Customer Reviews

The Gibson Les Paul Handbook: How To Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Gibson and Epiphone Les Paul

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has a good history of the Les Paul guitars but is weaker on the topics I actually purchased it for, such as set up and troubleshooting.

If your aim is to buy a book which explains the basics of setting up a Les Paul then this book does achieve this. It also touches in areas of modification and repair. However, for my liking it doesn't really provide enough detail.

The book lists the recommended settings by Gibson for saddle height, pickup height, neck relief, etc but strangely the author doesn't offer any opinions on these settings as even Gibson is referenced as stating that some settings can be subjective - for example pick up height. Another small criticism is that the information for setting up is not all under one section. The neck relief and pick up height is in another section of the book.

The book has some nice illustrations and provides interesting reading on some famous Les Pauls and their owners but I would have liked lots more.

The LP Handbook is a great primer for people new to the Les Paul and thinking of getting one. It's a great quick reference guide for those same people who want to take care of their guitars themselves and not pay high rates at the local guitar repair shop. In that same context however, it's great for folks who need to look up one particular thing. The facts aren't strewn all over the place, they are in one neatly organized area. Why read through repairing Fenders or Guilds to get to the good stuff? Super book. Lester should be proud. Did I say great enough times ??

I guess people seen to be too impressed with a nice package. This is a hardcover book, with great color high quality pics and a lot of info on the les paul history.

However, you can't learn to fix anything - I mean anything - in your guitar with this book. Even the info on how to change strings is simplistic explained, with only two pictures, with a lot of details missing. Any guitar player knows that changing strings is the first step to a great sound.

I'm doing a luthier course, and believe me, you won't learn how to set up your guitar with this book. I had a lot of problems with my les paul, and this book didn't help me at all.

Anyway, I'm not completely displeased, cause it is a very elegant book and you can certainly leave it in the living room so your friends can take a look at it.

This book in intended for entry through intermediate guitar repair along with bits of history on the creation of Les Paul guitars. Very good book and even better priced. I'm definitely happy to own this book.

I've bought the book and I think it's very pretty, very usefuld and entretaining. I don't think it's the ultimate thing about LPs and some parts don't go into enough details.
All in all I reckon the book is very good for those who do not have an extensive knowledge on Les Pauls. Diehard fans may find it a tad basic.

I bought this book, as I was considering which Les Paul giutar model to purchase. The large variety of makes and models over the year leads to a dizztying variety of purchse options.

I found this book did a very good job of simplifying this dilema. It had very explicit details on the different models, and some pros and cons of each.

It does not have a specific buying guide section, which is why I did not rate this book as 5 stars.

It also has a lot of details on repairing and upgrading which will come in handy in the future for me.

This is the operating manual for the Les Paul owner, luthier, player. From wiring coil taps to why Peter Green reversed the polarity on his Alnico magnet. I keep this book at an arms reach!

Beautiful pictures of a natural beauty, either blonde, burst, or black. Agreeable, not too complicated information (Les is more?) about Les Paul guitars. Not for pro's, but for all those amateurs in the French meaning: lovers, in this case of Gibsons' and Les' Les Paul. Enjoy it!

This book is very informative as it shows how a guitar is properly set up and maintained. You don't need to be an expert to do most jobs yourself. Pictures show how it is done. Very useful for both Gibson and epiphone owners.