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I've owned a ton of Gibson Les Pauls. Most of them were heavy, beautiful, and expensive. Recently, I've been working towards a quot;pay less, play morequot; strategy, and one of Gibson's newer offerings seems to fit right into my slightly less capitalistic, but still capitalistic gassing for Gibsons.

Namely, the Les Paul Special with humbuckers. I'm seeing used ones on eBay in the mid $400's, and the reviews that the commercial sites are willing to post say great things.

Does anyone have one, or played one, and want to comment ? I can feel good about gassing for less expensive gear !!

Owned one a few years ago. Pretty good tone, but lousy fretwork. It's definitely not the worst guitar, but for what they go for (both new and used), I'd look into a high quality import.

Matt

Well there are several different ones so I am not sure which exactly you are looking at but simple mahogany bodied guitars are great IMO.

The SL's generally have those funky chiclet markers which I don't like but to each his own and if the guitar plays and sounds like you want no biggie. Pups go to SD as soon as it lands but that happens to just about every guitar I have owned since the late 80's.

If you are talking the Faded Specials just play a few of them and you'll find one that rocks. You'll probably do a fret level but that shouldn't scare you away, it is easy to do or have done.

My favorite and it is a bit more money is the Les Paul Junior Special Plus. The figured top, a lot more attention to detail and nicer trim parts really make it a winner. I don't think the red looks anywhere as nice as the amber but again personal opinion.

Have fun hunting!

I played a TV yellow LP special and it felt really solid.
It was a 2nd hand one so it may have already had a setup but it was quite nice, nothing bad to say about it really. The neck was comfortable (maybe a bit 'dry' feelling to it because of the finish) and the frets were fine. Even the stock buckers sounded acceptable.
I was very tempted to buy one but already had my eye on another Gibson.

The LP Specials with HBs are great, IMO. I own two of them! These are the glossy nitro finished ones, not the faded ones, and have mini trap inlays (not the dot fret markers). I really like the neck thickness - somewhere between the 60's slim taper and the '59 neck of the Studios. They are great for gigging. Mine weigh in at a little over 8 lbs. I modded the pots and wiring - using the 50's style, CTS pots, and Orange Drops. The one that I am using now is loaded with Phat Cat P-90's and sounds fantastic! All the great LP tone is there.