Gibson Les Paul Traditional

[Stringswinger]

I was trolling my local Craigslist here in Santa Cruz, California and this guitar popped up at a price that was too low. Usually when that happens, by the time I answer the ad, the guitar is already gone. Not this time. I guess I was the first to see it, several hours after the seller posted it and the guitar became mine.

Now, I have owned many Lesters over the years and quite like them. I have a 2017 Les Paul Studio in the harem that I bought new from a dealer who lost his Gibson franchise and sold off his remaining Gibsons at cost. I didn't know much about the Les Paul Traditional model and needed to do some research on them just before driving over to pick up the guitar.

Gibson USA made the Les Paul Traditional from 2008 until 2019. The idea was to make a Les Paul Standard with a less modern touch for those of us who are not so receptive to change and want the guitars Gibson made in the past, but at Gibson USA prices rather than the Custom shop reissues. The specs changed from year to year. This one is a 2016 model and was (for this year only, a return to the original version of the model made from 2008 through 2012). The specs are as follows:

Gibson Les Paul Traditional 2016 T – Gibson Les Paul Traditional

I bought this from the original owner who rarely played it. It is in near mint condition and came with the original case and paperwork. It has a 2AA flame top that is pretty damn near a AAA top and a beautiful Desert Burst finish. While it is advertised with a 50's profile neck, it is not nearly as thick as the neck on my 59RIES175. I would call it a medium C neck and it is very comfortable. She weighs 9 pounds 4 ounces. This is 21 ounces more than my Les Paul Studio (which has the "ultra-modern weight relief" rather than the 9 hole "traditional weight relief" on this guitar). It pushes my comfort level, but after doing two gigs with her, I can cope.

Speaking of doing two gigs: The first gig I did was using the guitar as it came to me with the factory setup and strings. It was a quartet gig and I had a few issues, One, as is always the case, I find a solid body guitar lacking when it comes to rhythm guitar. IMO, one needs some "acoustic" crunch to do this properly. Single notes were fine, though I could tell that the guitar needed some setup work (I would have done this before taking her to a gig, but I bought her just hours before a gig and I was chomping at the bit to try her out). The intonation was off and the volume on the high E was lacking past the 12th fret.

I put the guitar on my workbench and adjusted the action (it needed to come up on the treble side and down on the bass side). The neck pickup was too close to the strings and lowering the pickup mellowed the tone considerably. The Nashville TOM needed a lot of adjustment to get the intonation right. Why wouldn't Gibson or the dealer have done this before delivering the guitar to the customer? It took me 30 minutes of bench time to fix this. Are profit margins so thin that the manufacturer and/or dealer cannot pay for 30 minutes of labor to deliver it the way it should be? Oh well, we live in times where people in business take shortcuts for profits. All of that said, it is perfect now.

The second gig I used this guitar on was a three hour solo jazz guitar gig. The guitar performed perfectly. The 57 classic neck pickup sounded great, (warm and fat). The 24.75 scale along with the light strings (10's) was a pleasure on my 65 year old fingers. Due to increasing left hand pain, I have been using solid body guitars more and more on my gigs. I find that 10's are easy on my fingers and sound just fine on a solid body. 10's on my archtops sound a bit thin and require a metal bridge to properly intonate a plain G string. I keep 11's and 12's on my archtops (When I run out of 12's, it will be strictly 11's on those guitars for the duration. Getting old is a bitch, but as they say, it beats the alternative!).

I think I will keep her in the harem for a bit. With inflation roaring away, IMO, a Gibson Les Paul is better than money in the bank. And more fun, here are some pictures:

[vinnyv1k]

Nice score Marco ! May she serve you well.

[deacon Mark]

SS you scored a winner for sure. I am not a solidbody player but if I was no question that a Les Paul is the one. It comes from a good ear of Gibson QC and the set up could simply be the original owner did not really know how/what to do to get it correct. All quitars require mostly the player themselves to set them up to what they like. One turn of the bridge wheel, or strings make a huge difference. Smart move buying a guitar that will sell long before any of the treasured archtop we have. A Les Paul with flatwounds and the rhythm pickup only makes some serious jazz guitar sounds.

[Stringswinger]

SS you scored a winner for sure. I am not a solidbody player but if I was no question that a Les Paul is the one. It comes from a good ear of Gibson QC and the set up could simply be the original owner did not really know how/what to do to get it correct. All quitars require mostly the player themselves to set them up to what they like. One turn of the bridge wheel, or strings make a huge difference. Smart move buying a guitar that will sell long before any of the treasured archtop we have. A Les Paul with flatwounds and the rhythm pickup only makes some serious jazz guitar sounds.

