Gibson Les Paul Standard '60s AAA Top Electric Guitar - Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

Paul had the unenviable task of dealing with my bad mood over some issues with my order. He took this difficult situation and treated me in a way that reminded me why I'm a Sweetwater customer and likely will be for as long as I play guitars. It's easy to deal with customers when everything goes well. It's hard when they're unhappy about something. Paul is a knowledgeable, empathetic people-person who Sweetwater is lucky to have.

This is hands down the best guitar I've ever owned. I was on the fence for a really long time, glad I finally did it. Plays and sounds beautiful! And that cherry sunburst...

The customer service at Sweetwater is second to none. Had some shipping damage, Frank and Edward were on it, I had a replacement within a couple days, shipped the other back, no muss, no fuss!

I highly recommend Sweetwater, the get it done!

All I can say is just WOW! I couldn't be more happy with this guitar, I can't put it down. Matthew LaMarche is the best sales rep, even helped me pick this beauty out!

My first Gibson, opening the case was like finding a treasure! It had an indescribable golden glow bursting from the case and the AAA maple flame top is much more than the pics could show. The setup is spot on and almost perfectly tuned.I plugged her in and cranked up the volume, so easy to play.Love it! Thank you Sweetwater, I couldn't be happier!

Simply a fantastic guitar set up by Sweetwater and ready to play as soon as I opened the case. The AAA maple top looks exquisite and the guitar from top to bottom is just flawless.This is the third guitar I've bought from Sweetwater this year and my sales rep, Charlie Kim has been awesome in working with me on all 3 of them. I recommend Sweetwater and especially Charlie to anyone getting ready to buy a guitar, his knowledge is invaluable and he answered every question I threw at him. There's a reason Sweetwater is the best music store in the country and it's the people that work there. Thanks again Charlie!

Received this Guitar soon after placing my order. It has a beautiful Flame Maple top and resonates nicely even when not plugged in to the amp. I could not stop playing it! The 60's neck is very fast and fits my hand nicely. Intonation was spot-on! I had been wanting this guitar for quite awhile. My wife seen me looking at it again and said Merry Christmas! and ordered it for me. I couldn't be happier! As always, Forest Powell took good care of me, and the guitar shipped right away and arrived in good shape. It was very well packed! Forest has always given me top notch service! Thats why I keep coming back! Sweetwater has great customer service! If you're on the fence about this guitar and have the financial means - pull the plug and pick one of these up! You'll be glad you did.

The guitar is beyond beautiful. Breathtaking top. The guitar arrived and i carefully checked it over and couldnt find one single blemish. Excellent qualoty control for the whole guitar. It was setup from sweetwater with 11s in e flat. The fretboard is the nicest ive ever played and the guitar sounds very good. The only thing is now gibson is putting a felt pad on the bottom of the screw on the pickguard and it touches the nitro finish and is reacting. Maybe i should just take the pickguard off.
Also if you play metal the 60s burstbucker bridge pickup may be a little weak. I measured the output and its 7.9k. Ordered a 498t to replace so we will see how that goes. My other les paul has 57 classics with the bridge pup replaced with a duncan jb. So i was used to a high output pup.
If you dont play metal, for those classic tones from the 70s and 80s these pickups rock!

Amazing sustain, tone, feel, fretboard, top and fretwork.. best guitar I ever bought (so far)

Love that new car smell, only with a fine Gibson Les Paul Standard. It is appropriate when the joy of seeing this guitar in person lights up your day!
It glows with anticipation, it must be the lacquer finish, it is outstanding. I've had said guitar for a month now, it never gets old, just waiting to play all
forms of music, from blues to scorched earth & all points in between.
I guess you should really just get one today!
My actual guitar was picked out personally by Mason Moss, sales engineer, & my personal guide through a not scary at all event.
It was a big deal for me, so I can wholeheartedly endorse the entire SW experience.
Also, I have purchased a'61 strat & an SG special since.
Again, you should get one today

The Les Paul is an iconic guitar and this one does not disappoint. My thanks to Billy for picking out exactly what I wanted. Fit and finish are perfect. What impresses me is sound of the attack from these pickups.. it's beautiful and Sweetwater never disappoints

My most expensive guitar ever i was so nervous pushing the button. But omg glad i did. Just FYI the pictures dont do it justice. It just gives you and idea. They look better in person.trust me on this.

