Gibson Les Paul Standard 2014 & Les Paul Classic
£2,099 & £1,499
Gibson messes with the Les Paul at its peril. Forums light up when the company does anything against the wishes of the model’s acolytes. But when a near-perfect design has remained almost unchanged for over 50 years, it almost becomes a millstone around a manufacturer’s neck: to modernise or not? You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
Recent years have seen consistent upgrades in the regular Standard, pulling the model up on the coattails of improvements to the R8 and R9 Reissues. With 2014 – Gibson’s 120th Anniversary – the changes, while not obvious, are some of the most significant we can remember.
Alongside the 2014 Standard comes the Classic. Here’s a Les Paul for the modern guitarist; its raunchy image is just the tip of the iceberg for a guitar that’s the nearest thing to a ‘Formula One’ Les Paul yet.
Les Paul Standard 2014
For its latest Standard, Gibson felt the time was right to bring both boutique elements and technological advances into play, dragging the instrument bang into the 21st century.
Timber-wise, things remain fairly traditional, except here an AAA-maple cap sits atop a chambered mahogany body. Hollow sections radiate all around the perimeter, reducing weight and almost certainly influencing tone.
The mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard remain, but with differences over past models: the neck’s ‘slim taper’ profile is now asymmetrical, so extra meat has been removed on the treble side; also, the fret ends go over the binding, instead of the plastic being sculpted around them, so strings can’t be trapped in the fret-to-binding joint.
Electronically, things are beefed up, too: a pair of BurstBucker Pro pickups is mated to the usual three-way selector, but all pots are pushpull, activating ‘tuned’ coil-taps (see p113), phase and bypass options. The icing on the cake is Gibson’s Min-ETune. This powerful device auto-tunes the guitar at the touch of a button – it’s simple to use, and allows both factory and user-created tunings to be implemented.
There’s no pickguard fitted, and Gibson hasn’t provided one in the case for you to attach, either, should you wish; but many remove it anyway, and at least this way, there are no ugly screw holes to mar that lovely nitro-finished top.
The asymmetric neck profile makes for a very natural feel, especially for ‘thumb over’ players; it’s easy to dig in, but the fingers are unencumbered by too much ‘shoulder’ on the treble side. The over-thebinding frets make life easier when using vibrato on the top and bottom strings, as ‘catching’ is eliminated.
As for playing practicalities, a 305mm (12-inch) radius neck, and Gibson’s excellent Plek setup, means buzzes and chokes are a thing of the past. It really is a lovely player.
A Les Paul for the modern guitarist, the Classic is the nearest thing to a ‘Formula One’ Les Paul model yet
We’ve explained the MinETune in detail before. While not the smallest addition to the back of a headstock, it works extremely well and, with a little practice, anyone can tune, detune and retune with ease.
Les Paul Classic 2014
If you think of the Standard as an ongoing work in progress, then imagine the Classic as the Standard you’ve pimped; a modernised, harder-edged version, if you will.
Maple, mahogany and rosewood continue the construction theme, but differences abound on closer inspection. The casual observer will notice a set of zebra humbuckers in cream surrounds, perfectly complementing the guitar’s other plastic parts.
The pickups are ’57 Classics. Independent volumes are retained; both are on push-pull pots and again, these activate coil-taps. Combining two tones into a single master leaves a space for the Classic’s secret weapon – an active 15dB volume boost switch.
What’s not on view here is the weight-relieved body, which eases the shoulder’s burden without drastically altering the sound. It’s two-piece (as is the body of the Standard), but the timbers are well matched, so the join is hardly visible.
Hardware is straightforward, with Tone Pros green-button tuners, and the same bridge and tailpiece line-up as the Standard. Also, like that guitar, the Classic sports Gibson’s larger strap button design – a much safer option than those tiny vintage ones.
One gripe comes with the mid-boost’s awkward battery compartment release; should guitarists (who regularly use their fingernails) be given something that threatens to break them every time a battery needs changing? Surely a ‘push release’ type would be better.
Where the Standard’s slimtaper neck seems suited to rock and blues players, the Classic seems made for speedier techniques. Its slim and therefore wide feeling early 60s profile wouldn’t actually feel out of place on a far pointier
guitar, as the shallow ‘D’ lends itself to ‘thumb behind the neck’ playing and fast, three-notesper-string licks.
The new fretting style, Plek setup and pleasing attention to detail give the Classic a different, but equally rewarding feel to its Standard sibling.
Sounds And Feel
Using a Fender Blues Junior as test rig, we start with the Standard, and there’s a lot to get to grips with! In humbucking mode, the BurstBucker Pros evoke the best Les Pauls of yesteryear. With an R9 as sonic comparison, it’s a close-run thing: the Standard is similar in power, but a little sharper toned all round. Pull either or both volume pots and the respective humbuckers are tapped for a more single-coil character. It’s not instant Strat or Tele, but a clearer, cleaner and perhaps more articulate version of the LP tone itself.
Pull out the furthest tone knob and, whatever your volume and tone settings, the Standard reverts to bridge pickup full on, whether in humbucker or tap mode. It virtually eliminates
The Standard’s BurstBucker Pros evoke the best LPs of yore. Even compared to an R9, it’s a close thing
complicated pickup, volume and tone shifts between rhythm and solos. And if that’s not enough, all your Peter Green and BB King tones are there, courtesy of the other tone pot’s phase-shift option. You’ll soon find yourself getting to grips with your favourite options.
While not overtly louder, the Classic seems more directional and mid-focused. This chimes with the higher output and the Standard’s chambered body; the Classic is rather more ‘in your face’. Again, coil taps elicit a Les Paul ‘light’ array of sounds. Flick the boost switch and the tone stays, but things get bigger, as though you’ve jumped on a moderately driving Tube Screamer. It’s a great-sounding
The 2014 Standard and Classic represent excellent value, and a great place for Gibson to be, 120 years on
circuit that pushes rhythm into crunch and crunch, in turn, into soaring solos.
Verdict
It’s easy to focus on Gibson’s LP Reissues to the exclusion of all else. Yet our two instruments show Gibson is far from stuck in the 1950s. The Standard is vintage and modern rolled up in a single package; vintage looks, modern – even ultra-modern – functionality. We love the neck, the visually hidden but powerfully audible switching system and the tones it creates; and also that clever auto-tuning system. The Classic has strengths that any tone lover with an eye on modern, powerful soloing will love. Its skinny neck, big sounds and confident gait mark it out as a modern titan of the breed.
And then there’s the value… Looking at what’s around at a similar price, comparing what each one can do and – sorry, but we can’t ignore it – taking that name on the headstock into account, 2014’s Les Paul Standard and Classic represent excellent value and a great place for Gibson to be, 120 years down the line.