Gibson Les Paul Classic HB

TL;DR: I tested both the Classic and the Standard 60s side by side. If you insist on a traditional flamed maple top this guitar is not for you. Otherwise the Classic is virtually the same guitar as the Standard in sound, feel, and looks — except 500 EUR cheaper and with coil splitting and phase reversing options.

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This is a gorgeous guitar — Thomann's pictures don't do it justice. The honeyburst is basically a Standard 60s Unburst, same honey/caramel colours, same finish. Except it has natural grain instead of flamed maple top + natural wood on the back instead of red stained + plain chrome jack input instead of cream color. I'm fond of the zebra pups, but you can always order covers if you aren't.

The setup was very good, just a little fine-tuning to get it perfect for my tastes. No damage or imperfections, aside from a barely visible speck of paint on the binding where the neck meets the neck pup. The fretboard needed some lemon oil, too.

This guitar was a major step up coming from a '09 Gibson LP Studio. It plays very smoothly – in part thanks to the thinner 60s neck – and sounds (and sustains) like its big brother Standard 60s. I don't think I could tell the difference blindfolded. Bear in mind: it's a heavy guitar; mine weighs 4.3kg (9.5lbs).

The push-pull pots definitely add interesting tonal options. Coil splitting won't make your Gibson sound like a premium stratocaster, but it will definitely give you that bright, crisp single coil tone. Just one thing: you can't change the volume when coil splitting. So if you play at half-volume like me (allows me to up the volume without touching the amp) it will sound very loud in comparison.

The case is very nice, too. Detailed brown 'leather' exterior, cherry plush lining inside. Locks feel sturdier than the case my Studio has. Standard case candy and a blank truss rod cover was included in mine (I don't like the lettering they're using nowadays). My particular guitar turned out to be made on my birthday — but I can't guarantee that your guitar will share yours ;-)

Bottom line: it's by no means cheap. But it's definitely value for money. This is the real deal. There's only one reason the Standard costs 500 EUR more: Gibson traditionalists will happily cough it up.

Great guitar with some qc issues. Arrived perfectly packed, gibson box inside thomann box. Gibson box has security tapes ensuring you are the first person opening the box.

Looks great made from two pieces mahogany back and 2 pieces plain maple cap, looks better than fancy flamed ones. Grains of the wood are really good while they are not bookmatched they don't look like two different trees. Great nitro varnish no scratches or imperfections just great and smells so good.
Setup was perfect just tuned and everything was ready to play. No fret buzz on any fret. Has pcb board electronics not hard wired, push pull switches works great, gives additional tonal options, knobs look wonderful. No problems on tuners, nut and bridge.

Now the small problems;
The fretboard has some varnish residue(at least 7 frets near a cm wide), can also be seen from factory photo, there are toolmarks on binding, has some scratches on the cavity cover plastics (they are not protected with a plastic film.) one of the cavity screws is not vertical to the body, ground wire's jacket has been stripped in one place(probably used pliers when inserting to pcb). truss rod cover has a small crack on white side(back), two of the jack plate screws were not fully screwed.
and finally a small tear (1cm) on the handle of the hardcase.

Maybe I am paying too much attention to detail but other brands don't have these small problems. With a little attention to detail those could have been fixed easily at factory. Don't mind having these on a epiphone but I do mind on a Gibson.

That's an awesome product, combining some great new innovative features with the good old full-fledged Gibson Les Paul tradition.

- It's still heavy, don't mind the 9-hole weight relive.
- The open zebra pickups are rocking great and looking very nice.
- None flaming maple body - simply beautiful.
- Push-pull pots are the new feature and it's just another great addition to your sound palette.
- Slim taper neck is very comfortable to play.
- Still cheaper about 500 bucks from the standards - the best feature!

I really really love that guitar. The honeyburst is looking absolutely beautiful and the sound is amazing. You can either play gigs or record some good songs with it.