Gibson Les Paul Voodoo
Posted by mosz on 2727/May0505/20092009
Gibson USA’s new Les Paul Voodoo puts a mojo sound and a juju look on Gibson’s most famous solidbody guitar.
Price paid: $ 1095
Features: 2004, USA, 24 fret, ebony fretboard, swamp ash body, basic hardware w/double slug pickups.
Sound: I play in two completely different projects. One is a very heavy hardcore metal, and the other is a rockabilly/country-blues. For the heavy music, the voodoo does not perform worth mentioning. I only used it once, when my other guitar was down for repair. With that much distortion it squealed like a stuck pig. Plus it sounded terrible compared to my Dean. I contacted Gibson about it, they were rude and said the double slugs are the best pickups out there, obviously not when the stock Deans kill them in performance. It does work well for the other music, which I think it was more designed for. As a sad note, the Dean sounds better there, too. Gibson should be ashamed to charge so much money forthe name, when a Korean made production guitar rocks it off the map.
Action, Fit & Finish: Action was high, had some fret rattle around teh 12th fret. I had to adjust it all myself. Again, the music store referred me to Gibson for questions/comments and the guy I talked to this time was rude also. As far as the rest goes, the guitar is beautiful. I mean, hand rubbes stain finish that is black with red wood grains! A skull at the 5th fret! It is nice, heavy, and feel great. I’ll have to give it a 5 here, because it sucked in setup and sound, but is overall built well and looks sweet.
Reliability & Durability: failed the first time I used it live (volume pot went to hell). Got it fixed and it did it again. So, for reliability, I give it zero. I basically put it into a box to hope for collector value in a couple hundred years. So much for wanting a les paul all my life.
Impression: Not a good match. I had to order it, because it was a “special order” guitar, so I couldn’t even try it out. The salesman loaned me a Studio, saying it is identical in all aspects. It wasn’t, but the studio sucked just as bad. It sounded good, but the action was higher than Robert Downey Junior on prison leave, and the intonation was the worst I ever heard in any guitar. I couldn’t even get it in tune. Shame on you, Gibson! I’ll give it a 5 because it looks really cool.
Source : Ultimate-Guitar.com