I heard about gibson QA issues in the past this one i couldnt find not 1 issue. I was being very maticulous with it as well.

All and all im glad i did and even more glad my g.f foot the bill =0P.

But im paying her back ;).

TYLER WAS A HUGE HELP IN FINDING ME A BEAUTIFUL AAA FLAME TOP FOR MY FIRST GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD. SUCH AMAZING PAYABILITY AND WHAT A GUITAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE! GREAT SERVICE AS ALWAYS!

I've been playing for around 40 years and this is my first Les Paul. I've owned mostly metal guitars (ESP, Jackson, etc.) and one epiphone Flying V back in the early 90's. I love this thing, great tone, plays like butter, beautiful, and solid (I got the heaviest one). It's probably the weight but it's kinda hard to sit it on the right leg, it keeps wanting to fall to the right but like I stated, I did get the heaviest one for the tone.

Great guitar and great people to work with

An amazing guitar. Playability is insane. The maple top is superb. We (my son and I) actual drove to Sweetwater from Virginia to try out multiple Les Pauls. My son thought we were picking one out for me...but my intention was to surprise him with it. My sales rep, Adams Cesarz, was there to help us out. He was extremely helpful assisting us. He even gave us recommendations for dinner! "Thank you for helping me pick out the guitar and for keeping the secret while my son was there. You really were a huge help."

My Sweetwater purchase of a new Les Paul Standard was in 2021. I chose to purchase the Heritage Cherry Sunburst, and as of now, without any regret. Sadly, the first guitar I picked out came delivered with a broken headstock. I was freaked out. After taking some pictures and calling my sales agent Zach Maurer, I returned it as he instructed, and was sent a replacement promptly. Number 2 was beautiful but had some grounding and humming issues and had to be returned as well. Then, I finally received my 3rd one, and as you can imagine, by this time I was really getting frustrated and anxious. But now, after owning and playing this guitar for over two years, it has turned out to be one of my lifetime favorites. My birthday is from 1958. So, yeah, I'm pretty old. I still play my 1999 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, but I love Gibson tone that comes from this new Les Paul with the 60's style pickups and very dependable Grover tuners. In my entire life, my all time favorite guitar was a 1976 Gibson ES335, that I special ordered from a local music store, as a teenager. I sold that guitar in the late 90's and have missed owning a Gibson every since then. Hopefully, this wonderful Les Paul from Sweetwater, will keep me a satisfied Gibson owner from here on out. The great service from my Sweetwater agent Zach, good pricing, and even financing if you need it, keeps me buying gear from these guys every time I need or want something.

Wonderful Guitar.

I have had many guitars from different brands, but none of them compares to this les Paul! The build quality is amazing and an absolutely beautiful guitar. Playing, it sustains for days and tones are amazing. Have I mentioned amazing enough? Thank you Sweetwater for offering this exclusive.

I was going to buy a 60s at a small mom and pop shop, but then I saw this one with the AAA top and man am I glad I waited and ordered this one. The flame top is amazing and the tone of this guitar is so awesome. I am extremely pleased with the purchase.

This is my second Gibson LP a Heritage Cherry Sunburst. First one is a Classic and this one obviously a Standard. What drew me to this one is obviously the amazing AAA top! Shoutout to my dude Nate Kauffman always makes things easy and smooth! This guitar literally checked ALL of the boxes I look for!
I had it shipped in the dead of winter to the house.
Trust me when they tell you to leave it alone for at least 24 hours before opening they are serious about that. When it was delivered I kept it boxed up in the humidified/ temperature controlled band room for 2 and 1/4 days! After the wait and opening it is absolutely perfect!! Definitely a lifer!
There is a reason so many guitar companies copy the original. Get the real thing, get a Gibson!

