NGD Gibson

[golfnut]

So I'm mainly a single coil guy. I've got a couple of really nice custom shop journey man relic Fenders, a Strat and a Tele and a MIM Road worn brad paisley silver tele that my wife bought me for my 60th birthday that is a nice guitar, almost as nice as my CS 52 Tele, albeit after about $300 worth of work to get it up to snuff. The Road worn wasn't exactly perfect out of the box.

Although I mainly play single coils I wanted a humbucker guitar for those times when its fitting. There are a few songs in my bands set list that will greatly benefit from a humbucker guitar. In the past I owned a beautiful R7 and I've had a gold top traditional. Although they were fantastic I felt that having so much money invested for the amount of time I played them wasn't worth it. Even this time while I was trying to decide on another LP I agonized whether I should buy a standard 50's or just go frugal with the tribute. In the end I decided on the Tribute.

Its Gibson month at Long and McQuade here in Canada. Not much benefit other than they ran a special with $150 off a new Tribute. When I showed up to the store to pick it up I was pleasantly surprised that they had to go retrieve it from the back room as it was still boxed up, so I'm the first to touch it. I liked how understated it is. No fancy high gloss finish. The back of the neck felt like my hand was on bare wood, even though there is a very thin finish. These are all big pluses for me. I like that the lower gloss satin finish fits in better with my other guitars that all have light ageing done to them. I was super impressed how perfect the set up was out of the box. I don't know that I've ever bought a new guitar that didn't need some level of work to get it right. I like really low, buzz free action and most guitars, even my really expensive custom shops have needed adjustment from my local tech. The MIM Roadworn, which cost more than the Tribute needed a fair amount of fret work and adjustment as well as replacing the nut. Everything about this tribute was perfect. The nut is perfectly cut, the action is perfect, the frets are nice and smooth and well done. Usually if I have synthetic nuts, I replace them with bone but I'm not going to do that with this Tribute. This LP compared to past LP's I've owned has a bit more snap to it, which for me is a bonus. Its kind of in between an LP and a Fender. I'm very impressed with the gig bag that comes with it. The gig bag I got with my Fender MIM, I would never use. Its a piece of crap. If I take my MIM roadworn out of the house I'll just use one of my other hard cases laying around. With the Gibson gig bag I have no problem transporting the Tribute in my car. If its going to be thrown in a band trailer I'd want a hard case.

Due to how perfect the set up was on this Tribute can anyone tell me if these Tributes are plek'd? Or did I just get lucky.

So here it is:







The collection: Bottom row: Custom shop Tomatillo 56 journey man Strat, Les Paul Tribute, Brad Paisley Roadworn Tele. Top Row: Martin Authentic 1941 D-28, Custom shop journey man 52 Tele, Martin Authentic 1939 D-28

 

[teletimetx]

Congrats! I have in one of the 50’s P90 Tributes and it’s been a very good experience. Play on!

 

[KC]

I believe they did come plek'd from the factory, at least they did when I bought mine a couple of years ago. I had a similar experience in that mine played very well right out of the box. Fit & finish all good, light (weight-relieved), bright sounding. The pickups are fine, though if I was feeling flush I would drop a couple of low-wind Imperials in there. Maybe some 50s wiring? I don't know. Overall a great guitar for the money.

Mine came with a nice case, too -- a molded plastic job, on a par with Fender molded cases but gold in color, with some Jetsons-style swoops on the side. I wouldn't dream of leaving any Gibson in a gig bag, though all my Fenders live in them.

 

[playforfun]

My understanding is that all Gibson guitars are plek’d. That’s a big selling point because eppiphone has stepped up their game in all other areas. Congrats!!

 

[John C]

Congrats! That's a nice one; honeyburst is one of my two favorite colors for the current model Tributes.

I'm not sure about the plek either, but mine (very late 2020 model - the serial number dates it to right before Christmas - in my other favorite color, Iced Tea) that I got in early 2021 played very well out of the box. I did replace the tuners with Kluson Revolution locking tuners for convenience - I'll freely admit I've never been good about getting nice tight winds on the plain strings; I suppose I just spent too many years with Fenders that have the vintage split-post tuners.

