Why the 2-piece back on the JBLP? (Page 1 of 2)

This was frequently brought up when I made threads about the signature Paul at the Les Paul Forum..nobody seemed to be able to give an answer.

I'm sure it was a cost cutting measure but even so the belief that a one piece back is superior in tone is like one of those urban legends.
I defy anyone to play 5 great sounding les pauls and accurately guess which one is a 1, 2, or even 3 peice back. There's so much more involved in a guitars tone than the number of peices in the back. Look at some of the best sounding old strats on record. I guarantee the huge majority, if not all, were 2 peice bodies at least.

True story: about 12 years ago a guy I know had his original 59 les paul, and I mean original, smashed by a very angry drunk in the parking lot of the venue he played at. Had to do with a girl, etc...
If you could have seen that guitar you would have cried. It was smashed literally to pieces. The guy held it by the neck and brought it down like a hammer separating the neck from the body and then proceeded to hammer the body off a brick wall till there was around 5 pieces of it around the area.
If there is anything lucky about it, it's that the neck was immediately discarded and not smashed with the rest of the body. other than a small chunk that broke away where the body meets it there was no real damage. The body was another story. The other guys in the band picked up the pieces and the guy just put it into a case for about a year. He eventually came across a friend of mine who is amazing with this type of repair. It took almost a year but the body was completely put back together and then reattached to the neck. Some of the wood had to be re matched with new smaller pieces so it would fit properly and the neck had to have a new tenon cut but when it was all put back the sound of that guitar will give you chills.
One of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard, period.
The repair was done so well that it's vitually impossible to tell unless you're right up, inches away. You can see some fine seams in places but from 3 feet away or more it looks untouched.
The guy who did the work has pictures before and after and if I hadn't seen them there's no way I'd believe it.
I figure there might be better sounding pauls out there but I've heard a lot of them and have never heard one better than this one and I just heard it again about a month ago.

I don't know which of Joe's guitars may be one or two piece bodies but I doubt very much if Joe worries about it. It sure hasn't hurt his tone one bit.
A very well known guitarist once said "if it sounds good, it is good".
I think as players that's all we should worry about.

Its a cheap way to make a guitar and sell it for a big buck if you ask me.  I can't believe the standards ever went to a pieced back!  Guitar Center bought out Gibson in either 2003 or 2004 and that was the first thing to go to hell.  Plus they raise the price on a cheaper guitar!  They still make for great playing and sounding guitars but if you ask me it a bunch of bull that they screw people that way.  But thats just me.

I agree that Gibson is having a harder time getting their hands on the better wood and have probably exhausted most of their old growth stuff.  It's going to be a sad day when we are spending $3000+ for guitars with fresh cut wood.  I think THEN the tone will hurt a bit.  I am wrong in my believing that PRS still has a lot of good wood and his guitars are mostly one and two piece bodies?  Is that because PRS is churning out less guitars than Gibson?  I can't help but to think if Gibson wasn't churning out guitars like a paper clip factory they'd still have one and two piece bodies.  I would like to see Gibson ease up on the production a little to let the trees catch up.

I agree with that 100%. I think turning out guitars at too high a rate will only hurt the value and overall quality because you have only so many employees to keep an eye on build and quality control options and the faster they come in at increasing numbers the faster they'll have to go out, paving the way for more quality control issues.
I don't think Gibson is alone in this though. Other companies are doing the same thing and if you check forums for other manufacturers you'll find the same issues popping up.

I think Jimi_lp's on the money too in that when you buy an instrument you get what you pay for, although their has to be a limit to how high you can raise prices.
Unfortunately though it's hard for us as consumers to understand how Gibson monitors their costs across the entire build spectrum.
They probably buy wood in large lots and then separate the boards after arrival based on the type of guitar being made. I do believe that one of the things you're paying for on a standard or historic is that the best woods are picked, regardless of whether it's wood destined to be weight relieved or not.
As costs for everything else goes up I guess the manufacturer adds that to the overall price although since parts tend to be made offshore you'd thing the costs should theoretically drop.
Like I said though, we don't really know how how Gibson monitors their costs across the entire build spectrum but I'm sure that employee costs as well as production, material and offshore labor has all gone up.
I guess the bigger a company you are the more all costs increase but that may come back to bite them in decreased sales, which in turn will mean that new items will sit on the shelves until they're heavily cost discounted.

After reading this I just realized we're getting pretty much off topic..lol

Mmm I second that, there's nothing better than a great sounding 335 with some nice flame.

I think its funny how back in the 80's you couldn't give a Les Paul away, then after Slash and maybe 2 other band came about Gibson was the guitar of choice for hard rock.  Gibson could sell you a 1 piece body for the current price of the models they have now, and I honestly don't think its a lack of planks either.  They are sadly owned by a Guitar Center and they just like Walmart have cheapened everything!  They are still great guitars that will out live you or me, but when I see a body that is pieced together that the grains don't even match up I get pissed off.  Cheap.

Hey what do you want for 4K???? 

I have not heard the guitar center news...truely sad if that is the case.  Yet another reason to buy vintage.

On a lighter note...I will hanging up my pauls as I got an endorsement (so to speak) with an amazing luthier.  The prototype is amazing and the second should be in my hands in a week or so...pics to follow.  Different looking beast all together.