How’s that for an attention grabber? It’s no secret that Gibson is NOT a company that is hip to the cutting edge of today’s musicians or musical styles, but I think at this point they might be trying to ignore physics as well.
This isn’t to say Gibson has made NO innovations – they now put all their guitars on the PLEK, a laser guided fret leveling machine that makes for serious playability. The problem is when they THINK they’re making a leap forward, but are actually woefully out of touch. Case in point- they are making the Min-E-Tune motorized tuners (now rebranded as G-Force) standard on almost ALL Gibson guitars, while casually raising prices 29%. Like we wouldn’t notice that they went up almost a THIRD! They’re “innovating” in all the wrong areas, because really, there’s nothing that needs to change.
A Les Paul is a classic. A classic is something that withstands the test of time, always does what it’s supposed to do, which is always something great, no matter where or when it is. A classic doesn’t have to change, because it has been around so long that the world has been built around it, and its familiarity makes it hard to imagine a world without it. But a classic is generally also a one trick pony, and modernizing one generally falls flat, because recreating the magic basically never works. Case in point, most movie/TV show remakes (Battlestar notwithstanding).
And now this. Thomann.de just listed a Les Paul 7 string for sale for €2,190 ($2764). This isn’t the first 7 string Les Paul ever, Epiphone makes a couple (including a Matt Heafy signature) and they all suffer from the same problem: 24.75″ scale length. If you don’t have a strong understanding of scale length, I suggest you read up on it, because there are few things that affect the intonation and feel of a guitar as strongly. And I can tell you this for certain: trying to get a low B string on even a standard 25.5 inch scale length is a nightmare, and 24.75 inches is nowhere near enough to hold the kind of tension you need for it to sound good. 24.75 is barely long enough to keep tension on your low E string, and the feel of it will be far slinkier than a Strat scale. It does play a role in the way a LP sounds, and can have a fatter sound because of the decreased tension, but you’ll have intonation nightmares quicker than you can say Saul Hudson if you try to tune below Eb.
Gibson even makes a 28″ baritone Les Paul with a suggested tuning of B standard. Because they KNOW that a guitar needs more scale to hold a tuning like that. Hence why I suggested they were ignoring physics: they know how it works, but they don’t care.
The type of people who buy Les Pauls are traditionalists. They want the safety of a classic. They don’t want a robot to tune their guitar, they still have a pitch pipe that works just fine and doesn’t need batteries. They want a solid tone machine that can be heard on thousands of hit rock records and has a familiar sound. They sure as SHIT don’t want another string. Anyone with $2700 to spend on a high end 7 string these days has an enormous selection of custom, semi-custom, mulitscale, baritone, 7 strings in any color you can imagine, and any-color-as-long-as-it’s-black mentalities like Gibson don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell.
Gibson makes great guitars. They have something that flavor-of-the-week ERG luthiers won’t get for another hundred years: legacy. They built the first electric guitar ever, and perfected it soon after. Whether or not you think they got it right, the sound and the look have been hammered so deep into our subconscious that we love it whether it’s better or not. I think Gibson is ignoring that fact and needs to realize that nobody wants Reload, we want another Master of Puppets, and they’ll sell way more if they just keep on truckin’ with that old familiar axe. Nobody wants to see Grandpa try and write Pokemon plotlines, we want to hear old war stories from a simpler time.
I don’t think this is going to be a good year for Gibson. I think that’s good, because they will be forced to rethink their plan, and realize that they sell Dad guitars, and get back to their roots. They’ve lost their identity, but I think they can get it back, and I hope they do.
I Shot J.R / October 10, 2014 8:27 pm
“They built the first electric guitar ever”.
That’s just not true, they didn’t even do the first solid-body electric guitar.
And peeps have been tuning to B and lower on 24.75″ and 25.5″ scale guitars for decades.
Get it together Trey.
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Trey Xavier / Author / October 10, 2014 8:39 pm
1. Sorry, I meant Les Paul made the first solid-body electric guitar, close damn enough.
2. THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT RIGHT! (or sound good)
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Darth Nihilus / July 28, 2017 5:20 am
I own three Les Pauls and all three are tuned to B standard with 11 to 48 strings. Stays in tune just fine
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Forkler616 / October 10, 2014 8:36 pm
Achieving good intonation on a B standard tuned 25.5″ guitar sucks. I doubt it’s possible on a 24.75″ scale. I hope you only want to play 2 or 3 frets on this bad boy, because that’s all that is going to be intonated!
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wat / October 10, 2014 11:05 pm
That’s just incorrect. Many bands tune 6 string Les Pauls down to B and even A and sound awesome so there is no reason it would be any different on a 7 string.
