It goes without saying that the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar is among the most important rock and roll guitars ever produced. Played by virtually everyone in the world of guitars who is or will be worth a mention in the obituary columns, from Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page to the hacker in your local bar band, it has been a superbly manufactured, superbly sounding instrument of musical mayhem that can produced a multitude of musical tones. Naturally, however, it is most desired for the famous overdriven distortion and growl that has been a mainstay of rock, hard rock and heavy metal for decades from Clapton’s work on John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to you-name-the-metalhead band.

The problem for Gibson is this: once you have a great guitar that everybody owns, how do you keep selling more? Sure, you can make a bunch of late 50’s reissues for us schmucks who can’t afford $300K for a 59 flametop, and you can try to sell a bunch of signature models that have been tweaked for collectors and those who think playing a Jimmy Page signature will make the buyer think he will actually sound like Jimmy Page. But after that, then what? The damn things last forever. How do you sell more?

The answer is easy: improve the product.

And that product improvement is the new Les Paul GT instrument. This is an expensive machine that lists for around four grand (although you shouldn’t have to pay much more than $2600 street if you look around). It’s a fine looking, fine playing guitar that makes you want to crank that Marshall and start whipping out Can’t Get Enough licks and the like. The issue is the usual one: is a guitar this expensive worth the money? The answer is a qualified “yes”: “yes” if you’re a professional, preferably gigging musician who needs a reliable, sturdy, mean sounding guitar with sonic versatility. It’s also “yes” if you’ve got the money hanging around doing nothing except gathering dust. The answer, however, is “no” if you’re strapped for cash. Why? It’s just too expensive, and that’s not Gibson’s fault, it’s just the facts of life.

The GT is essentially a revved-up Les Paul Standard. Except for the kind-of-creepy flames on the body (which I don't care for at all), this looks like a straight-ahead Les Paul with the usual (fabulous) 498T Alnico humbucker in the bridge and a 490 humbucker at the neck. There is the usual three-way switch at the top of the body and independent volume and tone controls for the two pick-ups (four controls total). The pots are chrome and look really cool. The neck is a Gibson standard 24-¾ inch 22-fret and the feel is like a classic Les Paul right out of the 50s. The guitar comes in candy apple, candy orange, muscle green, phantom black and Daytona green. Body and neck are mahagony, and, like any Les Paul, it's heavy.

Now this is all well and good, but what do you get for the extra money? Let’s look a little more closely. First, the control pots are push-pull that deliver access to parallel, split-coil, and series tones, something that is new for Gibson to my knowledge and is probably intended to compete with the new Stratocaster models that Fender has been producing with similar characteristics. At any rate, this feature should ease up on the need to switch guitars.

There’s more. Locking Grover Tuners and a Graph Tech nut will help keep the guitar in tune no matter how many times you rip into the strings (the bridge is a Tune-o-Matic). A Neutrik™ locking cable jack will help keep the thing plugged in no matter how high you jump into the air. What you don’t see is the dual neck truss bar that, hopefully, will keep the guitar in one piece if you slam it into the floor. There is an also a high-pass tone filter that is supposed to maintain the high frequencies even at low volumes. Construction quality is impeccable.

All this adds up to a hard rocking guitar that looks, sounds, and feels like a classic Les Paul. The pick-ups sound fabulous dialed up and you’ll love the versatility that the push-pull pots provide. There’s plenty of aggression for even the most-devoted thrash metaller. Bottom line: The GT is ideal for gigging guitarists who need an extremely reliable guitar that is built to take travel and abuse. But it may be too premium-priced for the average bargain-hunting guitarhead, which is a shame, because there are legions of guitarists who would love to be playing this wonderful instrument.

Body:
Top Species: Maple
Back Species: Mahogany
Binding: Single-ply

Neck:
Species: Mahogany
Profile: Classic 㣖s Les Paul neck
Neck Joint Location: 16

Finberboard:
Species: Ebony
Scale Length: 243/4"
Number of Frets: 22
Nut Width: 1.695
Inlays: Mirror Trapezoid
Fingerboard Binding: Single-ply

Hardware:
Plating Finish: Chrome
Tailpiece: Tone-Pro Chrome Stop Bar
Bridge: Tone-Pro Chrome Tune-o-Matic
Knobs: Chrome Knurl
Tuners: Locking Metal Button Grovers

Electronics:
Neck Pickups: 490R Chrome
Bridge Pickups: 498T Smoky Coil
Controls: Two volume (push-pull), two tone (push-pulls), three-way switch

Other Stuff:
Strings: Brite Wires .010-.046
Case Interior: Dark Grey Plush
Case Exterior: Black Reptile Pattern Hardshell
Case Silkscreen: Silver 'Gibson USA' logo

Schechter Diamond C+1
PRS Single Cut
Fender VG Stratocaster
Fender Classic 50s Esquire
Gibson ES-350T
Fender American HSS Stratocaster
Gibson Les Paul GT
Fender John Mayer Stratocaster
Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster
Gibson ES-335
Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
Gibson ES-333 Memphis Style Hollow Body
Gibson ES-5
Gibson Les Paul 1957 Goldtop
Martin D-28 Acoustic
Gibson Les Paul Classic Ebony
Fender 57 Stratocaster Reissue
Les Paul Studio
PRS McCarty
Gibson Jimmy Page Les Paul
Ovation VXT Acoustic Electric
Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster
G&L Legacy Strat
Gretsch White Falcon II
Variax 700 Acoustic
Gibson SG 61 Reissue
Gibson ES-335 1959 Reissue
Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis
Gibson Super 400
Gibson ES-175
Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom
Epiphone Les Paul Standard
Epiphone G-400 SG
PRS Santana SE
Fender 50s Telecaster
Fender Cyclone


Recommended: Yes