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Post by budg on Jan 5, 2020 10:14:35 GMT -5
 Ive been searching (well not really) for a lightweight Les Paul . I have had 2 Traditionals , a Classic and a couple of Epis. I have also developed arthritis in my neck and a pinched nerve , so I sold my Classic which weighed almost 12 lbs. Low and behold as I was searching the internet a 7.5 lb Tribute pops up in my Local GC. Decided to check it out . I usually dont buy budget guitars so I was a bit skeptical. The guy hands me this honeyburst one and before I plugged it in I played it. First off it is so light .Roughly 7.5 lbs is nothing for a LP. Here is my review after owning it for less than 24 hrs. First off its very light . I noticed right away there was some fret sprout going on . I am assuming from the dry store. After I decided to buy it the store got rid of the fret sprout( they actually did a nice job) and threw some new strings on there. He also treated the dry fretboard with lemon oil. I checked it out and the build quality was flawless . No issues there .It stayed in tune and there doesnt appear to be any nut binding as the nut appears to be dressed properly. I took it home .It comes with a "gig bag" that is actually a soft case . Its well padded and should offer plenty of protection. I took it home and plugged it into my DRRI . The 490s sound very nice . Great clean sound in all 3 positions . Nice boomy bass . Controls work great .I turned it up and hit the tubescreamer and selected the bridge pickup. It doesnt have as much bite as the 57+ im used to , so it will take some getting used to. The neck pickup sounded nice and smooth. The fretwork on this guitar felt great and stayed in tune as I played it. Nice comfortable neck . I think they are calling this a "rounded C" neck which is the same as my 335 . Half way in between a 60s and 50s. It has some nice shoulder to it. I put it on the bench and wanted to put my usual strings D adarrios . I use the NYXL strings . Some interesting things about this guitar...it has a maple neck. Honestly I dont have an issue with it. I realize mahoghany is getting harder to come by. It feels great. Maybe a bit smoother than a hog neck would. It also has a pcb control board. I may change it out , but the solder job is pretty good and they somehow make it work in aircraft , so Im thinking it should be ok . Probably would have to replace the whole board if a pot fails ,but ok. I checked the action and its 4/64 and 3/64 respectively at the 12th fret. Thats about where I like it ,so I left it alone. Checked the relief and was about .008 which is fine to me. No buzzing anywhere on the fretboard . Tuners were nice and smooth . I did re oil the fretboard as it was still pretty dry . Afterwards it seemed alot better . All in all a great guitar a a nice option for a lightweight Les Paul. Gibson has done a great job with attention to detail that surprized me. |
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cagey
Wholenote
My guitar doesn't have the same notes as yours
Posts: 110
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Post by cagey on Jan 5, 2020 10:27:50 GMT -5
Nice review and a good looking LP. Look forward to further updates to see if it holds it's appeal
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Post by Leftee on Jan 5, 2020 13:58:00 GMT -5
Awesome! That’s a great looker too!
The lack of bite with the bridge 490 might be that the guitar has 300k volume pots, as did my SG Trib with 490s.
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Post by budg on Jan 5, 2020 14:06:37 GMT -5
Awesome! That’s a great looker too! The lack of bite with the bridge 490 might be that the guitar has 300k volume pots, as did my SG Trib with 490s. Leftee you are probably right. I might eventually swap them out . If I do it I’ll just replace the PCB board with the standard setup. How much work was yours to get it to gloss up? I might try it next time I change strings. |
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Post by Leftee on Jan 5, 2020 14:15:01 GMT -5
Awesome! That’s a great looker too! The lack of bite with the bridge 490 might be that the guitar has 300k volume pots, as did my SG Trib with 490s. Leftee you are probably right. I might eventually swap them out . If I do it I’ll just replace the PCB board with the standard setup. How much work was yours to get it to gloss up? I might try it next time I change strings. Yeah, if I were going to do it over again, I’d just yank the PCB and go to the traditional setup. In fact, I’m going to do that to my last-purchased Trib... a tobacco burst LP with P90s. It has a flakey volume pot (so it was a nice deal). It wasn’t hard to polish up. I used some StewMac fine compound and a soft cotton cloth. Then a turn with swirl remover. Honestly, I don’t know that the swirl remover was needed. I might polish up the Tobacco Burst LP when I swap the pots out. |
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Post by budg on Jan 5, 2020 14:18:10 GMT -5
Leftee you are probably right. I might eventually swap them out . If I do it I’ll just replace the PCB board with the standard setup. How much work was yours to get it to gloss up? I might try it next time I change strings. Yeah, if I were going to do it over again, I’d just yank the PCB and go to the traditional setup. In fact, I’m going to do that to my last-purchased Trib... a tobacco burst LP with P90s. It has a flakey volume pot (so it was a nice deal). It wasn’t hard to polish up. I used some StewMac fine compound and a soft cotton cloth. Then a turn with swirl remover. Honestly, I don’t know that the swirl remover was needed. I might polish up the Tobacco Burst LP when I swap the pots out. Thanks. That’s all good to know. |
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Post by LM on Jan 5, 2020 14:22:51 GMT -5
Nice score!
