The2019 Les Paul Standard '50s & Les Paul Tribute are proof that with its Original and Modern ranges, Gibson is serious about its heritage and future. Review: Gibson 2019 Les Paul Standard '50s & Les Paul Tribute. From the Original and Modern Collections comes a pair of new production Les Pauls that might just prove less is more. By.
MusicRadar Verdict With its added features the 2008 Standard moves into a more boutique area but remains very well priced and quite old-school. Pros +Sharper than usual build and set-up. More vintage-like old LP tones. Price. Cons -The neck profile may divide opinion only because we love the '59 profile so much. Frets still need more profiling. MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test. Simple, classic. With a few modern twists... Gibson Les Paul 2008 StandardIt's 50 years since Gibson unveiled the sunburst Les Paul Standard, kicking off the journey of an initially far-from-popular instrument. Now, along with Fender's Stratocaster, it's become the world's most popular and recognisable electric Fender, Gibson has various historically accurate reissues available, but has also chosen in 2008 to release a new Standard. The new Standard advertises an enlarged neck tenon plus a properly chambered body to trim weight and add resonance. Time to open the case thenā¦What's new?The new 2008 Standard looks forward with numerous changes that would seem to be aimed to bring it in line with, most obviously, more modern brands like PRS and it's the advertised chambering of this model or simply slightly lighter mahogany, or both, the 2008 is a little lighter and seems a little more alive as you tap your knuckles on its body. Here the body back is one-piece and the maple top subtly figured. Without the pickguard it also looks a little leaner and less fussy."If Gibson keeps up this improved, detailed construction, a few other boutique single-cuts will begin to look rather costly."Although the 'board and inlays seem dry and dirty, set-up is good the guitar arrived with a 'Plek'd' sticker on the bridge pickup including the nut, although we suspect opinion might be split over the tuners - one of the numerous changes to the 'standard' formula that we see are Grover locking types with chromed tulip buttons, not the more classic plastic of the traditional Klusons. The lock is achieved very easily with a large rear thumbwheel, which clamps the string in its post the tuners, the tune-o-matic and stud tailpiece lock to their posts. They are TonePros parts and, while the claim of increased sustain may be hard to confirm, they certainly won't fall off when you take all the strings advertises an 'asymmetrical' neck profile that's quite rare, especially on production electrics - the only other one that sticks in the mind is the profile used on the original Music Man Eddie Van Halen the bass-side is more 'D' shaped and the treble side is more of a 'C' with a shallower shoulder. It's slightly less deep at the first fret, at the 12th than Gibson's '50s rounded profile that, while similar at the first fills out to by the the 2008 has a BurstBucker Pro 1 at neck and a BurstBucker Pro 2 at the bridge and Bourne gold-plated pots visible through a smoked translucent control cover; also new is the Neutrik locking output jack tidily inset into the guitar's the electrics backplate and things all looks rather high tech the four square pots are soldered onto a Gibson logo'd PCB; the pickups connect to the PCB with clearly marked solder-less push-in connects; likewise the outputs to the toggle Guitarist's Dave Durban put the new 2008 Standard through its pacesThe 2008, while offering what seems like a slew of modern updates actually sounds older. What we mean here is that, certainly on the bridge pickup, which sounds a little hotter than a '57 Classic, we have more edge and spark to the sound; it clears up nicely too and you can really get older Les Paul voices - more classic blues Peter Green than modern rock Slash, if you neck pickup is very sweet and tuneful, again though there's a little more definition to the sound but it's lower in output compared to the bridge pickup and seems less balanced as a is a set-up you might prefer, of course, but we found it a little too unbalanced before we started messing with pickup heights. The mix, however, results in increased clarity - pull down both volumes and there's more single-coil like clarity than you might the 2008 feels like a modern production Gibson. Those frets still feel a little intrusive initially, and while the 2008's slightly slimmer neck feel will have its fans, some players may yearn for the more familiar neck shapes available in other areas of the Fender, Gibson's main