Gibson Les Paul Tribute: The Holy Grail of Guitars for under a Grand?

I’ve been overcome with guitar buying guilt lately. Could the Gibson Les Paul Tribute series be the answer?

Putting the Stratocaster to bed.

Round in round in circles I go again. First I fell in love with the Strat (again) but had second thoughts. The Squier Classic Vibe series just seems too cheap: Small pots, inferior electrics, but mainly the fact that I want my next purchase to be a meaningful and long-lasting one, rather than transitional, which I fear would be the case with Squier on the headstock (sorry if that makes me a terrible human being). That left the USA Performer Series (which has a dog’s dinner of features and sits between too many stools), the USA Professional Series II (too expensive), and lastly the Mexican Player series, which I looked long and hard at.

What ultimately put me off the Player series was a) It’s now retailing close to £600, b) Looking at my current situation, which is predominantly recording, could I really live with single-coil hum? and c) Is a Mexican Strat really all that exciting? I’ve owned a Mexican Strat before, and it was possibly the most boring instrument I’ve ever heard/played.

To confirm, I’ve played the CV and Player series back to back in a guitar store and to be honest, the Player was just as vanilla sounding and playing as I’d feared, with the CV seeming to have more personality and tighter build at almost half the price.

Very interesting indeed.

Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Les Pauls?

Still in my internal Strat Vs Les Paul debate, I turned my attention to Epiphone’s Inspired by Gibson Les Paul range. The videos and online reviews raved about them. CTS electronics, long tenon, good (Probucker) pickups, and that new Kalamazoo style headstock, which is a big improvement on recent Epi’s. I was almost sold, as my experience of recent Epiphones has been a wholly positive one (check out my Epiphone ES335 PRO review here. Fantastic guitar!). However, on walking into a guitar store and seeing them first hand? Not even close to the real McCoy, or close enough to warrant £500 anyway. To be honest they look cheap, plasticky, and definitely not the massive step up that was promised. I’m not convinced with them at all. Laminated back to hide the grain/number of body pieces? Really?

The killer for me as far as affordable guitars go is that the fretwork and setup are a lottery. I don’t want to be dealing with the cost and inconvenience of nut filing and fret leveling after a £500 purchase.

The same day I spotted another object of my desires, the Epiphone Coronet, which frankly looked like a toy. Anyway, each to their own, and let’s move on.

Gibson/Epiphone SG?

For a time, I tinkered with the idea of Gibson/Epiphone SG’s, mainly because I’ve never owned one, and concluding that I could never get away with the control layout, (very close together knobs and a jack at 90 degrees? no thanks), neck heaviness, the cheesy pointiness of the body, and the fact that, really, this is a Les Paul light in all but name.

I just don’t get SGs. I can see the point of having a lighter, more manageable Les Paul for on-stage use, but the problem is… it ISN’T more manageable, for all the reasons above.

Yamaha Revstar?

Now thinking outside the box, I was very close to pulling the trigger on a Yamaha Revstar RS420, which sort of answers all the questions I put to the SG. The better control layout and design in general (loving the single volume/tone setup and neck heel carve); Added versatility with the dry switch for hum-free single-coil tones. Most of all it just looks right, with a lovely original headstock and the fire-red model, in particular, looking stunning. All for just over £300?! Bargain, right?

So what put me off? This one video!

I know this is just one person’s opinion, but at first glance, the Yamaha seems to be all original design and parts. But in actual fact, the guitar is constructed with cheap, generic hardware (including the pickups). The overall impression I got is that the RS420 doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny, isn’t well set up, is overpriced, and doesn’t have its own voice. It’s just a nice design with some cheap parts attached and churned out of the factory.

Overall, I think a £320 Yamaha RS420 purchase would have quickly and predictably turned into a £250 marketplace sale, yet again.

Maybe someday I’ll find out the truth for myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUVaSUZHwEo

Gibson Les Paul Tribute Series.

Back to Strats vs Les Pauls again, then.

And so (finally) to the point of this article. The USA Made Gibson Les Paul Tribute series. Nothing new of course, I’ve always discounted the Tribute series, thinking that, really, it’s not a real USA Gibson Les Paul. That opinion has now changed, so let me explain why…

I’ve always been dubious of cheap USA Gibsons. Those thin-bodied specials and the new DC Juniors are not my cup of tea at all. Ultimately, I want to go back to my USA Gibson Les Paul Standard/Studio days, of huge, woody, fat, sustaining, hum-free lead tones which would work so much better than a strat for recording. I want a quality playing experience and quality, classic tone again so that I can get it down on tape and have fun doing it. I want to play a chord and it instantly sound great without having to use EQ or plugins. I want me and the guitar to do the work, not Garageband.

Sound engineers always say the best sounds come directly from the source, and in my experience sources don’t come much better than a USA Gibson Les Paul.

…I just don’t want to pay the £1200+ admission.

I’d previously looked at the Tribute series as a route in, until I found out about its… wait for it…

…MAPLE NECK?! (spit!), at which point I foolishly disregarded them…

… until now.

The truth is, although mahogany is the traditional neck material for Les Pauls, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen maple-necked USA Gibson Les Pauls. Here’s a shocker for you and me.

Back in the ‘70’s all Les Pauls had maple necks.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/gibson-makes-a-les-paul-with-a-maple-neck.2112438/

So with that bugbear resolved. Why else is the USA Gibson Les Paul Tribute series £300 less than the Studio. Two things.

• No hard case
• No coil-split.

Really? You can pick up a case for as little as £50, and who buys a Les Paul for coil-splitting? (not me).

It’s at this point I’m beginning to realise the Tribute series is looking like a bit of a bargain, Why? (back to the bullet points.

• It’s only just over £300 more than the mexican made Player Strat, which realy does make the Fender look very expensive indeed.
• To all intents and purposes, the is a bona-fide USA built Gibson Les Paul, just without binding, coil-splits, or a case. Same quality, same build, same hardware, and most of all, the same plekked setup that, in my experience, guarantees a great setup a low action (if you wish).
• I’ll say it again. The maple neck, although auguably aurally brighter, was used in all Les Pauls in the 70’s and is a lot more stable than mahogany. This is invaluable when famously the most vulnerable part of a Les Paul is the neck/headstock joint. Could it play better too? I think it might. Care for a 70s Gibson Les Paul for under a grand? I’ll be biting your hand off!
• I love a thinner, satin finish, and the nitro Tribute finishes are tremendous. The Honeyburst and Iced tea, in particular, are much nicer than anything in the Studio range. The fact is you’ll pay big bucks for a better looking guitar than this. A sunburst USA Gibson Les Paul is the holy grail of guitars for many (including me)… and this is it.
• Gibson USA 490R and 490T pickups. My old Gibson Les Paul Studio had the slightly hotter Alnico V 498T in the bridge, so the two Alnico IIs of the Tribute seem to be cleaner and better balanced, which is another plus point.

Conclusion

The USA Gibson Les Paul Tribute was right under my nose the whole time, striking the perfect compromise of price and desirability. It’s basically my (and many others) holy grail of guitars: A sunburst USA Gibson Les Paul. All for under a grand.

Perfect!

I just might have to buy one.

Full specs here.

Thanks for reading.