The new $1300 Les Pauls

I had a tribute about 10 years ago with P90’s and I thought it was a great guitar.

Played great, sounded great and solid build quality.
It’s stripped down for sure, but that doesn’t bother me. I actually love the satin finish as opposed to the thick clear coats.

I’d give one a go if I was in the market for a LP.
 
They’ve been making these for a long time now, it’s just they used to cost less. As far as current production quality goes, I don’t have firsthand knowledge because my newest Gibson is a 2018, but it sounds to me like its been business as usual.

Gibson has long had some QC issues but in my experience the biggest one is they rarely seem to be able to cut their nuts right and it causes tuning instability/string binding issues. Thankfully this is a totally correctable problem, but I understand the frustration of paying Gibson prices and having to go immediately to a luthier and get the nut corrected for the thing to be playable.

This is not a new issue whatsoever.

I don’t doubt there are some great Tribute LP’s floating around out there. I would however go play one first or buy from somewhere with a very liberal return/exchange policy.
 
I had Studio that was from 2021 I think. I bought it used, so that this for what it's worth, but it had a lot of strange finish issues and the 1st string nut slot was cut so low that the open string couldn't ring out. It also felt unbalanced on a strap; the body was too light IMHO.

Otherwise it played really well. I could have raised the nut slot with some superglue and who knows if the finish issues were from the prior owner. I suspect that if you're willing to ask for any replacement if what you order comes with some odd issues, you'll eventually end up with a nice $1300 Les Paul.
 
$1200 used to be the standard price for a new Les Paul for years (Gibson not Epiphone). Considering recent inflation, $1300 isn't bad at all. It just depends on if they've cut corners and sacrificed the quality.
 
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Bardagh said:
Gibson has long had some QC issues but in my experience the biggest one is they rarely seem to be able to cut their nuts right.
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Yep, my Studio has this issue and it is a 2022 I believe. It looks badass, has great pickups, great tuners, etc, but the nut is causing issues to thr point where I think im going to get a new one put in. Guitar is great other than that.

I've thought about getting a Tribute. My 2019 Standard is awesome and I really dig it. No complaints at all.
 
Les Paul tributes were great guitars at when under 1K. Not at $1299. Always felt they were a great amp demo guitar in GC if you were a Gibson player, because they sounded and played well and every GC would have at least one.
 
Yea they’ve been making these for quite a while now. I had one and dug it. Wanted to “upgrade” to a LP traditional and honestly regretted it- heavy, slow neck, warm pickups. Want to grab another tribute eventually honestly
 
I just posted about the Tribute I modded.

Plays OK. It's cool if you like medium to bigger necks and small-ish frets. The fretwork is solid. It's plek'd, I believe. The nut slots are a bit high, but that's an easy fix.

The finish is kinda rustic-looking.

But, damn, they sound amazing with as little finish dampening the tone. They've also got a maple neck, so they sound a little different from your usual Les Paul, IMO.

About the finish... it's so so. There are a couple of spots where the finish is kinda rough. But overall, it's not bad for a lower-end Gibson. Most of my LTD's have been better in that regard. But none of them have sounded this good.
 

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I bought a Honeyburst Tribute a couple years back. It didn't last long before I sold it.

The first thing you should know is that every single one I've played has a very weird resonance that you cannot get rid of. It's just how these guitars sound due to the construction and finish. Acoustically, every one of them I've played has a strange "knock" in the resonance when you hit the strings. Once I heard it I could never not notice it with every note I played, and I didn't like it at all.

Aside from that, there are quality issues (shocker coming from Gibson I know) like obvious tool marks on the fretboard.

There were good things about it though. It played very well, the neck felt great, and the sound when plugged in was great, too. If you like the way these guitars resonate, they can be pretty cool.
 
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Fender guitar sales have grown 17% during the pandemic and are expected to top $700 million this year as housebound consumers look for new hobbies, says Fender Musical Instruments Corp. CEO Andy Mooney. The company’s online video platform for learning guitar, bass and ukulele, is helping to drive consumer interest in the brand.
UltraGary said:
I heard haters are still saying they "heard" stuff like this. Besides.... in 2023, how many guitar companies are doing great? C'mon man....
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