What DON'T you like on a LP (or LR) style guitar.

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Spleen

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I was explaining to my wife, the rather picky list of characteristics a Les Paul style guitar has to match for me to like it and I thought it'd make a neat topic. I'm sure my do not list is = someone's dream guitar but that's what makes the world go around hey? What is your "hate" list?

Here's what I Do Not like in a Les Paul Style guitar:
1. Customs. I hate 'em. I don't like the cheap looking rectangular fret markers, I don't like the black trim on the binding, I don't like the double binding, and I don't like the diamond headstock.
2. Gold hardware. It looks crass new and looks cheap when it's old to me.
3. 3 pickup Les Pauls. I love Ace Frehley but they just look weird and too busy to me.
4. White top or Zebra pickups. I much prefer black uncovered or covered nickel.
5. White (and to a lesser extent, black) Les Pauls. Perhaps this is because so many customs are white or Black but I prefer a red or some type of burst.
6. Excessively yellow cherry sunbursts. I like a yellow wood stained LP but I dislike a bright yellow in the Cherry Sunburst.

Usually if a guitar has any of the above 6 cosmetic "don'ts" it's off my "must buy list".

I know that many people prefer customs to Standards or would disagree with other portions of my list. Let's hear from you and see your own list!
 
I guess you don't like my 68 reissue custom then... :D

I hear what your saying... what's another man's garbage is another man's treasure!

120-2073_img.jpg
 
It'd be off my "must buy" list but that is one sweet looking top on that guitar!
 
Mostly, I agree with you. Here's what I Do Not like in a Les Paul Style guitar:
1. Gold hardware.
2. 3 pickup Les Pauls.
3. uncovered pickups.
4. Excessively red cherry sunbursts.

I do like Customs, but I wish Gold hardware wasn't standard.
 
Totally agree on the Gold hardware! It wears off way too quickly and then looks like crap. It just doesn't "age" like the nickel.
 
I don't like excesive red on cherry red models too and bad 15th fret and on access,and an excessive (heavy) weight(4,5 kg. and on).
 
I was never a big fan of Customs either, although my first guitar was a Custom copy by Goya. :) I wish I still had it - it really was quite a good guitar (I assume it was made in Japan.)

I dislike gold hardware but somehow I think it's looks totally killer on those white 3-pickup SG Customs though! :)

Jim
 
I don't like Greco Super Real Les Pauls- I have had 3 and there were issues with ALL three, The BIG FAT necks took some getting usted to-

I don't like 1978 Les Paul Reborns-to heavy compared to all the other years Reborns/Love Rocks.
 
ochay said:
I don't like Greco Super Real Les Pauls- I have had 3 and there were issues with ALL three, The BIG FAT necks took some getting usted to-
You've said this before and I find it interesting. I have a 1982 Greco EG59-100 and it's awesome although the neck is wider than I was used to. It plays and looks great, my only complaint is the bridge pickup is a little too trebly for my tastes. Having since played a '59 Gibson Historic with the same neck radius I can confirm that the Greco was according to '59 specs anyway. My 81 Gibson must be a '60 neck which is more to my tastes but I got used to the 59 neck quite fast as I can't seem to set my Greco down!

Maybe because my Greco is a Mint Collection and not a Super Real it makes a difference?
 
I thought of another couple things I Do Not Like in a Les Paul Style guitar.
7. P-90 pickups. They sound really cool but I hate the look of Soapbars. I don't like mini humbuckers either.
8. Epiphone Headstocks. :) Actually we can probably include any non "lawsuit" style headstock to this list. Heritage builds a great guitar but I don't like their headstock for LP style guitars (even if I understand why they did so).
 
Wow, Spleen. You are picky.

I dislike overly red and yellow sunburtsts...looks like those big stick popcicles to me. Don't like heavy Pauls. Don't like high prices.
 
ochay said:
I don't like 1978 Les Paul Reborns-to heavy compared to all the other years Reborns/Love Rocks.

Interesting you say that...I've only ever played one Reborn, a '78 LS-60, and it had to weigh as much as my Norlin LP...

Jim
 
Those are some heavy suckers also.

For the most part all the Tokai Les Pauls after 1980 are lighter-at least in my limited experiance.
:wink:
 
Just wondering, what is the issue with the gold hardware (on customs)? Is this purely cosmetic/appearance, or is there something else involved?
 
For me it's strictly an appearance thing. Some people really like the look of aged gold hardware, not me.
 
I have one Les Paul, a Greco EG-800 Mint Collection Custom. Frankly I utterly despise the flametop, orange coloured, quilted, whatever you want to call 'em, the orangey flamey wamey boring boring boring boring look. It just looks awful to me! I've never coveted a Paul like that, I've always wanted a black Custom and I'm very happy with mine.

Things I hate:

-Gold hardware. Hmmmm. Bad. My '76 Ibanez 2457 looks so much better after the last of the gold on the hardware was removed after a good rub with chrome polish :)

-Bigsby vibratos. I used to love them but I prefer the lyre vibrato now. They look great on a 355 but daft on a Paul.

-Anything that isn't cherry red. I'm a 335 *****, not a Paul man really. I recently bought a Silver Series Telecaster and, though it sounds nice, I feel like such a twat playing it. I'm gangly in the arms, playing a midget guitar like that feels so wrong after years with 335s and archtops.

Andy.
 
I really hate the Zakk Wylde Custom stuff. I know he is a god as far as playing concerned but nailing beer bottle lids to the body!! please..........
 
Thin necks - fatter the better. Not baseball bats but a nice wide fretboard where my big fingers don't hit the next string when fretting open chords. Les Paul's are like luxury cars, I want to relax while driving........
My new LS-150 has the neck I've been looking for for years....
 
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