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Is it even possible for a Vintage Burst to not sound good?

lp56tv

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We all know the most sought after guitars in the world are the 58,59 and 60 Les Paul Sunbursts. The 59 being the holy grail. It had me wondering if it would even be possible for someone to play one of these and say it doesn't sound great. It would hard to believe that every guitar of any year would all sound amazing. Ofcourse all take my chances on a 59!!!
 
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fakejake

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As an example, according to Slash, the Perry Burst is not such a great guitar.
 

Rich R

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There may be a few real turds out there, but the overall baseline is that they're great guitars. Perhaps the mystique comes from the fact that a few sound out of this world, so that affects perception. For example, THE best PAF LP I ever personally played was a '57 GT which was so magical you just didn't want to put it down (or even let it out of your sight...). My '58 Burst, while wonderful, did not have that extraordinary magic.
 

Wilko

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I've played one that I thought was a dog.

Of course, there are players who might prefer its sound. I found it to lack the normal resonance and snap of a real good Les Paul. Maybe it would be great for mettal or something as a lot of those players tend to prefer a tighter more "focused" tone from the guitar.
 

marfen

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There may be a few real turds out there, but the overall baseline is that they're great guitars. Perhaps the mystique comes from the fact that a few sound out of this world, so that affects perception. For example, THE best PAF LP I ever personally played was a '57 GT which was so magical you just didn't want to put it down (or even let it out of your sight...). My '58 Burst, while wonderful, did not have that extraordinary magic.

Can you expand on the qualities of that 57 that really did it for you? Was it neck shape, playability, tone, output?
 

Wilko

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I know a lot of guys don't believe it, or just can't wrap their heads around it, but for me and many others it's all about that acoustic sound/feel. The wood is vibrant and alive when you pick the strings. Spanky responsiveness and harmonic richness. Add to that a pair of fairly loud pickups and voila!

1fa50d8f423e1554d8bea1a75dc6df5f.jpg
 

goldtop0

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I know a lot of guys don't believe it, or just can't wrap their heads around it, but for me and many others it's all about that acoustic sound/feel. The wood is vibrant and alive when you pick the strings. Spanky responsiveness and harmonic richness. Add to that a pair of fairly loud pickups and voila!

1fa50d8f423e1554d8bea1a75dc6df5f.jpg


That's my method too...........can't be beat.........and when you play a good 'un:salude
 

cds1951

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We all know the most sought after guitars in the world are the 58,59 and 60 Les Paul Sunbursts. The 59 being the holy grail. It had me wondering if it would even be possible for someone to play one of these and say it doesn't sound great. It would hard to believe that every guitar of any year would all sound amazing. Ofcourse all take my chances on a 59!!!

We used to have a store here in Albuquerque that carried these instruments. The owner was a wonderful fellow who enjoyed sharing them. I got to play five of them. Not one was magic to me. They sure were cool though.
 

Rich R

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Can you expand on the qualities of that 57 that really did it for you? Was it neck shape, playability, tone, output?

Interestingly, the guitar was quite the opposite of a case queen. I had been refinned, with the neck shaved, and fingerboard planed during a refret, shrunken tuners, etc. However, it had early, early PAFs, one stickered, one not. As others have pointed out, this guitar was one that just "had it" as soon as you picked it up and strummed it dry. Like, "whoa! what the hell is this??" Sort of the "Fat Tele" effect that has been described so often. Then, plugged in, those PUs, in that guitar, just sang. It was the kind of guitar that made you want to really stretch out, play with the controls, etc

There are two other LPs that I've run across that had similar sorcery. I was a music rep during the time the Heritage LPs came out, which everyone was really excited about at the time. It's fair to say I played dozens in my travels. But there was one, a Heritage Elite, at a store in Fargo ND, that had that same immediate magic--mind-blowing. The other was a early Seventies Wine Red Deluxe I found at Wedgle's in Denver that was just far, far above any other Deluxe. So it's not just the vintage stuff. I think the common element is that they are few and far between!
 

Ted Nugent

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We all know the most sought after guitars in the world are the 58,59 and 60 Les Paul Sunbursts. The 59 being the holy grail. It had me wondering if it would even be possible for someone to play one of these and say it doesn't sound great.

Check out Neal Schon on instagram.
 

TM1

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I’ve played a few that weren’t great..
 

Tom Wittrock

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I've played ones I didn't think were great, but others felt they did.
YMMV
 

BurstWurst

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I've shared my 59 with numerous studio customers over the years. Although I consider my 59 to be a great burst, I've certainly heard players who just couldn't seem to make her sing with her best voice. Of course I've also heard players coax the finest tones from her.
 

deytookerjaabs

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I've shared my 59 with numerous studio customers over the years. Although I consider my 59 to be a great burst, I've certainly heard players who just couldn't seem to make her sing with her best voice. Of course I've also heard players coax the finest tones from her.




My experience with fellow guitar players under 50 is overwhelmingly they either know what the guitar is or they don't. That makes their opinion for various reasons. Meaning, the ones who are "blown away" already have a hot lust for vintage X, Y, Z going into it. I saw that all time when we had a few gems come in when I was at gravity, with my own stuff and in the guitar shop I was at for many years. You could damn near say the same thing about all the studio gear. "Dude, 2-inch tape machine!!" to "Hey, why do you have that old tape recorder in here?" I see mixed results.


The older crowd, very different, they scare me. If I take any high end reissue or a vintage guitar out guaranteed some fella will come up, compliment the sound and ask what year it is etc. Then the jig is up, can't hide from those guys.


Meanwhile, then there's the type who would rather plug in his Nord direct then pull up the "B3" emulation patch versus using an in-house fully serviced B3 with Leslie Cab where the sound would be beamed down straight from heaven. :dang
 

rockabilly69

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We used to have a store here in Albuquerque that carried these instruments. The owner was a wonderful fellow who enjoyed sharing them. I got to play five of them. Not one was magic to me. They sure were cool though.
Was that store right across the street from UNM?
 
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