Just got mine a couple weeks ago and can't put it down. I had the additional plek work done by SW and the neck feels great and the setup was perfect for me. This guitar sounds as good as it looks, too. Looking forward to to playing her for years to come.

Truly a great guitar, I've had this guitar just over a year now and still love it like the day I bought it.I want give Sweetwater a huge shout out for my sales experience.Iam blessed to only be a about a hour and half drive from Sweetwater and usually like to drive down to check out guitars I am interested in before buying as was the case with this one.I must have tried 6 or so Les Paul's out before settling on this one. Never once did I feel rushed or get a eye roll on checking out so many guitars, The staff was great and made my experience great, I wanna throw in too that all the guitars were set up very well and played awesome. Overall I felt I got the best guitar for me with a truly great buying experience.

Bought this guitar from my sell's engineer Loui. This is one of the best les pauls I've ever purchased. Is the 1st one had a thick neck. I waited and waited for this one and returned the first one. This one is everything I wanted. It is lightweight Beautiful top and dark fretboard.I would highly recommend LouiAl-Ayoubi he will get what you want.

This is a great guitar. Aaron is a great salesman and freind. Thank you for the helpful answers.I will always deal with Sweetwater.This guitar is beautiful

This is the best guitar I've ever played. It's hefty but that is what you want from Les Paul. The tone is incredible, that beefy humbucking you love on the neck and powerful kick when you hit that bridge pickup. Lastly, the maple top is just beautiful. I love this guitar.

This is the guitar I've been waiting my whole life to own. First off, the Gibson Les Paul Standard is the real deal. No question.
But this '60s model, with the Slim Taper neck, along with the smooth rosewood fingerboard and Pled'd frets, is without a doubt the most playable guitar I've ever had in my hands. The feel and sound of this guitar are everything you would expect from a Les Paul.
And the Heritage Cherry Sunburst on the AAA maple top is absolutely stunning. The pictures on the website do not do justice to the beauty of this guitar. Every time I open the case I feel as though I'm looking at a piece of art. Then I get to take it out and play it. I've waited a very long time for this guitar, and it is everything I ever imagined.

Thanks to Andrew for helping w/all my Sweetwater needs. I bought my 1st LP in 2012 but it wasn't during Gibson's best years for craftsmanship. Make no mistake about it, the Gibson tone is always there. I received this one as my 3rd Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's AAA model today. I have one each from the last 2 years in different burst and now this one. Simply put, these are the best production run guitars I've seen from Gibson (or anyone else) and I've been looking for 20+ years. By far they best the 4 customs I purchased a few years ago (not from Sweetwater) that were returned for lackluster performance, horrible setup and finish issues. These guitars from Sweetwater have none of that. This one has the perfect weight at 8 lbs. 9 oz., a dark cherry color w/nice fade, a distinctive flame, perfectly setup and blows my doors off in tone. A few years ago, this quality couldn't be had from Gibson...so glad someone has turned them around.

Obviously, my first impression was "this Les Paul is breathtaking". She is a non weight relieved 60's cherry sunburst standard with a AAA figured top. Garrhett Kidd, my sales engineer and I perused through all of the same finished LP's Sweetwater had and were just about to give up. This was the last one we checked out. I wanted a 10# LP with a near perfect matched grain stretching all the way across the top, edge to edge. This was the one. The grain shows through the color all the way across. Although, she only weighs 9#13oz. and is definitely lighter than my 1988 Custom, no decrease in tone or sustain is evident. One could say that I have been lucky for my Les Pauls have always delivered exactly what I have asked from them with killer tone whether it be clean or over driven sound. I could not be more pleased with her performance. Thank you Garrhett for your patience and Sweetwater for the excellence once again delivering my LP in pristine condition, ready to go. The price was right and the shipping, extremely well padded and fast, was impressive. I will be back. Thanks again.

I just unpacked this guitar which I got a nice discount on because it was a demo, and supposedly had a blemish. Well never found the blemish and it arrived perfectly set up. Made my day thanks Sweetwater I'll be back for next purchase. Sssssh don't tell my wife.