business is providing us with umpteen versions of its classic guitars they may be historically accurate or signature versions or look a little to the future, as with the certainly have no problem with that and, barring a few minor quibbles, we have no problem with this guitar - especially with this year's trim price and its palpably sharper the slightly edgier, older sounding 2008 Standard will suit you, is really down to what you want from a 'Paul. What we will say is that if Gibson keeps up this improved, detailed construction, a few more boutique-y other-brand single-cuts will begin to look rather costly. Dave Burrluck is one of the worldās most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitaristās The Mod Squad. Most PopularPerbedaannyatidak hanya soal harga yang mencolok, tapi lebih dari pada itu. Baik Gibson maupun Epiphone, keduanya mempunyai keunikannya masing-masing. Hal itu tampak dalam spesifikasinya, karakteristik sound, dan cara pembuatan gitar itu sendiri. Saya tidak akan menilai mana yang baik dan buruk, atau siapa yang menang di antara keduanya.Will Gibsonās newest Les Paul stand up to our strict standards? Cost $ find yours on or Sweetwater and learn more on Overview & Final Score Well the day has finally come where Gibson has sent me a guitar to review. Quick personal tangent, this guitar really makes me feel like I āmade itā in the guitar review world. Nevertheless, Gibsonās rise in 2020 started on the back of the Epiphone re-launch and continues here with the new 2020 line of USA models. Gibsonās Les Paul Studio 2020 is powered by coil tapped 490R and 498T humbuckers with otherwise standard wiring configuration 2 tone, 2 volume, 3-way selector. The Mahogany body is even weight relieved beneath the figured Maple top, making it a real comfortable departure from heavy LPās of the past. The Mahogany neck features a return to Rosewood fretboards yes! and 22 medium jumbo frets. The neck shape is a slim taper, that still feels like a classic Gibson, just with a bit more utility and comfort than your vintage baseball bat. I fortunately received one featuring the gorgeous āSmokehouse Burstā finish featuring gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. This LP Studio sports Grover Rotomatic tuners, Gibsonās Nashville tune-o-matic and stop bar tailpiece, and a lovely soft shell case as well. Sound 9 No surprise here, it sounds like a Gibson Les Paul and I mean that as a compliment! The neck pickup is creamy, bluesy, and has all that warm goodness weāve come to associate with Gibson. While it is no ā59 burst, these LP Studio guitars really sound like the real deal, even though they are the more affordable end of Gibson USA. While this guitar is weight relieved, I didnāt really feel any loss of sustain or resonance compared to other, full weight Gibsonās Iāve played. The bridge is obviously more bright and aggressive, and in my opinion provides the real Gibson tone that Iāve always loved and tried to emulate. Huge, classic tones pour out easily from Led Zeppelin to The Clash and everything in between. Gibson seems to have rightfully prioritized a return to the vintage blues and rock basis that made the brand famous. This guitar is perfect for the sounds you expect to get from it, and honestly had a few atmospheric licks up its sleeve. However, it definitely isnāt the most versatile guitar for maybe clean Jazz sounds or rhythmic chiming sounds. But if youāre buying a Les Paul Studio from Gibson you probably know what youāre getting and will not be disappointed! Oh and the in-between setting on the 3-way selector switch was maybe the best Iāve ever heard from a Les Paul. I usually strictly avoid that setting but it was a real charm here. Lastly I want to speak about the coil cuts. It is a really great feature that theyāve included here as it certainly makes the Studio a bit more versatile, but they werenāt the most impressive. The neck one sounded far more ācoil splitā-like than the bridge one. In fact, I could barely tell the bridge cut was anything more than a volume reduction. Not a major problem, but just something to think about and maybe I just got a dud. Playability 8 Les Pauls have not always won me over because of their feel and Gibson has a well recorded history of quality control and tuning stability issues. However, this guitar has far superior tuning stability to my 2011 Gibson Les Paul. I was really happy to see this and I assume it is because theyāve put more effort into perfecting the nut and how it is cut on each model. Furthermore, the G string still goes out of tune fairly often, which is just a known and respected flaw in Les Paul construction. This isnāt ideal, but I can certainly live