Love Les Pauls but wish they were more comfortable like your favorite Stratocaster? Love Strats and wish you could get into the Gibson 'thing' without sacrificing that familiar feel / body shape? Read on, friend...
Why We Love This
Another knock-out SL Deluxe from our friends at b3 Guitars! Love Les Pauls but wish they were more comfortable like your favorite Stratocaster? Love Strats and wish you could get into the Gibson 'thing' without sacrificing that familiar feel / body shape? Read on, friend...
This lightly relic'd Dark Burst SL Deluxe features a 4/5A flame maple top, hollow mahogany body (sans F hole), mahogany neck w/a rosewood board, super comfy Standard C carve (.83"-.96"), 12" radius, trapezoid inlays, b3 PAF-style humbuckers, TonePros bridge/tailpiece, 24.625" scale, and a 1 11/16" nut.
Gibson players will no doubt recognize these specs as the basic "recipe" for a Les Paul style guitar. For all intents and purposes, this is a Les Paul (save for its hollowbody construction) - but - its quite a bit more comfortable with better balance, a tummy cut, effortless upper fret access, and it weighs in at a whopping 7lbs 4oz!
We're big fans of b3's PAF-style humbuckers. They do the "Tele on Steroids" sound really well. Clean tones have a nice dry, midrange along with a sweet and articulate top end response...kick on your fave gain pedal (or crank your amp of choice) and you'll be grinning in no time. Simply put? This guitar delivers iconic Les Paul tones with a touch more air and clarity thanks to the chambered construction.
While other builders like Paul Reed Smith have worked from similar concepts - Fender meets Gibson - b3 guitars have a decidedly more vintage feel and tone vs a PRS (makes sense given that Gene was a Master Builder at the Fender Custom Shop and also spent time at Gibson's Custom Shop - he has intimate knowledge of what makes great instruments from those brands tick). If that sounds appealing in any way, snag this beauty - you won't regret it.
Body
Hardware
Neck
Other