❌SOLD❌ Gibson Les Paul Traditional Lemon Burst, 2016

Appearing around 2008, the Gibson Les Paul Traditional delivers a 1980’s style Les Paul Standard often with some weight relief.

Dating to 2012 and built at the Nashville plant, this Gibson Les Paul Traditional sports a Honey Burst finish on a relatively plain top – the finish code is LPTDZ16LMCH3 – and under the hood has the moderate Gibson ‘Traditional’ weight relief system.

The ‘Traditional’ weight relief system is comprised of nine holes drilled blind into the Mahogany back of a Les Paul from the ‘upper’ surface that is covered by the Maple cap. This system was used on Les Paul Traditional models from their introduction to now, except for the period 2013 to 2015. There are two other weight relief systems, and one non-relief system – Chambered, Modern and Solid. Chambering hollows out significant sections of the Mahogany back, leaving supports where required for the bridge tailpiece and glue lines. Modern weight relief removes less Mahogany, with holes cut in a fan pattern and has been used since 2012. Solid is as it sounds- the only cuts in the Mahogany back are for the control and pickup cavities and wiring channels.

A comparison of the weight relief systems can be found at the Gibson Traditional website, devoted to the Les Paul Traditional. 

As with other Les Pauls based on the Standard,  the wood selection includes Mahogany for the body back and neck, Maple for the body cap, and Indian Rosewood for the bound fingerboard.  The Gibson logo on the headstock is Mother of Pearl, while the fingerboard position markers are a faux-pearl plastic . 

This example is in very good, clean condition, plays well and sounds great. The Honey Burst finish is a very attractive replication of a faded 1950s sunburst – the red tints used in the nitrocellulose lacquer tended to fade as a reaction to sunlight. The ‘Zebra’ pickups are a ’57 Classic at the neck and a ’57 Classic Plus at the bridge, with the wiring being standard Les Paul. Tuners are Gibson Deluxe models with plastic keystone buttons by TonePros. A standard Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece round out the hardware.

The original brown Gibson hard shell case is included.