Gibson: Les Paul Jr Special... DiMarzio-ed

My Les Paul Jr Special is now housing a pair of DiMarzios: Humbucker from Hell (N) & Tone Zone (B).

Humbucker from Hell- one of my preferred DiMarzios in the neck position, great clarity for both clean & driven tones. It has this crisp upper end that doesn't sound wimpy. That clean- it's a good clean but not leaning towards the vintage type so it's a preferred clean indeed.

The Tone Zone isn't my thing- I've had it in many guitars before, it just doesn't appeal to me. I've decided to just have it here, no matter how repulsive it sounds to me because I acknowledge the fact that the TZ is a worthy pickup for distortion inclined applications, it's just not singing my tune. So it's my job to struggle & make it sound at least acceptable to me, so this way, I learn something new every time :-) A little sado-masochistic but it does me good.

Superb wiring courtesy of Beez!

Gibson: Les Paul Jr Special (3)

Well, what do we have here? Another Gibson anomaly? That's right, you are looking at the control cavity screw shaft. It wasn't drilled down but diagonally hence penetrating the side wall. Nothing was done about it & the guitar went on for sale. I'm still referring to my Gibson Les Paul Jr Special & it seems that there is a possibility of discovering a new oversight every time I take a closer look at this instrument.

Gibson: Les Paul Jr Special (2)

Some friends looked at my previous Les Paul Jr Special strap button pic & wondered what was actually wrong. I believe this would show you why the strap button on the right is a defect; a properly installed strap button should have some leeway for the strap material like the one on the left. These buttons are from the same guitar, one at the neck vicinity (L), the other at the tail end (R).

As my guitar isn't a priceless vintage make & it wasn't destroyed by any airline baggage handling staff, I don't think I deserve any special treatments, right?

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Button issue

Let's get this straight; this isn't a campaign to bring down any manufacturer brand name but it's a necessary highlight. At the end of it all, I'm alright with the anomaly as I value the instrument in whole more than the fault in part.

My recently received Gibson Les Paul Jr Special is an impressive guitar but one of its strap buttons seems to be the blight to perfection. As you can see here, the button caved into its cavity rendering it useless as hardly any strap material could reside in that space. But hey, this is easily fixed- just replace this puny button with a larger counterpart, especially one with a bigger screw diameter. No sweat.

But the real issue here is, how did this accident get past the Gibson QC chaps? We could all agree to the fact that a name like 'Gibson' would have paid more attention in this department, we all have very high expectations from Gibson, don't we? Maybe models in a certain offering don't get that much scrutiny in terms of QC, hope it's not the case with Gibson.

Gibson: Les Paul Junior Special

The other Gibson in one of those boxes is my Les Paul Jr Special, humbucker version. I would say it's one of the least attractive Les Pauls in the manufacturer's catalog with no additional cap for the body & sporting a flat make. However, the neck binding there is a welcomed opulence; it's a bonus of sorts but this didn't make this guitar an upper tier consideration.

OK so those 490R/498T are very vintage inclined. If you wish for some warm crunch in the drive settings as well as a creamy, rounded neck voicing, these humbuckers are appealing. For someone like me, these pickups have to go, they are respectable but not my thing.

Be informed that the fretboard here is still the manufacturer's 'baked maple' version (since it's a 2012 model) which I do not mind at all. I have no particular reverence for a rosewood fretboard when it comes to Les Pauls (yes, it's sacrilegious), I'm game as long as it's superb in its entirety.

So there we have it, a new guitar for 2013. It's arguably a plain, boring Gibson but I'm one who tread the path of less appeal. At the end of the day, it's about ear candy & feel, aesthetics is an extravagant subject over a cup of tea.