with it in return for the huge upgrade in playability on my older Les Paul. The action was great out of the box, and I really liked the feel of the slim taper neck. It sat comfortably in my hands, with some of that baseball bat chunkiness as you move around the neck. Finish & Construction 9 This is where Gibson is really making me happy in 2020. This Les Paul Studio is just built so much better than some of the 2010ās Gibson guitars that Iāve played and owned. The fretwork was great, the finish was spotless, the nut was cut correctly. Everything seems to be pointing towards increased quality control coming out of Gibson. Their PR faults aside, this certainly made me think that Gibson is on its way back to the top of the guitar world. Even if the guitar is far from the perfection of higher end Gibson models, it feels so good to get an off the shelf, relatively affordable Les Paul with a Gibson logo that feels great. The lightweight construction also should appeal to many players like myself who prefer to swing a light Fender guitar around the stage. Smokehouse Burst is also just such a beautiful finish, with more depth and nuance to the color than Iāve seen on older burst models. Iāve been super critical of Gibson but they earned praise with this one. Value To be fair, there are some many great Les Paul guitars out there for less than the price of a Gibson. That Howl Sirena 3 I reviewed is one of them. However, Iām ultimately impressed with how Gibson seems to have put the attention to detail back into these lower priced Studios. While Les Paul studios have typically been the biggest offenders during Gibsonās leaner years, they got this one right. Overall you can get a real Gibson Les Paul with only a few minor, modern upgrades, for under $1500. Thatās a win for everyone who canāt afford Customs, reissues, or vintage Gibsonās. Sometimes the name on the headstock does matter and if that is the case for you, Gibson has worked towards winning you back with this 2020 Les Paul Studio. Good for Blues, Classic Rock, High Gain, Players Looking For Lightweight Les Paul, Versatile Players
Gibsonās back-to-basics approach has seen the rejuvenated company streamline its electric-guitar catalogue and carve it up into three distinct ranges. The Original Collection and Custom Shop are the primary destinations for purists looking for vintage-style looks and specifications, while the Modern Collection is where youāll find a mixture of the stripped down and souped pretty at the top of the heap in the Modern Collection is the Les Paul Modern. During Henry Juszkiewiczās reign, this model would probably have been called the 2020 Les Paul Standard ā it certainly inherits a few features from some of Gibsonās more experimental riffs on the Standardā chief alterations to the classic recipe are an Ultra-Modernā weight relief pattern, a slim-taper neck with an asymmetrical profile and contoured heel, a 10- to 16-inch compound radius ebony fingerboard with binding but no nibs, locking Grover Rotomatics and an aluminium Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge thatās secured in threaded inserts rather than screwed straight into the binding is bright white and the hardware a mirror-like chrome, while the mildly futuristic clear top-hat knobs provide access to a quartet of push/pull potentiometers hard-wired to an internal either of the Burstbucker Prosā volume controls into the up position puts the corresponding pickup into single-coil mode. The neck pickupās tone control is where youāll also find phase switching, while the bridge pickupās tone control activates a pure bypassā that routes straight to the bridge humbucker with the tone control removed from the the brown-stained neck and back has the kind of hue youād have found on Goldtops of yesteryear, the Les Paul Modern is offered with a trio of eye-catching metallic tops Faded Pelham Blue, Graphite and Sparkling Burgundy, with the latter featuring on our review guitar. Aside from a few areas of slight bleed into the white binding, the finishing looks sharp, without a hint of orange peelā ā and the deep, blood-red top really pops when framed by the binding and useModern it may be, but this Les Paul isnāt so radical a rewrite that it feels in any way alien. In fact, played acoustically, the formula is very familiar. Although its mahogany body is heavily chambered, this guitar is still reassuringly substantial, with a smooth and balanced unplugged voice and no shortage of sustain above the 12th fret. The body thickness may be 10mm shallower than usual behind the contoured heel, but it doesnāt seem to have a negative sonic asymmetric neck carve is subtle but effective. The slightly more rounded