Gibson Will Soon Be Irrelevant

I agree with your comments about Gibsons being overpriced. Back in 1990, I bought a brand new Gibson Les Paul Custom for $1750 (Canadian). Converted to 2024 dollars, that would be approximately $4880 CDN, or $3650 USD. The equivalent guitar in 2024 is listed at $4990 USD; that means that this guitar's price has outpaced inflation by 37%.

I got the exact same SG. I've been playing it for two 1/2 months and I really love mine. I've kept it completely stock and I've had no problems with it. Beauty is in the hands of the beholder I guess.

I feel this is kind of misunderstanding where Gibson and Fender are as brands in the current ecosystem of guitar manufacturers. Both are defined by their history, and would not really have buyers if they go too much off the plot - see f.e. the automated tuners that Gibson tried years ago, and Fender owning Charvel which limits how far they modernise their own guitars. For a lot of players, the electric guitar's 50/60s aesthetic is very much still a part of their appeal, rather than a lot of newer designs that try to update the format but don't really make much of a dent all in all. Brands are bound by themselves, but at least Fender has managed to create some kind of breathing room with various limited runs and Paranormal series etc. Fenders also being a lot easier to mod with interchangeable parts makes random variations part of the aesthetic to start with...

I bought a wildwood spec 57 LP Custom with a slim taper neck and it absolutely slays

Interesting enough, back in mid 2000 when I knew barely anything about guitars, my dream was to buy a Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty but couldn't afford it. Therefore I went with a black Godin LGXT. I was obsessed with it having an ebony fretboard and it being a single cut, which the Godin has/is. Well, what I didn't realize is that it has a 25 1/2" scale length. When you split the coils, it sounds like a strat and I love the sound! Still have the guitar today, cheers!

Gibson will always stay relevant for the legacy branding. People love Les Pauls, despite their flaws and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. They should have been phased out a long time ago, but people still love them and pay big money for them. Even for me….I’m a modern player with a bunch of super nice USA modern instruments, but my black beauty Les Paul custom has some magic to the sound that I could never see myself letting go of.

So will you punt the SG? At 13:41 on the Gold PRS SE DGT was that a knee rest? What is that?

9:05 with my Gibson Explorer the upper fret playability is unmatched. I feel very comfortable playing up there since I was able to get my action so low

I'd love to see you give Fender this same treatment to review an instrument of theirs, get super nitty gritty detailed, and give an overall critique of the product and company. IMO, they're much much better about offering modern offerings, and they're starting to experiment with introducing new body styles like the Meteora. They're still behind the ball on design though I think

Gibson is the Harley Davidson of Guitars.

Thanks for your upload. There's only two types of Guitars I see myself "collecting" (having numerous versions / styles of) and that would be Telecasters and SG's. Telecasters I've played for a long time. SG's are new to me. Well, Epiphone SG's. I picked up an Epiphone SG Special for £100. And I tell you, it's one of the best purchases I ever made. That guitar is so comfortable to play. It is definitely more a RHYTHM guitar, though obviously you can play leads on anything you like. It's just more a solid, rhythm guitar. But the neck is just ... the calluses on my fingers say I'm playing the hell out of it, but I can't feel a thing. I then picked up an Epiphone SG G400. Completely different guitar, but like you're saying about comfort further up the neck. It is absolutely a comfortable lead guitar. I have a Fender Stratocaster (MIUSA) that got damaged recently that I've owned for like, thirty years. The damage was so extensive that literally, I just figured I'd find a "new" lead guitar until I could find another Fender just like it, or at least see how much the damage is going to be, and get my Strat back. I was devastated when i discovered the damage. Anyway!!! That Epiphone SG G-400 is now my go to lead guitar. It's missing the tremolo of course that my Strat has, but it is absolutely going to be the guitar I head to for straight leads. (It all depends on the song really what suits. I have a Harley Benton JA-60 that I use for all kinds of atmospheric / ambient things. I've owned that guitar for over a year and still haven't changed its factory strings yet. Out of the box it was one of the most unique and distinct sounding guitars I'd ever played.) The obvious next step is a Gibson. That's what I was planning to do. Even though I am absolutely in love with my two Epiphone SG's, one does want "the real deal" right? Maybe not so much after this video. Thanks for your upload. It's good to know all pros and cons of things before we invest in something that we think is going to make us happy, but ...

