Gibson Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior Deep Dive

[@jfiery]

I am extremely excited you got this guitar. I can't say Im a huge fan of Starr's band/music but the guitars look and sound great. Also from the interviews I've seen of him he comes off as a thoughtful and genuinely nice guy. Excellent review as always.

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for the kind words! Yeah - I agree about him as well! Thanks again for checking out the video!

[@lawrencefranck9417]

Go see the live. True joy on stage from every member of the band.

[@jfiery]

@@lawrencefranck9417 when I said I'm not a huge fan it maybe sounded negative. I should have said I dont know any of their music. But he seems like a great human being.

[@jupiterlegrand4817]

Two thousand dollars. For a one pickup, un-bound, matte finish guitar. "Actually, not a bad deal". Think about that for a second.

[@jasujokelainen5073]

Two thousand WTF!!?!!

[@djentleman7315]

Doesn't matter anymore as they're completely sold out already and about to get flipped for a premium as it normally goes. ;)

[@blinddawg7901]

The xtra you pay is for the signature. I wouldn’t do that but, obviously, 500 other people did.

[@yogawithtoddsemo8085]

I am picking mine up in two days. Also in ebony finish. From the promotional video that Gibson has put out with Charlie and Dinesh Lekhraj introducing the guitar, Charlie states "in the 70's, lots of players decided they wanted Grover tuners. They were there when I got it, so there they stay." Thanks for your take.

[@CompanyGrip]

Ah! Interesting! Thanks for the info. Congrats on the purchase! 🤘🏽

[@brianmckenzie1318]

I really would love one of these, but was unsure about the satin finish and how it would wear (shiny). Gibson site says "High-Build Premium Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer", but I have no clue what that actually means and how it differs from other guitars listed with "Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer". So guess I would just settle for regular LP Jr and get the compensated bridge that Bukovac recommends as a replacement. BTW, excellent video, thanks for the run through!!!

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for checking it out! I’m pretty sure high-build means it has more materials in it for durability, plasticizers and what not. Cheers!

[@TheRange7]

Pretty much anything Charlie Starr is something I'm going to like automatically. If I had ordered this, I'd have gone with the Ebony, no question. This one just looks like a music machine, I love everything about it. Simple but bad a$$ imo. Congrats

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for checking out the video!

[@matt6l6]

I grabbed one of the Lukas Nelson Juniors in 2020. Pre ordered it as soon as it appeared (without much press) on the website. During the waiting period, a rep from the retailer who had the order (different person from my usual sales person) called and said it was gonna be awhile till the LN came in and I should consider a regular Junior (less expensive, better finish, etc). I told them I wanted the satin finish and the compensated wraparound on the LN. I surprisingly did get the guitar I wanted, and it's killer.

[@CompanyGrip]

That’s awesome! It wasn’t Musicians Friend by chance, was it? 🤣 Thanks for checking out the vid!

[@matt6l6]

​@@CompanyGripit was!

[@CompanyGrip]

Yeah / they are the ones that messed up my original order. Next time I make an order and they have any ideas, I’m just going to tell them I’m not interested. 😆

[@TrashCat-1031]

Great in depth video as always. I never thought I would like an over wound P90 but it sounds pretty good. How is it in the room, does it have a lot more noise than a standard P90? And yeah, that Walnut looks amazing. Sorry you lost out on that one.

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for checking it out! Honestly, I didn’t really notice it being much noisier at all than a standard P90 - however, I did find that that those extra wraps of wire did bring the punch up quite a bit! It got dirty quick at 10! 😆

[@sinakaedwards2009]

Almost 2k subscribers. congratulations!!!!

[@CompanyGrip]

Thank you!

[@sinakaedwards2009]

I can't remember if you have any other les Paul juniors, but if so, a comparison video would be cool. Love the sobering riff you used, hearing it now. for the sound demo video, you could reedit all the sound demos into one video.

