Gibson Les Paul - What well-known jazz guitar players have used one?

[starjasmine]

Les Pauls ... are ungodly heavy....

Yeah, that was one of the main reasons I ditched my LP Custom for a Deluxe. Even with a big strap, my left shoulder would be incredibly sore after a gig... the Deluxe, while lighter than the Custom, is still a lot heavier than a hollowbody.

[Hammertone]

Les Pauls ... are ungodly heavy ...

...one of the main reasons I ditched my LP Custom for a Deluxe ... the Deluxe, while lighter than the Custom, is still a lot heavier than a hollowbody.

While Gibson made and continues to make heavy Les Pauls, I think the weight issue went away in the mid-1990s in that many choices started to appear regarding weight. I play chambered Les Pauls that weigh 7 - 7 1/2 pounds, which is as light as some hollowbody jazz guitars. I also play a solid-body Les Paul Custom that weigh 8 1/2 pounds, which is not heavy. My heaviest Les Paul weighs 9 pounds and even that is pretty manageable compared to the 10-13 pound Les Pauls from the 1970s and 1980s.

[Donelson]

I think that some of the clips in this thread challenge the typical ideas about "good jazz guitar tone". Particularly, the Bobby Howe Jazz Blues Bounce clip - the tone is a bit on the thin side for me, but my own experience playing a LPD with rosewood neck indicates that that could be tweaked easily. What I like about Bobby's tone is its clarity and intonation. It is dead clean and right in tune.

I also liked that one. Reminds me of a good tele player. Using the lead PU but getting a fat, non-harsh sound.

[Donelson]

I play chambered Les Pauls that weigh 7 - 7 1/2 pounds, which is as light as some hollowbody jazz guitars.

My two fave jazz boxes, Heritage H575C, & D'Angelico Excel, both weigh the same, 7.6 lbs. Fairly hefty. I rarely use a strap with them, play sitting if I can get away with that.

The LP Traditional, pictured in the OP of this thread, is 9.56 lbs. So, two pounds heavier.

My other three Gibsons, LP Special, SG, & ES LP, are all 6.5 lbs or less.

Two semi-hollows I have, Ibanez & Gretsch, are almost as heavy as the LP. Well over 9 lbs.

I think that once you get to know an axe, the weight or lack thereof has little meaning. For me anyway. You just get used to it, after a while don't even notice.

I use the bass Comfort Strapp on the heavy axes. The long one. I totally recommend that to anyone. Makes a stand up gig very doable with the heavier guitars.

[Stringswinger]

I have owned many Les Pauls and used them for jazz gigs.

I have owned the following Gibson Lesters:

1975 Custom
1978 Deluxe
1979 Standard
1982 Artisan
2002 57 Black Beauty reissue
2017 Studio (my present Lester)


Here are my observations:

For leads and modern comping, they work, for old school rhythm, not so much ( from what I have seen, with a P-90, they can do rhythm OK)

The maple topped ones have a more "ES-175" ish tone (Which I prefer) compared to the Hog topped one that I owned.

They are too heavy as we get older for the most part. My current Lester has the ultra modern weight relief, is under 8 pounds and sounds great for jazz. All of the others that I had weighed between 9 and 11 pounds. At 61 years old, that kind of weight is no longer acceptable. In my 20's an 11 pound guitar was not an issue. Neither was an 85 pound Twin. Today my heaviest amp is 32 pounds and my sub 8 pound Lester is my heaviest guitar.

Perhaps if I make it into my 90's, I'll be playing a baby Taylor through a pignose!

[JGinNJ]

I've tried out the Epi Les paul's, they're a dime a dozen. I have the same problem with them, too small, too heavy. They also have a shorter scale length (like the Joe Pass Emperor), which is manageable but I don't prefer it for some of the chord stuff I work on.

I'm curious about the Ultra III variant, which supposedly is not only hollowed out but has an acoustic pickup- I wonder if it might be capable of getting closer to an archtop tone?

I like the SG, too, for it's weight and neck. But people will think you're a rock & roller if you show up with one.

[Donelson]

I have owned many Les Pauls and used them for jazz gigs.

For leads and modern comping, they work, for old school rhythm, not so much ( from what I have seen, with a P-90, they can do rhythm OK)

They are too heavy as we get older for the most part. At 61 years old, that kind of weight is no longer acceptable. In my 20's an 11 pound guitar was not an issue. Neither was an 85 pound Twin. Today my heaviest amp is 32 pounds and my sub 8 pound Lester is my heaviest guitar.

Excellent reply. I am 60 YO and can relate for sure. Heavy amps, not viable. I have an Ampeg 50 watt tube amp that sounds great, it is a dust collector. Loading that thing in and out, too much work. Maybe for a special situation I would use it live. For several months my amp has been an Acoustic 50 watt bass amp, 1x10, weighs about 30 lbs, louder than I would ever need, ultra fat & clean.

