15 Vintage Gibson Les Paul Guitars Comparison! Years 52, 53, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 68, 69, 74, 76 etc
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Basically all classic years of Gibson Les Paul are compared! 3 Original Bursts Vs 3 Original Goldtops Vs 2 Original Customs Vs 2 1960s Vs 3 1970s Vs 2 Reissue Les Pauls. Use the time tags below to compare any pair of guitars.
Riff1:
1. 1952 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 00:40
2. 1953 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 00:56
3. 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 01:13
4. 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 01:30
5. 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 01:45
6. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 02:02
7. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 02:17
8. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 02:32
9. 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 02:48
10. 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 03:03
11. 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 03:21
12. 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 03:36
13. 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 03:54
14. 1999 Gibson LP STD. Historic - 04:09
15. 2008 Gibson LP STD. R9 - 04:25
Riff2:
1. 1952 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 04:40
2. 1953 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 04:48
3. 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 04:57
4. 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 05:05
5. 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 05:13
6. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 05:21
7. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 05:29
8. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 05:37
9. 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 05:45
10. 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 05:53
11. 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 06:01
12. 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 06:10
13. 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 06:18
14. 1999 Gibson LP STD. Historic - 06:25
15. 2008 Gibson STD. LP R9 - 06:35
Riff3:
1. 1952 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 06:43
2. 1953 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 06:52
3. 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 07:02
4. 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 07:14
5. 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 07:29
6. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 07:40
7. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 07:51
8. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 08:04
9. 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 08:17
10. 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 08:32
11. 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 08:44
12. 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 09:04
13. 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 09:16
14. 1999 Gibson LP STD. Historic - 09:31
15. 2008 Gibson STD. LP R9 - 09:44
Riff4: (Solo)
1. 1952 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 10:08
2. 1953 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 10:29
3. 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 10:45
4. 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 11:12
5. 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 11:35
6. 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 11:59
7. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 12:28
8. 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 12:42
9. 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 13:11
10. 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 13:36
11. 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard - 13:59
12. 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 14:23
13. 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom - 14:46
14. 1999 Gibson LP STD. Historic - 15:04
15. 2008 Gibson STD. LP R9 - 15:21
Gear setup:
Original 1959 Fender Bassman with stock
P10R Jensen Speakers.
Mics: 2xAKG C414 CK12 from about 1972, close and room at 12 feet.
TC Electronics Studio Konnekt 48 Audio interface and mic preamps.
PC with Cubase. No post processing.
I went through all the comments and counted everyone's favorites, this are the results:
1. 59 (104)
2. 53 (101)
3. 58 (93)
4. 60 (72)
5. 52 (56)
6. 68 (41)
7. 55 (29)
8. 57 (25)
9. 69 (23)
10. 76 (21)
11. 08 (13)
12. 99 (11)
13. 73 (10)
14. 74 (5)
* Thank you for making this fantastic comparison @Johan Segeborn, I absolutely loved it. (My favorite is the 53 though).
Have a nice sunday evening everyone!
59
53
73
The 52 and 53 are incredible. I can't express how much I enjoyed this video! Excellent job Johan!!!!
+Noeffnwaypal Thanks, great to hear that!
I’d add the 55 and 57. Those four were head and shoulders better than all the rest. The 55 wins for me tho😃
boy the 53 does sound great.
I thought the same thing! I was REALLY surprised how good those P90s sounded. Wow.
Noeffnwaypal 73? What the heck. Sounds like pinewood
Anyone notice how similar the 1957 humbuckers were to the P90s??? And how much hotter the pickups were in the 1958 and 1959? Very interesting. I thought the 2008 did a great job of capturing the vintage brightness and character.
I like both 60 Les Pauls! Both have balanced tone. 69 and 76 are pretty good too!
WOOOOW....FINNALLY SOMEONE DID THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!! BRAVO BROTHER !!!!
+steeve thomas Thanks Steeve! :-)
Huh!!!!!!!!!!!