[@CompanyGrip]

Currently, just the Billy Joe Armstrong with the P90-DC pickup in it. One day I’ll get around to a sound comparison!

[@MikeBranchBand]

Excellent video, Ben. Thanks!

[@CompanyGrip]

Thank you for checking it out!

[@george-st-george]

Thanks for this !!!!! really great !!!! ....i'll take the 50s wiring on a junior every time !!!!

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for checking it out! Cheers!

[@aldito7586]

I guess it just one of those things. You love it - or you hate it. I love it. 1 pickup. Yeah. I love it.

[@xeverettx2564]

I love Gibsons and they are my overall favorite brand of guitar. The Les Paul Juniors are one of my favorite designs. My dad has an original 59 junior TV yellow. He bought that guitar and a fender super reverb for $300 in the early 60’s. Anyways my main thing I wanted to say is that people forget that the junior is an extremely minimal guitar that’s a student model design for pre teens and young teens who are just starting so they made them affordable. Somewhere along the line Gibson seemingly Has forgotten that and now slap a massive price tag on them and it’s only because it has that Gibson logo on the headstock. It’s an extremely cheap guitar to make and I’m gonna go ahead and say it.....they could sell that guitar for $400 and still make a big profit all the while keeping the essence of what they were originally made for. For example, look at what Fender is doing with the Squier Classic Vibe Series. I own a 51 P-bass from that series and it plays and sounds as good as any other Fender I own and have owned like American Deluxe Jazz Bass, sunburst American P-bass, my EB-O, my RIC 4001. So I know Gibson could do the same thing actually making the juniors a quality, American made, student model guitar. Either way I’m probably getting one of these even though people got them and are turning right around and selling them as used and all but double the price. The thing is that I love Blackberry Smoke and have followed them from the very beginning, and Charlie Starr is one of my most favorite guitarist if not my all time number one. He has really influenced my playing style with his classic southern rock techniques he uses. So this one time in my life ima bite the bullet and pay an absurd amount for a guitar LOL!!!! I also have my own company and we build custom order one off models of guitars and amps. It’s just my two brothers and myself and we love it. So I will probably build a replica of the walnut because I’m gonna buy the black one. Anyway this has been a long comment but i loves your video and keep up the good work!

[@xeverettx2564]

Oh one last thing, they should have used the Glazer comped bridge because as of now his are the only ones that truly fix that intonation problem.

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for the message! That’s awesome you guys are building your guitars! Would love to see one some day. Cheers!

[@Somenite]

If your set on buying a junior new, then this one is worth the extra 400 bucks. The case is awesome and the bridge and tuners are really an upgrade. You also get a cool slide. Thats all worth a few bucks but the biggest thing is that the resale on a limited edition like this is always going to be greater than a regular junior which by itself is worth the difference. That said, if you're buying a junior you plan to keep and are good with used then maybe that is a better option. However, on a new guitar, this is a no brainer if you have good luck and walk into a shop to buy your junior and one of these is hanging on the wall. On another note, the walnut finish is nicer in my opinion, but the black finish will wear if the guitar is actually played and have the potential to look more like Charlie's as the years pass. That said, I'm guessing 99% of these will be case queens sitting in collections.

[@NintenDub]

The slide alone is def worth the extra 400

[@CompanyGrip]

I also think the $400 is probably worth it. Also, as a side note, you can actually get the slide from the BlackBerry Smoke website for like $20. Just noticed it the other day! 😮

[@Somenite]

@@CompanyGrip Thanks for the heads up on the slide. I want one but going to be 42 with the shipping so a tough call. I'd actually use it so if I knew it was going to be a good fit I would buy.

[@CompanyGrip]

Understandable! Cheers!

[@cocobinga8218]

Custom overwound P90 too.. which sounds great btw

[@johnmartin5147]

The studs being able to clamp the bridge down. Some people think that it increases sustain.

