Er well it is old wood now,mine 46 years old.modern reissues are great guitars.my main guitar is a collectors choice 15.and I've compared it side by side to a genuine 58.it was better than the original in my opinion.the build of the 71/58 is closer to a 50s guitar than a 68 it does have a long neck tenon,correct heal joint and thin binding in the cutaway.however,I accept that not all of them will be great,just as not all 68s are great.but mine is way above any other early 70s LP I've tried,and I'm not keen on pancake bodies.
I disagree with most of the, ahem, .. hyperbole and flippity flappery associated with these. NOT old wood or made from a secret stash of 50' wood.
NOT made from leftover bodies, necks or any parts/hardware.
NOT an accurate replica or build, but very good for early 70's.
NOT a better sounding or playing Les Paul than other 71-73 LPs, pickups and bridge aside.
They were cool back then. We bought them, dug 'em and moved on. Clean, 100% original examples are very collectible and sought after. But, modified or non original examples, or beat up so called "player grade" that have, IMO over inflated prices and esteem? NOT hardly.
WHY? What do you gain? Outside of Mike Campbell, I can't think of anyone who regularly uses one. Outside clean collectibles, why bother when the Historics are better, more accurate reissues, more reasonable weight on average and less than half the price? Even at the same price, why? It makes little sense. And no way are they better than CMI 68's.