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Recently, I acquired a 2015 Gibson 100th Anniversary Less Paul Classic in a trade. It has a nice short scale (24.75") and a nice wide nut (1.79", apparently unique to this particular model and year), along with the smaller body typical for a Les Paul. I don't know of many electric or hollow body guitars with that nut width, so I grabbed it. I have always preferred a wider nut.
So now I am curious as to whether anybody in the jazz guitar playing world uses a Les Paul. I know of the typical Fender Telecaster players, but have not heard much about Les Pauls. I can get a nice, round warm tone out of it, so it will do just fine (other than its weight).
Tony
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05-18-2022 04:44 PM
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By this Video it would seem a LesPaul is more than capable.
sandra sherman solid body - Google Search
I don’t own one though. This is just my you-tube based opinion. Which doesn’t count for much other than Sandra is a fantastic teacher and player IMO.
m
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Wow! Thanks so much! I really enjoy her chord melody videos. She really talks up the Les Paul. Hers is just like mine except that mine is sunburst. If hers isn't the 100th anniversary, then the nut on hers is probably narrower. The pickups are identical between hers and mine, as are the knob configurations.
Originally Posted by EastwoodMike
Thanks,
Tony
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Why not?
Not quite the typical Les Pauls but close...
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Tony
Because 1) the LP was a bit of a flop when it entered the market and 2) it was discovered 5-8 years after production ceased that it was a great tool for what burgeoning rock-'n'-roll guys were doing, people tend to forget that it was designed and marketed as a jazz guitar. That doesn't keep it from being the great RnR tool that it is but that is not all it can do. You are in great company playing jazz on a Paul because as it is also my weapon of choice.
Put a set of TI flats on it and drop the pups down closer to the top than to the strings and you're good to go.
Edit: Use a good wide bass strap and the weight becomes a non issue.
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SF Bay Area jazz great Steve Erquiaga plays a LP.
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Romero Lubambo (Dianne Reeves) often plays a LP Custom when he is not picking nylon strings.
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LPs are great for jazz. Mine is 2016 Tribute with P90s and DA Chrome 12s. Amazing sound.
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My main guitar is pretty much a Greco LP. I can't help it, I love it.
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I have an L5 and a les Paul. I’d say I use the Les Paul for jazz about as much as the L5ces.
The main diff to me is the neck LP pickup has more low mids than a hollow body. So it needs to be eq’d. Little differently.
but that shorter scale sure makes it nice.
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Thanks everybody for the GREAT responses! Those videos are really good listening and those Les Pauls (or nearly so) sound quite full and round.
Nut width is really important to me, playing fingerstyle. I checked and the normal nut width for a Les Paul classic is 1.695", so mine is quite a bit wider at 1.79", certainly comfortable for fingerstyle. I have been wanting a guitar with those specs for a long time, while at the same time getting that warm sound. The other guitar that might have done it would have been the Martin Taylor (Peerless) Maestro, thought that nut is actually a bit narrower than that of my Les Paul surprisingly enough.
Thanks again...
Tony
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My 06 LP Classic Antique was a special edition..(wine red) the PAF 59 pick ups cover a very nice tonal range
roll the bass off on the neck pup and it it just smooth and sweet..
and of course its a rock fusion and blues monster .. John McLaughlin used one on the first Mahavishnu album
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Yes, I remember JM using a Les Paul back then. Good stuff. Originally Posted by wolflen
My Les Paul has what appears to be two pickups at each location and they can be split by lifting the volume controls for each to get single coil. The neck pickup is a 57 Classic and the bridge pickup is a Super 57. There is one tone control for both and a switch for a boost that runs off a 9v battery. I doubt I will have any use for that though.
The tuners on it are typical tuners one would find on a Les Paul, but as I understand it, these anniversary models also came with Robo tuners. I am glad this one has normal tuners though. Maybe somebody swapped them out.