bass side and skinnier treble-side taper combine with the compound-radius fingerboard to offer a smooth, comfortable ride, but itās definitely not a modern shred profile ā relatively small medium-jumbo frets serve to keep things firmly in the classicā ballpark and may alienate more technical said, itās one of those guitars that encourages the more stoic among us to be a little more daring. Although thereās still a fair bit of mass to negotiate ā this isnāt an SG, after all ā when you get to those upper registers, the slinkier heel area makes soloing above the 17th fret considerably easier than on a traditionally constructed LP with the full-fat humbucker tones, weāre greeted with plenty of treble, clarity, dynamic range and articulation ā gone are the days when a new Gibson neck pickup is likely to sport a woolly blanket. With a clean tone and spring reverb, itās easy to get lost in a seriously expressive pool of tones that remind you thereās so much more to these guitars than hard rock. While original PAFs, Patent Number humbuckers and expensive PAF clones might get closer to the sonic high-water mark of the golden era, Gibsonās pickups have made significant strides in the right direction of is keen to describe the LP Modernās single-coil voices as having P-90 characteristics, so we pull up the volume pots to see how close they get. Unlike many coil-split circuits, thereās no significant drop in level when switching from full humbucking mode, so thatās a good start. The treble softens and you do hear some of the wiriness, chewy midrange and nasal single-note tones that characterise Gibsonās iconic single-coil. The LP Modern isnāt going to fool anyone in a blind comparison with an old P-90 Goldtop or Special, but the single-coil voices here provide some interesting colours in their own right and respond particularly well to gain. We can imagine them being a real boon for your function-band neck pickupās phase switch, on the other hand, does result in a big drop in output ā but it hollows things out nicely for percussive funk and scratchy special effectā lead tones. Flip to the pure bypass mode, however, and itās the other end of the spectrum entirely. The additional kick and upper harmonic presence it brings to the bridge humbucker is tailor made for those big rock riffs and show-stopping Les Paul Modern might not have the romantic allure of a heavily aged Burst reissue or even a flamey Standard, but itās a seriously versatile performance tool. With no built-in effects or Robot Tuners in sight, it feels like a contemporary take on a classic design rather than a gimmick and it retains enough essential Les Paul DNA to keep a high proportion of Lester fans FeaturesPRICE Ā£2,299 inc. hard caseDESCRIPTION Solidbody electric guitar. Made in USABUILD Weight-relieved mahogany body with carved maple top, mahogany set neck with asymmetrical slim taper and modern contoured heel, 10-16ā compound-radius ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl trapezoid inlays, 22 medium-jumbo frets, Graph Tech nutHARDWARE Chrome-finished aluminium Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece, Grover locking Rotomatic tuners with keystone buttonsELECTRICS Burstbucker Pro rhythm and Burstbucker Pro+ lead humbucking pickups with 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, 2x push/pull volume coil-split and 2x push/pull tone phase, pure bypassSCALE LENGTH WIDTH at nut, at 12th fretNECK DEPTH at first fret, at 12th fretSTRING SPACING at nut, at bridgeWEIGHT Gloss nitrocellulose Sparkling Burgundy as reviewed, Graphite, Faded Pelham BlueCONTACT Gibson Like this? Try theseChapman Guitars V2 ML2 Modern Standard Ā£499, Gretsch G6228 Players Edition Jet BT Ā£1,979, Nik Huber Orca ā59 Ā£7,250
GibsonLes Paul Standard '50s Tobacco Burst LPS500TONH1 Indonesia 2019 The largest guitar showroom asia Indonesia. Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s Tobacco Burst LPS500TONH1 Indonesia 2019 The largest guitar showroom asia Indonesia. Skip to content. Menu. Cancel View cart. Paul Reed Smith Guide to PRS guitar
