the neck that represent an accurate gauge of what you do. If nothing bugs you, go for it.