The Gibson R8 Les Paul Standard is a faithful re-creation of the early, legendary Burst models that featured the then-newly invented humbucking pickups. Introduced in late 1957, these new ‘Standard’ models also replaced the original metallic gold top finish with a sunburst. The Les Paul Custom also carried the new hardware, but kept its black finish and gold hardware.
R8
Here’s a thing of beauty – a Gibson LPR8F a Les Paul Reissue 1959 Figured Western Desert Fade with Stinger, built during 2011 in Nashville TN. The Gibson LP8RF would commonly be referred to as an R8, and indeed there is an R8 marking in the control cavity.
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MORE →The Gibson R8 Les Paul Standard Reissue is as close as many of us can now get to the iconic late 1950’s sunburst Les Paul. Built following the original patterns, the Gibson R8 pairs a book-matched flame-Maple top on a tropical Mahogany back, with Mahogany neck and Indian Rosewood fingerboard.
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MORE →The Gibson R8 reproduces the famed 1958 Les Paul Standard model, the first in the line to include both a sunburst finish and the then-new PAF humbucker pickups. Launched in 1952, the Gibson Les Paul model put a carved Maple cap on a Mahogany slab, and paired that with a Mahogany neck with Rosewood fingerboard and a gold-top finish. The Les Paul custom soon followed, but without the Maple cap – the body was all Mahogany, including the carved top – and with an Ebony fingerboard and Black finish. For 1958, the Les Paul Standard appeared, using the same Maple and Mahogany construction but with a Sunburst finish.
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