This is the most versatile Les Paul Standard ever created, the ultimate embodiment of Les Paul’s vision of innovation and elegance, and truly represents a marriage of timeless tone with contemporary flexibility and playability. Key features include a superbly comfortable new asymmetrical rendition of the SlimTaper? neck profile that fits the player’s hand like a glove, a compound-radius rosewood fingerboard, and stealth wiring for the great BurstBucker Pro?1 & 2 pickups that provides individual coil splitting, phase reversal, and Pure Bypass switching all without changing the look of the classic control layout. To top it off, this Les Paul Standard 2013 looks sublime in its Grade-AA figured top in nitrocellulose lacquer.

The Les Paul Standard 2013 follows the same formula as the most beloved Les Pauls of all time. The marriage of solid maple top and mahogany back, treated to Gibson’s new modern weight relief pattern for improved comfort and enhanced resonance, provides a blend of richness, depth, punch, and clarity that no single-wood guitar can provide.

A solid, quarter-sawn mahogany neck is carved in a new asymmetrical version of the popular ’50s profile, making it one of the most appealing necks Gibson has ever produced, and its topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard with a superbly playable compound radius that’s rounder down in the “open chord”positions and flatter up in the lead zone. Traditional trapezoid inlays keep it all looking just right, along with cream binding, pickguard, and pickup rings, amber top-hat knobs, and a traditional black-and-white bell truss rod cover. Classic Gibson constructional elements ensure the new Les Paul Standard plays just like the greatest Standards ever, with traditional specs like a 24 ?” scale length, and a 1 11/16”width across the PLEK-cut Corian?nut.

The new Les Paul Standard’s real surprises lurk in its upgraded pickups and extremely clever wiring and control setup. A pair of BurstBucker Pro? pickups, a #1 in the neck position and #2 in the bridge, follow the blueprint for Gibson’s hallowed PAF humbuckers of the late’50s, but are updated with potted coils for howl-free performance at high volumes, and four-conductor wiring that allows for incredible versatility.

The independent volume pot for each pickup has push-pull switching to independently split the coils for single-coil tones, with hum-cancelling performance in the middle position thanks to a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity bridge pickup. Pop up the neck pickup’s tone control for reverse-phase tones, or lift the bridge pickup’s tone knob to tap Gibson’s new Pure Bypass setting, which routes that pickup straight through to the output jack, bypassing the volume and tone controls for a hotter, clearer sound, making it a great “instant lead”preset.

The innovative pairing of a locking TonePros?Tune-o-Matic bridge and Stopbar tailpiece ensures solid sustain and precise intonation, while a set of high-quality locking Grover? kidney-button tuners ensures smooth, accurate tuning.

Each guitar comes protected in a plush-lined hardshell case with black exterior, and includes owner's manual and adjustment literature.