L5S

[rockabilly69]

Very nice, rockabilly69. You've got a pair of real beauties.

Thanks Eldorado! I'm sitting here waiting on the brown truck for the second one to be delivered.

 

[renderit]

Looks like Les' chubby brother. Maybe we should call them More Paul...I love those things. :salude:salude:salude 3 drinks to ya!

 

[Grog]

Mine was just dropped off by the brown truck on the 20th. I wasn't really looking too hard for one, but it was the last of the low impedance models missing from my collection. My wife & I were on a road trip, just outside of Nashville. We stopped in at Gruhn's Guitars to see his new location.............. it kinda happened. The gold on yours looks flawless! mine's sort of rough looking. Most of the low impedance versions I've seen look as bad as mine or worse. Mine doesn't seem overly heavy & I've got some heavy Les Pauls. The frets were changed to normal frets, it passed the 15 second test in 10. I think it's the only low impedance model that is set up to only play in high impedance, what's the point of the low impedance pickups? Only 197 were shipped with these pickups in 1973, changed over to humbuckers sometime in 1974. It's not a Les Paul by a long shot, but I like it for what it is. Time will tell!

 

[rockabilly69]

I think it's the only low impedance model that is set up to only play in high impedance, what's the point of the low impedance pickups? Only 197 were shipped with these pickups in 1973, changed over to humbuckers sometime in 1974. It's not a Les Paul by a long shot, but I like it for what it is. Time will tell!

Congrats on your new guitar, and welcome to the club.

Nice color on that one. Is there any way to use this as a low impedance guitar too? And are the pickups hot enough to get a decent amp cooking, and what do they sound like with a clean boost or overdrive pedal? I've never played one of those so I have no reference to what they are like. Mine aren't like Les Pauls either, they have their own sound which I like. I have my own little test I do, which is to change the strings, set the intonation, and then bring 'em to a gig. I play the whole first set with it. By the end of that set I know what I think of the guitar A little more than 15 seconds, but it works for me. I took the darkburst to it's first gig last night, and the people loved it. I played it clean, and heavily distorted for some slide guitar blues, it sounded great!

 

[rockabilly69]

Looks like Les' chubby brother. Maybe we should call them More Paul...I love those things. :salude:salude:salude 3 drinks to ya!

Professortwang said I should call my two, Fat Helga and Fat Olga No more Chimay for him!

 

[Grog]

Congrats on your new guitar, and welcome to the club.

Nice color on that one. Is there any way to use this as a low impedance guitar too? And are the pickups hot enough to get a decent amp cooking, and what do they sound like with a clean boost or overdrive pedal? I've never played one of those so I have no reference to what they are like. Mine aren't like Les Pauls either, they have their own sound which I like. I have my own little test I do, which is to change the strings, set the intonation, and then bring 'em to a gig. I play the whole first set with it. By the end of that set I know what I think of the guitar A little more than 15 seconds, but it works for me. I took the darkburst to it's first gig last night, and the people loved it. I played it clean, and heavily distorted for some slide guitar blues, it sounded great!

Unlike the Les Paul Recording, it doesn't have a switch to bypass the transformer. It would be easy to unsolder the transformer, but I hate to alter vintage guitars unless they are unplayable.
The pickups seem a little weaker & don't break up as much as humbuckers, but it's not too bad. The sustain seems to last forever. I've heard people describe them as "cold", but I like the different sound.

The chord that was supplied with the first low impedance Les Pauls was rather long, with a transformer in the center. If I used the shortest chord I could get away with, it should be at least as good as using the supplied chord.

 

[Grog]

Reading several reviews and comments, one gripe I read several times was how close the knobs were to each other. After hanging up a Les Paul next to it, I couldn't help but notice how much longer the Les Paul was vs. the L-5S. It measured a full two inches shorter! That explains the tight spaces between the knobs......:##

 

[rockabilly69]

Reading several reviews and comments, one gripe I read several times was how close the knobs were to each other. After hanging up a Les Paul next to it, I couldn't help but notice how much longer the Les Paul was vs. the L-5S. It measured a full two inches shorter! That explains the tight spaces between the knobs......:##

No question about that, after last week's gig with the L5s I found it's a bit harder to adjust the volumes on the fly with that tight spacing! That said, the tone was GREAT!

 

[Professortwang]

Professortwang said I should call my two, Fat Helga and Fat Olga No more Chimay for him!

Hey it's me that supplies the Chimay Spanky. I stick by my original naming of them, I'm sure they have great personalities.

 

[Grog]

Anybody know if the cherry on these models will fade like it did on the cherry burst Les Pauls & some of the '60s SGs? I generally don't leave the goldtops & the cherry guitars out for extended periods of time to avoid fading. I hate to put it back in the case......................

 

[rockabilly69]

Anybody know if the cherry on these models will fade like it did on the cherry burst Les Pauls & some of the '60s SGs? I generally don't leave the goldtops & the cherry guitars out for extended periods of time to avoid fading. I hate to put it back in the case......................

There was a guy here on this forum that faded his 70's Cherry Sunburst in the sun so I guess it will.

 

[nawainwright]

Just picked up a project L5S today! Not looking for one, but for the price, I couldn't pass it up. Back Shellacking in the 80's, pots redone in 87, non-original tuning pegs, but I only paid $650 for it... SO WHO CAN COMPLAIN?!?!

I personally LOVE the tone. Neck is comfortable and mine is in the 9lb range. 3 piece flamed maple top. You can tell by the neck that it was the Cherry burst.

 

[BURSTGANG]

Here is my former 1978 Gibson L-5S Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay played.

You got a deal on the L-5S at only $600.00 or should I put it another way................ SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BURSTGANG]

Here is a L5-S in White..............yeah it was a refinished player looked cool though and it still sold for over 2K.

 

[BURSTGANG]

Small pics here but you can see the stunning maple on this L-5S................I have never seen another with maple like this one had.

 

[rockabilly69]

Just picked up a project L5S today! Not looking for one, but for the price, I couldn't pass it up. Back Shellacking in the 80's, pots redone in 87, non-original tuning pegs, but I only paid $650 for it... SO WHO CAN COMPLAIN?!?!

I personally LOVE the tone. Neck is comfortable and mine is in the 9lb range. 3 piece flamed maple top. You can tell by the neck that it was the Cherry burst.

I chased the perfect L5s for over 6 years, and when I found one, I found another just two days later, so I bought that one two. I love them! Congrats on your score. Take your time and really bring that one back to it's former glory.

I just recorded one of mine (1978 TP6 tailipiece model) on a new song, I used it on the fingerpicked electric guitar parts and steel like fills, the slide is a 2014 Historic Goldtop... https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1/a-call-away

 

[Tom Wittrock]

There was a nice one in natural, with humbuckers at the Dallas show last weekend.

 

[rockabilly69]

There was a nice one in natural, with humbuckers at the Dallas show last weekend.

I saw this one from Texas on ebay, wonder if it's the same one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Cust...297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4db8f3b9

 

[Tom Wittrock]

I saw this one from Texas on ebay, wonder if it's the same one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Cust...297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4db8f3b9

I don't know, but the seller at Dallas [with a booth] was from Kansas.

 

[Michael Patrick]

Dave's has one, they are asking $1250.