I don't really know what to say other than perfection. This guitar is everything I've always wanted out of a Les Paul. The beauty, the ease to play, and the tone are of another class. I have no regrets with this purchase.

First I want to thank my sales rep Mitch Dazey for always providing the best! The original guitar case was a little damaged and Mitch promptly had a new one sent to me at no extra charge. The Gibson Les Paul has been my dream guitar for over 15 years, ever since I started playing. I've always been fond of the cherry sunburst finish, and on these it looks great since the back is also red. The guitar is every bit as good as I hoped it would be, I play it for hours at a time. The pictures really don't do it justice, if you need convincing watch a few video reviews.

I would not advise ordering any guitar online unless it is through Sweetwater. My Les Paul arrived in great shape. Setup on it was a little high for my taste but I play with lower action than most. Looks like they installed a set of .10 strings and actually were almost in perfect tuning.
Only issue I had was with FedEx not being able to locate my address. It took them four delivery attempts before they got it right. But that was not Sweetwater's issue. FedEx was using a new driver and we live on a rural route.

From start to finish this transaction was amazing. Choosing my first high end guitar was easy for me with all the high resolution pictures and the serial number listed. After my purchase I received a call from Nate, which made this purchase even better for me, sorta of a piece of mind feeling. The guitar was packaged very well and arrived with no damage.
Love the triple AAA flame top. I attached a few pics. (iam a no pick guard guy)
I will continue to buy from this company and will tell everyone how great my experience was!

Can't say enough good about this beautiful guitar and the whole purchase experience. Finally took the plunge (thanks to my amazing wife), got my first real Les Paul, and couldn't be happier! Exceptional feel, a huge range of stunning tones, and gorgeous finish and flame… makes me sound better than I am. And it arrived on time and in perfect shape. Just starting to get acquainted with it but this will be a lifetime accomplice for sure.

I also can't say enough good about Bob Furlong, my sales engineer. He was on top of everything and even tipped me off to some incoming options so I could choose the exact right one, then made sure everything went perfectly. He even sent me multiple photos and info along the way and answered all my questions. A+++ consultancy for sure.

It's a big commitment for almost anyone. But if you can, I highly recommend going for it if a Les Paul Standard is calling to you...

Sounds and plays incredible right out of the box. The cherry sunburst in the product images doesn't compare to the real thing. The maple top is a sight to be seen.

I've played strats my whole life but always dreamt of that les paul sound. Finally after having a good paying job for a few years I've saved up some money and bought my dream guitar.

It has definitely re-ignited my love for the instrument. Can't wait to eventually get a marshall amp and plug this in. Great purchase.

Another magnificent example of Sweetwater's impeccable service, and a fabulous guitar. I've always played Strats, but I've always wanted a Les Paul since I was a kid. And it had to be some type of Cherry Sunburst. I ordered this guitar last September. It was estimated the lead time would be 2-3 months. About a week after ordering, my Sweetwater rep, Louis Sawyer, called me and said he found a guitar for me. I don't know how Louis pulled it off, but sure enough, shortly after I had my guitar WAY AHEAD of schedule. Incredible. I was blown away.

The guitar played fantastic right out of the box. I will now only buy guitars (and all of my music gear) from Sweetwater. It was evident that they did a thorough 55 point inspection on this guitar. It just played beautifully right away, all the way up the neck. And this is now my main guitar. As a Strat player, it took me awhile to get used to this guitar's larger neck and it is a heavy guitar, but wow is the sustain and tone worth it! The 60's style is also just fantastic.

I could go on, but I wanted to leave my 5 starts - For both the guitar and for Louis Sawyer's service. Louis has done a GREAT job helping me rebuild my studio. Thank you Sweetwater!

Plays great sounds great looks great. Ready to play right out of box, set up was great. This is my first Les Paul, but my fourth Guitar bought from Sweetwater. I have a few Fenders (bought from Sweetwater), and this Guitar helped round out my sound, I love It. As always sales and support are top notch. Thanks for making guitar buying so easy.
Thanks,
Bill C.