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 855
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Post by Ryder on Jan 5, 2020 16:39:59 GMT -5
You can’t beat 7.5 lbs. Plus it’s a good looker! Congrats!
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woody
Wholenote
Posts: 245
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Post by woody on Jan 5, 2020 16:48:13 GMT -5
Cool guitar. I really like the understated look and weight. Enjoy!
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Post by Joe Potts on Jan 5, 2020 16:53:55 GMT -5
Congrats on your new Lester! It looks like a honey (no pun intended).
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Jan 5, 2020 17:32:56 GMT -5
It stayed in tune and there doesnt appear to be any nut binding as the nut appears to be dressed properly. Sorry to say, it's probably not a real Gibson then. All of them bind at the nut. Chinese knockoff maybe!?  JK!!! Great looking guitar, I love that look! It sure didn't take you long to find a light one! Congrats!! |
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Post by HenryJ on Jan 5, 2020 18:27:47 GMT -5
Congrats on your new guitar. It looks nice.
Off-topic, but doesn't the poster on the right advertise SRV's last two gigs?
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Post by budg on Jan 5, 2020 18:31:04 GMT -5
Congrats on your new guitar. It looks nice. Off-topic, but doesn't the poster on the right advertise SRV's last two gigs? Thanks and yes it’s the Alpine Valley concert poster from SRVs last gig. |
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professor
Wholenote
"Now I want you to go in that bag and find my wallet." / KMMFA
Posts: 617
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Post by professor on Jan 8, 2020 18:05:46 GMT -5
Very cool! The Tributes always get good reviews. BTW, how much ?
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Post by Riff Twang on Jan 9, 2020 16:57:13 GMT -5
Very nice.
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Post by LTB on Jan 9, 2020 17:30:46 GMT -5
View AttachmentIve been searching (well not really) for a lightweight Les Paul . I have had 2 Traditionals , a Classic and a couple of Epis. I have also developed arthritis in my neck and a pinched nerve , so I sold my Classic which weighed almost 12 lbs. Low and behold as I was searching the internet a 7.5 lb Tribute pops up in my Local GC. Decided to check it out . I usually dont buy budget guitars so I was a bit skeptical. The guy hands me this honeyburst one and before I plugged it in I played it. First off it is so light .Roughly 7.5 lbs is nothing for a LP. Here is my review after owning it for less than 24 hrs. First off its very light . I noticed right away there was some fret sprout going on . I am assuming from the dry store. After I decided to buy it the store got rid of the fret sprout( they actually did a nice job) and threw some new strings on there. He also treated the dry fretboard with lemon oil. I checked it out and the build quality was flawless . No issues there .It stayed in tune and there doesnt appear to be any nut binding as the nut appears to be dressed properly. I took it home .It comes with a "gig bag" that is actually a soft case . Its well padded and should offer plenty of protection. I took it home and plugged it into my DRRI . The 490s sound very nice . Great clean sound in all 3 positions . Nice boomy bass . Controls work great .I turned it up and hit the tubescreamer and selected the bridge pickup. It doesnt have as much bite as the 57+ im used to , so it will take some getting used to. The neck pickup sounded nice and smooth. The fretwork on this guitar felt great and stayed in tune as I played it. Nice comfortable neck . I think they are calling this a "rounded C" neck which is the same as my 335 . Half way in between a 60s and 50s. It has some nice shoulder to it. I put it on the bench and wanted to put my usual strings D adarrios . I use the NYXL strings . Some interesting things about this guitar...it has a maple neck. Honestly I dont have an issue with it. I realize mahoghany is getting harder to come by. It feels great. Maybe a bit smoother than a hog neck would. It also has a pcb control board. I may change it out , but the solder job is pretty good and they somehow make it work in aircraft , so Im thinking it should be ok . Probably would have to replace the whole board if a pot fails ,but ok. I checked the action and its 4/64 and 3/64 respectively at the 12th fret. Thats about where I like it ,so I left it alone. Checked the relief and was about .008 which is fine to me. No buzzing anywhere on the fretboard . Tuners were nice and smooth . I did re oil the fretboard as it was still pretty dry . Afterwards it seemed alot better . All in all a great guitar a a nice option for a lightweight Les Paul. Gibson has done a great job with attention to detail that surprized me. Nice! I bought a Gibson SG faded that came with the circuit board. I was going to change it out ( probably for same reasons as you- just wasn’t what I was used to seeing) but like you the pots and solder job was very good so I decided to keep it. I will mot change it unless pots start to fail. 😉 |
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Post by budg on Jan 9, 2020 17:56:25 GMT -5
Very cool! The Tributes always get good reviews. BTW, how much ? Thanks, I paid about 950 for it. Very impressed with it and great tones for sure. The bridge pickup isn’t as bright as some of the others, but I think I’ve got it dialed in now . |
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Post by De ville on Jan 9, 2020 22:55:24 GMT -5
Oh ya, I like that. That's a beaut! Congrats!
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