The fact of the matter is, the issue of the scale length isn’t an issue to begin with and this article is just going along with the current fad of longer scale 7 strings.
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Orlly? / October 11, 2014 5:34 pm
Why don’t you tell that to Nile….they tune 24.75″ scale guitars down to Drop A with 9s on them. (Or at least Karl did on the albums up to and including In Their Darkened Shrines).
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John / October 13, 2014 9:16 pm
Karl plays with a 70 on the lowest string. Dont make it sound like he is using tiny strings to make you sound right.
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Guestguestington / October 10, 2014 10:09 pm
They COME intonated on 6 strings, adding another low string only requires the saddle to be moved a few mm back or so… WTF have you been smoking-
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wat / October 10, 2014 11:13 pm
Total BS article. Les Pauls sound great in B and even A tuning so there is no reason it would be different with a 7 string.
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Seriuosly bro? / October 11, 2014 3:10 am
Intonation nightmare? Why don’t you try one first before you recklessly crap all over it? I own 3 of the Epiphone version – one Matt Heafy and two of the original from around 2000 (i think). They play like a dream. Super close action and no fret buzz, my strings are .10 to .60 and I tune a half step down. I have plenty of tension and the strings intonate perfectly. I would only recommend changing the pickups in the original version as they are SO warm that your tone will be very muddy (IF you’re a metal player, that is, otherwise the cleans are straight up dreamy). Seriously man, don’t go posting uselessly negative stuff like this until you’ve actually played the instrument. Reasonable enough? You actually get paid to do this???
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xxx128 / October 11, 2014 9:27 am
Same shit every year a multitude of les pauls hit the market. Cant blame them really they seem to sell. But still i would appreciate an explorer without a pickguard so much more.
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everdying / October 11, 2014 3:03 pm
see, you’re correct assuming that people use super light strings. all you have to do is put heavier strings on it and it’s really not that big of a deal. i play a 27″ scale and it’s great for me for soloing because of the extra room in between the frets. i played 6 and 7 string 25.5″ guitars for the last 15 years tuned anywhere from E standard down to A and never had a problem, i just got thicker strings if i was going to tune down lower it’s not rocket science
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funeraldoombuggy / October 11, 2014 3:03 pm
“Dad guitars”? WTF? Just because it’s classic doesn’t mean it’s only for old farts… I see folks of all ages and genres playing Gibsons. This article is full of shit! Carcass and Amon Amarth are two of the biggest metal bands and tune down using Gibsons.
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resistor / October 11, 2014 6:04 pm
talk about stereotyping a Les Paul owner, far out.
Ive been tuning down to B for 25 years, never had an issue using the right strings.
Out of all my guitars, the LP is my favourite, purely for the tone. Nothing beats a PAF pick up for heavy crunch. For me personally, for recording, nothing beats it. The only way this 7 string version would interest me is if it had a standard PAF pick up….without that, its just gonna sound like any other guitar, not a Les Paul IMO.
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Scott / October 11, 2014 6:55 pm
Given that – as you mentioned yourself – Gibson already sells a 24.75″-scale 7 string under the Epiphone brand, maybe they have a better idea of the potential market for a real-deal Gibson LP7 than you do. Just a thought.
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Scott / October 11, 2014 6:58 pm
Also, every doom band ever called, and would like to dispute your argument that LPs don’t intonate properly tuned lower than Eb.
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Kelly Cook / October 11, 2014 11:08 pm
Intonation stuff aside (I can get a 24.75 scale guitar comfortably down to A with some heavy duty strings), I agree wholeheartedly with the author that Gibson doesn’t stand a chance in the 7 string market at that price. For $2700 there are plenty of guitars one could choose from. I’m a Les Paul fan, don’t get me wrong, they’re super rad guitars, but Gibson has been taking some steps in the wrong direction lately. Their chambered LPs for 5 grand + don’t hold a candle to let’s say a PRS SC245 or something. But hey, that’s just me! I’d have to get my hands on one to really see what’s up. I could very well be pleasantly surprised.
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Zeus / October 14, 2014 10:23 am
I agree, if the author had wanted to go the price route, I’d be on board. But intonation issues make absolutely no sense. As far as price, $2700 is insane, but is par for the course on les paul’s these days. For that price you could get an esp e-II eclipse and have about a grand left over, or get something in the Ibanez premium line and have 1500 extra. And that’s not even considering the numerous models that Schecter, Ibanez, hell even PRS (SE custom 24) have under 1K for a 7. I think the Gibson 7 is sick looking, but I can’t justify 3k for a guitar (or amp for that matter, so I play Bugera).
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m/ / October 12, 2014 8:21 pm
Do you even play guitar, bro?