Home Forums The Guitar Epiphone Guitars You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Epi LP,s made in indonesia Thread starter tony2911 Start date Jul 1, 2020 Joined Sep 9, 2019 Messages 13 Reaction score 2 1 Hi Peeps, what do you folks think of the quality of Epi LP,s made in Indonesia Joined Jun 7, 2017 Messages 6 Reaction score 1 2 My only Epi/Indo experience would be with my 2018 Sheraton ll Pro. If the quality of that guitar is any example of what the Indonesian plant is producing, you should be very happy with the LP. Joined Jun 8, 2016 Messages 1,809 Reaction score 2,803 3 Unlike china, Indonesia makes some very nice Guitars. Well that's just a silly thing to say. If you played one from each country side by side, I'd wager a large amount that you wouldn't have the slightest idea which one was made where unless you knew beforehand. Epi has their own dedicated factory in China now and makes some fantastic guitars these days. CNC machines don't know what country they are in. Every factory puts out a lemon every now and then. Have you some of the pieces of shit that have come out of the Gibson Nashville plant the past few years? I have 3 Made in China Epis, 2 Made in Indonesia, and 2 made in Korea. I love all of them. Judge the guitar by the guitar, not by where it was born. Don't say dumb shit. BTW, welcome to Epi-Talk Joined Jan 16, 2015 Messages 7,554 Reaction score 9,281 Location Kraut-Territory 4 Unlike china, Indonesia makes some very nice Guitars. ...... Countries don't make guitars..... companies and their employees make guitars Epiphone has their own two factories in China since ~2003 Samick produces for Epiphone since ~1985 in Korea and for at least two decades in Indonesia. they make 'em as good as they are allowed to do for the $$ if they didn't write 'made in xxx' on the guitar, most of us could not tell where they were made.... It just goes to show that free people being paid a fair wage do a better job than those condemned to labor in a factory prison! you can have a look and a bit of reading about those Epi-factory prisons here.... and Welcome here ā¬piTalk Joined Jul 12, 2016 Messages 3,364 Reaction score 3,902 Location Maryland, USA 5 It just goes to show that free people being paid a fair wage do a better job than those condemned to labor in a factory prison! Yes. Just imagine how productive Ted Bundy's murder victims would have been, had they lived to work and earn a fair wage. Seriously, WTF is up with your avatar? Joined Jan 16, 2015 Messages 7,554 Reaction score 9,281 Location Kraut-Territory 6 China is an aggressive communist country. With a track record of human rights violations as long as the great wall. Don't kid yourself. My point is simply this, NO guitar company goes to China to build their Top line guitars. Not true with other Asian countries. I believe Epiphone went to Japan to build the Elitist Series for a reason. I don't really care about your political view on China And remember it was the US located CEOs who decided to move the production to China The reason Epi moved production to Japan was back then Japan was what China is today - cheaper than US Ever heard of Eastman guitars ? High end made in China Joined Dec 7, 2015 Messages 3,352 Reaction score 4,038 Location Fort Collins, CO 8 Nice to meet the board bullies right off the bat! There are no "board bullies" here but there are those of us who are willing to step out and correct personal opinions stated as unsubstantiated fact as you did. So allow me to add yet another correction. The current Squire CV line are primarily former Vintage Modified models whose specs and appearance have been modified to replace the former MIC Squier CVs. The VM line has always been built in Indonesia and though good instruments in their own right have always been considered a notch down from the MIC CVs. What it all boils down to as Paruwi posted is cost. US mfgs like Fender who contract with Asian mfgs to build guitars and basses for them ask for an instrument they can buy for $$$ and sell for $$$$ to earn a profit at an established price point. For the CV line Fender's retail price limit appeared to be $400 for the majority of those models. When the cost of manufacture in China began to require pricing higher than $400 to retain the same profit margins for Fender and it's distributors and dealers production was moved Indonesia and VM models with slightly altered specs and finishes replaced most of the former MIC models. This is fact. Unlike Fender, Epiphone owns it's own Chinese manufacturing plant so ultimately they have complete control of cost and quality. And unlike Squiers the MIC Epiphones are also inspected here in the US before being shipped to dealers to assure the best QC they can provide. This is also fact. So......I believe what we're trying to say is that your post is based solely on your own opinions which are not based on substantiated facts. And if workers being paid a fair wage in a free society make far better instruments then why has Gibson struggled so much with their own QC issues on models costing many times more than their import cousins? You are certainly entitled to your own opinions but that doesn't make them true based on fact. Joined Dec 7, 2015 Messages 3,352 Reaction score 4,038 Location Fort Collins, CO 9 China is an aggressive communist