Review of the Gibson Les Paul Custom AW Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

I’ll tell you how this post is built. First I list the features of the Gibson Les Paul Custom AW guitar. Then you have a video or two, purchase links and useful comments from other users and then you have one of the most useful parts; comparison tables with similar items so you can compare.

  • Les Paul Custom
  • Arched Maple top (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Fretboard: Ebony (Diospyros classiforia)
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickups: 490R Humbucker (neck), 498T humbucker (bridge)
  • Hardware: Gold-plated
  • Colour: Alpine White
  • Includes a case
  • Made in the USA

review gibson-les-paul-custom-aw

This guitar usually has a price around 3690.00 €

Now that we’ve seen the features of this guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AW watch these related videos to learn more.

TONE CHECK: Gibson Les Paul Custom Guitar Demo | No Talking

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Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

This is a review of a Les Paul Custom Apline White purchased from Thomann.

Firstly the service from Thomann was excellent. Very helpful communication by phone and email and a 4 day delivery time to the UK. The guitar arrived nicely packaged. I have bought from Thomann on 4 occasions now and have always
had excellent service.

Back to the guitar.

Box/Case/Guitar:
The guitar came in a sealed boxed that I think had not be opened since it left the factory in the USA. Inside was the newer Custom tan case and custom shop certificate passport. I think I prefer the older black cases but that just my opinion. The case doesnt include any candy at all. No lead,stickers,cloth etc. I like this though. Just minimal splendour. I love the Apline White finish with Gold Hardware. It’s a fine looking instrument.

Build/Fit/Finish Quality:
Having watched how Gibson builds guitars on YouTube and in particular the Les Paul Custom I was impressed with the build quality and finish. I know that a lot of the build is done by hand. The binding in particualr is a highly skilled process. I also know that the white nitro finish is a demanding process as white shows all airbourne impurities when spraying. I couldn’t find any flaws at all in the finish. All the hardware was fitted nicely. There is a sense of "by hand" craftsman ship with this guitar. They will all be slighly different and unique. I like that.

The only one minor "flaw" I noticed is that there must be a tiny piece of dust/wood shaving in the chamber cavity. There’s a very slight noise of something moving around in there. It’s not too audible and doesnt impact playing at all. I will class this as a personality trait.

Setup/Playing experience.
The out of box set-up was suprisingly perfect to my taste. The action was perfect, the fretword immaculate. It was nice to see fine tooling marks where the binding on the end of the frets had been dressed by hand. The guitar has good intonation and is resonant. The pickups were set up with good balance. This guitar plays like butter.

Sound: Im not going to be able to describe this well. Sound is too subjective. To my ears the the Custom has a wide array of sounds in the 3 pickup positions.
All genres of music could be played on this from Jazz to Metal. The tone pots are very usuable and offer a lot of variation. I have 3 Les Pauls. A 2008 Standard and Les Paul Deluxe and now the Custom. They all sound different but fabulous. I would say the Custom has a more varied musical range of tones.

Richlite v Ebony – the big debate: Initially I was a purist Ebony fan. But common sense took over. I’ve played a few guitars (mainly acoustics) with Richlite and cannot fault it.

My guitar has a Richlite board (calm down its ok) and I think its a fine material. Yes its not organic or as aesthetically pleasing as Ebony but as functioning material I cant fault it. It looks nice, solid, stable and jet black and plays very smoothly.

Summary:
The Custom is an outstanding instrument. It’s a privelege to own and play. I would recommend trying one. Once bitten forever smitten though.

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW vs Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard AA

The guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AW is usually 1210 € more expensive than Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard AA.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW

Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard AA
  • Les Paul Custom
  • Arched Maple top (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Fretboard: Ebony (Diospyros classiforia)
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickups: 490R Humbucker (neck), 498T humbucker (bridge)
  • Hardware: Gold-plated
  • Colour: Alpine White
  • Includes a case
  • Made in the USA
  • Slash signature model
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Top: AAA flamed maple
  • Neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Rosewood
  • Neck profile: Thick
  • 22 Frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Tektoid nut
  • Pickup: 2 Slash Bucker (Zebra) humbuckers
  • ABR bridge
  • Aluminium stop bar
  • Colour: Appetite Amber
  • Includes case, accessory kit and Slash pick set
  • Made in USA

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard AA

Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's vs. Slash Standard | What's the Difference?

