red
January 21st, 2008, 02:45 AM
I've been doing some research into Gibson Les Paul Juniors lately. They're very nice guitars, and I'm interested in getting one for myself, but with the instruments these days being what they are, and prices being what they are, I thought I'd ask around and dig up all the relevant information I could find on current production Gibson Les Paul Junior guitars. In the hope that this information will be useful to somebody else as well (and save them from digging around the Internet and waiting for replies from Gibson support), here's what I could find:
Les Paul Nasville Junior (http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Divisions/Gibson%20USA/Guitar%20of%20the%20Week/Nashville-LesPaulJr-Week41/) (GOTW 41)
It's got a 3-piece mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck. NO maple caps or any kind of maple (some online vendors have got this wrong), and NO pickup switch (Gibson made a mistake on the specs page). It's got a satin nitrocellulose finish (cheaper, faster to apply). Pickup: P90. Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
The tuners are said to be Grovers. Source: various forums.
The problem with satin finishes is that they don't look so hot to begin with, they wear out fast and they develop "shiny spots" where the hand rests on the body.
Also, anything with a body of more than two pieces will tend to resonate worse than a guitar with a two-piece, or ideally a one-piece body. I might be wrong, but on a guitar this simple small details like this might count.
The guitar only comes with a gigbag from most vendors.
BJA Les Paul Junior (http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Divisions/Gibson%20USA/Guitars/LesPaul/Billie%20Joe%20Armstrong%20Les%20Paul/)
It's got a one-piece mahogany body, one piece mahogany neck. Gloss (and vintage-correct for the sunburst version) nitrocellulose lacquer finish.The pickup is not a regular P90, but it's not a humbucker either. It's more or less what happens on a MIA Stratocaster in positions 2 and 4 - two single coils out-of-phase, except that for the H90 one coil is dummy-only so you only actually hear one of them. Also, the dummy pickup is "weaker" that the "real" one, so it doesn't cancel out all of the hum and it doesn't really make the combination either a humbucker, or two "normal" out-of-phase coils. It's supposedly coil-splittable, so at least in theory you can modify the wiring to end up with an almost regular P90 without changing the pickup. Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
There's also my other thread here (http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=5419) about this and some off-topic stuff as well :).
I'm not sure what the tuners are, but I gather from forums and Harmony Central information that both the tuners and the electronics are noticeably higher quality on the BJA than on the "regular", discontinued LP Jr., and the finish looks higher-quality as well. It's got a small BJA signature on the back of the neck where the headstock begins.
The guitar comes with a funky hardcase shell.
"Regular" Les Paul Junior (http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/LesPaul/lpj.html) (discontinued, but still available in Europe through Thomann.de and in the US through Musician's Friend)
"The Les Paul Junior model body could be comprised of up to three pieces of mahogany. The finish on a regular Les Paul Junior model would be a glossy nitrocellulose lacquer. The tuners installed on most Juniors would be the Gibson Deluxe tuners." Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
The tuners are said to be inferior, and some owners report tone pot failure.
A good rule of thumb seems to be: if the finish on the back is black, it's a 3-piece body (later period LP Jrs), if it's natural, it's a one-piece or two-pieces body. Apparently some of the 3-piece bodies are horribly matched for grain - but indeed, it CANNOT be that one of the guitars has a 9-piece body, like some reviewer on Musician's Friend said - at least not according to Gibson's support dept.
The pickup on these is a regular P90.
The guitar comes with only a gigbag from most vendors.
I did not go into CS/Historic territory because 1. they're pretty much good instruments so there's not much to dig up on them, and 2. the BJA seems a pretty close approximation of both A. a CS reissue, if you swap the H90 with a P90, and B. the original LP Jr. philosophy construction-wise (as far as the non-CS LP Jrs go). Plus, a CS is a lot more cash for not that much more mojo IMHO.
I may have left something out, or some of my info could be wrong (especially the part collected from forums and Harmony Central). I welcome all comments, and hope this helps somebody else as well.
Les Paul Nasville Junior (http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Divisions/Gibson%20USA/Guitar%20of%20the%20Week/Nashville-LesPaulJr-Week41/) (GOTW 41)
It's got a 3-piece mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck. NO maple caps or any kind of maple (some online vendors have got this wrong), and NO pickup switch (Gibson made a mistake on the specs page). It's got a satin nitrocellulose finish (cheaper, faster to apply). Pickup: P90. Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
The tuners are said to be Grovers. Source: various forums.
The problem with satin finishes is that they don't look so hot to begin with, they wear out fast and they develop "shiny spots" where the hand rests on the body.
Also, anything with a body of more than two pieces will tend to resonate worse than a guitar with a two-piece, or ideally a one-piece body. I might be wrong, but on a guitar this simple small details like this might count.
The guitar only comes with a gigbag from most vendors.
BJA Les Paul Junior (http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/Divisions/Gibson%20USA/Guitars/LesPaul/Billie%20Joe%20Armstrong%20Les%20Paul/)
It's got a one-piece mahogany body, one piece mahogany neck. Gloss (and vintage-correct for the sunburst version) nitrocellulose lacquer finish.The pickup is not a regular P90, but it's not a humbucker either. It's more or less what happens on a MIA Stratocaster in positions 2 and 4 - two single coils out-of-phase, except that for the H90 one coil is dummy-only so you only actually hear one of them. Also, the dummy pickup is "weaker" that the "real" one, so it doesn't cancel out all of the hum and it doesn't really make the combination either a humbucker, or two "normal" out-of-phase coils. It's supposedly coil-splittable, so at least in theory you can modify the wiring to end up with an almost regular P90 without changing the pickup. Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
There's also my other thread here (http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=5419) about this and some off-topic stuff as well :).
I'm not sure what the tuners are, but I gather from forums and Harmony Central information that both the tuners and the electronics are noticeably higher quality on the BJA than on the "regular", discontinued LP Jr., and the finish looks higher-quality as well. It's got a small BJA signature on the back of the neck where the headstock begins.
The guitar comes with a funky hardcase shell.
"Regular" Les Paul Junior (http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/LesPaul/lpj.html) (discontinued, but still available in Europe through Thomann.de and in the US through Musician's Friend)
"The Les Paul Junior model body could be comprised of up to three pieces of mahogany. The finish on a regular Les Paul Junior model would be a glossy nitrocellulose lacquer. The tuners installed on most Juniors would be the Gibson Deluxe tuners." Source: Gibson support, email exchange.
The tuners are said to be inferior, and some owners report tone pot failure.
A good rule of thumb seems to be: if the finish on the back is black, it's a 3-piece body (later period LP Jrs), if it's natural, it's a one-piece or two-pieces body. Apparently some of the 3-piece bodies are horribly matched for grain - but indeed, it CANNOT be that one of the guitars has a 9-piece body, like some reviewer on Musician's Friend said - at least not according to Gibson's support dept.
The pickup on these is a regular P90.
The guitar comes with only a gigbag from most vendors.
I did not go into CS/Historic territory because 1. they're pretty much good instruments so there's not much to dig up on them, and 2. the BJA seems a pretty close approximation of both A. a CS reissue, if you swap the H90 with a P90, and B. the original LP Jr. philosophy construction-wise (as far as the non-CS LP Jrs go). Plus, a CS is a lot more cash for not that much more mojo IMHO.
I may have left something out, or some of my info could be wrong (especially the part collected from forums and Harmony Central). I welcome all comments, and hope this helps somebody else as well.