country. With a track record of human rights violations as long as the great wall. Don't kid yourself. My point is simply this, NO guitar company goes to China to build their Top line guitars. Not true with other Asian countries. I believe Epiphone went to Japan to build the Elitist Series for a reason. The first statement is quite obviously true. The second may be true to an extent but it's not an absolute when you consider that many US companies have top of the line product built in China and I own some of it. In some cases where the traffic will bear because a much higher price can be charged a US company may elect to have an instrument built in Japan but then those models you mention have always been built in Japan. Some high end models from other US companies are also built in Korea and Indonesia by the very same companies who build their budget priced models. So in reality few if any absolutes actually exist. Joined Dec 7, 2015 Messages 3,352 Reaction score 4,038 Location Fort Collins, CO 10 I changed it just for you! I won't want any snowflakes to be offended. Ah ha, me thinks your politcal persuasion is now showing and we try hard to avoid that here. But if you'd like my opinion it seems to me that based on all the whining and wailing I hear from your side the true snowflakes are you and you're melting fast as this summer is showing. So please do depart. Joined May 2, 2019 Messages 82 Reaction score 105 Location CenTex 11 DavidSG, I think posts 7-11 pretty much earned you the responses you received. It's fairly obvious that you are one of those individuals who has a political bone to pick, especially considering the hyper political "snowflake" comment. If you thought that your politics would be welcomed into this guitar forum, you thought wrong. On that note and without further ado Joined May 4, 2020 Messages 123 Reaction score 194 14 The only reason there may be slight quality differences on guitar made in other parts of the world is... the managing bodies CEO's board of directors, upper management, etc, etc decided to only allow those guitars to be built with wood, hardware and electronics that fit their pricing paradigm. They choose from their management seats to limit the quality of guitars on purpose. As far as the OP's question about Indonesia-made guitars... they have been doing high quality wood working in Indonesia for centuries. Long before there was an Orville Gibson, Leo Fender, or Paul Reed Smith. Wood working is part of their culture. Google has plenty of info on the wood working and furniture making industry in Indonesia The geographical location of a guitar shop has zero to do with what quality of guitars are made in a factory within that country or location on the globe. The managing body that owns and operates the factory dictates the quality control and materials used inside the factory. So, if we send folks to Mars, then send them luthiers, and now we say "Martian guitars suck" only because they are maqde on Mars, what sense does that make? It has much more to do with the supply chain and decisions upper management makes that makes the overall end product. Globalization is a big 40 dollar word that means in part somebody knocked down the trade door to places like China and many other third world countries. There is something of value in these countries that appeals to businesses. Profits. The savings is, among other things, because the price of human resources in a third world country is way lower than trying to convince American workers to work for those levels of pay. I don't know exact labor statistics but I get the general idea that... a trained luthier in the USA might make I'm guessing $25-30 dollars an hours, plus demands benefits like health insurance, paid time off and vacations, etc, etc. Labor in America is very high compared to third world countries. So, with the trade door wide open with China, and BILLION people to employ, China becomes a target for saving a BUNCH of money on human resources labor costs. As does the price and cost of labor in many other countries in the world. Which may be why less guitars are Made in Japan now, because Japan's labor price has went up. I'm just gonna throw out a figure, but it is something like this... In the USA you have to pay a skilled craftsman $30 + benefits... I don't know the exact wage savings, but let's say in China or Indonesia people will work for $ an hour. Plus they will work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, never take vacations, and don't get a huge benefits package. In that scenario the company that owns the factory and sells the guitars back in the USA or world wide has way more hours of production per week, and is