Am i the only person with a plain top Class 5 LP??

Big Daddy Class said:

It is an internet "myth" that the class 5 has anything to do with the tops. It is supposed to be the 5 th "class" or generation of Les Pauls. 1st was the originals in the 50's-60. Second was the late 60's-80's, Third was the move to Nashville, 4th was the start of the Custom shop, and this was the "5th". The concept was to be the hardware of the past with the finishes and flare of the new ones. ABR-1 screwed into the wood, Klusen tuners, Long Neck Tenon, etc from the past with colors and paints (and plain) of the current Les Pauls. That was the concept. SInce many had 5A flame, many mistakenly thought this was the reason for Class 5, which is wrong. Personally, I have 2--an orange 2002 Flame top, and a tranparent black 2005 quit top. They sound, look, feel, and play great. My reason for getting one is the look AND the ABR-1 bridge screwed into the wood without the metal anchors under the screws--which is surprisingly hard to find in guitars costing less than 5k (ish). As for the weight, the weight relief has little to do with the total weight. The mahogany is what is weight relieved but the mahogany has only a minor effect on the total weight. Mahogany is a fairly light wood and the "better" mahogany is actually lighter. At some point, Gibson began having a difficult time getting the lighter mahogany so they started buying the cheaper stuff (which grows at the base of hills where the ground is wetter which is why it is hearver--the lighter stuff grows on the sides of hills. No really accurate description of "why" since Gibson is unlikely to ever publish--"we HAD to start carving the mahogany because we were buying crappy wood.") I have LPs that are non weight relieved (2018 Tribute), modern weight relief (2016 Standard), Full Chambering (2005 Studio), and Ultra Modern (Class 5's). If anyone reading this can tell by handling them (minus the studio which is really light OR by playing or hearing them then they have better ears than me. I do think my no weight relief Tribute sounds the best but I attribute that to the fact that it has Seymour Duncan Custom Antiquity pickups and custom (throwback) CTS pots and wiring. I don't think the non weight relieved body hurts, though. No real pracical way to test that guirar side by side with itself prior to the pickup change.

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