Thanks Mark. I am pretty sure that the seller did nothing to this guitar (he was not really a guitarist from what I discerned talking to him). If you look at the picture of the bridge in my original post, you can see that the saddles are in a symmetrical pattern, which was way off. Here is what it looks like now: IMO, it should have come from the factory properly intonated. I understand that the factory and the dealer saves money not doing this and many players will change the strings and setup and will need to intonate it to the new strings/setup. But should not a guitar be shipped playing in tune? I guess I was brought up to always do my best and things like this stick in my craw. It is fixed now.

[ccroft]

All very interesting! I've been thinking about getting one for a while now, and have been learning about the various weight relief types. Thanks for the detailed review.

I'm curious if you, as a jazz player, discern any difference in tone between the lighter studio & the Trad?

At 69 years I'm possibly even more interested in a lighter version than you. I played a boat-anchor early 70's Custom for about 5 years. Four hours per gig. My shoulder's still sore :-)

[John A.]

Nice score! From that period of time the Traditionals are the best of the non-custom-shop ones. I’ve been kind of window shopping LP’s and several of these have tempted me.

Regarding set-up, alas, ca. 2016 is the onset of the pre-bankruptcy era when Gibson was shoving things out the door kind of willy-nilly. I’m not surprised this came without basic adjustments having been done. I remember pretty much every new Gibson in GC or Sam Ash having action and intonation problems (they just throw ’em up on the wall without touching them). Fortunately that’s easy to take care of.

[Stringswinger]

All very interesting! I've been thinking about getting one for a while now, and have been learning about the various weight relief types. Thanks for the detailed review.

I'm curious if you, as a jazz player, discern any difference in tone between the lighter studio & the Trad?

At 69 years I'm possibly even more interested in a lighter version than you. I played a boat-anchor early 70's Custom for about 5 years. Four hours per gig. My shoulder's still sore :-)

I had an 11 pound 75 Les Paul Custom for many years, My shoulder is still sore too.

There are several different weight relief Lester variations. There is the traditional relief (9 hole pattern that Gibson used on all Lesters for many years. There are the chambered Lesters and than there are the Modern Weight relief and ultra modern weight relief that splits the difference between the traditional weight relief and the chambered).

I have played the chambered Lesters and think that the tone is very much affected. It moves into 335 territory and while I like their 7 pound weight, I am willing to put up with a bit more weight for a bit more solid body tone (that said, I have never played a chambered Lester on a gig and it might be a suitable guitar for rhythm playing. I would like to try that out.).

I cannot hear any significant difference between my Studio and my Traditional. The Studio is a bit darker. While the pickups are almost identical (The neck pickup in the Traditional is a 57 classic and the neck pickup in the Studio is a 490R. I cannot hear any difference between those pickups and I would be surprised if a dog could either), the Studio has a slightly thinner body. I have read that both the Maple cap and the Hog body are thinned for the Studio and while that contributes to a lighter weight, I suspect that the reduced maple darkens the tone ever so slightly (again, I don't think it is the different pickups).

If you like Pat Martino's tone and weight is very important, the Studio might be a great choice. The thing is, Gibson has changed the specs on all Lesters over the years, so I would suggest making a list of what specs are desirable to you (pickups, weight relief, neck profile, fretboard radius, cosmetics, tuners etc.) and finding a model that checks most, if not all, of your boxes. It is out there.

A Lester makes a great solid body jazz box and sounds thick, even with light strings. The right one is a handy tool for us senior citizens. HTH

[Sam Sherry]

Noyce lookin' LP. Crank it up -- let the neighbors know you have a new one!

She weighs 9 pounds 4 ounces. . . . It pushes my comfort level, but after doing two gigs with her, I can cope.

You may want to check out the D'Addario DARE two-shoulder strap:




You can only go so far wrong for twenty bucks.

FWIW I use it for my bass guitar, which is in the eight-pound range.

[Stringswinger]

Nice score! From that period of time the Traditionals are the best of the non-custom-shop ones. I’ve been kind of window shopping LP’s and several of these have tempted me.

Regarding set-up, alas, ca. 2016 is the onset of the pre-bankruptcy era when Gibson was shoving things out the door kind of willy-nilly. I’m not surprised this came without basic adjustments having been done. I remember pretty much every new Gibson in GC or Sam Ash having action and intonation problems (they just throw ’em up on the wall without touching them. Fortunately that’s easy to take care of.

I have played a few Custom shop R-9's and have to say, this Traditional gets you 90 percent plus of the way there at one third of the cost. That said, if a deal comes up on a great R-9 or R-0 (I do not like the neck profile on the R-7's or R-8's), there may be another NGD coming from me on this site. I have played some superb Custom shop Lesters and have been impressed. If you are a jazz guy, and if you can handle the 9 pound plus weight of the 2016 Traditional, it is a great jazz solid body guitar.

