Standard vs Traditional
The newest model of the Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar has a feature that many have waited for a very long time. As most of us know the weight of this legendary instrument is among the few complaints players have about it.
But the latest version of this guitar has a chambered mahogany body, which makes it lighter. Don’t think that this means the guitars has become a semi acoustic all of a sudden.
The chambers are small acoustic spaces that actually provide some resonance to the sound. The Traditional has the classic full mahogany body that most associate with the Les Paul.
Burstbucker vs 57′ Classic
For most of my teenage years, the era that Slash resuscitated Gibson with a copy to make it ironic, the pickups of the Gibson Les Paul Standard were the 490R and 498T.
The Studio, claiming to be a scaled down Standard, also have them till this day. But now they are not featured on any of the current Standard Les Pauls.
The Burstbucker are probably my favorite soundwise, they have a good combination of attitude and character without being super distorted. But I have to admit that I could live with the 57′ Classic because I like the Standard Traditional Pro better.
Plain vs Plus Top
In the nomenclature of Gibson the ‘Plus’ means a flamed maple top. This comes at a higher price though but they look outstanding.
From a musical perspective though those cute lines on the top of the thick mahogany body don’t add or detract anything and is purely a cosmetic feature.
The only thing is that the option of colors you have is more limited in the non Plus versions of this guitar, the most popular finishes in this more affordable versions are the Gold Top and my favorite the Ebony, especially in the Traditional Pro.
For a full review of all the Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar please visit my Squidoo page –> Buy Gibson Guitars
Tags: Gibson Les Paul Standard