Happy Birthday to Les Paul! Tonight was Review 2 in Celebration of Him. We will see you tomorrow at 7pm EST for Special Review #3 🟢Shop My Sale on My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com 🔴Reverb: reverb.com/shop/troglys?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly ❓Private Help Sessions: troglysguitarshow.com/help-appraisals/
Congrats Austin, such a beautiful find, both times! It was destiny that it ended up in your collection. Question, the carved Spruce top, is it a solid thick spruce top that is carved like a traditional Les Paul's maple cap, or is it constructed similar to a traditional Jazz/Arch Top with the thinner Spruce that requires bracing (similar to an acoustic guitar construction)? The darker burst that is on this guitar is the type which is my all-time favorite, that instrument is such a work of art. Again, congrats and thank you for sharing it with us.
I hate you for teasing us with the Wes Paul. I am just kidding. Its one of the most beautiful les paul type guitars I have ever seen. You are the right person to own it. God Bless.
There are a few photos where Wes had the pickup flipped around - pole pieces on the bridge side - which theoretically would brighten the time a little bit. For some reason I thought it always looked boss AF, as if Wes had a secret or knew something we didn't (he knew lots of things that we mere mortals did not). Love that WP - Long live Wes!
Spruce v maple is not a cosmetic choice. They have very different acoustic properties. Maple was used on the original Les Pauls because it has a hard, bright tone ant the mahogany part was only to reduce weight. Spruce is used on good acoustics because its flexibility and elasticity gives it a a very full tone. Even with roundwounds this would sound more like a classic jazz box than a lightweight Les Paul
Very intriguing model! And I love the way the truss rod cover incorporates both their signatures - the “Wes” looks like Montgomery’s handwriting and the “Paul” (of course) looks like Les’s.
Absolutely gorgeous piece!! To my eye with all the beautiful binding including around that awesome looking guard it would look better with a white pickup ring. I know Wes had a black one on his but.. either way this is just beautiful.
Congratulations Austin… That is a real GEM! Great trip across the bench and it sounds amazing…. Thanks for another cool video… Wes and Les were both major Bosses!
This thing is super cool. As a jazz dabbler, this makes a les paul a lot more attractive to play, especially since it’s lighter. Those L5 looks are killer to boot. Biggest issue will be having no place to anchor my elbow like on a proper hollow body. You got me with that roundabout lick! I want to hear the ending part of that some time!
Although constructed with a maple top, two PAF humbuckers and an ABR bridge, that guitar is a kissin' cousin to the Gibson Pat Martino Custom Signature which was a regular (although limited) production model in that same time period. Interesting that it's got a "Florentine" moniker. Pat once told me that when Gibson was discussing the design with Pat, he told them that he wanted "something like a semi-hollow Les Paul, with a Florentine cutout."
You asked why they don't make spruce top les pauls - it's because spruce is a softwood, and dings extremely easily. Maple isnt just a hardwood, it's one of the harder hardwoods out there. People probably wouldn't be happy with how much more easily the spruce would ding. Its enough work as it is trying to keep a Gibson finish looking nice.
I've been doing guitars for 58 years. And Gibson guitars and especially Les Paul guitars are my favorites. I now have 4 Les Paul guitars. But I've never before heard of this guitar, before.
I'm surprised how bright it is with only a neck pickup, a nice rounded tone. Also, I only knew of Music Zoo having Les Pauls with just the neck pickup. This is a really interesting piece that I'm sure deserves a place in your museum
*When you remove celluloid pickguards you really should screw it onto like an MDF or plywood board that is stable to keep the shape of the pickguard and locations of the screwholes. They can warp ridiculously quickly once you take them off your guitar and it's impossible to put them back on!*
Yeah, that is a seriously good guitar. Thin body archtops with flatwound strings blend a lot of cool features into one awesome music making machine. Congrats!
Spruce is a very soft wood and incredibly lightweight. I'm sure that's why Gibson doesn't use it on electrics. Also even highly figured spruce is tame by maple standards. And highly figured spruce is rare. Look at all the golden era Martin and Gibson acoustic guitars and you rarely see any figure in them & they were both using prime spruce back then. My 68 Hummingbird has a little bit of "chatoyance" in its top, but its nothing to write home about
Definitely. Thank goodness for Trogly or most of the world would never get to see half of the guitars he gets hold of for his show. Even loved the distorted stuff - got a Malcolm Young AC/DC vibe to that neck rhythm sound - lovely stuff. A simple and gorgeous beast 😎
you've become quite the player over the 3 years I've been watching. Even pushed me to become better myself. Hoping one day soon I can buy my first custom from you! Have a great day brotha
This particular one has great tone. I believe it is the guitar itself and not the strings. One thing I noticed with these is that if you have any technique issues when playing, you will hear it. Had a few 335's like that as well. I think there is something special with this one T.