I also picked up a Gibson hard case for mine along the way; nothing really wrong with that Gibson soft case (mine is the older version done in brown vinyl with a pink lining) but I had some Guitar Center rewards certificates that cut $75 off the price of the hard case.

 

[TeleUpNorth]

So I'm mainly a single coil guy. I've got a couple of really nice custom shop journey man relic Fenders, a Strat and a Tele and a MIM Road worn brad paisley silver tele that my wife bought me for my 60th birthday that is a nice guitar, almost as nice as my CS 52 Tele, albeit after about $300 worth of work to get it up to snuff. The Road worn wasn't exactly perfect out of the box.

Although I mainly play single coils I wanted a humbucker guitar for those times when its fitting. There are a few songs in my bands set list that will greatly benefit from a humbucker guitar. In the past I owned a beautiful R7 and I've had a gold top traditional. Although they were fantastic I felt that having so much money invested for the amount of time I played them wasn't worth it. Even this time while I was trying to decide on another LP I agonized whether I should buy a standard 50's or just go frugal with the tribute. In the end I decided on the Tribute.

Its Gibson month at Long and McQuade here in Canada. Not much benefit other than they ran a special with $150 off a new Tribute. When I showed up to the store to pick it up I was pleasantly surprised that they had to go retrieve it from the back room as it was still boxed up, so I'm the first to touch it. I liked how understated it is. No fancy high gloss finish. The back of the neck felt like my hand was on bare wood, even though there is a very thin finish. These are all big pluses for me. I like that the lower gloss satin finish fits in better with my other guitars that all have light ageing done to them. I was super impressed how perfect the set up was out of the box. I don't know that I've ever bought a new guitar that didn't need some level of work to get it right. I like really low, buzz free action and most guitars, even my really expensive custom shops have needed adjustment from my local tech. The MIM Roadworn, which cost more than the Tribute needed a fair amount of fret work and adjustment as well as replacing the nut. Everything about this tribute was perfect. The nut is perfectly cut, the action is perfect, the frets are nice and smooth and well done. Usually if I have synthetic nuts, I replace them with bone but I'm not going to do that with this Tribute. This LP compared to past LP's I've owned has a bit more snap to it, which for me is a bonus. Its kind of in between an LP and a Fender. I'm very impressed with the gig bag that comes with it. The gig bag I got with my Fender MIM, I would never use. Its a piece of crap. If I take my MIM roadworn out of the house I'll just use one of my other hard cases laying around. With the Gibson gig bag I have no problem transporting the Tribute in my car. If its going to be thrown in a band trailer I'd want a hard case.

Due to how perfect the set up was on this Tribute can anyone tell me if these Tributes are plek'd? Or did I just get lucky.

So here it is:







The collection: Bottom row: Custom shop Tomatillo 56 journey man Strat, Les Paul Tribute, Brad Paisley Roadworn Tele. Top Row: Martin Authentic 1941 D-28, Custom shop journey man 52 Tele, Martin Authentic 1939 D-28

Enjoy! Those Tributes are great values for how good they are!

 

[brookdalebill]

Cool!

 

[Wallaby]

Nice guitar, congratulations!

I think they do Plek them.

 

[39martind18]

Gneiss! Rock it!

 

[mimmo]

Congratulations, nice LP and great collection you have here!

 

[John C]

This LP compared to past LP's I've owned has a bit more snap to it, which for me is a bonus. Its kind of in between an LP and a Fender.

I forgot to mention this in my HNGD post to you yesterday - I noticed this too, as I am also a long-time single coil player. I think it's the combination of the maple neck, somewhat thinner body with the "modern" weight relief that makes the Tribute somewhat snappier than the typical Les Paul. I suspect that the pickups (the 490 set which has alnico 2 magnets) might have something to do with it as well.

I've had various Les Pauls in the past but they have never stuck around very long with me, but my Tribute is still here 13 months later.

 

[arlum]

Congratulations. Having placed it below the Telecaster will certainly please the hard core Fenderians.

 

[Lawdawg]

Very nice! I really like the Tribute line especially that Honeyburst. I'm a long time SC Fender player and got my first LP last summer to round things out, it's been a blast to play.

