GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC £1,649

It might be in the company’s Modern category but it’s identical to the ’60s Standard save for Gibson’s nine-hole weight relief and a plain maple top. The Classic retains the pull-switch PCB Quick Connect wiring, which means we have single-coil-like ‘tap’ voices, out-of-phase and direct-out options, and you can swap pickups without warming up your soldering iron.