Guitar World Verdict
Forgot the backstory; this is a good USA Les Paul pairing a SlimTaper neck profile with P-90 single coils and rock ’n’ roll dress.
Pros
- +
Classic sounds from the soapbar P-90s
- +
‘Everyman’ SlimTaper neck profile.
- +
‘Black ’n’ chrome rock ’n’ roll vibe.
Cons
- -
It’s heavy, man.
- -
Small frets.
- -
It’s ‘limited’ but we have no idea to how many.
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What is it?
Surely a production version would follow, and just before Oasis kicked off their five-date run in Australia, it was announced: the Gibson USA Noel Gallagher Les Paul Standard!
Specs
- Launch price: $2,999 | £2,699 | €3.099
- Made: USA
- Type: Single-cutaway, solidbody electric
- Body: Mahogany (no weight relief) with carved maple top
- Neck: Mahogany, SlimTaper profile, glued-in
- Fingerboard/Radius: Single-bound Indian rosewood /12”
- Scale length: 24.75” (629mm)
- Nut/width: Graph Tech/43.5mm
- Frets: 22, medium jumbo
- Hardware: Tune-o-matic bridge, aluminium stud tailpiece, Grover Rotomatic tuners w/ kidney buttons – chrome plated
- Electrics: 2x Gibson Soapbar P-90 single coils w/ chromed metal covers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, individual volume and tone controls
- Weight: 10lb (4.56kg)
- Left-handed options: No
- Finishes: Ebony nitrocellulose only
- Case: Hard case
- Contact: Gibson
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★ ½
Now, rather than any radical re-design of the Les Paul this new signature comes across as a pimped-up hot-rod. Gibson already has its Les Paul Standard 50s P-90 and really this is the same guitar with some tweaks: first off, instead of the ‘50s Vintage neck profile it swaps to Noel’s preferred SlimTaper.
The gloss nitro-cellulose Ebony-only finish is not only nicely done but is the perfect backdrop for the all-chrome hardware instead of the 50s P-90’s nickel. The specs (and some Gibson images) tell us we should have an ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, although our sample uses the aluminium Nashville tune-o-matic with its slightly wider-travel saddles – as used extensively in Gibson USA’s Modern Collection – along with a lightweight stop tailpiece and Grover Rotomatic tuners. Further pimps include both a chromed-metal jackplate – as used on certain Modern models too – and toggle switch surround aka the ‘switch washer’.
Under the moody exterior there are no changes to the Standard’s mahogany back/maple top construction or its one-piece mahogany neck with a mid-brown, single bound rosewood fingerboard and time-honored acrylic trapezoid inlays.
While the actual soapbar P-90 pickups are the same specification as that 50s model, the difference here are the unique chromed-metal covers, a nod to the chromed dog-ear covers of another Noel favourite, the Epiphone Casino. There are no changes in the controls either, it’s the standard Gibson modern-wired control circuit that’s typically neatly done with Gibson logo’d pots and Orange Drop capacitors. Overall, it’s a pretty tidy contemporary Les Paul.
Playability
Playability rating: ★★★★☆
Gibson’s so-called ‘medium jumbo’ fret wire feels more like a smaller ‘medium’ and our sample’s felt and measured a little low
If the five-ply pickguard is a nod to that loaned Johnny Marr Les Paul Custom, so is our Standard’s heft. There’s no weight relief here and our sample tips the scales bang-on 10lbs. That aside, it’s obviously very similar to plenty of other USA Les Pauls: it’s very familiar, nothing to get used to.
That said, Gibson’s so-called ‘medium jumbo’ fret wire feels more like a smaller ‘medium’ and our sample’s felt and measured a little low. Bends feel a little less positive and you can certainly feel the fingerboard face: it’s almost a built-in vintage-y played-a-lot vibe. The frets could also benefit from a bit more polishing and the fingerboard needs a little conditioning, if only to deepen the color.
In some quarters the SlimTaper gets some flak, not least from the ‘big is best’ fraternity. But that’s taste: the profile here isn’t exactly skinny, quite a classic ‘C’ with a little more shoulder.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★½
Using an original 1957 Les Paul Jr as a sonic benchmark, the NG doesn’t disappoint
There’s nothing remarkable in the guitar’s unplugged response either, a good typically pushy ring. But it’s the single coil P-90s, that with the exception of that Les Paul Standard 50s P-90, differentiate this from the mainly humbucker-loaded USA LP models.
Using an original 1957 Les Paul Jr as a sonic benchmark, the NG doesn’t disappoint. It retains some of that Jr’s bite and mid-range attitude but smooths it a little adding seemingly both depth and clarity.
Switch off the obvious crunch and gain on your amp and go clean and there’s quite strident jangle at bridge, jazztastic smoothness at neck and a little sparkle with both pickups voiced that works in more soulful, funkier styles. But then bring back a little hair and crunch and the single-coil texture eases into Americana and a whole lot more. If only there was a Bigsby option…
But the humbucker was invented for good reason. Single coils pick up noise and hum that in certain situations can ruin the fun. It’s why numerous Gibson artists, most recently Warren Haynes, choose hum-canceling P-90 DC soapbars for his signature. In the short time we had the guitar though it was well-behaved. The pickups have the same magnetic polarity so aren’t hum-canceling in the mix position and we simply ran out of time [Gibson UK needed this example back fairly urgently] to test what effect, or not, those covers have on the sound and any noise reduction.
Potential pitfalls aside, the quality of sound, that different texture and bite ain’t to be sneezed at.
Verdict
Some might say this is far from a valid Oasis signature guitar, having only come into play earlier this year. It’s simply based on a custom-spec’d guitar, a tool for Noel’s day job, admittedly a ginormous world tour, but is Noel even still using his versions?
All of that aside, as we said, it’s a slightly different, pimped-up take on an existing USA Les Paul that quite simply might entice players to taste, or remind themselves of the P-90s different, less-smooth fat single-coil voice that has way more sonic potential than merely playing covers of the signature artist’s band. It’s quite the rock’n’roller: old or new.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | Good Gibson USA build with few complaints. Yes, it’s heavy and those frets feel quite low but otherwise pretty tidy. | ★★★★½ |
Playability | Not great for big bends with those low frets but otherwise no complaints. Good to have a SlimTaper neck profile option to the only other soapbar single coil-equipped Les Paul Standard 50s P-90. | ★★★★☆ |
Sounds | The fat single coil voice of the P-90 has been a part of the Gibson Les Paul sound since 1952 and so long as you can manage the potential hum it’s more than valid today. Quite a cracker! | ★★★★½ |
Overall | It’s not over-priced compared to the standard USA P-90 Les Paul and certainly isn’t Oasis-specific. A good contemporary Les Paul with a different flavour both in looks and sound. | ★★★★½ |
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