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bostjan / October 16, 2014 4:30 pm
1. The first production electric was a Rickenbacker, which sold in department stores a number of years before Gibson introduced the Es-150 (its first production electric guitar)
2. Although physics shows us that it is easier to intonate a longer scale string (and the longer string provides a more harmonic frequency spectrum of overtones), the idea that 24 3/4″ is impossible to intonate below Eb is ridiculous.
3. Gibson should get an F for effort. They are trying to innovate: robot guitars, the failbird x, ethernet-equipped guitars, and countless other oddities. Unfortunately, most of these “new” ideas are just novelties in the eyes of most working guitarists. The company taglines, such as “OInly a Gibson is good enough,” show exactly what the company is all about – name recognition. After working for some time as a guitar tech, I can say that Gibson guitars are generally not bad, but their quality control is no better than Ibanez or Schecter, and their guitars cost sometimes five times as much. Your article’s statement about serious guitar players being able to purchase a much better seven string for the money also follows for any other Gibson instrument.
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bro do you even play ? / October 17, 2014 8:58 pm
I can name a ton of players rocking LP’s,SG’s, ECLIPSE’s and other models on 24.75 scale even lower tuning with great tone. Zakk Wylde ring a bell? this article fails heavy man, sorry.
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Thomas Paul Telles II / November 3, 2014 7:05 am
What we really need is another 7 string super strat with EMGs painted flat black.
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Jim of VividPeace / May 11, 2015 11:38 pm
I’ve read lots of different comments on the InterWebs about the LP 7… I must say that as a person who not only owns and enjoys the Baritone, the 7 is wonderful. I use it in recordings whenever I need something with lots of meat in the sound but not quite all the way down into the world of basses.
I wrote a quick review about it here:
http://theguitarreview.com/2014/12/30/a-quick-review-about-the-new-gibson-les-paul-classic-7-string-electric-guitar/
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James / March 14, 2016 12:00 pm
I think the fact that most sludge metal bands tune to B or even drop A, and the Les Paul is the most popular guitar with that genre would argue that there is definitely a place for seriously down-tuned Les Pauls. The problem isn’t with the low end, it’s with the high end. I play sludge. I don’t need the higher string for the additional range and I absolutely don’t need it for ease of scale runs, because it’s pretty rare I’m gonna need to play that fast.
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Juan Cordoba / October 27, 2016 12:06 pm
I don’t know man, I’ve been a 7-strings guy since early 2000s and I’ve been playing the Matt Heafy LP 7-strings for a year now, with 13-74 gauge strings and tuned down a whole step and it plays like a dream, I own a couple of 7-strings Schecter and Ibanez and they don’t come even close to the Epiphone sound and playabiliity, so I’m guessing that a Gibson 7-strings whether it is a LP, SG or Explorer it has to be an even better play, not to say Gibson is going to surpass a Mayones or a Kiesel in the 7-strings game. I’m also kind of getting the vibe that the person who wrote this piece hasn’t played a Gibson/Epiphone 7-strings guitar, just sayin’, you should try it out first.
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Randy Gibbons / March 14, 2017 9:04 pm
I’d like one. If not that, another seven-string that’s NOT designed with a low B in mind. So their announcement is good news to me.
As others have noted, string gauge is an issue. I happen to know that the 24.75″ Gibson I have now seems to work very well starting with an .011. For me, at least. I could easily go heavier and still do full-step bends on the G and B strings. Not trying to sound macho or SRV when I say that — after all, if low baseline tension can be a problem, it can also be good.
There are plenty of seven-string guitars out there for people that want the low B.
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Tourville / January 1, 2018 6:14 pm
Gibson made 300 7 string guitars for the 2016 Run – 100 of each finish.
Entire run Sold Out quickly – a few complaints regarding unavailability on Internet.
I purchased the last Trans Amber Flame available New Nationwide
from CME.
It’s a modest Flame Top rather than aggressive Tiger Flame
shown in promos.
24.75 scale is great for lead – great for bending tones .. great for A4 above 1st E string ..
enabling various passisng tones & grace notes – alternate voicings.
Try a D’addario .007 in A4 .
7 string guitar does not orbit nor circle the bowl around thrash metal for it’s being.
Obviously your background in guitar does not extend to it’s History
B.K. .. before KORN .
Look for alternate applications before denunciation in developing your Pink Journalism Career.
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David Plummer / May 25, 2018 11:58 pm
Who says you have to have a big low bottom string? I would use a 7-string that would start with EADGBE like normal, then have the new 1st string be either a D below the high E or an F# above it. This would be for tone clusters for killer chord voicings that are second nature on a piano but hard/impossible to get on a guitar — with standard tuning anyway. This would not require a longer scale. And if you want to step away from tone cluster land and go back to normal for a minute, just ignore the top string.
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