Granada Les Paul Copy Reviews 3

Been playing guitar for over 30 years. These days it's mostly 12 string in Church services. But I still play my electrics, mostly blues type stuff.

Like the previous reviewer, (with a difference) I bought it in 1977 from the United Conservatory of Music (Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) It was their house brand. I was a student of theirs. So I'm sure it's the same guitar--or at least close.

It looks good--other than the cream pickguard-it looks better without it. It was a decent student level guitar.

-As with the other reviewers the pickups are quite weak. -The guitar sounds out of tune at the higher frets no matter how well you do the intonation. -The hardware is cheap--some of mine has been replaced.

That flame top the previous reviewers rave about does look quite nice. (Although some students had ones that were a bit bland.) But if they look at it closely they'll see it's not solid maple, but a veneer of wood & what looks like plastic. Also where the body arches the highest there is a gap between the main body and the top. Because of this the pickups can sit loosely in the guitar-this could have contributed to the feedback the first reviewer mentions.

The previous reviewer wrote-"An absolute first rate guitar." and "So what you esentialy have is A LES PAUL! AS good or better than any made with the GIBSON logo...never give it up!" Well I have both this copy & a real Les Paul. I also know other people with various Les Pauls--the real thing is quite superior. There is no comparsion. The tone my Les Paul has is way better than the copy and the guitar itself is much sturdier. This is not only due to the pickups, but also the construction. The copy has a bolt-on neck which affects the tone & sustain. (I have nothing against bolt on necks-but they do affect the sound.) Also the nature of the top I mentioned above also affects the tone compared to the real thing. Still the first reviewer probably got a good deal, but may have been able to get one for less. If you only have a couple of hundred to spend it may not be a bad deal. But be prepared to do some minor work on it (or have somebody else do it.) As a student level guitar it's okay, and my rating reflects that I consider this a student level guitar, otherwise it would have been lower.

zontar rated this unit 3 on 2007-10-20.

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