LP jr special - Finally!

I've been wanting a real LP Jr. special for years. However, it just seemed there was always something else to buy, etc. With the latest bunch that has come out at 750 to 800 bucks, it seemed in the realm of possibility. Then came the Memorial Day sales. Sam Ash.com would have been 649 shipped and no tax. Went to the store, not a single Jr in the place. GC had three. They matched the price, and one fine Jr went home with me! It will get a Bigsby, and already has my favorite gold center knobs installed. I couldn't be happier. Sounds amazing through all my amps. :mrgreen:

That should be a LP Special, not a LP Jr Special. Regardless, looks nice!

That's what Gibson calls it. http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Junior-Special-P-90/Mobile.aspx. Regardless, its what I wanted. :)

That's a beauty. I love bursts and I love P90's. What a great deal.

Does it have neck binding? The picture kind of looks like there is white neck binding ?

Is is satin or glossed? I can't tell.

It's beautiful either way. I'm just curious.

Congratulations.

That's what Gibson calls it. http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Junior-Special-P-90/Mobile.aspx. Regardless, its what I wanted. :)

Well there you go!

Nice! I love those guitars. I always kicked myself for not buying 10+ years ago. I'll probably regret it this time around too.

It is a satin. I would have paid the fifty bucks for gloss, but it is a brighter burst I didn't like. And this one sounded the best to me. It does have creme binding. The neck feels really good in satin. It's not fifties bat stock, but I've felt a lot thinner from Gibson. It's a little thicker than my CV Tele.

I think it's fantastic. It's almost like I'm biased somehow.........

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k106/johnlg-2006/TopNeckVox.jpg

Gibson P-90's. Woo Hoo!! It's beautiful. Enjoy.

CC

Very nice!


Congrats!

I really like yours Studio. It almost looks like Korina. GC had a used SG with p90s that I really wanted to love. The price was great, and it was in natural like your Jr. It was a turd though. Dead sounding and the neck was like a noodle. I know I'm a ham arm of a player, but sheesh. That one was bad! I always dreamed that if I ever got a signature model, it would be a Korina Special with a Bigsby. However, I've come to terms that my playing would get me banished from most clubs, let alone the Gibson plant. LOL

I know they're nothing fancy, but $799 seems like a steal to me for these things!

Congratulations. Thats a beauty. I have an 05 in black. I call it my "where have you been all my life" guitar. The P90s are just soooo sweet.

Steven: i just bought one yesterday at GC. mine is a sunburst like yours, but with gloss finish. they gave me a 12% discount, so with tax i got it out the door just under 750. they had 2 others, the one i bought was the lightest of the 3.

about a month ago, i bought a used lp special, the one that they (apparently) made special for GC and MF, with a belly cut on the back. i love that guitar so much i had to have another, but the junior special is very close for 200 bucks less. they sound way different from each other, but they are both delicious.

What's the board on it? Looks like rosewood....

What's the board on it? Looks like rosewood....

according to the MF description, it has a "torrified" maple fretboard. i think "torrified" is gibsonspeak for "painted to look like rosewood". the neck feels and looks great and i think it adds some raunch to the tone.

Right on. That's interesting. I have a 2011 'Junior Special' (what a stupid name) with an ebony board. Must be a different series.

I bet the maple adds a nice bit of clarity and snap, though!

It is maple. Torrified means it's baked at a certain high temperature for a certain time to make it very stable. I don't think there is any dye used. The heat turns it the darker color I believe. Whatever, it feels fine to me. I don't know if it makes any sound difference at all. It does however do a pretty good imitation of Pete Anderson circa late nineties Dwight albums. :mrgreen:

Are these completely solid or chambered like the studios?

I wish it came in a white similar to this.
http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/18/001/314/673/DV016_Jpg_Large_580091.632_satin_white.jpg

Solid. They aren't as light as you would think. It weighs pretty much the same as my Epi 56 goldtop LP by the heft test. None of this run I have played have been really light.

Solid. They aren't as light as you would think. It weighs pretty much the same as my Epi 56 goldtop LP by the heft test. None of this run I have played have been really light.