[vernon]

Congratulations on the new LP! I bought a nearly new 2016 Traditional a couple of years ago and love it. It is a quintessential rock and roll machine with magnificent sustain… and it is also, as they say, heavy as sin.
Have fun!!

[Spook410]

Ahh.. takes me back to my misspent youth. Though I could not have afforded one back then.

I have a black '73. It weighs too much. It doesn't sit on my knee quite right. But every time I think of selling it I play it and realize I'm not selling it after all.

[ccroft]

...If you like Pat Martino's tone and weight is very important, the Studio might be a great choice. The thing is, Gibson has changed the specs on all Lesters over the years, so I would suggest making a list of what specs are desirable to you (pickups, weight relief, neck profile, fretboard radius, cosmetics, tuners etc.) and finding a model that checks most, if not all, of your boxes. It is out there.

And thanks again man! I do have such a list started. It gets a bit confusing. I have simplified my list to: '2017 LP Studio' :-)

Spec doesn't seem to have changed much since, so anything after that might be worth looking at.

And they are out there. The weight, neck spec etc looks good to me. Speed knobs! Not to mention the cost of admission. I haven't touched a Paul in more than 40 yrs. No idea if I'm gonna like it or not. Good way to find out if I'm dreaming or what.

[John A.]

I have played a few Custom shop R-9's and have to say, this Traditional gets you 90 percent plus of the way there at one third of the cost. That said, if a deal comes up on a great R-9 or R-0 (I do not like the neck profile on the R-7's or R-8's), there may be another NGD coming from me on this site. I have played some superb Custom shop Lesters and have been impressed. If you are a jazz guy, and if you can handle the 9 pound plus weight of the 2016 Traditional, it is a great jazz solid body guitar.

I guess we’ll have to stay tuned then.

[Stringswinger]

I guess we’ll have to stay tuned then.

Indeed. My misspent youth is far from over. There will be more guitars. I still ride a motorcycle. And (God forbid) if my wife passes before I do, I most certainly will be back out chasing girls.

[ccroft]

When the chord changes, you should change. But remember, you're never more than a half step away from the right note.

Yes, I read signatures!

[Woody Sound]

From the saddle placement, is that a plain G?

[Stringswinger]

From the saddle placement, is that a plain G?

Yes. I am using DR Pure Blues 10's on my solid body guitars these days. Excellent strings and they do have a plain G.

[Gitpicker]

Sweet guitar! I will have to revisit the LP world one of these days. This post will "inspire" many of us in that respect. Congratulations on the guitar. She's gorgeous!

DM

[whiskey02]

True yes, but because it was so long ago people forget that it was designed to be a jazz guitar. I mentioned in a recent post that the sustain is valuable for playing "horn like" lines that wouldn't work on a hollow body.
Nice score, I think you'll be very happy with it.

Congratulations on the new LP! I bought a nearly new 2016 Traditional a couple of years ago and love it. It is a quintessential rock and roll machine with magnificent sustain… and it is also, as they say, heavy as sin.
Have fun!!

[Stringswinger]

True yes, but because it was so long ago people forget that it was designed to be a jazz guitar. I mentioned in a recent post that the sustain is valuable for playing "horn like" lines that wouldn't work on a hollow body.
Nice score, I think you'll be very happy with it.

Lesters, Strats and Teles were all designed with jazz in mind (Western Swing in the case of the Fender guitars). And they do jazz very well. And as the blues and rock guys found out, they are pretty good at those genres as well.

[icr]

Very nice Guitar!

I also have a "Traditional." Mine is Honeyburst from 2013, looks like they called it "New Traditional." That year there was no weight relief and essentially was what the old "Standard" was.

Gibson Les Paul New Traditional 2013 – Gibson Les Paul Traditional

I changed the electronics and a few other things to make it more like an old "Standard."

[Stringswinger]

When the chord changes, you should change. But remember, you're never more than a half step away from the right note.

Yes, I read signatures!

[shrews824]

Congrats on your acquisition!!!

I also have a Traditional. Mine is a 2012. Granted, it's not a Custom Shop or Historic, but it more than scratches my Les Paul itch and it plays and sounds great too. Mine is a Honeyburst as well.

[Stringswinger]

@ Shrews824 and icr: Your guitars are beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

[shrews824]

@ Shrews824 and icr: Your guitars are beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

You're most welcome and thank you. Yours is "My - T - Sharp" itself!!!

Play it in good health.