Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus model in Tea Burst.
Gibson's model names are only slightly catchier than Ibanez's.
This is a 2013 model. It was a present from my wife for my 40th and I'm in her debt. Being a 90s kid I would see Les Pauls everywhere on MTV and always wanted one. I actually owned a few when I was younger and dumber and when they were a lot cheaper but for the past 15 years I've steered away from them and went down the MIJ rabbithole.
Premium Plus because it has what Gibson call a AAA maple top. That doesn't mean a lot to anyone but Gibson, but it sure is pretty. It has a lot of 'travel' in there and glimmers at me when I pass the room to head to the kitchen.
I wanted this era of Standard because it was a rare foray into something progressive and innovative for a company that shies away from things... now that I look they've reverted the Standard to what it used to be.
The features I like are the locking TonePros bridge, the locking Grover tuners, the push/pulls on the controls, the compound radius fingerboard, and the weight relieving. Those are all nice things and changing the bridge and tuners are the first things I do to any LP anyway so it's nice to not have to worry about Gibson's hardware.
I changed the nut to one I made from bone. I'll never understand why Gibson epoxy in their nuts and then lacquer over them.
These pickups suck btw and will be removed imminently once I work out the PCB wiring.
This is a really really nice guitar and given who bought it for me I'm quite smitten. It was ordered from Manchester (where we met) and arrived here in 10 days. Despite my best attempts to clear it with customs ahead of time, it arrived at my door without fees or incident. I did email Customs the paperwork, packing lists, descriptions, never got a reply and then the guitar showed up. Maybe my karma has been cashed in.
I have matching knobs on the way. Which is another good ol' Gibson quirk: all these pots are push/pulls yet they give you the knobs which are the hardest to pull out. So it goes.
Good guitar and I'm a happy boy.
