NGD - Les Paul Historic 57’ Reissue Custom - (new pics page 4)

[luau]

Well, don't forget that there are Burstbucker 1s, Burstbucker 2s, Burstbucker 3s, later supplanted by the Memphis Historic Specs pickups which were of course followed by the Memphis Historic Spec 2: Electric Boogalo pickups*, and now the latest ES-335s have "Calibrated T-Type" pickups.

Is there, like, a fucking sommelier or something to help me with this menu?



*You know you gotta beat the streets before the streets beat you, don't you?

The custom shop is on to CustomBuckers now. They've got no potting at all and A3 magnets.

[Embenny]

Don’t forget about the 57 Classic Plus (hotter bridge).

The main difference as I understood it was the BBs were lightly potted if at all to give them that brighter, clearer and more vintage accurate sound (old PAFs are un-potted). The 57s had normal wax potting.

No, the main difference is that the 57 Classic has 5250 turns per coil (5400 on the Classic Plus) while the Burstbucker 1 had 5000 on the slug coil and 5200 on the screw coil, and the Burstbucker 2 had 5300 on the slug coil and 5500 on the screw coil. They later introduced the even hotter Burstbucker 3 at 5500/5750 turns, and the 61 Burstbuckers that flipped the hotter coil around to the slug side.

All of them use A2 magnets and 42AWG enamel-coated wire. The hotter "Burstbucker Pro" pickups are simply a set of either BB1/BB2 or BB1/BB3 with stronger A5 magnets, though they annoyingly never label them with the numbers once they get the "Pro" sticker.

All of these specs came directly from Gibson themselves, back when they actually published them. Sadly, the more recent MHS and T-Type pickups came out during eras when they had stopped publishing pickup specs other than DC resistance, magnet type and sometimes the degree of potting. They used to even list the resonant frequencies of their pickups. Not everything during the Henry J era was a bad idea.

[Unicorn Warrior]

I came here only to say, OH MY GOD! I’m still in the middle of a work day. Will report back later.

Also, Fed-ex showed up, dropped it off, and left before I had a chance to sign. Reassuring to anyone who wants to ship?

[gishuk]

Looking forward to seeing some more photos of this guitar!

And that weight for a Bigsby custom is crazy light. I had a 1979 custom, that I added a Bigsby to, jesus christ that thing was backbreakingly heavy, so much so that I ended up selling it.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Just coming in to drop a few pics. With two children under 4, it’s hard to do anything. I’ve played it “some” and I don’t want to put it down. After I get some more time with it I’m going to follow up with a good review in the coming days. Some cool history came with it in the case as well. For now, I’ll post these shots:

[Larry Mal]

Exquisite.

[OffYourFace]

congrats!! It looks amazing

[marqueemoon]

That is a very classy guitar.

[BoringPostcards]

Fucking awesome. I normally don’t use such strong language, but yea, good score!

[Larry Mal]

This is going to be one of those threads where I'm all "I hate all my stupid guitars and I don't even want to play them anymore"

[i love sharin foo]

It looks gorgeous! Im glad that it arrived undamaged. Seems like it's a real gamble these days.

[luau]

Congrats! That's absolutely beautiful.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Wow, guys. Thanks so much for the love. Sorry I haven’t given a thorough review yet. I’ve been a bit busy. I intend to do a follow-up.

What I will say for now is that something about this guitar just speaks to me. Even before I bought it, it was like it kept calling my name. Now, that it’s here I feel the same way. Something about it feels so familiar. Like an old friend. I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt this way about a guitar that I’ve owned. I’m certainly still honey mooning, but this feels different. To be continued…

[Unicorn Warrior]

So, it’s been a while since I’ve reported back. I haven’t been playing as much lately and have been very busy with work and family etc..Just wanted to report back after owning this guitar for almost a year.

On Friday I got the chance to play it out for the first time. First of all, there’s a definite difference in playing a guitar in your bedroom vs playing it in an actual live situation. Before yesterday, I wasn’t quite sure how that would go. Where I’ve been primarily an offset player since around 2012, it was eye opening to see how different a Les Paul would translate. The main takeaway is that the Les Paul, to no surprise, is a much more focused instrument. The notes hit faster, punch harder, and sustain longer. This allowed me to do some sliding around on the frets that I never really bothered trying on the offsets. It’s almost like the instrument is asking you to try new techniques. With that said, I was able to achieve my sound and pull off 90% of what I was able to do with offsets, no problem. However, the main thing I had to keep in mind were how different the dynamics were. The Jazzmaster has more headroom and is more forgiving, whereas the Les Paul was hot and is ready to take you to the clouds fast. The Jazzmaster has behind the bridge abilities and those quirky overtones we all know and love, while the Les Paul is articulate and more compressed and focused to the point with piano like quality and punch.

Overall, this thing is killer. It’s an excellent addition to my guitars and provides a flavor that I didn’t know I was missing. It also hits drive pedals and amps differently. I’ve yet to actually dove into all of its capabilities there, so I’m excited to see what I can possibly do on the recording process eventually. For long sets, my Jazzmaster being only 7lbs even is going to much more comfortable. For that, I’ll say my Jazzmaster is more built for running a marathon, while the heavier Les Paul was built for a sprint.

A quick photo with my current set-up.

[luau]

Thanks for the update. I've wondered how you two are getting on many times.