Info And Tips Guitar

A gigging man's Les Paul with '60s slim-tapered neck and coil-split humbuckers.

Taking design and visual cues from the Les Pauls of the '80s and '90s, the Les Paul Traditional Pro features BurstBucker 3 and '57 Classic pickups with push/pull coil splits, '60s neck profile, Grover locking tuners, antique binding, period-correct pickguard, vintage Gibson top hat knobs, and the revolutionary Plek set up.

With all the fat, sweet, snarling Les Paul tone that purists love, the new Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Pro sports a mahogany body with a thick maple cap for the perfect blend of warmth and clarity. The top is finished in high-gloss lacquer, while the back, sides, and neck have a smooth satin finish that feels great and lets the wood resonate fully. Each Les Paul Traditional also comes with Gibson USA's standard black snakeskin case.

Period-Correct Pickguard
The creme-colored pickguard has been a Les Paul staple dating back to the models of the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Many players, however, removed the pickguard from their Les Pauls to show off the beauty of the flame maple tops, prompting Gibson to stop installing the pickguard altogether. During the 1980s and 1990s, Gibson began reinstalling the pickguard in the factory, and the Les Pauls from this era once again arrived in stores bearing the classic, creme-colored pickguard. The Les Paul Traditional comes equipped with a period-correct pickguard, designed to protect the maple top.

Pickups: Neck - '57 Classic; Bridge - BurstBucker 3
Among the qualities that make Gibson's original "Patent Applied For" humbucking pickups so unique are the subtle variations between coil windings. For the first few years of their productions—1955 to 1961—Gibson's PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with slightly different output and tone. The BurstBucker 3 and '57 Classic Plus pickups are the result of Gibson's drive to capture and recreate this characteristic. Introduced in 1992, the '57 Classic provides warm, full tone with a balanced response, packing that classic Gibson PAF humbucker crunch, inspired by those original PAFs that received a few extra turns of wire. Both are made by Gibson to the exact same specs as the original PAFs, including Alnico II magnets, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers, and vintage-style, 2-conductor braided wiring. Gibson added poly-coated wiring, which improves consistency by eliminating thick or thin spots on the wiring, and wax potting, which removes all internal air space and any chance of microphonic feedback. Both pickups offer coil splitting for single-coil sounds via push/pull switching in the volume controls.

Revolutionary Plek Set Up
The Les Paul Traditional is the first model from Gibson USA to utilize the revolutionary Plek machine in setting up the guitar. The Plek is a German-made, computer-controlled machine that carefully measures each fret, along with the fingerboard height under each string, and then automatically dresses each fret, virtually eliminating string buzz and greatly improving the overall playability of the guitar. This pioneering process does in minutes what it takes a luthier several hours—sometimes even days—to accomplish. Every fret is accurately aligned, and the guitar is properly intonated, leaving the instrument "Plek'd" and amazingly playable.

Antique Binding
To see the process of putting the binding on the Les Paul Traditional is to really appreciate the effort and attention that Gibson puts into each instrument. A lone craftsman will carefully glue and fit 2 pieces of binding around the entire body of a Les Paul. He then winds a single, very long piece of narrow cloth around the entire body until the entire surface is nearly covered. The body is then hung to dry for a full 24 hours before it is unwrapped and moved into the next phase of production. It has been done the same way for over 100 years. Some question the value of adding binding, but Gibson believes it is a fundamental part of our rich guitar-making history. The binding adds elegance to the Les Paul Standard, and helps protect the edges of the body. The neck binding is installed over the fret ends, which eliminates sharp fret edges and provides for a smooth neck and easier playability.

Check the drop-down menu to the right to select colors and/or other options.

Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Pro Electric Guitar Features:

• Body: Mahogany
• Top: Carved maple
• Back: Mahogany
• Neck: Set mahogany
• Neck Profile: '60s
• Headstock: Angled
• Scale length: 24-3/4"
• Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
• No. of frets: 22
• Nut width: 1.69"
• Inlays: Trapezoid
• Binding: Antique
• Bridge: Tune-O-Matic with stopbar tailpiece
• Tuners: Locking Grover
• Hardware: Chrome
• Bridge pickup: potted BurstBucker 3 humbucker with push/pull coil splitting
• Neck Pickup: '57 Classic with push/pull coil splitting
• Electronics: 2 volume with push/pull coil-splitting, 2 tone, 3-way toggle pickup selector
• Knobs: Vintage Gibson top hats
• Pickguard: Period-correct
• Case: Hardshell
• Other: Plek setup

Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess

In his work with Rush from the '70s to today, Alex Lifeson has redefined the boundaries of progressive rock guitar. Embodying far more than that genre label often implies, Lifeson's playing soars beyond the drama and the bluster to reveal truly stunning virtuosity that has been praised and admired by fans—and players—of all stripes, and has landed him in the upper echelon of performance artists as a result. Created through extensive work with Alex Lifeson himself, the Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess similarly redefines the boundaries of the classic Les Paul guitar: packed in a single remarkable instrument, this Gibson guitar carries all of the traditional tones that have made the Les Paul legendary, along with unprecedented levels of sonic and performance versatility.

In addition to its traditional Les Paul tonewoods, the Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess guitar carries two high-output humbucking pickups with series/parallel wiring options via its push-pull volume controls, and a Floyd Rose-licensed locking tremolo that not only provides the world's most efficient vibrato system, but is also loaded with GraphTech Ghost piezo bridge saddles. Access traditional Gibson magnetic humbucker tones, mix it up with fat and funky series/parallel options, tap the Ghost's realistic acoustic tones, or blend acoustic and magnetic voices—the sky's the limit with this sonic chameleon, whose sound-shifting depths are virtually limitless. What's more, you can route it all through a traditional mono jack (labeled "Regular") using a single guitar cable, or use two cables to split your sonic trickery off into separate output paths using the "Regular" and the "Life-O-Sound" output jacks together. All this, and the Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess still presents that timeless Les Paul look that has remained a classic for more than 50 years—with the addition of a modern-shaped heel allowing easier access to the upper frets. The Axcess comes in your choice of two stunning colors—Viceroy Brown and Royal Crimson—both approved by Alex Lifeson himself, and both resplendent atop a stunningly figured maple top.

The 1960s Tribute electric guitar consists of a basic Gibson Les Paul chassis with all the essential elements needed to rock including a Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece and Kluson-style tuners keep it all rock-solid and resonant and its gnarly P-90 tone stays true to the Les Paul style.

A solid, carved maple top and chambered mahogany body give the Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute the same tonewood combination that has been helping Les Pauls rock for nearly 60 years. Authentic vintage-style finishes present a guitar with the look of a well played original, while the instrument's unbound body and neck keep it in line with the popular Les Paul Studio line.

The headstock of the Gibson Les Paul Studio 1960s Tribute is equipped with Grover Kluson style green keys. With a gear ratio of 14:1, these tuners deliver precision tuning in a durable housing that provides maximum protection for the gear and string post. The Gibson Les Paul's Tune-O-Matic bridge, sets a standard for simplicity and functionality that has never been bettered. The Tune-O-Matic provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes.

Both the neck and bridge position pickups are equipped with cream-colored screaming single-coil P-90 pickups. The P-90 was the standard pickup on all Gibson guitars in the late 1940s and into the 1950s and because of its crisp, bright tone it has experienced resurgence in popularity with many of today's modern rockers. These classic Gibson guitar pickups deliver sizzling, slightly gritty midrange roar. You'll find that the P-90s' high output and biting treble has more nuanced harmonic coloring than the typical single-coil pickup.

Gibson Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute Electric Guitar Features:

• Model name: Gibson Les Paul Studio 1960s Tribute Electric Guitar
• Body style: Single-cutaway carved top Les Paul
• Top wood: Maple
• Body wood: Mahogany
• Finish: Worn nitrocellulose lacquer
• Headstock Inlay: Gibson Logo
• Silkscreen: Gibson Logo plus Les Paul Model script
• Neck: Mahogany
• Neck profile: Slim Taper '60s
• Neck joint: Set
• Nut: Corian
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fret dressing/nut cutting: Gibson PLEK system
• Fingerboard inlays: fFgured acrylic trapezoids
• Hardware plating: Chrome
• Tuners: Grover Kluson style green keys
• Pickups: Gibson P90 with cream covers
• Pickup selector: 3-way Switchcraft
• Controls: volume, volume, tone, tone
• Knobs: cream top hats with chrome inserts
• Pickguard: cream
• Bridge: Nashville Tune-o-matic
• Tailpiece: stopbar
• Case: Gibson deluxe gig bag