Single cut Les Paul Jr - new pickguard!

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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sa1126
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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by sa1126 » Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:06 pm

I bought a les paul junior off reverb a few years ago and it weighed as much as my custom. Such a disappointment...I sold it immediately.
Gibson Les Paul Custom --> Orange AD30

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by mynameisjonas » Thu Dec 20, 2018 1:11 am

It seems to vary a lot. I found a 2015 LP Jr in a shop last week which was pretty light, but I've played others that were real back breakers.


I noticed Jay Farrar is selling a couple of gorgeous Jrs on Reverb. Kinda out of my price range though :whistle:

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by mynameisjonas » Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:52 am

I came across this Billie Joe Armstrong signature Les Paul Jr the other day, that I'm kinda thinking of buying. It's not sunburst like I wanted, and it has a slightly slimmer neck profile than you normally expect on a LP jr, but it sounded incredible both acoustically and plugged in, and was surprisingly light weight. I think the previous owner must have switched out the stacked P90 that these come with, because it was pretty noisy under the fluorescent lights in the shop. But man what a sound! :-*
I'd probably replace the pickguard and trussrod cover with black ones if I were to pull the trigger, to make it less obvious that it's a BJA signature (not particularly keen on associating myself with Green Day).
I'm not 100% sure yet, I need to think it over a few days. But tomorrow is my birthday, and it would make a pretty nice gift for myself. 8)

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by Domm » Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:52 am

The Billie joe sigs before they went to the giant pickguard are great! Other than custom shop offerings I think they are the best juniors and double cuts gibson put out in years! Of course after you swap out the awful p100!

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by krib » Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:21 pm

mynameisjonas wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:52 am
I came across this Billie Joe Armstrong signature Les Paul Jr the other day, that I'm kinda thinking of buying. It's not sunburst like I wanted, and it has a slightly slimmer neck profile than you normally expect on a LP jr, but it sounded incredible both acoustically and plugged in, and was surprisingly light weight. I think the previous owner must have switched out the stacked P90 that these come with, because it was pretty noisy under the fluorescent lights in the shop. But man what a sound! :-*
I'd probably replace the pickguard and trussrod cover with black ones if I were to pull the trigger, to make it less obvious that it's a BJA signature (not particularly keen on associating myself with Green Day).
I'm not 100% sure yet, I need to think it over a few days. But tomorrow is my birthday, and it would make a pretty nice gift for myself. 8)
That Hagström Deluxe on the wall :? :?
Is it for sale? Thats my all time fav guitar.

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by marqueemoon » Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:31 pm

Seconding the P100 hate. Horrible pickups.

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by Despot » Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:28 am

mynameisjonas wrote:
Thu Dec 20, 2018 1:11 am
I noticed Jay Farrar is selling a couple of gorgeous Jrs on Reverb. Kinda out of my price range though :whistle:
Those are nice. Not crazy in price terms either...

I'm surprised by the price of that '70 SG Standard though - I know it's clean ... but still, 6k euro for a Standard ... that's nearly twice what I paid for my '69 less than six months ago (and that's not in terrible shape by any means).

Great Juniors though. The Farrar connection would just be an added bonus from my perspective.

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by cmatthes » Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:53 am

I picked up a really nice GIbson LP Jr. - I think it's a 2011. Under $300. They're out there.
The refin, Faber bridge and replaced pickup probably cost as much as the whole guitar, but it's a solid gig guitar and plays great!
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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by marqueemoon » Sun Jan 20, 2019 12:09 pm

cmatthes wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:53 am
I picked up a really nice GIbson LP Jr. - I think it's a 2011. Under $300. They're out there.
The refin, Faber bridge and replaced pickup probably cost as much as the whole guitar, but it's a solid gig guitar and plays great!
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So cool.

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by mynameisjonas » Mon Jan 21, 2019 12:05 am

Nice finish!
Unfortunately, finding one for $300 around here is extremely unlikely, all the ones I've seen these past few months have been at least $700 (equiv).

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by mynameisjonas » Mon Jan 21, 2019 12:15 am

krib wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:21 pm
That Hagström Deluxe on the wall :? :?
Is it for sale? Thats my all time fav guitar.
I think so, but I'm not sure. They've always had a bunch of them up on the walls and in the ceiling, so it could be that they're just there as decoration. But hit them up of you're interested: http://hellstonemusic.se/

I've decided to go back there on friday, and if the BJA sig is still there I'm getting it.

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by Telemnemonics » Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:37 am

That BJA looks pretty good, if I needed it and the price was right I'd probably buy it.
It's odd given how simple they are, but the LP Jr has long been one of my favorite guitars yet I haven't had one that was satisfactory.
Partly because it was vintage examples that knocked me out, but all the modern Gibson versions seemed dull and lifeless.
I had a pretty nice early '60s SG shaped LP Jr, but wrong shape and I'm just not a fan of the overall balance.
Bought one of the newer Epi single cut and ended up giving it away to a guitar shop after they accidentally sold me a pedal at a loss.

One day maybe I'll find the right one, and hopefully I won't pass on it and miss out for another decade!
Or maybe I just don't need one that badly...

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies?

Post by mynameisjonas » Tue Jan 22, 2019 12:16 am

Telemnemonics wrote:
Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:37 am
It's odd given how simple they are, but the LP Jr has long been one of my favorite guitars yet I haven't had one that was satisfactory.
Partly because it was vintage examples that knocked me out, but all the modern Gibson versions seemed dull and lifeless.
I think maybe it's because they're so simple. There are no bells and whistles to make up for a dull neck/body combo, so you really need to find a good one. I share your experience with the modern Gibsons, this BJA sig is the first one I've tried that got me excited when playing it. If only it had been a sunburst...

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NGD!

Post by mynameisjonas » Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:16 am

I went by the shop and the guitar was still there, so here it is! :)
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There are some good news and some bad news, lets start with the bad:
  • The headstock has broken off at some point (as you can see in the last pic)
  • It has the unpopular original stacked P90 (which btw is a H90, not a P100), which for some reason isn't hum cancelling
The good news:
  • The headstock repair seems to have been done well, and it knocked down the price quite a bit
  • The pickup sounds really nice, it's a perfectly serviceable typical P90 sound. Maybe the previous owner disconnected the dummy coil or something, I'll have to investigate...
  • The guitar is really reasonant, by far the most 'lively' solid body electric I own. It's loud and punchy unplugged, and has a nice piano like sustain.
  • It was well set up out of the box and plays effortlessly. The neck profile is more modern than I'm used to, but it takes just a few seconds to readjust.
At some point I'll probably replace the bridge, the pickup and the pickguard + trussrod cover, but the guitar is great as it is. Really happy I got it :)

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Re: Single cut Les Paul Jr copies? NGD on page 3!

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:34 am

Pickguard & truss cover aside, that looks great! What would you do, throw money at Spitfire or go down the solid colour route (some kind of off-white would look killer!!)

I'm getting the love people have for these no nonsense, single pickup kind of guitars more & more these days.

Enjoy!
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