Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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00:00 Intro
03:44 Signal Chain
04:39 Gibson Custom Mark Knopfler '58 Vs. Gibson Custom 40th Anniversary LP
12:21 Chris and Richard jam #1
16:21 2002 Les Paul Standard Vs. Gibson Custom Collector's Choice '57 Goldtop
25:37 Chris and Richard jam #2
30:11 1959 'Grainger Burst' Vs. Gibson Custom Jimmy Page #2
41:27 Chris and Richard jam #3
47:49 1954 Les Paul Goldtop Vs. 1953/59 Les Paul Standard Conversion
58:20 Chris and Richard jam #4
1:02:20 Semi-Final Round 1
1:09:03 Semi-Final Round 2
1:17:39 Grand Final
1:27:39 Final jam

We took eight incredible Les Pauls - from an original '59 'Burst and '54 Goldtop, to Custom Shop replicas of Jimmy Page's #2 and Mark Knopfler's '58 Standard to a humble, off-the-peg early Noughties LP and pit them against each other one by one to see which we would crown the ultimate Les Paul. With Cardinal Black guitarist Chris Buck and Guitarist's Richard Barrett as our test guitarists, we watched them put these classic electrics through their paces through jamming and plenty of back-and-forth insights - to come up with one ultimate winner in this 90-minute deep dive into the ageless sonic appeal of Gibson's iconic solidbody.