The 58 is good. And in all fairness the 2008 holds up well.
+DaveDangerous74 Thanks Dave!
agree!
I thought the 2008 sounded pretty rubbish to be honest.
58 is one of the best imo too.
I also liked 59, 69 and 76 a lot.
2008 was better than 73 and 99 ones.
2008 is very good and the eternity r9
(Even though they're tonally pretty different), I loved the '53 and '58. The '53 had such clarity across all frequency ranges and sounded especially brilliant on the second riff. The '58 was just such a powerful tone with the right amount of 'dirt' and sounded more suited to the heavier riffs. Just my thoughts. Great video.
This is my favourite UA-cam video of all time! Many thanks for doing this and to everyone that was involved. You give us all a chance to admire the individual tonality of all these magnificent beasts, each special and having their own personality. That 59' may be hallowed but I like your 2008 just as much!!
I loved the sound of the 1957 Goldtop.My ears told me that some of the guitars from 73 and up sounded very thin.Thanks for making this awesome video.
+Rolf Egil Bolle Thanks Rolf, I’m glad to hear that!
Did you up your house insurance $3000000 to shoot this video?
+livingabovethe12th Hahaha! ;-)
That was my first thought too! I'm an insurance guy by trade and all I could see was dollar/EURO signs when I saw the video title. Awesome stuff as usual Johan! The '58 and '59 sounded best to me. The '76 vintage white also sounded great. I wouldn't say there was a clinker with any of them though. You guys are 2 lucky dudes to get to hang out and play with that selection of guitar-awesomeness :-)
1959 all the way!
The 59' and the 60's sounded pretty much the same, maybe the 59' was a litle bit darker. I also liked the 53' which sounded most like the favvos.
@@1maggan For my ears the 60 sounded completely different. Thinner and less growl. I'm surprised because for me there really was a huge difference.
Wow! Best video ever ! Love the 53, 57, 58, 59 but the 2008 sounds good too!
+Alexandre d'Audiffret Thanks Alexandre! I’m glad to hear it!
And the 99.
Someone maybe droped some sugar on the humbuckers of the 59... It´s sounds so sweet! It´s a notable difference!
I just ordered a white custom to go with my black one. Watching this video and hearing the 76 custom finalized it for me. Now I hope it sounds as good as the 76.
One hell of a video here. Instant classic. Quite the privilege to play all those legendary LP's. And into a VINTAGE TWEED! I want to hate you, but I can't. ;)
+SirVicconius hahahaha! ;-) yeah it’s was indeed a surreal experience
1. '59. 2. '53. 3. '52. 4. '58. Those early 50's P-90's are just musical magic! The '53 is my dream tone.
59,58,60,68,99,08 in the conditions offered up in this demonstration. Very fortunate you are to have had the opportunity to play those magical instruments
The arrangement of the videos for each guitar is excellent, so that each model plays several times- much better for tone comparison without rewind- and of course maintaining the exact order- and each one's timings are also described in terms of minutes and seconds...! 👍👍 Very helpful for comparison and much much better than so many disorderly comparison videos flooding youtube...! Great job sir...! 👍👍
Thanks, I’m really glad to hear that!
I liked the ones with P90 PICKUPS big time ! I loved the tone of the 1999 with Johan segborns playing ! Thanks again for another fine production form Johan ! !
I actually liked the ‘57 Goldtop, the ‘76 Custom and the ‘08 Standard the best (blasphemy on the last one, I know!).
Funny because the ‘60 Standard and ‘74 Custom have always been my two dream guitars and I thought these were some of the wimpiest sounding ones in this video :0
Awesome video Johan, thank you!
This video is awesome! Keep it up Johan! Great to hear them all back to back like this.
To my ears the 53, 58, 59, 60 and 99 were the ones which stood out.
It also has to be said that the condition of the paint on that 58 is ridiculous!