Tony
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I used to own several different variations, my favorite was a 2007 R8. Loved that guitar, but at 63 years of age I couldn’t deal with the 9 lb weight on my shoulder any longer. I tried wide leather straps with padding, etc. It was one the most versatile and great sounding Jazz on the neck pickup as well!
Loved the big fat neck as well as Tobacco Sunburst finish! So sad but it went to a player so I was happy about that.
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I often play jazz on a 1973 Les Paul Recording model. They're a bit different to a regular Les Paul, notably the low impedance pickups. Tonally it's probably closer to something with fat sounding coils (jazzmaster, dynasonics etc). It's a nice sounding guitar for jazz. I use it when I'm in settings where my archtop guitars will likely have feed-back problems and for pit-orchestra work.
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That's an Abe Rivera Scepre that PM is playing, and it's nothing like an LP. Originally Posted by burchyk
My advice as a member of the LP Police is that unless you're Clint Strong, you just keep your hands where we can see them, and use something else.
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Umm... Les Paul? Originally Posted by tbeltrans
Jack Pearson (not strictly a jazz player), Clint Strong, Ulf Wakenius (LP copy). But overall it's a surprisingly underrepresented instrument in jazz.
Here's Pat Martino with Les Paul on a Les Paul:
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I always considered Les Paul to be more of a MOR (middle of the road) pop type player rather than way into the jazz vein. That performance in the video is typical Les Paul and then listen to him with Mary Ford. Excellent player, no doubt, but more MOR than jazz. Originally Posted by Cunamara
Tony
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If you like a wider nut width lookout for a 2015 model which should be available at a lower price than average. 2015 models had a wider nut and robotuners and they sat unsold. Other option would be an Eastman LP style, Iirc they are 1&3/4" at the nut.
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I think even after 2015, they kept the wider neck in the Gibson Modern series. I've had friends who actually prefer these wider necks on les pauls.
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That is the guitar I have - the 100th anniversary Les Paul classic with the 1.79" nut. Fortunately, mine has normal Les Paul tuners rather than the Robo stuff. I don't know if these could be ordered without the Robo tuners or if the previous owner swapped it out. Originally Posted by whiskey02
Tony
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Perfectly and concisely put! Originally Posted by whiskey02
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I have a very nice LP (1994 R8 with real PAF's) and it sounds great for jazz. Having said that, I rarely use it for that. I prefer the sound envelope on a hollow body (a bit less sustain) as well as the presence of a bit more "air" to the sound. Even with PAF's there is a low mid push to the tone which isn't always what I am looking for in a jazz guitar, I either like more clarity (Campy with a floater), or the fatter sound of a laminate guitar.
The other major thing for me is ergonomics. Aside from the weight (mine actually isn't that heavy at 8 1/2 lbs), I find it to be very uncomfortable to play sitting down, which is the way I like to practice and play jazz.
I generally use the LP more for blues and when I want to rock out. Also, I would need to set it up with heavier strings for jazz- and then I couldn't play the other genres as well. Good luck, it can work!
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Jim Hall and George Benson both played Les Pauls in their early days, but switched to hollow bodies and never went back. Pat Martino also played Les Pauls early on, but I don't think he ever went back. In real life, I know a several people who play jazz on Les Pauls. So, yes, it's a perfectly serviceable jazz guitar. But for whatever reasons, 335's (which sound very similar) are more common. I had a Les Paul Studio DC for a long time, but didn't really like it for jazz (it had a 24-fret neck which pushed the neck pickup further back toward the bridge, which to my tastes wasn't a good sound for jazz). Every time I watch that video of Julian Lage playing Emily on an old goldtop, I get major gas because that it is beautiful tone and I'd be thrilled to sound like that (and even more thrilled to play like that ...) Originally Posted by tbeltrans
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Here’s where I think a solid body has one advantage over a hollwbody ( and I LOVE hollowbodies):
some notes on a hollow archtop guitar are inevitably sort of out of phase sounding, die off faster and are thinner.
Most solid bodies avoid this and you get a more consistent solid sound which I think is what les Paul was after.
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