 

[CCK1]

Until about 2012, I was a hardcore Fender guy, mostly Stratocasters, but Telecasters too. Then I took some of my inheritance money and bought this red Custom Shop Les Paul. It was almost too easy to play, I'd overbend notes, and just generally played using far too much pressure. After playing it a bit, and comparing it to the Fenders, I remember thinking "This is what cheating feels like." It was SO easy to play, the combination of the 24.75" scale, and the 12" radius just made it almost effortless.
I still love my Fenders, and I can't remember a gig in the past few years that I didn't bring a Stratocaster, a Telecaster, or both. They're just so different, the Fenders sort of "fight back" a bit, and I kind of like that!

 

[That Cal Webway]

Congrats!
Tributes are a great line.

In more than 50 years of playing I've been a 25.5 in scale player.
But 2 years ago I bought a Gibson LP tribute. It was fantastic sounding and the QC was top notch.
Yes, I sold it 1 yr ltr. Not sadly tho, as I found I'm just not a 24.75" player.

 

[Mr Swisher]

Congrats, beautiful guitar.

Enjoy your NGD!

 

[monkeybanana]

Congrats. I have a Standard 50s and it does feel like jewelry.

 

[golfnut]

Congrats. I have a Standard 50s and it does feel like jewelry.

Funny you should mention:
As good as I find my Tribute to be now I'm second guessing and wondering if I shouldn't return it within my 30 day return window and grab a 50's standard instead. The primary reason would be for the fatter neck. My cs 52 tele has chunky nocaster U neck, my cs 56 strat has a fat 50's soft v and my roadworn has a chunky soft v. I am much more comfortable with chunkier necks and the standard 50's would fall more in line with that. The tribute neck isn't bad. It isn't so thin that it causes fatigue. I could easily live with it. Its not something that would ever make me sell it. If I decide to stay with it I wouldn't give the thinner neck much more thought. I got it for $150 less than regular price due to a special "Gibson month" promotion so upgrading to the standard 50's is going to be well over double. The other issue is the standard 50's is likely going to be a lot heavier. That was one selling point for me with the Tribute. But the more I got thinking, the more I think the weight doesn't matter so much. My plans for it onstage is for a few songs here and there. I'd be mostly playing my lighter strat and tele's. So I won't be standing with it for longer periods. At home I pretty much sit down.
I've got my eye on a tobacco burst standard 50's and I'll decide whether to go look at it in the next 3 days. Theres also a heritage cherry that looks nice. As for the binding and nicer finish, I'm not so sure that matters much to me. Its nice though.
I've watched some comparison videos and it seems like the tones are a little clearer and brighter on the standard. So maybe some improvement there. Can someone tell me if the electronics are better in the standard? I'm trying to justify upgrading. Its hard when I can live with everything about the tribute and the only reason to upgrade is the neck is fatter. All the other benefits would just be luxury.

 

[John C]

I'm pretty sure the electronics in the tributes are Gibson's circuit card wiring - the pots and pickup leads plug into a plastic circuit card plate. I haven't opened mine up to check though. The LP Standards will definitely be point-to-point wired with orange drop capacitors.

EDIT: I got curious and opened my LP Tribute up; it has the circuit card wiring. I don't know if Gibson changed anything with the Tributes between when mine was made (serial number shows it as being produced - or at least the serial number stamped - about a week before Christmas 2020; I got it in March 2021) and here in 2022. Photo:

 

[golfnut]

I ended up returning the Tribute within the evaluation return window and opted for a Les Paul Standard 50's instead. The main reason, the neck on the Tribute was just too thin for my liking. My Tele's and strat all have very chunky necks, which is my preference. The LP standard I chose has a very chunky neck, more so than some previous LP standard 50's I've picked up. Very close in thickness to an R8 I picked up in the store, which was more "baseball bat" sized. This LP is now more in line with my Fenders and it doesn't feel drastically different going from guitar to guitar.
Some of the other benefits, the pickups are much clearer, brighter. Of course the guitar is far prettier than any of my Journeyman relic Fenders, which didn't really impact my decision that much. But I have to say the binding does look more right to me.
Even though the Tribute is highly weight relieved the LP 50's is not the weights are close to the same. The Tribute weighed in at 9.2 the Standard 50's weighs 9.4. Acceptable for me. I spent considerable time last night (about 2 hours) playing it standing up and my back was starting to feel it slightly. I could have gone another hour before real fatigue set in.