? All right let’s get to business. The Jr. I am reviewing is a 2001 model. This was in the standard line at that time and is still available exclusively at Musician’s Friend. Vintage sunburst in color with the usual single dog ear P-90 pickup and compensated bridge. So here’s the specs:

Mahogany body: Most are two piece but this is one piece

One piece Mahogany neck

Vintage button tuners: Dot inlays

Compensated tailpiece

Single P-90 pickup.

Retail price $749.00

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? The first thing I noticed was the light weight, it weighs in at 7.2 lbs. which is good indeed. Next I simply strummed a chord “unplugged’ and noticed a great resonance, I really didn’t expect this from a new guitar or “starter” guitar but it really resonates well with long sustain. The finish is very good with no issues and the paint was good too, a very good job indeed. Tuners are the vintage button type and held tune very well with no problems. The neck is a 60’s slim taper shape so it might be too slim for some but I like this size Gibson neck as do many other Gibson players. The frets were all level with no buzzing and a proper nut cut with a smooth feel. This fretwork is impressive, poor fretwork seems to be a BIG problem with many new Gibsons, so be sure to check your guitar closely for bad fretwork and nut cuts, but this was good. So far so good, so let’s plug her in.

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? Once I got this baby fired up I instantly now know why Les Paul jr’s are so loved. The vintage versions are going for big money and many players love ‘em. Just a basic“rock n roll” guitar here, no frills. The P-90 sounds much thicker than a single coil should, so don’t think Fender single coil. Just think of a fat humbucker sound with more clarity and articulation with no mud!! ?Yep every little nuance this thing picks up. I love rolling the volume control down to clean it up and then opening the volume all the way so it crunches and sings. The sound of P-90 can be very clean sounding but can also be a bit “nasty” and rude when pushed and this just makes a great classic rock tone. I wouldn’t use these pickups for the metal guys or ultra low tuned tunings but it covers all the great classic rock sounds. A ?P-90 in a slab of mahogany just works. There is some hum which is very similar to a strat 60 cycle hum if you’re facing the amp, but it’s very small and is easily worked around.

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? One improvement Gibson made is with the compensated stop tailpiece. This stop tail is meant for a unwound G string so it’s much more suitable for the modern player. The biggest issues with vintage jr’s are with poor intonation. This is very much improved and plenty close for rock n roll, BUT if you’re ultra intonation sensitive then a aftermarket tailpiece would be a great mod to really make this guitar “pro”. The jr’s initially were no frills starter or student guitars so there was some scrimping done with appointments and hardware.

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? Final thoughts: Well $749.00 for a USA Gibson these are a steal, these are just nifty tone machines, limited to just a few sounds but the few are GREAT. They play great and feel just like the normal Les Pauls but with a flat body and much lighter. Cosmetically these are stripped down “players” guitars. The intonation is better than the older jr.s but for a few more bucks could be made perfect. This guitar was a stellar build in every way from fit to finish but Caution here: If your buying one of these or ANY new Gibson check them with a fine tooth comb, Gibsons quality control and inconsistency are problematic right now, there are still plenty of good ones coming out that really are great but watch out for the dogs.

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Guitar Guru

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