getting the products for pennies of the cost of labor. I think a more important question is how could a company like Gibson charge a ridiculous amount like $4, for a Les Paul Custom, and allow products to hit the sales floor with even ONE TIME having some kind of quality issue?? A guitar at that price should have been built by the hands of God and angels. It should be perfect... every one in that price range should be perfect. But instead they are simply a man made product and since man is not perfect, neither will the things he makes with his hands be perfect. I have this for an idea... let's take off the gloves and allow Indonesia and any other third world country that makes guitars the same exact quality of wood, hardware and electronics the USA Gibsons are allowed to use. I think the work ethic in these countries is much higher than what we typically see in the US worker. I think their love to HAVE a job drives their job satisfaction level. They live in very poor countries and don't have many of the things we take for granted in the US. As an observer, the typical US resident is full of "entertainment-itis" I call it. Whereas if you had tonsillitis or appendicitis a part of the flesh would need to be cut out to save the body. Americans tend to worry more about what sports team or what level they got in their newest X-Box game more than what type of work they placed over the counter at the factory. Entertainment is something Americans seem to hold more dear than any other aspect of life. What movie to entertain themselves with next, what new phone to buy so they can entertain themselves with a new phone, what big screen TV they can buy so they can watch their favorite entertaining sports team in vivid color. Not everyone, but this is the culture of people making guitars in America. Folks who come in late on Mondays and want to leave early on Fridays. I worked in the production/factory trades for a better part of my life and that is my observation of the typical American worker. Plus its my opinion from my perspective. I didn't work in the auto factories, but I grew up in Michigan and just about every family member I have worked in the auto factories. Places where you can go off in the corner and sleep and can't get fired because the Union UAW will protect you. One of my best friend's husbands would have somebody punch his time card for him at the factory, and be at home all day doing nothing, and getting paid for nothing. Meanwhile the cost of labor at the unionized auto plants has sky-rocketed as has the price of automobiles. Ten times the ridiculous price Gibson charges for a Les Paul Custom. As far as Asian-made guitars I have a bunch of them and I love them all. I have USA-made stuff, too, but I am more in awe of the Asian-made stuff because the price makes it a lot of fun to have several guitars rather than one guitar you're afraid to play because it might get scratched. I'm not really thrilled with the sound of the electronics from the Epiphone brand. But what I am thrilled with is the price I can find them on the used market, then I take that guitar and make it into something I am very proud to have changed. For example... I gave $150 for this Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro with an Epiphone hard LP case... It had lots of issues. No pickguard, no strap buttons, the Alnico Classic and Alnico Classic Plus pickups sounded like trebly, ice pick bee poop. One of the knobs was broken, and one of the push/pull pots didn't work. Plus, when engaging the push/pull for coil split on the pickup that did work, the pickups were so much ice picks there was little difference in tone, LOL. So, I drove down there as fast as I could before someone else saw the ad for this guitar for $150 on Craigslist... got a pickguard, installed Dunlop strap buttons, gutted all the electronics toggle, jack, caps, pots, wires as well as the ice pick pickups. Replaced the pups with Dimarzio John Petrucci Dreamcatcher bridge and Rainmaker neck. Wired the new pots 50's style... Now this is one helluva guitar, its dinged up plenty already so I don't fear playing it, and it has IMHO better tone than a $4,700 Les Paul Custom... I call this one "The Holy Trinity" as the pickguard I found at GreasyGroove has the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Then there is the Epiphone Les Paul Custom I found at the pawn shop for $285. It had rusty crusty strings and was in need of a new home. Brought it home, discovered it needed a new output jack which is why nobody had bought it, soldered that in, now I have another project waiting to happen. Thinking maybe this time Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs, we'll see. As