The ES LP pictured at the top of this thread, I have used several times with a traditional big band I play with sometimes. Works great for that IMO, I use the lead PU with the tone on like 2 for 4/4 rhythm for Basie, Sinatra, G. Miller, all that, volume turned down real low. Middle position for regular comping or fills, neck position for lines or blowing. That guitar is barely over 6 lbs. It has a neck angle more like a jazz box, so the strings are a good bit higher off of the body than a regular solidbody LP.

I got the 9.5 lb. LP Traditional a week ago kind of on a lark, it is so beautiful & I got a great deal on it, I had not had a regular LP in decades & sort of craved that sound. I hope that I will make good use of it before I am too old to pick it up.

I never had a full size jazz box until I had been playing for about 10 years, started out with SG & LP, so the small size of these guitars feels like home base to me.

[Greentone]

Only mainstream guy on a Standard I could recall was mid-60s Benson.

[jiepeihuang47]

Anthony Wilson and Diego Figueiredo.

[Donelson]

Anthony Wilson and Diego Figueiredo.

New names to me. Both outstanding players. I found clips on youtube of each of them playing LP standards. Thank you.

[Stbatz]

Don Mock, nice version and sound...

[Stringswinger]

Don Mock, nice version and sound...

Don's Lester is a 50th Anniversary R9, weighs less than 8.5 pounds and sounds great!

Top notch player to be sure.....

[ccroft]

Don's Lester is a 50th Anniversary R9, weighs less than 8.5 pounds and sounds great!

What's not to like about that? Very nice clip indeed!

You 60/61 year old fellas aughta enjoy those 30 lb amps and 9 lb guitars while you still can! It can go downhill pretty darn quick from there. My 30 lb tube amp feels like my ol' Mesa Mark1 100 watt used to feel to me when I was 20.

And my ol' 71 LP custom? Loved the look, feel and sound but sold that when I was about 40. The reason should be pretty obvious. Gigs were long affairs in those days...

[Donelson]

Don Mock, nice version and sound...

Thank you, I forgot about Don Mock. I saw him give a guitar clinic one time, mists of time, maybe when I lived in Boston early 80's. Fantastic player.

[Donelson]

You 60/61 year old fellas aughta enjoy those 30 lb amps and 9 lb guitars while you still can! It can go downhill pretty darn quick from there. My 30 lb tube amp feels like my ol' Mesa Mark1 100 watt used to feel to me when I was 20.

The lightest gigworthy amp I own is a Roland Cube 40xl. Weighs about 20 lbs. I actually have two of them, once in a while I will use them both together, not that often though.

[Donelson]

OP here, I couldn't help myself; just went outside & took these 3 pics of my beauteous new axe. Taken seconds apart out on the carport. No camera trickery or photoshoppery going on, all I did was rotate the guitar stand. The lighting angle reveals different aspects of its look. I am not trying to induce any jazz guitar enthusiasts to get such an axe.

[whiskey02]

If you want what many think of when they hear "LP Standard" what you want is actually a LP Traditional. Don't know exactly when the change was made by Gibson.

[Donelson]

If you want what many think of when they hear "LP Standard" what you want is actually a LP Traditional. Don't know exactly when the change was made by Gibson.

That is just what this guitar is, 2016 Les Paul Traditional. It is more akin in many ways to the original 1958/59/60 LP standards, than the current Gibson LP standard model. Most obvious differences, truss rod cover that says "Traditional", and the Nashville bridge instead of the venerable ABR-1 bridge. I myself actually like the Nashville bridge, much easier to get the right intonation without reversing the saddles.

[Sam Sherry]

John Abercrombie w/ LP Deluxe:

Al DiMeola w/ LP:

Ray Gomez, actual 1959 'burst:

[ESCC]

Lee Ritenour

[grahambop]

Ulf Wakenius plays some kind of Les Paul copy, possibly an Aria.

[Dennis D]

Jack Grassel w/ LP Artisan, live.......

[jameslovestal]

[Donelson]

Lee Ritenour

I hate to seem like some critic. But, I wish the keyboard player had laid out on this tune. What he plays would maybe be OK on some other tune. But he stepped all over the two guitar sound. Doesn't fit at all. IMO.

Ritenour goes at it like a guy on a bar gig that is feelin' it after a few brews! A side of his playing that is new to me.

[Donelson]

Here is a player that I had forgotten about, as far as having been a Les Paul player. Looks like a LP Deluxe in the pic on the back cover. Lorne Lofsky. I came across this record "It Could Happen To You" in a Boston used records store, like 1980-1981. Never heard of him. But I liked the picture with the Les Paul (front cover has an ES175, probably some stock photo) & the tune selection, also on a name label Pablo. So I bought it. Listened to and played along with that LP many times back then. Excellent jazz trio record.