I really wanto check one of these out in person. How noisy are the pickups? Is there alot of 60s cycle hum?

Special JR??? Oh well, Gibson can call 'em what they want...but that name is such a misuse of the vintage names. Jr = one P-90, Special = 2 P-90's. I have a 2001 L. P. Special Plus...with the belly cut and two HUMBUCKERS!!

Adn...the model names were somewhat confusing back in the day. A Les Paul JR was a tobacco s'burst, single cutaway, single P-90 guitar introduced in '54. The Les Paul TV was a single cutraway, single P-90 guitar with the TV finish---limed mahogany. The Les Paul Special was the same body but had 2 P-90's and only came in the TV finish.
The Les Paul Jr and the Les Paul TV went to double cutaways in 1958 withe the JR. going to a cherry finish whiel the TV was a TV finish. The Les Paul Special went to the double cutaway body in early '59...with the option for the cherry red finish. teh Les PaulTV--singel pickup, double cutaway and TV finish---became the SG TV in late '59. SEe pics...that is my newly acquired 1960 SG TV. The Les Paul Special became the SG Special at the same time. Tehn, in early '61, all of these gutiars came out in the new body..thinner with sharp horsn and beveled body---what we call the SG body. IF all of that doesn't confuse a person, then one can start wondering why Gibson does what it does with the model names today....after soem 60 years of having thigns confused enough, right? LOL
The red guitar is my 2001 Les Paul Special Plus----Plus for the AA flame top.
The TV-finished guitar is the 1960 SG TV.

Studio, I like that guitar....and it does look a bit like Korina.
Steven, congrats on finding the guitar you wanted. In the future...or todya if you want....that finish can be buffed out to shine. It will naturally get buffed where you come into constant contact with it anyway. 'SAtin' means they simply did not go through the buffing and poslishing process with the guitar....saved you some money that way, right?

I really wanto check one of these out in person. How noisy are the pickups? Is there alot of 60s cycle hum?

there's definetly some hum, it's hard for me to say if it's really bad or not cause i can't ever turn up very loud here where i live. i think the noise is less than what i heard in strats i've owned.

but these things are so good, i wouldn't let the hum stop me! what's gonna be nice is when these junior specials start turning up used for like 400 bucks. i'm going to snap up every one i see...

Love that '60! I agree, they hum, but not bad. And when you hit an overdriven chord, you won't care!

Thaks, Steve...she is a bit rough but beautiful....very light and lively!
P-90's get thins working in a manner that FEnder single coils can't. They have a midrange power that the thinner FEnder single coils don't have. Hum??? Well, if you run super high gain, you might not like them. But...if you like straight ahead rock or rock and roll, they do it. Leslie West of Mountain put down some of the best rock tones with a P-90 Gibson that I Have ever heard.
Rock and roll?? Chuck Berry's big hits were recorded on Gibson P-90's sitting in an ES-350T. They do jazz well, too. GReat pickups.....they are about hte on ly single coil that I want to play.

I like this 2001 L.P. Spcl+....I have thought of putting some Phat Cats in there to make it something closer to a real L.P. Special, right? IT has one of the best necks that I have ever seen on a Gibson....low, low action for a 12" radius and two step bends on the high E. That doesn't happen very often, ime, out of all the hundreds of Gibsons I have worked on. OF course, that maple top yields some high end and clarity that an all-mahogany body gutiar doesn't yield.
Apologies for straying from the subject.....

It is maple. Torrified means it's baked at a certain high temperature for a certain time to make it very stable. I don't think there is any dye used. The heat turns it the darker color I believe. Whatever, it feels fine to me. I don't know if it makes any sound difference at all. It does however do a pretty good imitation of Pete Anderson circa late nineties Dwight albums. :mrgreen:

Baked maple. It's one of the substitutes used since the rosewood fretboard legal fiasco. Sign o the times.

Love the Special!

Mine is a few years older than I am!

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac345/Telenator/Winter%20Close-ups%20with%20Speedy%2012-31-09/aIMG_0150lo-res.jpg