Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue VOS - Double Gold Reviews

The fit and finish on this guitar are fantastic! The color is spot on, the guitar was setup perfectly upon arrival and it rings like a bell. Over the last few years, the Gibson guitars I've purchased (both Original Series and Custom Shop models) have been getting better and better! They're making the best guitars they've made since long before my lifetime, and these 54' reissues are no exception. As always, Sweetwater's sales team, QC department and selection of instruments are unrivaled and I'll be keeping this Goldtop for life!

If youre looking at this guitar you are probably thinking, sounds sweet, but that's a lot of money for a guitar. And it is. Without Sweetwater's great financing, I couldnt afford it. Im happy to say that in this case, you get what you pay for. My Sweetwater insider is Randy Poteete, and over the years he has gotten me into guitars I never thought I could get my hands on. This is my third custom shop guitar, and second Gibson, the third being a Strat. They really know what theyre doing in both custom shops. Ive had great factory strats, les pauls and SGs, and theyre all fantastic guitars, but the custom shop versions are just on another level. Its all primo stuff, from the wood to the electronics to the setup and you can feel and hear the difference every time you pick one up. Mine came with the sweetest fingerboard ever. I recommend finding a Sweetwater associate like Randy Poteete and tell them what you want, they'll do the rest.

The only caution I'll give anyone thinking about buying this guitar is to make sure its features are what you want, otherwise it wont matter how sweet and perfect it is. The neck is fat, the pickups arent humbuckers and so on. If you want a thin neck or humbuckers, this isnt the guitar for you.

Very happy with this new R4. I was hesitant to spend this much for many months, I do not regret the decision to buy one.
Came well packed and arrived in perfect condition. Setup out of the box was good and it sounds and plays wonderfully.

I left a negative review of this model about 6 months ago. The example I received back then really had some bad issues with QC and with the neck. However, I couldn't get over the sound and the look. I've also been trying to land a P-90 Les Paul that is of comfortable weight for a little over a year. I've been looking at either this R4 model or the 50's Standard which sells for less. The problem I've found with the 50's Standard is that tend to run really really heavy. It's rare to find one of those below 9lbs, with many examples reaching 10lbs+ levels. The other thing I didn't I don't like about the 50's Standard is that the neck isn't really 50's - those tend to be slimmer than a real 50's. Lastly, the 50's standard has a thicker nitro finish than the Custom Shop finishes, and the gold is very different on both. The 50's Standard is an awesome guitar but I really wanted something with a thicker neck, thinner finish with richer color, and overall a lighter weight. I gave this R4 model another shot and boy am I floored. This is the absolute BEST "new" guitar I've ever purchased. I have an LP Special, and a few ES guitars from the mid 50's, and the neck on this R4 is just as chunky and consistent. What blows my mind is the sound. Even the bad example I received in September 2020 had a particular sound that no other model Gibson I've heard/played has. My guess is that wrap around bridge + long neck tenon sends more vibration throughout the guitar. When you hit a note on this guitar it just GOES. The notes have a smooth attack with a very long decay and even longer sustain. It gives me goosebumps when I hear it. The gold finish on this is stunning. It looks different every time I look at it and its color/shine differs with every angle. I am glad I gave this model another shot. The last one I received was definitely a fluke because it had weird QC issues and the neck was a mess. This is not the case with this one. The only flaw I found on this is that on some spots the finish is so thin that you can feel pits/holes from the wood grain. It doesn't bother so much because I love that it has a thin finish, but it is a little annoying that they likely didn't use enough wood filler. But it's fine. It will look super cool once the nitro starts to wear off. On a last note for anyone reading this and going through months of shopping like I did for one of these. Buy it from Sweetwater. The ability to see photos of the specific guitar and see the exact weight is of super high importance when spending this much money on the guitar. MF/GC had several of these in stock but they could not give me any indication of the weight of what they had in stock, or if it was returned or not. Sweetwater allowed me to put one on hold while I kept searching for a lighter weight, and Sweetwater also offered non-stop assistance with some FedEx troubles. This year marks my 25 years of playing/buying/trading/selling guitars and aside from a 1956 ES-225TD - this is the absolute best guitar I've ever experienced. I'll have to send my Sweetwater friends a holiday card this year!

This is by far the best electric guitar I have ever owned. Wraparound tuning and P-90's make this the best blues and blues rock guitar ever made, hands down.

Sweetwater rep Adam Cesarz hooked me up with this '54 iconic reissue.
I asked for the lighter (7lb13oz) Example of the two they had on hand in April, and Adam kept me informed throughout the process.
Arrived FeDex without issues. It was practically in tune, and well set up.
Unplugged it's resonant, and the QA on it is/was top drawer.
The hand-filling neck is just great for me, but not clumsy. Just what I wanted.
Plugged in I immediately noticed how even the response is from note to note, like a PRS!
I'll credit the long neck tenon I guess?
The stock P-90's sound great.
Intonation is surprisingly spot on, given the wrap over anchor/bridge. How dey do dat?
Plenty happy. My new #1 after decades of Telecasters.

Outstanding !!!

I had really high hopes for this. Gibson Custom Shop Reissue, P-90's, Gold Top, thick neck - what could go wrong? Many things. First of all, the neck profile was sloppy. It's not thick or baseball-bat feeling like I wanted and expected. The top of the neck (lower notes) was oddly thin, like a 1960 Les Paul, and then it abruptly gets thicker as you go to the higher frets. It's not a gradual increase - rather it's a weird misshapen increase. I would have preferred to have been more authentic to the mid-'50s neck where the thickness is more consistent and the increase is more gradual. I want that fat neck feeling up top.

Further, the one I received had a twisted neck. The bass side was more convex, and the treble side concave. The opposite would have been better. As a result, the Gibson Plek machine overcompensated at the nut. The nut was cut way too high making it painful and uncomfortable to play the cowboy chords. My guess is that the Gibson techs over-relied on the Plek and didn't dress the nut slots at all after it got Plek'd. That's the number one rule of Plek. Do not rely 100% on the Plek. The Plek will get you part of the way there, but if the neck is twisted, it will over compensate incorrectly.

All in all, a beautiful and gorgeous guitar but the playability and the neck do not match its looks. I suspect I got a lemon that Gibson tried to sell to Sweetwater as new. The serial number was for mid-2019, but the certificate was signed summer of 2020. Too many issues.