Gibson Les Paul Standard vs Custom Shop: Is It Worth It?

Comments · 39

• GU

  @GuitarsintheBank · 3 weeks ago (edited) · pinned

  A big thank you to @bradkelseyguitar for making this video a reality! Be sure to check out his channel if you enjoyed this video :)

• WR

  @Wreck-it_Ralph · 3 weeks ago

  Ive been playing for around 40 years and have always wanted a nice les paul. Started out looking at epiphones because i could afford one but really wanted a gibson std. Then looked at standards but decided im spending more than i can afford and still settling for a guitar with a few features id want to change. Ended up buying the most beautiful custom shop r9. Everything about it is exactly what i wanted and ive been playing it almost daily now for two years. I guess i came to the conclusion that ive waited so long for this guitar why not get the one i want. Yes it was crazy money for me but i did the 0% finance deal and it costs me a little over a hundresd a month. Well worth it to me! As soon as its paid off im probably gonna find another dream guitar and do it again.

  13

• MI

  @Michael_Snider · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  Awesome video! The post 2019 reissues from Gibson are pretty much a 1:1 of the original Bursts. Using 3D scanned bursts for the carved top, the same formula for the plastics, hot-hide glue, unpotted CustomBuckers. I&apos;ve played a few including one of the Beauty Of The Burst editions and boy did it feel like a supercharged version of the modern Standard. <br><br>I love that you mentioned Japanese copies. I&apos;ve owned near a dozen of them, only kept 2 to this day but some of them are extremely accurate copies. The Mint series from Greco are great but those including the 70s-80s Tokais Reborns have exploded in price over the last 5-10 years. I&apos;ll have to make a short video on my 78&apos; Japanese Fresher Les Paul, it&apos;s a solid flame top beautiful copy.

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• RE

  @reverb508 · 3 weeks ago

  The Custom Shop models based on 50s/60s instruments have nylon nuts, not bone. That’s what the originals had.

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• MA

  @MatthewNieves-j7l · 3 weeks ago

  Super happy with my 60s white plain top. Just some tasteful mods on it

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• JW

  @jwolpert1310 · 3 weeks ago

  Loved the video! The comparison and info was great.

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• SG

  @SGavin · 3 weeks ago

  There are some really good standards out there, play enough of them and you will know when you find one.<br><br>That said, I ended up with a 2026 custom shop R8 VOS as my first Les Paul, and it is one of the best guitars I have ever played. It is mostly down to how they feel, the custom shops play so nice that they are hard to put down.

  3

• JE

  @jeremymiller6933 · 3 weeks ago

  I was able to get one of those AAA Iced Tea 50&apos;s LP Standard from Sweetwater about a year ago. &nbsp; &nbsp;I was doom scrolling one night while looking for a new LP and the finish just absolutely jumped out at me. &nbsp; Perfect flame wood grain for a AAA top and darker paint scheme like this one. &nbsp; Almost into the Southern Fade territory like the one shown here as well. &nbsp; At first glance looks like an R9. &nbsp; It was also an open box at a $700 discount for a few microscopic dings to the clear coat along the binding on the neck. &nbsp; After a few chats with the Sweetwater sales person for more pictures, etc., I pulled the trigger on it. &nbsp; <br><br>Unlike the normal 50&apos;s, mine came with the 57/57+ pickups which are A LOT better than the BB 1/2 set that usually come with the 50&apos;s LP Standard. &nbsp; In my opinion anyway. &nbsp; To each their own. &nbsp; They don&apos;t push the amp like my other LP with the 490/498 set, but just have a really nice sound to it. &nbsp;Before getting it home, I considered putting Custombuckers in it, but will just leave it alone.

• UN

  @unclefrank8824 · 3 weeks ago

  There is a difference when you have them in hand. I&apos;m not sure if the price for SOME custom shops is worth it but a good standard can be made better, as in this case here. I really like the modded Standard. <br>A few years ago I thinned the herd for down payment. I was no longer playing enough to justify having a ton of guitars. 10 LP&apos;s, standards, replicas, custom shops got whittled down to an R9, CR8 and an 07 Faded Standard.<br>After modding the Faded with several similar mods presented here I did an A/B/C recording test and the Faded Standard won. However, I had a 2005 Faded Standard too and it was shrill and heavy. You can find great USA guitars. but a custom shop has a definite &apos;step up&apos; feel and attention to detail. You have to decide if that difference is worth the extra 2-5K. I would buy another custom shop but would buy used.

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• JI

  @JimmyDevere · 3 weeks ago

  I hate to break to you but this is a case of the more you pay the better it sounds. I went to a shop this weekend and took my 2008 Custom Shop R8 and auditioned it against several customs and Murphy Labs. The Heavy Aged (which costs more) which you think is just for aesthetics, but it&apos;s not. The guitar sounds way more open and 3D. And Gibson seems to have figured out the lacquer issue on the Les Paul Murphy Lab. IMHO, it&apos;s worth it to sell a few guitars and gears, scrape the money together and bite the bullet on either a Heavy or Ultra Heavy Aged Murph Lab. In my opinion these are the best reissues Gibson has ever made, and I&apos;m not the only one who thinks that.

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• MC

  @mccann449 · 3 weeks ago

  First class gents!

• JA

  @jasonswitzer1748 · 3 weeks ago

  My biggest complaint about the Standard is the weight. Otherwise I’d be fine with it. It seems like the ink my way to get a full thickness Les Paul is to go the Custom Shop route. Either that or get a Heritage H-150