❌SOLD❌ Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst 2008

Introduced in 1958 as a new option, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has become a benchmark guitar for many musical genres though it was initially not popular, to the point where the design was radically changed.

The Gibson Les Paul, in its original form, used a pair of standard P90 pickups and had a gold finish on a carved Maple top, applied to a Mahogany body. In 1953, the Les Paul Custom appeared, with an all-black finish on an all-Mahogany body – still with the carved top – and a ‘Staple Top’ Alnico V pickup at the neck position and P90 at the bridge. In late 1957, Seth Lover’s brand new Humbucking pickup made its debut on several Gibson models, including the new Les Paul Standard and the new ES-335, ES-345 and ES-355. The Les Paul Standard initially kept the gold top, but Sunburst finishes also were used on higher grade Flame Maple tops. Still, this wasn’t enough to stop the model’s slide and in 1961 it was radically revised into what we now know as the SG, and by 1963 the single-cutaway model was discontinued. However, at this time, the Les Paul Standard was also being discovered by British rock guitarists, leading to its revival in 1969 as the Les Paul Deluxe, again with the gold top but with Mini-Humbuckers.. with trim rings that look suspiciously like P-90 covers and fit into a P-90 route.

Here we’re looking at a Gibson Les Paul Standard dating to July 25th, 2008 and built at the Gibson Nashville plant. This example has the classic Gibson Cherry sunburst, and based on an 8.4lb (3.8kg) weight-relieved body, making it much more comfortable than many other Les Paul examples. This model also uses the old Kluson style tuners, though they were likely made by Gotoh and are quite good. These tuners were often replaced on older models, but they are quite a bit lighter than the usual replacement (Grover Roto-Matic models, typically) and this can help reduce inertia damage at the headstock should the guitar fall.

This guitar is in good condition, with a small amount of minor finish wear and scuffing, all due to honest, as-intended use. It was built after Gibson stopped installing pickguards on Les Paul models, so it does not have the screw holes for the pickguard or its bracket. Predictably, there’s some finger tip scuffing where the pickguard will be; there is also a small white mark on the back finish near the tail pin. Fret wear is minor.

This example plays well, and has a fairly light weight making it more comfortable to wear, and has that solid Les Paul sound.

The original Gibson hard shell case is included.