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NGD: 2013 Gibson Les Paul Traditional


Dana_V

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It’s a bit of a long story, but I am now the owner of this 2013 Gibson Les Paul Traditional in Chicago Blue.

The only thing that separates this guitar from “mint” is the previous owner had Guitar Center install Schaller strap locks before he brought it home. There are no marks or scratches; he never even changed the strings. The receipt from Guitar Center is still in the case.

I swapped out the Schallers for Dunlops (none of my guitars leave the house without Dunlop Straploks), put a new set of strings on it and found an appropriate Couch strap. I still need to put it on the strobe tuner and check the intonation, but I’ll take care of that soon enough.

The neck feels just a shade thinner and the frets are a little smoother than my 2014 Trad, both of which are good things.

01 2013 LP

 

02 2013 LP

 

07 2013 LP

 

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15 minutes ago, crunchee said:

Nice!  Blue guitars sound better, so I've been told.  What's the weight like on these Trads?

BTW, is that strap safe around a nitrocelluose finish?  I've seen vinyl turn a nitrocelluose finish into goo before.

Yes, I believe it's an established fact that blue guitars sound better. 😏

I haven't weighed it, but I would say it's about what you would expect from a non-weight-relieved LP. Lighter than a Norlin-era boat anchor, but heavier than one of those Swiss-cheese LPs Gibson had been passing off as Standards for a while.

As for the strap, I'm not really sure. I've used Couch straps for about a decade now and never had any problems, but all my guitars are stored in the case with the strap removed and stored in the case pocket. And since the strap locks hold the strap slightly away from the guitar when it's being played, there's never really that much direct strap-to-finish contact.

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1 hour ago, Dana_V said:

As for the strap, I'm not really sure. I've used Couch straps for about a decade now and never had any problems, but all my guitars are stored in the case with the strap removed and stored in the case pocket. And since the strap locks hold the strap slightly away from the guitar when it's being played, there's never really that much direct strap-to-finish contact.

You still might want to be cautious with that strap around a nitrocelluose finish.  Vinyl can be hazardous to a nitro finish, I once had an old early '60's nitro-finished USA Harmony guitar that had been stored by a previous owner in an old brown Ovation case...the nitro on a small area of the guitar neck reacted with the small vinyl pull tab of the storage compartment in the case, and turned an area on the back of the neck located closest to the pull tab (where the guitar had been stored in the case) into goo--and it wasn't even touching the neck, but was located about 1/4-3/8" under the neck, while in the case.  Apparently, vinyl 'outgasses' (see Ron Kirn's statements on the TDPRI forum excerpt below).  I've also seen old finish scars on vintage nitro-finished guitars, where a vinyl-covered 'curly cord' came into contact with the finish, leaving a series of / / / / / marks on the guitar.

I checked out the Couch website about what they had to say about their straps being around a nitro finish...this is what they wrote in their 'FAQ' section, also throwing in (or down) about how other things can affect a nitro finish as well as very briefly mentioning their vinyl straps <_<:rolleyes::

Quote from the Couch Strap website FAQ section:

"How will your vinyl straps affect the finish on my guitar?
At Couch we have made and sold 1000's of straps in the last 10 years that have accompanied countless happy guitar finishes around the world trouble free. This includes our own beloved Rickenbacker 330 and 90's American Fender Telescaster that have been using Couch Guitar Straps since 1999 and are in great shape. In fact, the only finish damage we report is on the necks from our hand playing it so much, that's the point right? Rock! Today most factory made guitars are made with a variety of polyurethane finishes which tend to be long lasting and safe from leather and vinyl guitar straps.

However, some vintage, small custom shop, and Gibson Guitars have a finish that uses  a nitro-cellulose lacquer finish. According to Gibson.com and Matheasguitars.com, these guitar finsihes can be highly sensitive to a variety of everday things including leather straps, sweat, cologne, alcohol,  guitar stands and certain nylon and vinyl straps. Know your guitar finish. If you have a"nitro" finish you should know to take extra care of it on all counts including your strap- store it in it's case, do not dowse it with Brut or English Leather, do not store it on a guitar stand or wall mount, don't pour beer or sweat on it (this can be a problem) and generally store it without any strap vinyl or leather, Couch or any other strap maker attached to  it for extended periods of time and you should be fine."

https://www.couchguitarstraps.com/faq-page#straps_affect

Ron Kirn mentioned in a TDPRI forum post, from a couple of years ago, why he's not a fan of anything vinyl around a nitro finish:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/recommend-me-a-nitro-friendly-strap.698675/

In the end, the choice to use a vinyl strap or not around a nitro finish (including storing it in the case pocket) is yours.

