How much did you purchase this item for?1800 euros, about. In theory, that is. In reality, having a discount from that store, 't was 1400 euros.
Where did you purchase this item?Guitar shop.
Is this item new or used?New. Literally. It was transfered from the US, and left in the cardboard box till I came 'round and opened it up. The lock of the case was still sealed, too.
Features: Built in 2003. Mahogany back, maple top. Mahogany neck, the 60s-slim-type, not the baseball-bat sort of neck. 2 volume knobs, 2 tone knobs. 496R/500T humbuckers.
Construction: Well, gibson lives up it's name. I was expecting a bad fret dress, from what I read online, but the fret work was great. Small flaw in the binding on the neck, near the 2nd fret: a part that's coloured a bit more "yellow" than the rest of the binding. Wouldn't be notable if someone else were to pick up this guitar, however, I've spent quite some time staring at this beauty already...
No problems with the volume and tone knobs whatsoever so far, no crackling pots or anything.
Finish-wise: I've been quite careful with it so far, and have yet to see damage to the finish. A bloke who's got another classic, who's less careful (doing slash impressions on stage isn't too healthy on the guitar, truly), and has a few chips already. Moral of the story: if you're a bit careful, no problems whatsoever.
Sound: Like a Les Paul on steroids, fueled up on speed.
Both pick-ups are fairly hot. The neck pup isn't notably more hot than the ones in Les Paul standards, but the bridge definitely is. It's like the volume knob has a wider spread: having the amp on the same level, and with the volume knobs on 10, when trying the classic, and then a standard, the classic was louder, produced more distortion on the amp, and had more "punch". Disadvantage/advantage? Depends on what you like, probably: getting a slightly overdriven crunch is a lot easier, allowing for Gary Moore's spitting, shouting Parisienne Walkways solo-tone. Keeping things clean, however, is a lot more difficult when using a tube amp.
Neck-pick-up produces the classic Les Paul tone. From Eric Clapton's en Slash's "woman tone" solo-tone, to a deep, dark riffing tone, it's all in the package.
Sustain: lovely. With a bit of vibrato, it feels as if the note will last forever.
Ease of Use: Hardly requires a science education...
One thing that got me at the start, was the fact that, when one of the volumes is brought down to zero, the middle position (bridge + neck) produces no sound either. While this is use-able to get the Van Halen "gate-effect", I had to get used to it at the start.
Reliability: *shrugs*
It's a hard tail, is built quite solidly, and I can't see any of the problems that my strat might have (break a string, and the others go out of tune. More prone to string-breakage, etc, etc) happen with this one. Reliable enough, to me.
Overall: 9/10.
Deduction of 0,5 point: the bridge pick-up can be extremely temperamental when dialing in your tone, using the tone knob on the guitar. Can be useful, but someone who's from the "everything up to 10, and blast"-school of things would be annoyed.
Deducation of another 0,5 point: when I got it, the fretboard was really, really dry. Within the first month of getting it, it needed to be oiled, and it soaked up the oil like a student soaks up beer. Not a major flaw, but I actually noticed a small crack in the fretboard (not deep, but notable to *me*), probably caused by the dry-ness. You'd expect such an expensive guitar to be treated in the factory before shipping continentally.
At the end of the day, I truly love this guitar. And that's all that matters, sort of.
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