Gibson Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior Deep Dive

I recently got my hands on the new 2024 limited edition Gibson Charlie Starr Les Paul Junior and wanted to see what makes it different than a regular Les Paul Jr. There are only 250 made of two finishes - totaling 500!

Charlie Starr is the much celebrated guitarist and lead singer for southern rock band Blackberry Smoke.

Check this video out if you're interested learning more!

Table of contents:
00:00 Intro
01:58 The Price
02:46 The Case
04:10 The Look / Body
05:51 The Neck
06:45 Fretboard Measurements
07:45 Fretboard Radius
7:45 Neckback angle
7:50 Headstock Angle
07:54 The Hardware
08:30 The Bridge
11:05 Tuning Ratio
11:28 The Electronics
11:42 P90-OW
12:15 Pickup Reading
12:40 Electronics Cavity
13:03 Other Materials
15:19 The Feel
15:40 The Weight
16:22 Neck Dive Test
17:18 The Sound
20:10 The Conclusion
20:43 The End

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Products used to make this video.

Sony ZV-1F Vlog Camera

Zoom F2 Field Mic

Rode RodeLink Lav Microphone

Guitar Cork Neck Rest

Music Nomad String Cutter

Ernie Ball Guitar Mat

Music Nomad Fretboard F-One Conditioner

Guitar Scale

Suction Cup Plate Remover

Crenova Multimeter

Klein Magnetic Angle Finder

[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.

[timox]

I got one, but even more importantly I really liked your review! Thank you!

[JonathanIngram-wxhp]

When I got mine a little hesitant but now can't put it down freaking love this guitar

[yogawithtoddsemo]

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.

[sinakaedwards]

Almost 2k subscribers. congratulations!!!!

[mattl]

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.

[aficat]

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.

[sinakaedwards]

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.

[jupiterlegrand]

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

[larrynoe]

I just got my Dark Walnut version, I had to get it from a Dealer in Japan. I ended up giving $2200 for it. They are priced at $3500 on Reverb and EBay. Mine is brand new in the original box with all the case candy plus the Japanese booklet. It is awesome, why did I wait this long to buy a Junior? It has sustain for days and play clean to fully distorted. It is definitely a win.

[brianmckenzie]

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!!!

[george-st-george]

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

[tito.tarantula]

It was Lukas Nelson that got me into Juniors and afterwards I got into the Charlie Starr rabbit hole. I absolutely love the simplicity, feel and growl of the Junior. Enjoy that sig series, it looks and sounds great. Based on the extras - especially the scanned neck - $400 more is a good deal, imho. That’s the kind of extra you can’t just buy or reproduce on your own. And I also think key shaped tuners are a better fit.

[gerardorosiles]

Just found a walnut one at a pawn shop for 1000. I don't know if it comes with the case and the other goodies.

I thougth it was beautiful and ended up watching this video.

Is it good idea to get it and even try to see if it has a goid resell value?

[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.

[sinakaedwards]

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

[xeverettx]

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 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!

[johnmartin]

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

[sinakaedwards]

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.

[aldito]

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