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36 minutes ago, crunchee said:

You still might want to be cautious with that strap around a nitrocelluose finish.  Vinyl can be hazardous to a nitro finish, I once had an old early '60's nitro-finished USA Harmony guitar that had been stored by a previous owner in an old brown Ovation case...the nitro on a small area of the guitar neck reacted with the small vinyl pull tab of the storage compartment in the case, and turned an area on the back of the neck located closest to the pull tab (where the guitar had been stored in the case) into goo--and it wasn't even touching the neck, but was located about 1/4-3/8" under the neck, while in the case.  Apparently, vinyl 'outgasses' (see Ron Kirn's statements on the TDPRI forum excerpt below).  I've also seen old finish scars on vintage nitro-finished guitars, where a vinyl-covered 'curly cord' came into contact with the finish, leaving a series of / / / / / marks on the guitar.

I checked out the Couch website about what they had to say about their straps being around a nitro finish...this is what they wrote in their 'FAQ' section, also throwing in (or down) about how other things can affect a nitro finish as well as very briefly mentioning their vinyl straps <_<:rolleyes::

Quote from the Couch Strap website FAQ section:

"How will your vinyl straps affect the finish on my guitar?
At Couch we have made and sold 1000's of straps in the last 10 years that have accompanied countless happy guitar finishes around the world trouble free. This includes our own beloved Rickenbacker 330 and 90's American Fender Telecaster that have been using Couch Guitar Straps since 1999 and are in great shape. In fact, the only finish damage we report is on the necks from our hand playing it so much, that's the point right? Rock! Today most factory made guitars are made with a variety of polyurethane finishes which tend to be long lasting and safe from leather and vinyl guitar straps.

However, some vintage, small custom shop, and Gibson Guitars have a finish that uses  a nitro-cellulose lacquer finish. According to Gibson.com and Matheasguitars.com, these guitar finsihes can be highly sensitive to a variety of everyday things including leather straps, sweat, cologne, alcohol,  guitar stands and certain nylon and vinyl straps. Know your guitar finish. If you have a"nitro" finish you should know to take extra care of it on all counts including your strap- store it in it's case, do not dowse it with Brut or English Leather, do not store it on a guitar stand or wall mount, don't pour beer or sweat on it (this can be a problem) and generally store it without any strap vinyl or leather, Couch or any other strap maker attached to  it for extended periods of time and you should be fine."

https://www.couchguitarstraps.com/faq-page#straps_affect

Ron Kirn mentioned in a TDPRI forum post, from a couple of years ago, why he's not a fan of anything vinyl around a nitro finish:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/recommend-me-a-nitro-friendly-strap.698675/

In the end, the choice to use a vinyl strap or not around a nitro finish (including storing it in the case pocket) is yours.

Yes, I read that on the Couch site too. About all I can do is continue to be careful and keep the strap from continuous contact with the finish. So far - knock on wood - I've never had a finish damaged by a strap.

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Beauty LP, Dana. Very pretty (but not TOO pretty...) finish. 

I have many Couch straps (vinyl and woven), and have never had a problem with Urelac/nitro/poly finishes. I also follow the advice on Couch’s site, no issues so far. 

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Beautiful guitar,  lovely colour.  I  too have a preferrence for the non-chambered variety.  I bought a 1960 re-issue Gold Top  once (except it was gold all over, not just the top) and that had been chambered. I didn't keep it, it played fine but it didn't feel right in some indiscernible way, the missing weight made it feel like it was some kind of a replica.  The fully solid ones feel far better to me.  Your guitar looks like it's in beautiful condition, very nice indeed.

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That is a gorgeous Les Paul! Wow!

I DID have the tab vinyl end of a Couch strap react badly with an MJT Telemaster body right at the rear strap pin. I simply forgot it was nitro, ordered a cool Couch strap, played it hard for hours one day and laid it in an open case with the strap attached and the tab end laying against the body while attached to the end pin. It laid like that overnight. The vinyl and nitro kinda Melted together and I had a blackish smeary mess which thankfully dried and most of it rubbed off,  ur marred the finish quite badly.  I love Couch straps but will never again use vinyl on a nitro finish. Tung oil, Poly, urethane,  & Hamer/SHISHKOV urelac is fine with anything it seems IME. 

