The Gibson Les Paul Traditional is based on Les Paul models from the 1980s and 1990’s rather than the 1950’s and uses top grade figured woods. It still uses the pattern of carved maple top on a mahogany back, wuth a mahogany neck and bound rosewood fingerboard.
Appearing in 2015, the Gibson Les Paul Less Plus, or Less +, features a shallow, weight-relieved and contoured version of the classic Les Paul body construction.
The new 2019 Gibson Les Paul Standard features the popular asymmetrical Slim Taper neck profile with Ultra-Modern weight relief for increased comfort and playability. Impeccable looks are highlighted by the powerful tonewood combination of mahogany back and carved maple AAA figured top.
This Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite from 1992! Built between 1987 and 1998 at the Gibson Nashville plant, the Les Paul Studio Lite features classic Les Paul construction, but without binding, and with an ebony fingerboard. As its name implies, the Les Paul Studio Lite is weight relieved, and this example, dating to September 10th, 1992 sits on the scale at a svelte 7.8 pounds. It also has a 1960’s slim taper neck, quite a bit smaller than modern profiles. Hardware is gold plated, with coverless Gibson 490R and 490T pickups.
This new model Gibson Modern Double Cut Standard, draws from the earlier double cut designs that other brands successfully copied – is built at the Gibson shop in Nashville, Tennessee. The traditional elements are all here – the mahogany body and neck, the body with a carved figured maple cap, the neck with a bound rosewood fingerboard and pearloid trapezoidal markers, ’57 Classic humbucking pickups with tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece, and Grover Roto-Matic tuners.
Gibson has designed a lot of guitars over the years, and the Limited Edition Guitar of the Month for April 2008, the Les Paul LP-295 combines two distinct designs – the classic Les Paul and the ES-295.