I finally sucked it up and bought the guitar I have always wanted. The Gibson Les Paul Standard Heritage Cherry Sunburst. It arrived from Sweetwater yesterday. The pics on the website did not do the finish justice at all. I was overwhelmed the AAA Maple top is stunning perhaps to stunning I just can't stop looking at it! Setup was good medium to low. The sustain that it has seems to last forever on distortion. It plays very well and fits very comfortable, the case is beautiful and plush. I love it! Sweetwater's website is awesome you actually get to look at the guitar you are purchasing and the sales team are awesome too 5 stars to them also. Thank you Zach and team for helping make my dream guitar come true. Love it!!

I'm really a "strat" guy at heart, and own several including an American Pro II and an American Deluxe. They're great. But hands down the best guitar I own is a Les Paul Standard. Can't beat it in my view. Plays great, sounds amazing.

There is nothing else like a good Les Paul.
And this is a great one!
And as always Sweetwater gets it to you quickly and in perfect shape.
5 stars!
Rock on!

This is it. keeping it forever. Got to say the photos on Sweetwater are great but do not do the real thing justice, richer reds and oranges and flames change on lighting and angle. Setup was darn near perfect for me. Sounds and feels like magic. Inspired.

So I have a few Standards. The 60's is the Ferrari to me, allows total control and feel. But the cool mechanical ability to pick the actual guitar you see, with its serial number on the Sweetwater website and know that's the one your getting, wow.
Of course I had to pick a heavy variegation and balanced top split.

The service and communication was fast and on point as always. Josh L. one of the service reps is doing his job no matter how small or large my purchases have been. He always validates the purchase with a follow up.
This purchase has come to pass and in my hands it feels like it belongs there. How many times do we watch the worlds best say. " It just felt right. That's what matters" . Well I got lucky I guess. This one is different from my others in every respect.
Nice shopping venue and service!
I would like to know what "exclusive for Sweetwater" means though. 1000? 3000? only sold by Sweetwater?
Thanks guys for my new best-ie!

I just received my Gibson Les Paul 60s Triple A top in Heritage Cherry Sunburst. It is one of the, if not THE best Paul I've owned. and I have had quite a few. I grabbed up a demo model, honestly can barely see the blem on it. Anyway, what makes this guitar great, besides the Nice Flame Top, is the Burstbucker 1 and 2s. I have a Classic, and it has the Burstbucker 61r and 61t set. And the regular 60s LPs have those as well. And it sounds very good. But this one has the 1 and 2 pups. (Maybe Because it's a Sweetwater Exclusive)? To my ears they are a bit more spongy. The Bridge Pickup is the real breadwinner though. And also, there is Zero Fight in this one! Plays so effortlessly. And the nut was cut extremely well! Which I usually have to file the slots for better action, and so the notes aren't sharp in the first few frets. The G and D don't get caught up on bends as well. Which for me is an anomaly out of the box. Surprisingly good tuning stability. As expected, the Intonation was a little off. But WAY better than previous LPs. Anyway, this is an honest review. If this thing sucked, or was even just Okay, I would say so.

I've played violin for about 20 years, but have always been interested in guitar. My first guitar ever was a strat that my uncle made below. He gave it to me for my 13th birthday after seeing how much I enjoyed guitar hero and how much interest I expressed in learning actual guitar. 10 years later I decided that I wanted to get my dream guitar (I have always loved the look of the Les Paul). I was amazed that for an online dealer you could shop by serial and choose the exact guitar you wanted. It was really nice knowing what you see is exactly what you get. I also couldn't believe that they had the 60s model in heritage cherry sunburst! No other place I looked had this model in this finish!

As for playability this guitar feels great and sounds amazing. The shorter scale length makes fretting easier for me than the longer scale length of the strat I have. The humbuckers give a completely different tone than the single coils I have on the strat helping me cover more tones than I could with just the strat. Most importantly, I really like the strat neck style and I read online that the Les Paul had thicker necks than strats. I looked into it further and the 60s model has thinner necks than other Les Paul models which was the major selling point for me. The 60s neck doesn't feel too different than the strat neck so it was an easy transition.