1958 is a beast
The riffs you play, guys, are just amazing, all of them
I’m really glad you like them. Cheers!
I'm going to need some coke just to try and keep up with watching Johan. Tomorrow, we'll compare every string made since 1952!
+saddlebag hahahahaha! Cheers my friend ;-)
STFU, this is the best thing for a Gibson fan.
Bohemian Bush Doctor looser
saddlebag oh yes
the 57 sounded like crap
love to have a 59 for overdriven work and the 74 for clean. The 74 sounds great clean.
76 sounded surprisingly good (had a 76 a couple of years ago and sold it, but it had none of the flaws that everyone claims 70s pauls had - it was reasonably straight, the pickups weren't weak.....well, the finish work was rushed but who cares).
Excellent video Johan. The '53 GT's P90's with that Bassman sounded epic (something very special about those early 50's P90's ... very Freddie King). The other stand out to my ears was the Norlin era '76 Custom (sounds close to my '79 Standard) ... would like to hear that '76 paired with a 70's Marshall stack
+ChrisBuck66JTM45 Thanks Chris, yeah that’s indeed a Marshall Gibson! :-)
Fantastic exercise Johan, your 2008 sounds great in that company! The 52 & the 58 are wonderful to my ears..
+Mark Collins Thanks Mark, glad to hear that my guitar isn’t completely massacred by the others ;-)
Guitar comparison videos just jumped the shark! You rock Johan!
Thanks my friend! :-)
I actually really dig the 1999
Please allow me to join the ranks of thanks to you Brohan! This may be the most desired video topic ever, in my book. To see those exact comparisons so close together gives all of us a perspective we could never get in a million years. Not sure if I would have even thought to ask for such an out of this world demo? Only you had more fun than me. Thank you Johan.
+Scott allen Thanks Scott! This was a surreal and amazing experience indeed. Cheers!
Any way we can hear this someplace else without UA-cam's compression? (That goes for all your videos, but this one will be a reference for years!)
+David Woods Maybe I can post an audio file on my web page later on. Cheers
I would love to have the uncompressed audio for many of your videos.
youtube doesn't degrade the sound as much as people seem to think it does, I wouldn't worry about it. Listen thru a sound system instead of onboard computer speakers. My Mac is plugged into a home theater sound system, and it sounds great to me.
I'll echo this. With decent headphones, if not a good stereo setup, the audio is quite good.
What compression? This is a myth.
Incredible. Your channel is like heaven on this Earth.
I love my 1976 Les Paul Custom (winered)
DJ Falko Hannover I’ve got a 76 custom too (black). It’s got a great sound and feel. Better than all other Les Pauls I’ve owned over the last 30 years.
@@maxxm28 I can understand that! I also have a perfect 1983 Les Paul Custom with Tim Shaw Pickups - But playability wise, I prefer my 1976 - although both have been set up perfectly by a luthier.
Man the 56, 59, 74, and 76 are my favorites. The 60 sounds way thinner to me than the 59. The 59 has the growl that makes a burst sound like they should.
It was truly a joy to see and listen to all those Les Paul's. Thank you for putting this together! Nice work!
Love the 52, the 58 and 59 are awesome, but surprisingly I like 60 standard the best! ... The 76 is a close 2nd tho!! ... The 99+ are all great too! Great playing you two! Rip Simon's hair!!!
That 59 les Paul is just beautiful
A few years late seeing this, but my top order 59, 53, and 58/60 tie for third. I want to say I like the low end of the 60 a little more.
The 73 has the least expected tone of all.
It's a little thinner, with fewer mids, but I think it could be more tonally forgiving in a wider range of situations.
I bet those pups growl nicely when pushed hard.
Thanks for yet another thought provoking video, Johan!
+Paul Sweeney Thanks Paul, yeah I expected the 73 to sound more aggressive too
Probably one of very few who had this opportunity, Johan. You make all the videos I can dream of and I thank you for that!!
