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Please tell me about True Historic LP’s

Ndavis1971

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
30
Hi, I am discussing with a seller buying his 2015 True Historic 58 Les Paul. It is the lemon burst. Serial number under 100. I am told with True Historics, they were made by the best of the best folks in the custom shop, they had their first choice of wood (before the regular R8 line), and the veneer and finishing is superior. I have also read the True Historics were made for basically a year or two, and later historic models basically used almost all the same specs as the True Historics. Can anyone tell me their experience with the True Historics? Is it true about their select wood, finishes, etc? How do they compare to Historics? And why did they stop making them after such a brief period? Thanks a lot. It is because of this forum and wanting a Les Paul that I am looking at this one...
 

Ace139

Active member
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
1,759
I have a 2015 Nicky CC that was also made to TH Specs with in-house aging. I think the biggest thing they hyped was all the plastic was supposed to be molecular clones of the original 50’s stuff. Truss Rod condom or lack of can’t remember and Hyde glue, double sanded. .... as far as the best wood and only the best luthiers - would be hard to prove I think it’s more hype.

Bottom line I love mine and have not heard about too many unsatisfied customers. Best way to tell is if you can play it. Also if you haven’t do a search on th LPF - TONS info available.
 
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renderit

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
10,951
I have several and they are spectacular!

I also have many Historics which are spectacular!

While some Tru Historics are my favorites, some Historics are as well.

Find the guitar for you, don't let the sales moniker make the difference.

But DO play some, they are superb.

 

Ndavis1971

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
30
I have several and they are spectacular!

I also have many Historics which are spectacular!

While some Tru Historics are my favorites, some Historics are as well.

Find the guitar for you, don't let the sales moniker make the difference.

But DO play some, they are superb.


thanks so much. I also ordered the Monty PAFs and Bare Knuckle PG because I love Peter Green and want to use it for that type of tone. Can’t wait to try all of them out.
 

JPP-1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
1,336
I have several and they are spectacular!

I also have many Historics which are spectacular!

While some Tru Historics are my favorites, some Historics are as well.

Find the guitar for you, don't let the sales moniker make the difference.

But DO play some, they are superb.


That sounds like something Mike Brady would say to succinctfully wrap up a half hour of hijinx into a little nugget of wisdom lol
 

P.A.F

Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
78
to me True Historics are Gibson Custom at its best. before buying mine i tried a lot of standard historics and there were some good and some less good, i also tried many True Historics and they were all great, they had a super high standard on these guitars. They all are very resonant and have light weight wood, and a wonderful sound unplugged.
i love the aniline painted back, it fades like a true burst does, mine is aging wonderfully. Awesome luthiery job... neck angle is perfect
they have only few flaws: the price, tops are a bit too dish (at least on 2015s), they sometimes have pretty bad binding bleeding which eventually will go away, but i hate it (you can see if will occur in the future if the binding have a thin red line where the wood meets the binding) that's not a flaw , it's jut me that i don't like it, and they use modern plasticized laquer, it will never check.
anyway buy it!
 
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surfreak

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2002
Messages
1,115
I have a 2016 True Historic R9 aged by Tom Murphy and it is a wonderful guitar, perfectly built, light weight at 8.4 lbs, with great tone and playability.

Is it superior to a regular Historic? In my experience, no.

If I were to point out the only difference I have noticed, all the True Historic I have played were superb. The regular Historic I have played were consistently good, but about 1 in 4 in my opinion was on par with the TH.
 

P.A.F

Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
78
If I were to point out the only difference I have noticed, all the True Historic I have played were superb. The regular Historic I have played were consistently good, but about 1 in 4 in my opinion was on par with the TH.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Does these worth the extra money? That's up to you, but I can say that I have never played historic Les Pauls with high quality standards as THs.
Maybe with a pair of throback pickups it's even better
 

wintomato

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2019
Messages
43
I bought a 2nd hand 2015 True Historic 60 earlier this year. I had a USA for 15 years that was good but it was a USA. I tried many 2018 reissues, mostly 59s, some other reissues from earlier years. When I tried the True Historic, it was the best guitar I had tried. The build, the feel, the neck felt perfect, beautiful top. I didn't want a cherry burst, but after seeing the top, I liked it! it felt like it warranted the price tag. I was less bothered about the pickups, very narrow mid range. So, will probably end up changing them, and I am not one to modify my guitars. The neck was slightly damaged, so I got it cheaper, closer to what I was prepared to pay. Sold 2 other guitars to get it.
It could have been any reissue, I tried a few great 2018 59s (haven't tried any 2019s) but because I had played the True Historic, none of them were as good.

If I had the money, I'd def get another, but I don't!
 

Stoj

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Joined
Oct 6, 2006
Messages
3,514
My TH R0 was a beast of a guitar, I sometimes wish I didn't sell it, but like all guitars you'll need to get it in hand to really know if it's a good guitar. There's good and bad guitars in every year :salude
 

Ndavis1971

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
30
Re: Please tell me about True Historic LP’s

So I ordered a set of Monty PAFs and Bareknuckle Peter Greens. The Les Paul true historic arrived and I took it to the local luthier who specializes in Les Paul’s. He’s handled lots of original bursts. He called me with bad news...the true historic pickups are so friggin good he wouldn’t recommend changing them, so I wasted money on replacement pickups! He’s right. I’ve had several LP veterans tell me same. Wow. Gibson is killing it with these historic models. VERY impressive.
 

Ndavis1971

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
30
Re: Please tell me about True Historic LP’s

So I ordered a set of Monty PAFs and Bareknuckle Peter Greens. The Les Paul true historic arrived and I took it to the local luthier who specializes in Les Paul’s. He’s handled lots of original bursts. He called me with bad news...the true historic pickups are so friggin good he wouldn’t recommend changing them, so I wasted money on replacement pickups! He’s right. I’ve had several LP veterans tell me same. Wow. Gibson is killing it with these historic models. VERY impressive.
 

pqs

Active member
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
109
Re: Please tell me about True Historic LP’s

So I ordered a set of Monty PAFs and Bareknuckle Peter Greens. The Les Paul true historic arrived and I took it to the local luthier who specializes in Les Paul’s. He’s handled lots of original bursts. He called me with bad news...the true historic pickups are so friggin good he wouldn’t recommend changing them, so I wasted money on replacement pickups! He’s right. I’ve had several LP veterans tell me same. Wow. Gibson is killing it with these historic models. VERY impressive.

I have a 60th Anniversary R9. I was going to wait till I turned 40 to get my R9, but the one I tried was so special I decided to trade a few of my guitars for my R9 just a little earlier than I thought. Anyways, I had all planned out how I would play it for several months then replace the pickups later on with some throbacks or bare knuckles (mule/riff raff). As it turned out, my R9 sounds so good I won't dare change anything on it. Gibson is definitely killing it with these historic models.
 

Guitardon

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 3, 2002
Messages
2,134
I have two true historic‘s. One is a 2016 1960 Murphy painted and aged TH, the other is Murphy painted 2018 90s Buest. Both are great guitars. I did research on this at the time and from what I read the true historics were more accurate. But the main thing I liked the overall look, feel, sound and quality of them. The 90s burst was not part of the original true historic run but it was made with all the true historic specs including double carved top, plastics etc. It is my favorite guitar of all time, I’ve owned over 50 historics. I didn’t buy them specifically because they were true historic‘s but I’m glad that they are. I bought them because I liked everything about them. You won’t be disappointed if you buy one.
 
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