Gibson Custom Historic 1957 Les Paul Custom 2PU Vintage Original Spec Electric Guitar (with Case)

Feature:
The guitar comes bristling with two burstbucker pickups, which simply kick @$$ and take names. The volume and tone knobs... Even your lowly SG Special Faded comes with those controls, after all, they're very well designed, and they make all the difference in dialing in your sound. I've heard mixed things about the tuners on this guitar, but I didn't experience any problems with them. They hold their tuning very well, and allow for easy, fine adjustments. Last but not least, the Gibson Corporation is courteous enough to give you an EXCELLENT hard-shell case with the purchase of this guitar. Comes with a combination-based lock so that you can be confident that YOU are the only one messing with your guitar.

Quality:
Please. This is the flagship of the Gibson Corporation, and the guitar which bears the name of the man who is possibly THE most famous guitarist of the century. Quality isn't even a question.

Value:
I think this guitar is worth every last penny you have to pay for it. However... $4000 dollars is extremely steep. I would discourage you from buying custom shop merchandise unless you are in a band, or have some easy way to recuperate the money you spend on this guitar. The Les Paul Standard is equipped with the same pickups, and [if I am not mistaken] it has an identical body. That guitar is also priced about $2000 dollars lower.

Desirability:
This guitar is absolutely beautiful. The square inlays on the ebony fretboard are simply stunning... and you can't help but love the sleek, curvy body. Consider the amazing sound, and boundless sustain on this instrument, and you have a winner.

Sound:
I have had the joy of playing this guitar once in the store, on a 30 Watt Marshall Amp... The purity of the sound is unbeatable. The lows had a thick, heavy crunch on the distortion channel, and the highs rang out clear as crystal. Plus, the intonation is simply incredible on this guitar. Pinch harmonics? Deep, well-defined chords? No problem. Best of all, just a little turn of the volume/tone knobs makes a tremendous difference in the sound you get out of the amp. Simply stunning.

Ease of Use:
Each pickup is wired with its own volume and tone knob... and the guitar has a 3-way toggle switch to allow you to switch easily between pickups. Honestly, I doubt it could get any easier, or more intuitive than the design offered by Gibson on this guitar. I believe this may be the most versatile guitar on the market. If I had to describe it in computer terms for you, I'd say this is guitar is the plug-and-play of the guitar world.

Support:
I haven't had to deal with Gibson myself, but everyone I know who HAS, has only positive things to say about their support, and the quality of their warranty. If Gibson screwed up your guitar, they'll fix it, or take the crappy one off your hands, and give you a brand new one of the same model. What more can you ask for?

Overall:
I am going to buy a Les Paul Studio. I can never hope to afford a Custom shop Les Paul, but this is the guitar that sold me over to Gibson once and for all. It is one of only three guitars I ever plan to buy--the others being the SG Standard, and the ES-137.