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Gibson Les Paul Standard with 50's Neck

 

Review of the Les Paul Standard Faded Honeyburst with 1950's Neck Profile by The Man in the Jar  

This is a very beautiful example of an American-made classic. 

Features of the Les Paul Standard

Tuners - Covered Gibson Deluxe types with vintage green pearloid knobs work beautifully.

Headstock - The slightly smaller vintage style headstock is faced in black with the Gibson logo inlaid in pearloid and has a more pronounced backward splay than most Les Paul models. The serial number and "Made in USA" is branded into the wood at the back of the headstock, a "wild-west" detail that fits nicely with the overall finish of the guitar.

Nut - The white plastic nut is very finely finished.

Neck - You may be aware that there are two necks available in this vintage style. One is the 50's neck and one is the 60's neck. The difference has never been made clear to me so I decided to check them out side-by-side. 
Strangely enough the 60's neck actually feels like an "earlier" model than the 50's neck. Let me explain: The difference is quite subtle and rests in the cross-section of the neck directly below the headstock. The 60's neck seems to have less depth (back of neck to fretboard) which, when directly comparing the two necks makes the fretboard seem wider, which lends it an "earlier" feel in my mind. However this is obviously an illusion as both guitars share the same fretboard width at the 1st and 12th fret (never one to believe spec sheets I actually checked this with a ruler and it is so).
The 50's neck has a slightly deeper neck which perversely makes the fretboard seem narrower at the first three frets which, in my mind, gives it a more modern feel.
In any event this difference is only apparent by swapping from one guitar to the other in succession. Both necks are equally playable, both being extremely comfortable. The one I found suited me best was the 50's neck for the narrower (albeit illusional) fretboard feel.
The mahogany 50's neck has a satin finish which feels great under the hand and shows the grain really well.  

Fretboard - Rosewood board with a good, even grain. Pearloid trapeze markers cement the classic Gibson marque. The fretboard is bound in aged white binding, the "nicotine stain" aging effect really compliments this particular body finish. 

Frets - Medium well-polished frets.

Action - Good from the box with room to coax lower if required.

Body - This is a mahogany body with a carved maple top. The carving of the top on this model is more pronounced than on other Les Pauls I've tried. This gives the guitar a beautiful, lush, curvaceous aura. This is particularly lovely combined with the understated Honeyburst finish. The effect of the carving is to put the strings up with plenty of space between them and the body. Having spent many formative years spanking a Rickie 330 I'm used to this arrangement. If you're used to playing flat slab bodies where the strings lie closer to the body then expect to take an hour or so to acclimatise.
The antiqued binding continues around the top of the instrument accentuating the colour-tone change from the maple to the mahogany. The hand-applied Honeyburst finish on the maple is exquisite and promises to improve even further with age.

Bridge - Standard Tune-o-matic and stoptail in chrome. I feel an upgrade to gold hardware would really suit the Honeyburst finish.

Pickups - Two zebra-stripe Burstbucker Pro open-coil humbuckers with Alnico V magnets. 

Controls - Volume and tone controls for each pickup sport gold top-hat knobs. The three-way pickup selector lives on the top bout.

Strap-buttons - The vintage-style small strap buttons are fine with a decent new leather strap but are not as secure as larger modern buttons. I'd retro-fit larger buttons or invest in strap-locks. 

Output Jack - In the lower edge in a square cream plate that blends well with the binding.

Finish - This simple but beautiful guitar is well finished throughout. The vintage body carving and the faded finish make it look like a family heirloom.

 

Sound of the Gibson Les Paul Standard

Playing the Burstbuckers on clean I was immediately impressed with their distinctive voices. There is an inherent crispness to the tone that made me dwell on the clean channel longer than I normally would with this type of guitar. When overdriven the crispness translates nicely into grittiness from the bridge pickup. The depth of tone from the neck pickup on a clean setting is deeply satisfying. When overdriven I found a tweak down on the bass and middle at the amp's eq stage delivered the best sound.
This guitar has a distinctively vintage voicing that I found at once to be both fresh and familiar.   

 

Overall Impressions of the Gibson Les Paul Standard Honeyburst with 50's Neck

This is a very beautiful chunk of American-made Gibson. I love the "wild-west-cowboy" personality that the Honeyburst finish gives to this guitar. It even manages to carry off the zebra pickups that are normally more at home on zanier guitars.
This Les Paul offers excellent playability and a lovely voice with good tonal range. If Santa forced me to choose I would come down on the side of the 50's neck rather than the 60's neck but in reality the quality and playability is all but identical.
Many guitar players still lust after a real Gibson Les Paul with mystical "Made in the USA" integrity. This gorgeous example of the Les Paul artform will only serve to fuel their lust.   

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