Excellent discovery for those of us who'd no idea of a Montgomery & Paul relationship! Of course knowing of each their contributions is academic. And a Wes Paul is a Gem 💎. Trog your knowledge is unmatched and will teach us for decades! Thanks 🙏
Trogly this is is one beautiful guitar and I really do hope you can hold on to it for yourself. These don’t come around all that often from what I’ve read about them. Plus they got such an amazing vibe to them. Either you fight someone for it and keep it. Or you put your head on the chopping block! Only options. 🤣🤣. Really is a beautiful piece of art…that you can even play! That’s what I love about guitars. They’re works of art and they even isn’t the most important thing about a guitar!
This reminds me I haven't listened to Wes Montgomery in a long time, I need to give my couple of albums a listen. I got so lucky to get two of his vinyl records for like, $5.
Congrats on getting into the jazzbox world. I think you could open up a whole new niche in your collecting and evaluations if you make this a consistent thing. For many of us, the only Gibsons we only give a real damn about are the hollowbodies and semi-hollows. For much of their history it's where Gibson stood out and pioneered new sounds and innovations in guitar design, but you're gonna need much deeper pockets. :)
Dude! That guitar is really cool. Hey have you ever done a show on the GC exlusive LP Traditional Pro V's? I feel like there is not enough reviews and inforative videos on these at all. I just bought a used transparent black one and i think it's awesome. That color alone is what drew me in but the tonal options are amazing. The tradbucker pickups?? Really no info on them. The A-sym neck is really good but seems like nobody talks about these at all. Anyways i think it would be an excellent informational video that would do these models some real justice. Thanks for all your hard work on bringing us the world of Gibson.
At first I thought you were trying out you're Elmer Fudd impression? untill I got further into the video about this unique guitar. I agree it does have a nice growl on the lower notes. that is a unique guitar it definitely belongs in you're museum.
This…I remember hearing about this, and the Florentine, in the late nineties. This is The One: I use my LPs for jazz and related styles, strung with .012 -.053 flatwounds and I seldom use distortion or overdrive. I wonder if the Gibson Custom Shop can still make these. I feel a GAS attack coming on…
Wow! When you played the first distorted riff, I was blown away. It’s certainly subjective but the balance of open low E with the rest of the chord was MONEY!
Was going to pick on you yesterday about your holy Trogley T shirt yesterday but nice touch doing the suit today. Oh and no reeason to feewl embawised. Th÷ tail piece on this guitar is bery similar to the tail piece on my Casino? It even has a diamond on the top side of it. There's just something about running the camera inside a hollow body or semihollow body that reminds me of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre interior scenes. Never been much of a fan of flat wound strings except on an acoustic.
At last, a Les Paul I would like to own. Great video, maybe your best yet. Perhaps the folks at Harley Benton will see this and build a similar model. I'm sure it would be a big hit for those of us on a budget. Thank you for the great demo.
Hey Austin, great vid, nice axe! To me, those marks on the side of the guitar look like finish checks caused by moisture. it doesn't really look like there's, for example, been a bit of wet cloth resting against the side or that would likely show under blacklight too and it it had been kept in an overly humid environment generally I'd expect to see more of it on the guitar. I can only guess and maybe say that as that is the upper side of the guitar as you hold it, then perhaps it has been sweated on during long playing sessions/gigs and sweat might 'pool' in that area
Salutations Austin! I’m happy for you that you were able to obtain an example of a Wes Paul for your collection! It’s a beautiful instrument, it’s too bad that Gibson doesn’t make a whole line of spruce top Les Paul Florentine’s for those of us that would like an instrument like this, without us having to put in special order. Thank you for sharing your experience and posting these videos! Please have an excellent and awesome day! ☀️✨🎸
Best trogly vid in a long while and the best and most interesting guitar in a super long time! A new dream guitar! Maybe I’ll have campellone build something similar!!
Happy birthday Les Paul and thank you for inventing the solid body guitar in the Epiphone factory 1939 - 41..if not for you and Epiphone there would be No Gibson Les Paul today period!..Also I would Add that Les Paul played Epiphones especially recoding from the early 1940s to the end of the 1950's..when he was under contract with Gibson..Gibson eventually to him to stop and when his contract ended with Gibson he started playing both epiphone and Gibson Live I should know saw him in March of 2009..
I have mixed feelings about the centre block. I guess it lends more Paul to the Wes/Paul idea, but I think it would have been maybe cooler as a full hollow body with acoustic body construction instead of just a chambered solid body.
Have you reviewed the 2014 Les Paul "All Wood" yet? The flame maple neck without veneer and maple binding is pretty cool. That and that B-bender telecaster inspired Les Paul from around the same time would be interesting to see.
