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hey guys
i've fallen totally in love with the gibson les paul junior and it's quite probable than i may get it in the near future. just wondering if you guys can give me bit of tonal knowledge abt it, e.g. sounds it gives. I haven't found any in the shops so i haven't been able to try it out. i'm not really familiar with p90's. Would just buying one from MF be smart, because i haven't tried it. but yeh. please comment. thanks.

Lp Jrs are great guitars, though everyone is aware of the quality control issues of Gibson. I have two of those guitars, a single and a double cut from '87 and '01 respectably. They are my favs. With the vol and the tone controls, and your hands, you will be amazed at the versatility. Of course P-90s sound f'n great. I can get any appropriate tone I need- meaning, if I'm playing a SRV tune, it might not sound like a strat, but it will sound appropriate, if that makes any sense at all. They are just great, simple , solid guitars. But it would be best to be able to play one first then to order on from MF, unless you don't mind the possible hassle of sending it back.

Always play first, especially if you're going into areas where you're not familiar. If you don't know about P-90s, you might want to try a few P-90 guitars beforehand.

I love Juniors and Specials, especially the double cuts!

These guys nailed it. MF has a less than perfect reputation because they've sold some pretty bad quality instruments to consumers. I'd make sure to play one in person and check it out from top to bottom before taking the plunge.

P90s IMHO are the best, but my tastes may be *completely* different than yours . What I love about p90s is that they have all the fun things of single coils like clarity and chime while improving on its weaknesses... that is, higher output (pushes frontends of amps better), thicker tone (single coils can be very thin at times) and they have attitude (they bite and cut through the mix which is essential live). P90s can sparkle like a good single, but they rock with overdriven and distortion (I found that JTM type amps really benefit from p90s). Humbuckers are a bit too thick, round and muddy for my taste, so that's why I swear by p90s.

I love Gibson Specials and Juniors. My main player is a R 0 Gibson Les Paul Special DC in TV Yellow. I like Specials because you get more tonal variation out of it (Juniors just have one pickup... so you have some limitations there). I love neck p90s for jazz, fusion, and funk, the middle position gets great full and chimey rhythm cleans (great for strumming) and the bridge cuts for straight up rock and roll and also sounds amazing for blues.

Everything I've just said, ignore it and play one yourself... you'll be glad you did

Thing is the $649 MF Junior is exclusively made for them. You're not going to be able to try it before you buy it. Just so happens I just bought one. They were discounted at $599 so I grabbed one. I've had it for a couple weeks now and I absolutely love it. It was perfectly intonated out of the box. It plays like butter. This thing is friggin mean sounding. I had also ordered a Highway One Strat, which is also great. But the sound of that p90 just blows it out of the water. I'm super happy with my purchase. The guys over at the Les Paul Forum like these MF jrs alot too. I say go for it. Worse case you just pay for return shipping. Consider it renting one for a month.

FWIW, I have a Historic TV model and I like it a lot better than the R7 I traded for it. With some cash my way, of course. P90's are great. YMMV, though, but it is worth a shot. One-pickup guitars can be liberating.

I have a recent jr from when Gibson last made them as a production model a few years ago. It's a great guitar, simple (Leslie West once referred to his as a 'lump of wood with a microphone on it'), ballsy and rich sounding.

I'd also recommend playing one in person. Gibson's quality control can be erratic. Mine had minor cosmetic flaws, but played and sounded great, so I could live with that.

I'd also recommend the PRS soapbar SE if you want a tad more versatility and playability than a jr or special. the PRS is a great guitar for the money.

I have no idea how good the new Juniors are, but my '55 is probably my favorite guitar. Having one simple pickup, one volume and one tone can be very liberating, forces you to just wail on the damn thing and quit worrying about getting just the right tone. The p-90 IS my absolute all-time favorite pickup, hands down. Because they are single coils, they cut really well, but they are fatter and more powerful than Strat pu's, so they've got a lot of chunk, too. Try one out, I doubt you will be disappointed!

I've been GASsing for a P90 guitar lately and this one and the Faded DC are at the top of my list. I've yet to see any negative comments about the MF models, and yes..even from LPF... for the money it'd be hard to beat.

My #1 guitar came from MF. I'd have no issue ordering one from them, though I'd certainly rather play a guitar 1st before I buy. If its great, keep it...better to get a guitar from M123, AMS, MF, etc than from ebay...you get a dawg..ya cant send it back if ya bought on ebay (assumin you are not working with an ebay dealer who has an approval period...and they are rare)

I have a real deal 56 LP Jr and it is just plain rude. 9 90s have a snarl that few others can compare to. Check out Leslie West of Mountain. Mississippi Queen is a great example. Might be the hottest rock tone of that era.

I bought one of the new Jr.s when they came out from MF. if you look in the picutres thread it's in the pics. It was great right out of the box. I love my Jr., it beats my strat, tele, and everything else. I'd say buy it, MF does have a return policy. I don' think you will be dissapointed.

i have a lp sg jr, with a harmonic design vp-90..............can you say quot;mississippi queenquot; i would like to try the gamp;l asat jr.........anybody know were i can get a good deal on one?

Jr's rock!!! Good Jr's with a nice P-90 in it (I love SD P-90's!) are surprisingly versatile guitars. You can do an awful lot with one pup, a volume and a tone knob. Great rock and blues tones and even into country and surf with the right eq's.

I prefer singlecuts since they seem to have a bit more bottom end to my ears. P-90's are great sounding pickups, can be a bit noisy depending on the location you use them but that is only an issue when you are not playing.

I actually prefer Jr's from the mid to late 80's over the recent ones because I like Tune-o-matics over the stopbar style. Otherwise the new ones are fine, especially the CS versions. You can score a decent 80's Jr. in the $600 range so keep that in mind when searching. Can't comment on buying a guitar from MF, never have before. I have bought 2 guitars sight unseen on eBay though and been very happy with both. Just make sure you are buying from some one with excellent feedback and ask any questions, get pics etc before bidding. If they can't comply don't bid.

Good luck.

I still love mine.
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It has that snarl and growl that only a good P-90 can give you. It definitely has that Leslie West vibe. I put a Antiquity Dog Ear in it but the stock pup was very good as well. Mine was set up perfectly and played like butter. It did have a very tiny ding on the back of the neck but it wasn't enough for me to return it because it played and sounded so good.

It's the first guitar that I have bought from MF (besides a quot;scratch and dentquot; OLP bass for $75). Even though I am not going to make a habit of ordering from them it was pretty painless and risk free really. Shipping was free and if you have a problem with the guitar you can call them and they will issue a return shipping label that you can print from your own computer so the return would be free as well. Just a great guitar and I got mine when they marked them down to $599.

Yep, the Les Paul junior is one of my favorite guitars as well. Good lord, I want one in TV white.