I've had and been playing this guitar for about a month or so I can safely that this was a worthwhile purchase and I am very pleased with the guitar as a whole. This was my first Sweetwater purchase and I could not be more satisfied with the service and their communication!

Impressive to say the least; I wanted the 60's in Heritage Cherry for the neck and a little hotter pickup set. This a Sweetwater exclusive and I'm glad I look over their inventory. I pre-ordered September 15th, 2021 and was told it would be probably November before it arrived. To my pleasant surprise, Nate called me Friday the 17th of September to say it's in (the same day it left the Gibson Factory) and sent some pictures. I told him it was a go and I had the guitar on Monday the 20th. It had left the factory 4 days earlier! And it is beautiful, It feels good on the hands and the humbuckers definitely growl - blows my Am Pro II and SRV w Texas Specials Stratocasters out of the water. Beautiful woodgrain making it pleasing to look at. This is my 4th Les Paul and my definite favorite - I was overjoyed as soon as I plugged it in and got that tone! I've always been into vintage guitars, but heard Gibson returned to it's higher quality standards and I can attest to it; couldn't be happier.

I've owned a few Gibson Les Paul guitars over the years, including a couple of custom LP's, but this '60s Heritage Cherry Red Sweetwater Exclusive with the AAA top is just beautiful! When I opened the case for the first time I was blown away! The Nitro finish and color are just amazing. This solid body is on the heavy side but I wouldn't have it any other way! The neck profile and Plek'd fretboard play like butter! Plugging the guitar in, the PAF Burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups give this guitar a beautiful voice & sound with a smooth low end, rich mids, and pristine, crisp highs, all with glorious sustain from this solid-body beauty.
I love the detail Gibson went to with the wiring as well. With the control assembly being hand-wired with matched potentiometers and Orange Drop capacitors, this guitar will sound just as beautiful even when I back down my volume.
I also want to thank my Sweetwater sales rep Joe Perrone. He is the best! He is always looking out for me and when I first saw these guitars come up for sale, there were none in stock (these guitars sell quick so when they come in and if your on the fence, I'd recommend jumping on it) Joe made sure that when one came in he called me right away and put this baby aside for me. He even shipped it with express two day shipping! He also made sure it went through Sweetwater's 55-point inspection, sent me pics, and when I picked the guitar up for the first time, the set-up and playability were perfect right out of the box.
Thank you Joe, and Sweetwater for a smooth transaction and a beautiful guitar!

This is my dream guitar. My Dad is from Michigan (where Gibson was originally located) and my Mom is from Nashville (where this guitar was made) so I feel like this guitar is my brother. I started playing in 2002 and have wanted a lp for years. 11 months in and I daily make a walk to the wall and look at it just to soak it in. Much more importantly - I play it almost daily and the tone and playability - every freaking time - make me smile ear to ear. Exactly what id hoped for. It is a true joy of an instrument and I cannot recommend it more. The sweetwater experience was excellent and I can't wait to head up to Fort Wayne and see the store in person

I decided to splurg. I have always dreamed of owning a Gibson Les Paul. After doing a lot of research (and a lot of saving) I bought this model, and it has exceeded all my expectations. I was hesitant about spending this much money for a guitar that I had not played in person. But this particular Gibson Les Paul Standard was a Sweetwater exclusive. Of course, it was out of stock when I ordered. But very soon after placing my order the Sweetwater Sales Engineer Grant actually called me up on the phone (which was unexpected) and I had a great conversation with him. On top of that, Grant would give me regular updates. Just a heads up, Sweetwater will not charge you until the guitar is actually shipped. Grant also explained the 55 point inspection and I thought this was a marketing gimmick . But when I opened the case when it finally arrived, Sweetwater's 55 point inspection gave me complete peace of mind. This Gibson Les Paul Standard came from the Gibson Factory in Nashville and it even had a indescribable beautiful smell. The way it sounds, once again, has exceeded all my expectations. Now all my high end purchases are going to be with Sweetwater. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

I bought a cheap splitter cord from Sweetwater last December. A few days later I got an email from Sales Engineer Erik Molenaar to see if everything was cool with my purchase. I thought wow, no one does that!

