yorolpal
Yup...who wants to master an instrument when they can play with blocks?
A lot of the guys who used to play Gibson Les Paul's and SG's have transitioned to ESP in recent years. While Gibson is still revered for vintage instruments, people buying new instruments don't seem to put much faith into Gibson's contemporary line up. From their political propaganda and poor marketing strategies to their questionable "innovations" and insane prices in recent years, Gibson has just been caught in a downward spiral...
Heck just yesterday, I was chatting with a kid (well, a guy in his late 20's I suppose) at work who saw the guitar on my computer screen and told me he too really loved Les Paul's and was looking forward to buying... a ESP Eclipse.
The truth is that if you're looking to buy a Les Paul today, there is a wide variety of options ranging from inexpensive to uber high end instruments -most of them doing Gibson better than Gibson themselves.