if I don't have enough black/ebony guitars, just got this Epiphone Dot from the pawn shop. $200. The strings were corroded and looked like it had been sitting somewhere not played for years. It needed a new home... Thinking either a Seymour Duncan JB bridge/Jazz neck set, or maybe a Seymour Pearly Gates set have Alnico 2 magnets like the Gibson '57 Classics for a lot less money... '57s with 4-conductor wires are $200 EACH on the Gibson page... NOT... But this one, made in Indonesia just takes the cake... a 2011 Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue... spotless and mint as they come, still had the little washer thing on the tone knob... $200... absolutely gorgeous made-in Indonesia quality... 5-way switch and tons of tones, wouldn't change a thing on this one... this one among others has made me an Epiphone convert out of a previously American-only snob... Last edited Jul 11, 2020 15 I'm am leaving this board. It seems piling on and trolling rule here. I have no desire to be part of a board where honest discussion is not tolerated, and "don't say stupid shit, is." Tell Karen we said she should stay home too! Why do people trolls feel the need to announce that they're leaving? At the risk of repeating myself Joined Dec 7, 2015 Messages 3,352 Reaction score 4,038 Location Fort Collins, CO 16 Well said Jam Handy. I'll just add one more thought relative to labor costs. We live in a capitalist free market nation and our basic cost of living is much higher here than it is in many Asian nations where some basic human needs such as health care are not provided by a consortium of for profit corporations selling insurances, drugs, hospitalization, surgeries, etc. which make our basic health care costs outrageous and increasing at a far greater rate than we can easily cope with. To that you can add many other basic human needs being provided completely or via heavily subsidized government intervention and control of availability and cost. Asian nations more like our own also have higher labor costs so much guitar manufacture has often been moved away from those nations to those with lower labor costs like Indonesia or India. But they still build what we pay them to build. Throw in currency valuations as yet another major variable and you have yet another element why US designed guitars are often built in Asia where they can be produced far cheaper and a strong dollar buys more quantity and quality than it can buy here. Like it or not our capitalist world can't compete with theirs in terms of building something like a guitar far cheaper than we can and we will never again "catch up" or compete with this unless we somehow design and build robot guitar builders who don't eat. sleep, or require health care and retirement/pension plan benefits, cars to drive, or houses to live in. This isn't meant to be a political lecture it's simply an "it is what it is" statement of facts. Last edited Jul 13, 2020 Joined Mar 14, 2020 Messages 2 Reaction score 2 17 Well said Jam Handy. I'll just add one more thought relative to labor costs. We live in a capitalist free market nation and our basic cost of living is much higher here than it is in many Asian nations where some basic human needs such as health care are not provided by a consortium of for profit corporations selling insurances, drugs, hospitalization, surgeries, etc. which make our basic health care costs outrageous and increasing at a far greater rate than we can easily cope with. To that you can add many other basic human needs being provided completely or via heavily subsidized government intervention and control of availability and cost. Asian nations more like our own also have higher labor costs so much guitar manufacture has often been moved away from those nations to those with lower labor costs like Indonesia or India. But they still build what we pay them to build. Throw in currency valuations as yet another major variable and you have yet another element why US designed guitars are often built in Asia where they can be produced far cheaper and a strong dollar buys more quantity and quality than it can buy here. Like it or not our capitalist world can't compete with theirs in terms of building something like a guitar far cheaper than we can and we will never again "catch up" or compete with this unless we somehow design and build robot guitar builders who don't eat. sleep, or require health care and retirement/pension plan benefits, cars to drive, or houses to live in. This isn't meant to be a political lecture it's simply an "it is what it is" statement of facts. Very much agree. Just the facts. Home Forums The Guitar Epiphone Guitars .review gibson les paul indonesia