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard AA review

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW vs Gibson Les Paul Studio EB

The guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AW is usually 2520 € more expensive than Gibson Les Paul Studio EB.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW

Gibson Les Paul Studio EB
  • Les Paul Custom
  • Arched Maple top (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Fretboard: Ebony (Diospyros classiforia)
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickups: 490R Humbucker (neck), 498T humbucker (bridge)
  • Hardware: Gold-plated
  • Colour: Alpine White
  • Includes a case
  • Made in the USA
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • “Ultra Modern Weight Relief” – weight-reduced body
  • Top: Maple
  • Neck: Mahogany
  • Neck profile: Slim Taper
  • Fretboard: Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
  • Acrylic trapezoid fretboard inlays
  • Graphtech nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Cryogenically treated medium frets
  • Pickups: 490R and 498T humbuckers
  • 2 x Volume controls (push / pull for coil tap)
  • 2 x Tone controls
  • Aluminium Tuneomatic bridge
  • Aluminium stop bar
  • Colour: Ebony
  • Includes soft shell case
  • Made in USA

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Gibson Les Paul Studio EB

Gibson Les Paul Studio, Ebony | Gear4music demo

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Gibson Les Paul Studio EB review

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW vs Fender Clapton Custom Shop BLK

The guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AW is usually 360 € more expensive than Fender Clapton Custom Shop BLK.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW

Fender Clapton Custom Shop BLK
  • Les Paul Custom
  • Arched Maple top (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Fretboard: Ebony (Diospyros classiforia)
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickups: 490R Humbucker (neck), 498T humbucker (bridge)
  • Hardware: Gold-plated
  • Colour: Alpine White
  • Includes a case
  • Made in the USA
  • Fender Custom Shop
  • Eric Clapton signature model
  • Body: Alder
  • Fretboard: Maple
  • Neck: Maple
  • 22 Vintage frets
  • Blocked tremolo
  • 1-Ply white pickguard
  • 3 Vintage noiseless single coils
  • Controls: Master volume, tone and mid-boost
  • 5-Way switch
  • Colour: Black
  • Incl. vintage tweed case

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Fender Clapton Custom Shop BLK

Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster Tone Review and Demo

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Fender Clapton Custom Shop BLK review

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW vs ESP Eclipse Custom BLM

The guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AWis usually 1000 € cheaper than ESP Eclipse Custom BLM.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom AW

ESP Eclipse Custom BLM
  • Les Paul Custom
  • Arched Maple top (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Body: Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
  • Fretboard: Ebony (Diospyros classiforia)
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickups: 490R Humbucker (neck), 498T humbucker (bridge)
  • Hardware: Gold-plated
  • Colour: Alpine White
  • Includes a case
  • Made in the USA
  • Handmade instrument from the ESP Custom Shop in Japan
  • Body: Honduras mahogany
  • Maple top: Maple
  • Set-in neck: Honduras Mahogany
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Neck profile: Thin U
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • Flag fretboard inlays
  • 22 X-Jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Scale length: 629 mm
  • Pickups: 2 EMG Het Set humbuckers
  • 2 x Volume and 1 x tone controls
  • 3-Way switch
  • Tonepros Locking TOM bridge and Gotoh tailpiece
  • Gotoh locking machine heads
  • Black Nickel Hardware
  • Colour: Blue Liquid Metal
  • Strings: Elixir Nanoweb Light (.010 / .013 / .017 / .026 / .036 / .046)
  • Includes case
  • Made in Japan

Below have a look to the video of this guitar ESP Eclipse Custom BLM

ESP Eclipse School - Know your Eclipse.

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the ESP Eclipse Custom BLM review

Where to buy the guitar Gibson Les Paul Custom AW

Thomann

  • Free Shipping.
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • Leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually Best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
  • Sometimes better price.
  • He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

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Jaime Echagüe

Hi! I'm Jaime Echagüe, a musician and an authentic fan of musical instruments. With this blog I want to give general information about musical instruments in an easy, direct and honest way. I hope you enjoy my website and that you find it very useful.

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