1990 Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom (SOLD)

Orville by Gibson Les Paul guitars, and other Orville models, were built between 1988 and 1998 for the Japanese market, as the result of a partnership between Gibson and Yamano Gakki (Gibson's Japanese distributor at the time).

This Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom dates to about 1990, and is in good playing condition. The G preceding the serial number indicates two things. First, it was built at the Terada plant - a very good thing; this plant currently produces most of the pro-line Gretsch guitars, except for Gretsch Custom Shop instruments which are built in the USA. Second, it has Gibson USA pickups.

Its white finish has faded to a nice creme yellow and it has moderate fret wear. On the back of the head, there's a bit of finish cracking but it does not appear that the head has ever actually broken. It's not exactly the same as a US-made Gibson Les Paul Custom; the top has a little more re-curve in the arched top, it's fairly light, and its finish is a synthetic while Gibson uses only nitrocellulose lacquer. Another subtle difference is that the frets stretch the full width of the fingerboard; until very recently, on a stock Gibson the binding covers the end of the fret. There is a fair amount of fretwear. A hardshell case is included.