Decent copies of Gibson Les Paul

I'm sure the electronics on the Gibson are top notch and you won't have issues. I think the boost circuit is more of an on board preamp rather than an active pickup setup.

I'm sure the electronics on the Gibson are top notch and you won't have issues. I think the boost circuit is more of an on board preamp rather than an active pickup setup.
That's exactly what it is. I don't share the confidence just because of the string of probs I had with their lower priced division, but it is just a little circuit board. Adjustable, too. Rather noisy, but I have solution for that.

I can't remember the exact pickups that are on mine, but it had some sort of classic name everyone's heard before. That classic tone iss there, dripping by the bucket.

My Les Pauls all have 490R and 498T pickups. The SGJ has a 490R and 490T. Not as hot of a bridge pickup but I deal.

Are yours the Burstbuckers Roy?

My Les Pauls all have 490R and 498T pickups. The SGJ has a 490R and 490T. Not as hot of a bridge pickup but I deal.

Are yours the Burstbuckers Roy?
Are yours by choice or by coincidence? I remember one time you were talking about them...or someone was. Mine were what they were because they made my Fender Blues Deluxe RI sound even better than it did when I test drove them in a quiet-ish room at GC.

A variation of PAF's. I'm not 100% sure if they are considered PAFs or if they are considered something else on their own. The current marketing blurb on the GC site says "Super 57" and "57 Classic".

To the OP, if you've not forsaken us for topics truer to your original post, Epiphone put their version of the PAFs in at least one of the guitars I had. The ES-339. I don't play a lot of heavy stuff, but I did enjoy the tones quite a bit otherwise.

Well Roy, both. :lol: They happened to be on my Studio and I liked them. I believe the 498T is their hottest stock pickup. I like hot. Definitely garden variety Gibson but I like them.

Oh, on a different but related note. I'm working with a travel nurse. Tells me her nephew plays guitar. Says he is good and does it for a living. Blues musician. Told me a guitar company made a guitar special for him. Looks it up on the internet, says she thinks it's a Guild. I' m like, noooooooo that's a Gibson Les Paul. A Joe Bonamasa model. She says, yeah, that's Joe's name. OK, so I'm working with the aunt of a guitar god. Cool!

Well Roy, both. :lol: They happened to be on my Studio and I liked them. I believe the 498T is their hottest stock pickup. I like hot. Definitely garden variety Gibson but I like them.

Oh, on a different but related note. I'm working with a travel nurse. Tells me her nephew plays guitar. Says he is good and does it for a living. Blues musician. Told me a guitar company made a guitar special for him. Looks it up on the internet, says she thinks it's a Guild. I' m like, noooooooo that's a Gibson Les Paul. A Joe Bonamasa model. She says, yeah, that's Joe's name. OK, so I'm working with the aunt of a guitar god. Cool!

Well that's cool. Not that unexpected in your area. He is from CNY.

Japanese lawsuit copies seem to have the most consistent quality of all the Les Paul models that cost around £1000. Look for used Tokai, Burny, Greco and Edwards. You could also get a Gibson Studio for this price, but they seem not to be as consistent in quality. But if you have time to find a good one it's an idea.

When I bought my Les Paul I tried a lot of different brands including Gibson but only the Edwards had the right feel. Had never heard of the brand but still paid close to £1000 just because how it felt and sounded. So, my point is that Tokai was probably an awesome guitar and if a guitar feels good it might be wise to consider a purchase because it's not very often a guitar feels completely right.

I have a hard time finding good quality Les Paul's for less than £900, because then there is usually corners cut somewhere to reduce cost. Most often with the electronics. But it could be worth it to buy a cheaper Les Paul that plays great and change pickups in it. I think how the guitar feels (when setup) is the most important. It's easier to change the sound with pickups, pedals and amp than the feel of the guitar.

I really appreciate all this, because sooner or later I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new LP copy, which at any price will hurt because I may retired (nice way of saying long term unemployed) for a long time. But a copy certainly will hurt the wallet less than replacing what I have. I have a very sweet 72 les Paul Deluxe ( the smaller humbucker pickups), and over time I've added coil taps (to go to single coil), phase switching, and have learned to do my own fret leveling. That last item is important, because I actually bought it in '72, and there's no getting around needing to do it at least every 10 years, despite the fact that the frets seem to wear pretty slowly. But you know, Gibson frets are already low profile, and after 4 fret levelings I'm pretty much out of fret to file (LOL!), and I won't be able to do it again next time. I've also heard re-fretting is going to be a difficult task, even for a seasoned pro. Besides the inlays on each fretboard edge, there's the fact that the ebony wood is old, and it will be difficult to remove the old frets without damage and splits.

But I'm digressing here. Bottom line, the best thing I think would be to keep the guitar for home use and recording or special gigs, and get something new and cheap for everyday use. For sure, even cheap guitars all seem to be being made with much better necks these days, though they don't get the individual attention and usually need some fret leveling anyway. But at least something like an Epi-les Paul will already have the pickup split and phasing switches. Plus, if there's some awful mishap at a gig (or even a theft), I won't be crying as hard as I would if the 72 Paul disappeared!