+Arne Henrik Enger Thanks Arne, yeah it was a true privilege to make this video. Cheers
Hang on a minute there is no rating on this video surely this is 18+ guitar porn!!
+Darren C Hahaha! ;-)
52, 53 & 69 did it for me for various reasons. Fabulous video Johan & thanks for posting this.
Thanks!
It would be more interesting if a recently made reissue model could join, a great video anyway!
+Elvis thanks
Next time throw a recent made Epiphone in there just for the heck of it too 😜
Man I don't know how you've acquired all these amazing guitars.but your collection is beautiful. I started late and am trying so hard , they're so much money now , but slowly ill get there
I was hoping that the 59 would sound the worst, but it's tied for best. The 68 was near the top of the heap most consistently between players and riffs. The 59 could occasionally sound just a hair dark or undefined, but when it did sound great it sounded amazing. The drop-off between 69 and 73 was dire, and all of the 70s models had the same constricted tone. 99 and 08 had a slightly different sound in the pickups from the 50s and 60s models, but at least the presence and resonance were back.
Of the p-90 years, both 53 and 55 sounded great, but I'd have to go for the 53 because of the bright Freddie Kingness of it.
+Josh Feierman Thanks Josh! Yeah We instantly thought of him too! One of the greatest
On 2nd listen, it may be the 60 Standard that is the best all-rounder. 53-69 are all great.
I know man, I was hoping the $400k guitar wasn't going to sound like a $400k guitar so I wouldn't feel as bad about never being able to afford one.
I could binge watch this stuff for months. Thanks Johan
You will... as I have. It’s unstoppable...in a good way.
Wow what a collection! Can't deny the absolute quality of the content that's on your channel.
Best Gibson Les paul video ever !!! Just to know witch is your best ?
+honolulu3d Thanks, I'm so glad to hear that! Only the 2008 is mine but I liked the 1959 the best.
I just owned only one les paul in my life, a 2008 too ;) and the 59 is the best for me too in your video :) warm and round like a 59 need :) keep making videos so geat! Thx!
And the 53’
Love the sound of the ‘52 and ‘58 the most, the best looker is the ‘59 (very little flame, which I prefer) and sounds fantastic too.
The '52 has a very ancient roots sound. Fantastic. And yes, the '58 is quite different from the earliers. These are the two most individual sounds. However, the '70s are not very likable for me.
The 58 ,59 & 60 are pleasing to my ear IMHO! None the less if had that many guitars! I"d be happy with the 60.NUFF Said!
Fantastisk genomgång av alla möjliga varianter av Les Paul's. Och dessutom imponerande spel av er båda att "hålla ihop" testet med så många olika modeller. Även om jag inte är en Les Paul-man så är jag djupt imponerad över hur mycket info ni lyckas trolla ut ur detta test. Tack till er båda för denna högstidsstund.
Overall I think the 1960 was my favorite. Had a great amount of clarity while sounding the most aggressive to my ears. The perfect PAF tone from that one!
+Dagger 323 Thanks, yeah the mids on that one are perfect
The 68 was the best one by far to my ear. Great video Johan!
+Jumbled Code Thanks!
Nobody can do such great comparisons. Nice to know the difference between them.
For some reason my favorites are the '76 custom and '60 standard.
Good video btw!
Thanks, glad to hear that!
love the 1968 custom - the 1953 is great too.
Wow!
I would choose the 53,54Custom and the 57 Goldtop! Awesome... I need to rob a bank soon...=P
+Lukas K Hahaha! Cheers Lukas :-)
Just you to make a video like this, Johan! THANK U, dude! =)
PS: 57, 52 and 08 are my favorites.
+Thiago Vitesse Thanks Thiago! Glad to hear it!
Woow awsome dude! If you don't mind me asking; How do you get to play all these guitars?
+jan de man Thanks Jan, I have very nice friends :-)
very wealthy friends with good taste
What a great tour through history. Also excellent taste with the Bassman. Thank you.