After doing some research on this company, and talking to Erik on the phone, I was very impressed with their commitment to customer service and quality control.

I found a demo 60s Standard Les Paul AAA top - Heritage Cherry Sunburst (Sweetwater Exclusive), called Erik and he had it on a plane. The next day it was across the country and in my living room before noon PST.

The guitar was in perfect condition. The chip on the head-stock they pointed to in the sales ad was barely visible. The finish is beautiful. I spent a few extra bucks on the setup and that was very good. I like the BB 1&2s, but that is a personal preference. The neck is fast and comfortable. I could not be happier!

Erik Molenaar was knowledgeable, helpful and easy to reach by phone.

Check out Sweetwater, you won't regret it.

This guitar sings while still in its case. What a beauty. After you plug it in the 61T and 61R pickups take over. Very Hot! It is lofty but a Les Paul should be. I really enjoy the Grover tunes as well a nice change from the vintage. The guitar was set up very well out of the box action medium to low. Switching from back and forth there is a noticable volume change. The neck is smooth like rosen on a baseball bat. Thanks Sweetwater

I have and still use two Les Pauls. First is my 1988 black Custom. This axe has travelled with me all over the country and still smokes. In 2010, I was searching for a AAA Les Paul Std. Cherry Sunburst but as we know the Gibson plant was wiped out in Nashville by a flood. There was hardly anything to choose from. I was on the horn with Sweetwater and a customer had ordered an Gibson 1961 VOS Heritage Les Paul Std. from the custom shop but had changed their mind. If you don't know this, the curvy Les Paul as we know it was not built in 1961 and was replaced by the SG and called the Les Paul for that year. The price was good so I took it. So LP #2 is a custom shop SG Std. In 2022 I purchased my 3rd. This was the axe I had wanted for years. AAA LP Std. SWX figured and stained with Gibsons Cherry Sunburst. This LP is another monster in my stable. Ethetically beautiful with the flamed maple visible edge to edge. The tone not weight relieved is just what you would expect, stellar. The action and playability are perfect for my styles of flat picking and slide. I have been lucky to have three beauties that are extraordinary and all unique from each other in tone, ease of play, and of course looks. This Std. is the new babe here and is phenominal and has taken position one here. Don't get me wrong but the other two fit perfectly as well. Thank you once again Gahrett Kidd and Sweetwater for delivering this beauty to me.

very happy with this new guitar. beautiful,plays and sounds great.

In my youth, we had a name for cars that looked the part but weren't very fast come dragstrip time. This model fits that label- candy striper. The case was about as beautiful and lush a case as I've ever seen. The color and finish on the axe were a perfect '10.' The problem came up when I picked it up to play. I was very disappointed. It played like an imitation Les Paul rather than the real deal. And for $, you bet I was expecting the real deal. Which it wasn't. To be fair, I never plugged it in, because it had already failed the all-important playability test. I suspect it would have sounded great. Also to be fair, I wound up having to pay fully twice as much to get a real Les Paul, a 1979 Les Paul Custom. I am so glad I did it though. Finally, to Sweetwater's credit (this certainly was no fault of theirs), they refunded my money no questions asked and I am still a happy Sweetwater customer. I just bought two Tascam Portastudios, and several guitars ( I highly recommend their line of Stratocasters). But if you want a Les Paul that plays like the wind, this ain't it. Pretty though.

I needed a piece of equipment within a certain time frame but Sweetwater was slow to start preparing the order, screwed up the shipping I requested, and as a result, it's not getting here on time. I have gone to Sweetwater because they have historically been better than the other big guitar retailer. That distinction is becoming less and less, so I will be buying locally from now on.

Sub-par at best. Huge waste of money for something that looks and sounds identical to a $700 model