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1980´s Pre Historic Les Pauls

peeninety

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2002
Messages
297
I kinda find it odd the general aversion to "weight relief". I have never found anything about weight relieved Les Pauls to be lacking tone wise. Is it the hyper attraction of a 50's spec that carries so much , ahem.., weight? :hmm

I've no reason to doubt your experience, even though mine differs.

I've found only two LPs that I couldn't love: both sounded harsh, thin, and brittle to me, and both made a horrible little warbling sound under my vibrato.

These two fiddles wound up stored under my bed, ignored for years, until I joined this forum and read about Gibson's weight-relief practices.

Curious, I pulled the two offensive LPs from under the bed so I could get reacquainted. Both still sounded ugly--brittle, harsh, and thin--to my ears, and both still made that unflattering, warbling sound under my vibrato.

I then played some non-weight-relieved LPs side-by-side for comparison: two 1950s-era LP Jrs, a 1974 Deluxe, three 1980s-era Deluxes, a 1981 Standard, an R4, and an R8. The non-weight-relieved fiddles all sounded warm and soft to me, and none made that horrible little warble under vibrato.

The two brittle fiddles? A 1996 LP Gem and a 2000 LP Classic. I sold the latter to a buddy who totally loves it, and I still have the Gem.

My conclusion? There's nothing at all wrong with weight relieving a LP. I think the physical way I play requires more mass than a weight-relieved LP has, and I also think that my--pretty heavy--touch has as much to do with the ugly warbling sound and brittle tone I experienced.

Full disclosure: I once tried out a buddy's brand new PRS at a gig, and that thing flexed so much I had to put it down after one tune. It would not stay in tune.

I'm not a Gorilla, but I guess I hold a guitar like one!
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
I've no reason to doubt your experience, even though mine differs.

I've found only two LPs that I couldn't love: both sounded harsh, thin, and brittle to me, and both made a horrible little warbling sound under my vibrato.

These two fiddles wound up stored under my bed, ignored for years, until I joined this forum and read about Gibson's weight-relief practices.

Curious, I pulled the two offensive LPs from under the bed so I could get reacquainted. Both still sounded ugly--brittle, harsh, and thin--to my ears, and both still made that unflattering, warbling sound under my vibrato.

I then played some non-weight-relieved LPs side-by-side for comparison: two 1950s-era LP Jrs, a 1974 Deluxe, three 1980s-era Deluxes, a 1981 Standard, an R4, and an R8. The non-weight-relieved fiddles all sounded warm and soft to me, and none made that horrible little warble under vibrato.

The two brittle fiddles? A 1996 LP Gem and a 2000 LP Classic. I sold the latter to a buddy who totally loves it, and I still have the Gem.

My conclusion? There's nothing at all wrong with weight relieving a LP. I think the physical way I play requires more mass than a weight-relieved LP has, and I also think that my--pretty heavy--touch has as much to do with the ugly warbling sound and brittle tone I experienced.

Full disclosure: I once tried out a buddy's brand new PRS at a gig, and that thing flexed so much I had to put it down after one tune. It would not stay in tune.

I'm not a Gorilla, but I guess I hold a guitar like one!


I found that with most of the Classic models. I just can't get on with them. But, is it because of weight relief or neck or something else?

I have played so many, the HOG always have bunches for me to scope out, and I cannot tell the difference with similar Standards.
 

GastonG

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2001
Messages
1,397
Here is my GIBSON Les Paul Heritage 80 CSB (ser. 82170537) with my burst 9 0910 (pix from 1980...)
9_0910andStd_80Heritage_serie_zpsvfgonupu.jpg


sts_vs_burst59_zpscnjsbjif.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae193/Gaston_033/sts_vs_burst59_zpscnjsbjif.jpg~original

Gaston :salude
 
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