The 58 and 60 bursts were my favorite! Also very impressed by the 68, 69, 76, and Johans 08.
I thought the '60 Std. and '59 Std. were the best of the lot, with the '60 Std. being my favorite. The '58 Std. had a nice warm sound, but I also really liked the '76 Custom too. It had an interesting mix of low end output, midrange warmth, with an upper-mid and high end "zing". Very unique sounding. I thought the '73 Std. was the worst of them all though. No balls or presence at all. Very thin and wimpy sounding. Can you play these through a Marshall though? It was a great round up, but I don't like the sound of that Bassman. Not a fan of them. :P
+Eywadude Thanks, yeah the 59 and 60 was my favorites too. Maybe we can do a part 2 soon and use Marshall instead then
And the neck pu! 55 custom is a serious competitor in this range ;)
+Johan Segborn, Awesome! :D If you had to pick, which one did you like best? The '59 or the '60? Cheers. :)
Thanks Johan, a useful video. I liked the '58, '59, '99 & '08 the best. I had been thinking about a '58 reissue and this helped.
What a wonderful video. I guess that the '53, '58, '59 and the '60 Custom stand out from the crowd...
You should do full songs from the first to riffs. They sound so awesome! And especially the 1953 sound soo great!🤩
Thanks, I’m really glad to hear that!
How would you call this genre?
had this on in the background and the '69 kept grabbing my attention. That thing had some seriously rich and expansive tone.
59, 58, 53 - remarkable how recognizable the 58/59 tone is - was surprised! ...would buy a 53 in a heartbeat, just love the wraparound look
...interestingly, back in the mid 70's I came across what must have been a 52 Les Paul unbound but with dot markers ...all for £250!!!! ...was poor then too
Although there were differences, slight I think the lesson here is to love the les Paul you have. I like learning your licks as much as i like the comparisons. So I was playing my 2014 on a vox and got close enough for the girls i date.haha thanks love your vids.
Great video!!! For me it's all about the '53 for p90 tone, and the '58 for humbuckers.
Thanks! Glad to hear It!
I like the '99 and '08 sounds but, that '58 is definitely the king!!!
OK, I'll borrow the '53 and the '59 and leave all the rest for you guys (how generous!!!) ;-) jokes apart, amazing job as usual Johan… thank you!
;-) Cheers
But now I got that riff running through my head man. I CANNOT GET IT TO STOP.
58, 68 & 74 were my favourites, for whatever reason(s) ... it really just depends on the individual guitar, and the way it all comes together (or doesn't), for you ... Great vid, as always! :)
+Kieren Moore Thanks Kieren, yeah if a guitar fits one’s playing it usually sounds good. Cheers
Another excelent video ! If I would ever consider getting my self any LP, I would definitely pick up something with p90s thanks to this video. I like the original bursts least of them all - reissues sound more open and defined in direct comparison, which is always a good thing in my book. My favourite is the 53, it sounds a little bit out of phase, yet very interesting. There are some killer overtones in that one :) 52 takes the second place. Third place is a tie between 57 goldtop and 69 custom, both sound super cool. Most surprising one was the '73 standard - buddy of mine has very similar guitar (same year) and it sounds completely opposite - hot, loud and mean with lots of low end, this one sounds quite tame and mellow :)
+kinx001 Thanks! Yeah the 73 is probably not representative
59 sounds very thick love it.
Because of the Norlin era thankfully ended in 1986, I wish that you included the 1987-89 years, which were really good from the new ownership and quality improvements made, and because of their different pickups that had more "bite"...
Thank you Johan, this was really good. I personally love the sound of model 68, although I did not expect the model 59 to sound so good.
+Dan Noc Thanks Dan!
OMG i prefer the 2008 R9 each time...
That's because despite some hiccups it would be very hard for guitar manufacturers with modern techniques, tools and materials (excluding maybe access to woods) not to make better guitars.