[@CompanyGrip]

Thanks for checking out the video! You know, I’ve heard that before. Personally, I think it’s a bunch of malarkey. 😝 Don’t know how much stock I put in it. Cheers!

[@auntjenifer7774]

😂 they don't increase sustain at all, in fact they probably decrease the sustain. I have a junior Single cut that came with those . The first time I changed the strings and tightened the things down one broke 😂 there was no material holding it together so I swapped in some old les paul bridge studs and have been very happy ever since, no problems at all !

[@sinakaedwards2009]

I think I agree with you on tuning keys. On bass I prefer Y keys over Clover style.

[@CompanyGrip]

Oh yeah! Def the Y keys! 👍

[@NintenDub]

Its funny that this really isnt a signature guitar at all. Sure it has his name, but this isnt like his guitar at all

[@sinakaedwards2009]

I was watching Roger Sadowsky talk about tone woods. He said light woods usually had better resonance, like ash. Said Naytoh was like mahogany but lighter producing more resonance. Not sure if it is true but the dude does make high quality basses.

[@CompanyGrip]

I’m inclined to believe that to some degree. My Melody Maker is super light and rings out for days! 🤣

[@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp]

If I buy an expensive phone I can look at the specifications and see that I'm getting maybe an OLED screen and lots of processing power, with so many megapixels in the camera and so much storage. But what do we have here? Why is it that Gibson has been making guitars for a hundred years and they still can't tell me why any of their guitars sound different than any other guitar and why they are so expensive? It used to be that you could say, well it's got good fret work but now even cheap guitars have good fret work. You could say, look, it's an 8K alnico pickup. Well, now cheap guitars have the same pickups. That is if you measure the inductance and resistance of the pickup it will be the same therefore the pickup will sound the same. Is there anything else in that guitar that could be proven to anyone that it is worth $500? Will anybody in the world in the history of guitar making step forward here today now and prove to me that this guitar is worth anything at all? You think you can play a guitar and it would pass a blind test? Don't we know that that's no longer true as well?

[@sinakaedwards2009]

A little aggressive of a take but I'll try to answer as quickly as possible. First, price is set by the market, enough people are willing to pay the price thus Gibson can charge it. Second, American made is going to cost more because people wish to be paid for their labor. Anything you do to a guitar will change its sound, even two of the same model guitars will sound different. Really on your musical journey you should find what you like and stay away from what you don't. Gibson guitars are overpriced in my opinion but I understand why people like them. American Fenders are cheaper than Gibsons, but they are bolt-Ons and Gibsons are set necks. Plus, Gibson tends to stay away from Maple fretboards. Generally speaking, the more money you pay for a guitar or bass the less maintenance is required. However, most anything over $2000 or $3000 is more of an art piece. Most any guitar or bass you buy that is $1000 or more should be ultra stable, resonant, comfortable, and no upgrades required. Besides if it was all bullshit and parts didn't matter the guys who play bars every night would just use the bottom model of any guitars they could find. Pickups are a whole different situation. How they leave the factory is important. However, sometimes pickups made overseas use subpar parts that tend to corrode or rust easily. Pink wire is not good copper wire.

[@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp]

@@sinakaedwards2009 Have you seen Scar My Guitar's review of the Leo James Monsoon? Or have you seen the Bald Shredders review? Or MusicNGear? The latter does a meticulous review and we see that nearly every one of these has flat frets, no sharp fret ends, and the last one from Scar shows alpha pots, shielding, and good solder work. Leo James is just one example There are many others. The Firefly has stainless steel frets. EART as well. And whatever differences in the sounds you hear in different pickups I don't think would pass any blind test - certainly not one on KZbin by specter sound studios or Anderton's TV. We know what makes the tone of a pickup. It's the windings and the magnetic strength of the pickup. It's the DC resistance and inductance. And if you can hear the small differences in capacitance then just change the length of your guitar chord. That's it. You can prove that to yourself at guitar nuts 2. You can see the frequency response. Many of the pickups are similar if not the same.

