Review

Saturday. August the 25th 2007, at around 10 post meridien, Kuala Lumpur time, a very important exchange was made between two very passionate but opposite people who indulge in the activity of producing sound waves through the vibration of horizontally orientated strings which are set at high tension above a wooden frame and bound at both ends by a bridge at the tail end and a set of six of metal contraptions at the head of an extrodanary machine which has grabbed the imaginations of so many. In other words guitarists. The items which were to be exchanged was a Guitar Institute of Malaysia Les Paul and a 2004 Schecter C-1 Titanium. And after a whole lot of apprehension from my side, the switch was made and the rest, as they say, is history. So, without any more delays, let us all proceed to the review of the GIM Les Paul.

1. At First Glance
This piece of artwork is based on a Gibson Les Paul and was hand crafted by luthiers from the Guitar Institute Of Malaysia. The color of this guitar is orange sunburst, dual humbuckers, three way tone selector, two volume knobs, two tone knobs and a white removable pick guard. The price for one of these guitars is around 700 USD or RM 2600.00 and the best part is that there are only five of such guitars in the world. So, what exactly makes this guitar a special one?

2. Sound
This guitar has a very versatile sound range. It can produce all sorts of tones that range from jazz to rock. But it does lack the edge when it comes to producing heavy metal tones.

3. Playability
On my opinion the GIM Les Paul has very good playability. This allows for a much wider style of playing. But the downside of this guitar is that its wide neck might get in the way of a guitarist who loves to shred. But for a guitarist who likes to take it slow and easy, this guitar might just do the trick. Honest. I could do more things on this guitar then I ever could on my Schacter. And I really wouldn't mind having this guitar.

4. Electronics
The humbuckers of this guitar is very good and durable. And as previously mentioned, t can produce a wide range of sounds. All of which are of very good quality. The sound which I like most is the slightly distorted blues sound. As for the selectors, I do feel that it is a wee bit noisy and its volume and tone knobs aren't very durable. It either turned off or on or it just doesnt make any difference.

5.Hardware
This guitar features a standard set of tuners which in my opinion are not very good at holding tune when it s not played. I had to tune it everytime I took it out from the hard case. The bridge feels very comfortable to play on. But the tone selectors might get in the way for guitarists who love to strum real hard.

6. Conclusion
The GIM Les Paul is a marvellous guitar with excellent playability and sound range. But the only drawback of this guitar is that its hardwares aren't as durable as it should be. But other that that, it does the job perfectly. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a very respectable 7.9 to 8.2.