No-cutaway Les Pauls? How would it affect tone?

This guitar makes me want to shout "Baby Ruth" at the top of my lungs!

Although, again, not exact in spec by any means allow me to give an honorable mention to The Luddite which Ian (Specimen, used to apprentice there) has been making since at least the 90's:



Very quirky idea indeed.

Arch D. Bunker said:

They DO exist, and were discussed here before. Not sure about the LPC above, but this is not a shopped pic:

Plus Pat Smear had one made, there are vids of him playing it onstage.

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I rarely go above the 12th fret anyhow.

I would rock the hell out of that guitar.

Give it to me!

deytookerjaabs said:

Although, again, not exact in spec by any means allow me to give an honorable mention to The Luddite which Ian (Specimen, used to apprentice there) has been making since at least the 90's:

Very quirky idea indeed.

Click to expand...

That actually is not a half bad looking guitar . Starting with the nicely figured maple top, triple P90's, ABR-1 bridge, and stop tail . I bet it doesn't sound half bad ?

The p90 triple pickup does very little for me , shades of B&G I’ll pass .

If Gibson was to build a GT or LPC I think I would have to have one !

Arch D. Bunker said:

They DO exist, and were discussed here before. Not sure about the LPC above, but this is not a shopped pic:

Plus Pat Smear had one made, there are vids of him playing it onstage.

Click to expand...

wow! do you have the link to the vids? or how do look for them? im interested in seeing that!

I've not seen a sinlge cut MM in person so if the neck construction is the same on the single/dc MMs, then maybe the extra mass of mahogany does make a tonal difference. Weren't single cut Juniors more sought after for tone than their double cut counterparts?

El Gringo said:

That actually is not a half bad looking guitar . Starting with the nicely figured maple top, triple P90's, ABR-1 bridge, and stop tail . I bet it doesn't sound half bad ?

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They sound great but aren't in the Les Paul vein so much, kind of their own thing. Also, he builds'em truss rod-less and takes all the extra steps to assure long term stability. Not production guitars though, each one is a new scratch build.

Cliff Gress said:

I've not seen a sinlge cut MM in person so if the neck construction is the same on the single/dc MMs, then maybe the extra mass of mahogany does make a tonal difference. Weren't single cut Juniors more sought after for tone than their double cut counterparts?

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The very first version doublecut MM was a singlecut with a matching cutaway added on the bass bout. Except for the cutaway they are identical. Jrs are completely different. The joint and necks are quite different. Very different builds and not comparable from a strict cutaway viewpoint.

I've owned many, many Jrs and MMs. Still have a bunch. You cannot find a tonal difference between similar MMs. Try a bunch of same weight AND same neck profile, Single and Doublecut MkI & MkII MM's with slim 60 profile necks sound similar and I've yet to find anyone who can tell 'em apart by tone. Same for MMDs with similar necks.

Singlecut Jrs are more desirable for their Les Paul shape and being first version rather than tone, IMO. They do tend to sound brighter than double cut 58-61 Jrs too my ears but I'd not say better or worse though I find them excellent, if not the same. So the different neck joint, longer neck, free of the heel, jumbo frets post 58 and slimmer profiles along with a different body make for a slightly less bright and snappy sounding guitar on average, but they are not the exact same guitars with just a cutaway difference.

The main thing is there are guitars that are identical with one cutaway or a matching mirror cutaway double. The Melody Makers and Heritage Les Paul types have such models. Gary Branzell made some double cut Bursts for Pat Travers in the late 70's/early 80's which Gibson latter did for Pat. I remember how the tone remained the same as single cuts and it was these that made me zero in on neck joint construction as a major tone factor.

I do not believe there is any tone benefit to a non cutaway Les Paul. I see it as a fashion statement and have no desire for one at all.

What dos it mean to "go the way of the Bakersfield Chimp?"

I saw Gary Clark jt earlier this year at the Holland Bluesfestival with a guitar similair to the B&G and Luddite models.
No idea what that guitar is though..


Edit: i found it, it's a Wide Sky P125.. never heard of it though.


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