The 2019 sounds better IMO . The PAF's in the 2019's have better clarity . The 1993 is good but a lil muddy compared to the 2019 . I have a 2016 R9 and a 2019 60th 1959 and it's the same . When Curly and Cesar took over in 2019 they were trying their best to bring Gibson back . The factory line early 2019 Gibson's are great guitars . I own an Explorer and V from Early 2019 and they are great . But sadly the recent factory line stuff has not been so good . Gibson is back to having QC issues . The Custom Shop stuff has been decent and the Murphy Lab stuff seems to hold up . The "Good Wood " Era is made up . And the wood has little to do with the tone of a solid body electric . It's 95% about the electronics and hardware . IMO all that is meaningless . Find a guitar you love and enjoy it . And if you create music , CREATE ! The focus is too much on gear these days , we need MUSIC !
Yeah, the PAF has better clarity compared to the 498T & 490R. 'Good wood era' originally pointed to the period when Gibson returned from the laminate Norlin era construction to the classic 1-piece body & 1-piece neck building style then sellers started to use the phrase for something different. I can't agree with you about wood and its effect on tone. I owned probably more than 300 Les Pauls and I've never ever been able to transform one's sound into another with a pickup change, not a single time. Wood has a tremendous effect on amplified tone (neck stability & density, neck joint, body density, the porousness of the fretboard, etc, etc.)
"Good wood era" refers to the infamous dealer phrase regarding 90s LPs not that one guitar in the video is made of better wood than the other... capiche?
