Emerging Standards

I'm pretty sure you know this happened a few days ago- Gibson finally released their Juszkiewicz-free 2019 models. That's right, it's a little confusing. Let's be clear that the 2019 models that appeared at the start of 2019 were the Juszkiewicz 2018 leftovers. What happened was that the 2019 models were announced around August 2018. The manufacturer already had those in production & they were obliged to be released. Curleigh, the new CEO, waited till Fall 2019 to announce the manifestations under his helm & those were listed over at the Gibson homepage which was re-vamped to accommodate this debut.

On everyone's anxiety list was the Les Paul Standard, the very flag-bearer of all things Gibson. As promised, the manufacturer delivered a back-to-goodness manifestation of the guitar to some very grateful devotees. I'm not a Gibson fan but I'm grateful that it happened because it means that it's worth considering the Gibsons again. My Gibson journey started with a no-purchase  after being under-whelmed by a '57 reissue. On that fateful day, I paid good money for a PRS McCarty instead which was of course worth every cent- no regrets. 

Do note that the major return-to-form feature of the LP Standard is its non-chambered body. It would mean a lot to folks in their golden age because the typical LP Standard is a whopping 4.5kg on average. That's gonna be pretty taxing for those of us who play standing up for the money. If you have plans to ditch your current weight-relieved version for the new model, please re-consider. Maybe turn it into your No. 2 so that you could have a breather in between numbers. I've handled both versions & of the opinion that the difference matters.

Also included in this consideration are the PCB-free circuitry & a wonderful capacitor to begin with. From the factory, they are strung with a set of standard 10s as opposed to the current practice of 9 - 46. 

Saving the best for last- the price. This generation of LP Standards retails for USD2,499. What's so benevolent about paying that much for one? The current exchange rates would tell you that it'll probably be listed for SGD3.4K +/- here, a far cry from the 2019 LP Standard listing for SGD4,599 in the mean time. I'm definitely checking one out for throwback's sake- maybe this time I'll end up buying instead of walking away. 

Top to Bottom: LP Standard 50s (Cherry Sunburst)/ LP Standard 60s (Unburst) 😙