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On 10/21/2019 at 2:51 PM, Funky Chicken said:

I've got a 2013 Traditional that is a bit of a beater... Perfect LP for someone who feels like they need to have an LP but aren't diehard fans.

A 2005 or older Classic fills that particular niche as well. My older Classic helped develop my yearning for that "special" Historic/R9 -- something I often entertain yet haven't followed through with.

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On 10/22/2019 at 3:30 AM, Mr. Dave said:

Beautiful guitar,  lovely colour.  I  too have a preferrence for the non-chambered variety.  I bought a 1960 re-issue Gold Top  once (except it was gold all over, not just the top) and that had been chambered. I didn't keep it, it played fine but it didn't feel right in some indiscernible way, the missing weight made it feel like it was some kind of a replica.  The fully solid ones feel far better to me.  Your guitar looks like it's in beautiful condition, very nice indeed.

Yes, to me a Les Paul doesn't necessarily need to weigh as much as a small car like they did in the '70s, but it should have some heft to it.

I get it that some people (like Billy Gibbons, for instance) like the weight-relieved/chambered ones, but I've picked up a few of them and it just feels...weird.

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Funnily enough I'd been reading an article about Billy Gibbons and his gear as I'm a fan of his too and was really surprised to read that one or two of his 'live' guitars are almost fully hollowed out!   Also the same article was saying he uses a Marshall JMP-1 valve preamp in his live rig.  I had one of these when they were new & shiny in the early '90s and I bought another just over a month ago, I can't praise them enough, they're capable of so much.  I was very surprised to see he uses either '7' or '8' string sets, I'd never have believed it possible to get a good sound with such light strings, but then I'm not Billy.  Still love your Les Paul btw it's a thing of beauty.  I've owned a few Gibsons in the past, a Cherry then a Blonde ES335,  and 2 Les Pauls, a '70's Custom and the 1960 reissue. The Custom was great, the 1960 a bit meh.  Soon after I was bitten by the Hamer bug so I have a Chaparral and an Archtop.  If I could afford more guitars a Les Paul would be right at the top of the list! I like the look of the 'DC' models too, I'd certainly like to try one out, at least.

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The guitars a beaut of course, I love most Les Pauls, but is all that your garden/land under the verandah?  I'd love to live in a rural U.S. setting, you have SO much more space over there!  I live right by the sea in Wales over here and only have to drive inland for 5 minutes to be in the countryside but it's not like the USA and the weather here is going to be really dismal now until around next April; some of the storms that come in off the Irish Sea in the Winter are real howlers, oh whoopee, I can barely wait..

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Here are my Les Pauls.. But now that I have seen your Blue one I want one that same color.. It really looks great..!

                                      Axcess ---------------------------------------------------------------------------  R9  ------------------------------------------------------------- -   Standard

 

3 Amigos.jpg

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On 10/23/2019 at 3:19 PM, Mr. Dave said:

Funnily enough I'd been reading an article about Billy Gibbons and his gear as I'm a fan of his too and was really surprised to read that one or two of his 'live' guitars are almost fully hollowed out!   Also the same article was saying he uses a Marshall JMP-1 valve preamp in his live rig.  I had one of these when they were new & shiny in the early '90s and I bought another just over a month ago, I can't praise them enough, they're capable of so much.  I was very surprised to see he uses either '7' or '8' string sets, I'd never have believed it possible to get a good sound with such light strings, but then I'm not Billy. 

I'd take whatever the Rev. says about his gear with many grains of salt. He and EVH are both notorious for, well, lying their asses off when it comes to what they play. Just sayin'...

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22 minutes ago, RobB said:

I'd take whatever the Rev. says about his gear with many grains of salt. He and EVH are both notorious for, well, lying their asses off when it comes to what they play. Just sayin'...

True, dat.  However, his guitar tech did confirm that he uses mostly 7's and occasionally 8's.

When those Traditionals in Chicago Blue came out, I was pretty sure I was gonna die if I didn't get one.  At the time, though, I was very concerned about dying from completely different causes and guitar acquisition just wasn't in the treatment plan.

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