Gibson Les Paul Std. Axcess Flametop

[Jimi75]

My local guitar shop called me yesterday and told me they have received a beautiful Les Paul Std. Axcess and if I want to come and check that baby. Said and done, I went there in the evening to check the Axcess.

First of all, the guitar was very light. It weighs it at 7,93lbs, which is a fantastic weight for a LP. Sure it is chambered, but it's worth it.

The flametop was gorgeous, flawless.
By the way this was the standard model, so no Floyd Rose here.

The Neck had a medium slim profile and fitted my smaller hands perfectly. I'd compare the neck profile to a 60s profile. The guitar is fitted with Gibson Deluxe tuners and they do a brilliant job. I shredded along on that baby for an hour and I didn't have to tune. That's how I love it!

The burst buckers developped a strong and stable sound with lots of harmonics. Especially clean and crunchy sounds for Blues stuff seemed to be the perfect territory. The guitar has a Push-Pull-Poti that splits the buckers. Usually, I am not a huge fan of coilsplitting but in this case the sounds were so great that I felt it is an excellent addition to that guitar.

How about the axcessability now? That's initially why this LP carries its name...I must admit, it's awesome. Where I usually have to stretch, this guitar's axcessability is a dream. Why did it take Gibson so long to make that move?

Does the lighter weight affect the sound?
It does slightly, but in a positive way. It takes away a little bit of that LP muddiness, don't worry this LP sounds still very much like an LP, long sustain, creamy overdrive, direct tone development, but all in all it has that slight air of an ES335. Of course it doesn't sound like an ES335, it's just to put it in my own words "more airy". But as always this is subjective.

The playability and factory set up (pleked neck) was perfect. I am already pampered by the heavenly playability of my Traditional, but this here was even better!

If I bought this baby, I would definitely put on some caps, as I prefer the capped look to the open humbucker look.

The LP Axcess is a dream of a guitar. It's among the most versatile guitars I had in my hands. It sings, it screams, it's on my GAS list, at least as soon as they bring out the Goldtop version of this dream.

[FrankenFretter***]

The Gibson site only has the Floyd equipped models. I wonder if this is a European only model? I do like that belly cut and the contoured heel. Very nice! I'll bet that one isn't cheap.

Edit: Found the hardtails on another page. Cool!

[MAXIFUNK]

Jimi sounds like a great axe. so many guitars so little money and time.
Good Luck!