[@sinakaedwards2009]

@@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp I have seen the guitar reviews and held the instruments myself. Leo James, Glarry, Harley Benton, and IVY. There is a difference when you hold them you can tell compared to Schecter, Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Ibanez, or Spector. I understand what Specter Studios says, however I am not meaning what sounds you can get out of them, I mean how long you can play them without repair.

[@auntjenifer7774]

​@sinakaedwards2009 😂 how many guitars have you played into obselte junk !? I have had the same classic vibe custom since 8 years, played 100's of shows with it and not one part on it has failed except for the input/ out put jack on the guitar.

[@sinakaedwards2009]

@@auntjenifer7774 I play bass and have an ultra-aggressive attack. Only two basses have I broken beyond playability. No guitars as of yet though.

[@hunkydorian]

He's got the hat, he's got the beard, he's got the printed black T-shirt. There's something about a man in uniform.

[@CompanyGrip]

😆

[@gado6438]

Had a pretty good hum, didn't it?

[@CompanyGrip]

I didn’t find it to be much more noticeable than a standard P90, to be honest. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@f3uibeghardt522]

I couldn't agree more about the Grover kidney tuners. At least once a day I think about replacing all my Gibsons that have them with metal keystones. The kidney tuners just feel bad, and they're very crowded and bulky. It gives the sensation that you're lacking tactile feedback when winding them. They're wide and convex, while the keystones are the exact opposite. Less importantly, on an aesthetic level, I think they're ugly, and the metal keystones are the better look.

[@CompanyGrip]

Thank you! This is the validation I was looking for! 😆 It’s seems more and more people want the Keystones! #bringbackkeystones! Haha

[@danmeek928]

My opinion, extra $500 hurts. The present economy it’s no purchase for me

[@NintenDub]

Why do you meed to 'convince ' ppl that its a good price or justified? Nobody can get it anyway, and likely those who are actually fans of his,aint gettin one

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

I'm really irritated that these are so limited and are pretty much all now in the hands of scalpers that probably couldn't care less about Blackberry Smoke. I actually love Blackberry Smoke and Charlie Starr. He is a GREAT player and is carrying the southern torch admirably. Sucks I won't be able to even PLAY one of these ever probably.

[@gregstimple8678]

Do you think the guitar is worth the money with one pick up?

[@auntjenifer7774]

Sounds like alnico 5 to me.

[@raymonddehn1602]

I supposedly had one pre ordered through Sweetwater, got an envoice then, told a date of shipement and then 14 days later I got a call from the Sweetwater rep and was told I won't be getting one. Thanks for nothing Sweetwater.

[@CompanyGrip]

Damn - that sucks. Sorry to hear it! After my experience as well, my first choice obviously would be to get one directly from Gibson as soon as announced. I had several retailers tell me they *thought* they were going to get X amount only to find out they were actually getting half that many. Maybe that happened with Sweetwater. Honestly not sure who’s in charge of that.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

My sales rep told me the other day that Sweetwater is definitely not getting anymore because they were so limited to start with. So super lame. I would at least like to got to play one but I probably never will.

[@f3uibeghardt522]

I have no idea who Charlie Starr is.

[@adamkrauss303]

He was/is member of BlackBerry Smoke, a “Southern Rock” band and a killer player as well as vintage gear aficionado. Here is a recent vid of him performing a barn burner with Daryl Hall and his awesome band as part of the long running Live at Daryl’s House show. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mni0hnyNZcdleKssi=nsp62PkptM1-m1tK

[@CompanyGrip]

Great stuff!

[@yogawithtoddsemo8085]

Well now sir, you are in for many treats!

[@charlesrink4182]

Been following BBS since 2012. See them live you won't regret it. And make sure they are headline ‼️🎸🎸

[@russellsabolic5336]

Once you learn who he is. " if you want to walk in his boots, and take all that he took....ain't as easy as it looks"...