Gibson Limited Edition 2016 Les Paul Classic Custom Lite Electric Guitar (with Case)

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Get the elegance of Gibson's Les Paul Custom with a lot less weight. The Custom Lite features modern weight relief for more comfort and sustain than ever.

What's special about this item?

Feature: What it does:
Maple top Long sustain with crisp, bright tone
Mahogany back and neck Warm, focused and present midrange
Rosewood fretboard Open, warm tone and smooth playing feel
490R and 498T humbucking pickups Sweet, vintage tone with crystal-clear character

When guitar star Les Paul and Gibson president Ted McCarty sat down at the start of the 1950s to design a revolutionary new solidbody electric guitar, they originally envisioned two versions of the Les Paul Model: a "standard," which arrived first in the Goldtop of 1952, and a black Custom model with gold hardware, intended to be the creme de la creme. The 1954 Custom debuted with two single-coil pickups, but McCarty had already set Seth Lover and a team of Gibson designers the task of developing a revolutionary new humbucking pickup, which first hit the scene on the Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Goldtop in 1957. While the Les Paul Custom has always been a supremely elegant instrument--a "black tie" guitar for the formal crowd, as Les originally conceived it--many have come off the line over the years considerably heavier than the typical Les Paul Standard. The Les Paul Custom Lite, new from Gibson USA, redresses that disparity: made with a considerably thinner body and traditional weight relief, it lightens the load for a superbly playable Custom that still packs all the elegant looks and dual-humbucker tone that has made this Les Paul legendary.

In crafting the Les Paul Custom Lite, Gibson USA starts with time-tested ingredients, including the legendary tonewood pairing of a carved maple top and genuine mahogany body, the latter treated with Gibson's traditional weight relief to reduce the load and enhance resonance. The quarter-sawn mahogany neck is carved to a rounded '50s read more profile and topped with a Grade-A, rosewood fingerboard with single-ply binding and classic acrylic block inlays. The body and headstock are trimmed in multi-ply binding, and the headstock carries an Acrylic Gibson logo and traditional acrylic split-diamond inlay. Dressed entirely in high-gloss Ebony Black, in genuine nitrocellulose lacquer, the Les Paul Custom Lite simply oozes class from every angle.

The beauty of this gorgeous black Les Paul Custom Lite is more than skin deep, and Gibson USA has also packed added versatility into the traditional formula. Two of Gibson's most popular humbucking pickups from the Modern Classics series offer all the tone that made the Les Paul legendary in the first place, plus added single-coil sounds thanks to the coil-splitting mini-toggle switch added in place of the second tone control. The 490R in the neck position is made with a genuine Alnico II magnet and wound with 42 AWG wire in the image of the original PAF humbuckers, for plenty of depth and warmth with impressive articulation. The 498T in the bridge position has an Alnico V magnet and extra turns of coil wire for added punch and growl. A traditional Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece enhance the sustain that has long made the Les Paul legendary, and a set of Grover keystone tuners--all in gold, as are the pickup covers and strap buttons -- ensure a lifetime of smooth tunings. Check out the Les Paul Custom Lite today, from Gibson USA, and grab a more comfortable hunk of that classic elegance.

Features:

- Carved Maple top, mahogany back and sides.
- Mahogany neck with rounded '50s profile
- Rosewood fingerboard with acrylic split-diamond inlays
- Powerful 490R and 498T humbucking pickups in the neck and bridge positions
- Gold plated Grover keystone tuners with 16:1 ratio
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Body:
- Top species: maple
- Back species: mahogany

Neck:
- Species: mahogany
- Peghead Pitch: 17
- Neck Shape 50's
- Peghead Inlay Description: Acrylic GIBSON & Split Diamond
- Tuning Mach. Hole Size: .404
- Nut Type: GRAPHTECH 320-29080
- Neck Joint: 16TH
- \0x2002\0x2002
- Neck Joint Angle:5.0 Zero Action/Window: .625 / .700

Fingerboard:
- Species: RSWD
- Grade: A
- Scale Length: 24 3/4
- Total Length: 18.137
- No. of Frets: 22
- Binding Type/Color: white
- Side dots: black
- Inlay Material: acrylic
- Inlay Type: large block
- Width at Nut: 1.695 At E.O.B.: 2.260

Finishing:
- Satin/Lacquer: Lacquer

Hardware:
- Plating: Gold
- Tuners: 430-14168/69 Gold Grover Keystone
- Knobs Color/Type: 430-19267 REGULAR BLACK SPEED x4
- Bridge: GROVER GOLD TOM \0x2002\0x2002
- Tailpiece: GOLD Stop Bar \0x2002\0x2002\0x2002
- Toggle Switch Washer: BLACK HS GOLD
- Toggle Switch Knob Color: Cream

Plastics:
- Control Back Plate: Polycarb
- Toggle Switch Back Plate: Polycarb
- Truss Rod Cover: B/W BELL, Blank
- Hot Stamp & Color None

Electronics:
- CPA Details: QC, 2 volume, 2 tone, no push pull
- Toggle Switch: QC, Studio, 850-13180
- Neck: 490R
- Bridge: 498T
- Pick up Covers: Gold
- Trim Rings: BLACK

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-444-2766

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (8 ratings)
Submitted April 1, 2016 by James P in Elon, NC

"Phenomenal Guitar, Not quite as pictured"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I a SO very happy I got one of these little rare birds before they are gone. They're not available with the MFI vendors. I love it. Just know that the description is not right. It came with a black and white case, has no coil-splitting, has four knobs and no splitter switch, and does not have "Custom" on the truss rod cover. That said, it's unique to offerings in the past! I'm very happy to have it!

Sound
The 490R/498T covered humbuckers are awesome for rock, clean, and more. The nice old-school Alnico II of the neck pickup sounds just like it should for jazz or blues or that simple sweet lead. The Alnico V of the bridge pickup (Hot Alnico) is searing enough that if you dig into the strings, the growl and crunch jump out at you. MUCH sweeter than ceramic-magnet bridge pickups. Mine are nicely matched for the middle switch position.

Features
It's an antique-white Custom Les Paul. Dig? It DOES NOT come with coil splitting or the little toggle switch. It came ONLY with the standard four-knob configuration with VVTT only. No push-pulls. The cavity has the PCB Gibson harness and is not hand-soldered point-to-point. The binding is old-school white and perfect! The rosewood is dark and lovely. Feels and sounds MUCH Better than my 2013 black LE LP Custom Lite.

Ease of Use
VVTT and that great 50s neck. Easy.

Quality
I have no complaints at all about the guitar read more or its build. It's flawless.

Value
This guitar is about $400 more than my four-year-old LP Lite. I like this one much better: worth the difference!

Manufacturer Support
When I have contacted Gibson, they've ALWAYS been VERY helpful.

The Wow Factor
People look at this one (from the front) like it's a big-body LP custom. Nice!

Musical Background:
Professional Recording Musician

Musical Style:
Vivid Peace Instrumental Progressive rock and New Age
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