This vintage fetishism is just a way for collectors to add buoyancy to their investments. It has nothing to do with music. Inarguably most of them have no idea what makes a guitar good anyway as few of them can even play them.
@@sacredgeometry Maybe you should have your ears checked.
very very cool, im going to get a vintage one day hopefully a 1960 !!
To me they all sound different, yet, after a few seconds.... they all sound the same...
Excellent video !!! Keep 'em coming!
+Tubetinkerer Thanks :-)
I was looking up some specific Les Paul years and stumbled across this video. Awesome video, very consistent playing which is hard to do. Almost all were good to great sounding (including the 08’) but that 73’& 74’; OOF, what happened?!?!?!
Looks like an awesome way to spend about - well - the rest of my life - listening playing tweaking. 53 was my favorite!
Hello! I have watched your videos for a long time. really like. I live in Brazil and here these equipment are really very, very expensive. So I believe your videos are very good and useful! thank you so much!
+Ricardo Gori Thanks Ricardo, It’s great to hear that!
You are Lucky Guy! :-)
I wish they would play a Heritage H-150 with h.r.w. pickups in it or maybe a H-157
and compare those to the Gibsons. The Heritage guitars are still made in Kalamazoo at the original Gibson factory. They are absolutely Fantastic! They are actually 2nd generation Gibson's. The H-150 is like a lespaul standard and the H-157 is like a lespaul Custom, in case anyone was wondering.
Thanks Johan for the demo.
Your videos are very educational and awesome.
Really nice!! The black beauties sound and looks awesome!
I'm liking the sound from the newer ones better ,Wow
Great video! The 58, 60, 68 88 all sound good to me. My 68 was stolen, my 73 needed new frets fresh from the factory, and now its great, my 72 is my favorite for stage and recording, and my ? not sure what year but now with DiMarzio 59's sounds great too But it never leaves the house. Thanks again! Joe Logsdon UA-cam.
Great Video guys ! Is it just me but i love the 1976 one ,
53, 58, 59... It's very illuminating how much better sounding (to my ears) the 50s guitars are.
Another fab video Johan, cheers...the 59 sounds a bit more "growly" than the others. Gibson and Marshall should give you some kind of medal oh honour?!
+Peter Butler Hahaha! Thanks man ;-)
The 57 was resonating so much during the last riff
outstanding video JOhan...one of the best ever!!!
+rcolang1 Great to hear that man, thanks!
Great comparison of the many incarnations of the les paul, these are all fantastic guitars. The black 68 had the right sound to my ears. Alas I had a blond 74, but let it go. A mistake no doubt. Rock on!
+stepvan Joe Thanks Man, yeah those blond customs are really cool.
Johan Segeborn +they are at that, I am not to sure how popular they were, I have only seen a handful of them but could be a geographic location thing
So many flavors of the best thing ever for your soul
INSANE..!!! This is heaven guitar players .. YOU ROCK JOHAN 💥🤘
This is so cool, wow, wow, wow! Love the premise of just the Bassman for the test. That '73 is a complete turd, '74 not far behind. Everything else had merit IMHO which is good to know. What about the neck pup??? I had purchased a new '79 LP Custom out the door with tax and case for $625 US and brought it home on my bike. Times have changed. Love all your ideas of things to explore regarding guitar tone. Keep up the GREAT work!
+Adam Gotheridge Thanks Adam, I’m glad to hear that. We’re thinking of including the neck Pickup in a part II. Cheers Johan
The 52, 53 and 73 really stood out from the rest. All sounded nice though. Thanks
1976 😁 but what surprises me is they are all more similar than they are different.
Love for the 53 goldtop!!
I'd like to know what Gibson did between 1969 and 1973 because from what I heard in this video was a certain tone between 1952 to 1969 but quite a difference from 1973 onwards.
Maybe they started using different electrical components or something, I don't know, but now I understand why some people prefer guitars from different years.
Man, Gibson took all the life out of the Les Paul in the 70s. Jesus.