Which tuners did you replace the stock ones with?

It's interesting you thought of those three ranges, because it's pretty much what fender has been doing for years. What they call the "Standard" is in perpetual change (with varying results depending on the year). But for some reason, Gibson seems to be stuck in the past, but it's what their audience seems to love. Guitars like the Les Paul access never stay in their catalog for too long.

You describe the "to the left" feeling quite well that I've noticed and preferred as a strat player.

I just purchased a Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s and I absolutely love it. It is the greatest guitar I have every owned....They've had their ups and downs but the 2019- LPs are amazing.

For some reason I never thought I liked SGs but now it's my go to. I was more an LP guy but when I came across a 2008 special walnut (faded?) I was hooked. It came with grover tuners and phat kat p90s that I didn't like, but I loved it so damn much I got some JBs in there and it's a no-frills, fast playing beast. It depends on your style of music but a floating trem or bigsby on a SG just looks wrong. But to each their own, and tastes really can change! I just bought my first offset: a Jazzmaster Classic Player, something I never thought I would like, and it's my #2 of my several guitars.

Truly enjoyed watching this experiment as it unfolded. One of the biggest things I agree is the launching the multiple lines that we’ll never see. I LOVE the look of the LP, Flying V, and the Explorer. But I know feature wise and feels wise they’re not for me - I’ve tried several times but couldn’t justify the cool looks over the comfort. I would love a modern spec’d Gibson line, that would pull me in and I’m 30.

I appreciate the intensive and deeply insightful observations This is well beyond the typical reviews In particular the comments regarding how the left hand naturally feels more comfortable from 9th to 15th fret, and this results in the illusory ‘feeling’ of great upper fret access, and the observation that the vintage style fret wire makes certain techniques a bit more difficult This made me immediately think of why I LOVE my ugly shredder Charvel DK and use it for jazz— the real jumbo frets make fretting large chord spans significantly easier as less pressure is required to fret the note on jumbo frets— and with huge stretches you naturally have less ability to press hard Great review

Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed commentary Andre. It's sad. When I was a kid, Gibson was THE guitar to own. It was the guitar of legend. Me and all my guitar playing friends wanted a Gibby, the Les Paul specifically. Back then, at least in my mind, Gibson was still very much the company of Les Paul. The ol man was still alive then. And I can't help but think that his spirit was a gentle, but steady guiding influence on his signature line in particular, and the entire stable of models at Gibson in general. (Probably untrue, but that's how I felt.) It was probably more about the generation that built Gibson at that time with Ted McCarty at the helm. Who knows? Nostalgia is funny like that. Anyway, that was a long time ago. It's just NOT your daddy's Gibson anymore, unfortunately. This should not be. I've had many vintage Gibsons in my workshop over the years, and still more modern day Gibbys. What is strange is how nearly every vintage Gibson that's graced my workbench has solid bones. The geometry of these guitars is on point. I don't see neck issues in the majority of these old models. They have aged very well. Once they're set up properly, they play and sound amazing. Conversely, the modern builds tend to be the opposite. They all seem to suffer from one malady or another. But the thing I see most often is neck sag...so much so that these days I associate this problem with Gibson almost exclusively. If the guitars in question were student models, I couldn't say much. However, in this case I'm talking about expensive models ($1500 and up). In that price range, you should not see QC issues of this magnitude. The design of the guitar is a separate thing imo, which we can all quibble about. You either love it or hate it. I do agree that Gibson would benefit from a modern line that incorporates everything we've learned up till now about engineering the beast. But they've got to get their house in order first and start listening to both their consumers and their dealers. All that said, I applaud you for sticking your neck out to express your opinion on your Gibson experience. That takes guts, because despite Gibson's issues (poor quality, inflated pricing, bad PR), it is still, for many, a religion.

I would say this. I came up through the 80s shred era. Most of my teenage peers were playing ibanez and various types of Frankenstrat type guitars. Then Grunge happened, and many of my peers in our 20 somethings started gravitating towards the whole vintage Gibson Fender thing. Personally, I never fell too far down the Gibson rabbit hole. I do see how it has staying power, though.