Gibson Les Paul Traditional, Ice Tea Guitar

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The body is capped with a carved, maple top-plain maple on Ebony and Goldtops for a beautiful AA-maple on other finishes - and the hand fitted neck tenon sports the rounded, C-Shape profile common on the Les Pauls of the 80s and 90s. Gibson is also proud to announce the Traditional is Gibson USAs first model to utilize the revolutionary Plek System-a computer controlled set up that carefully measure and dresses each fret, accurately measuring the height between the fingerboard and each string, virtually eliminating string buzz and providing unbeatable playability.

Clean Bridge:

Clean Neck:

Dirty Bridge:

Dirty Neck:

Two of the Gibsons best-loved humbuckers-a legendry PAF pickups. Other traditional appointments include vintage-style Gibson speed knobs, classic Kluson-style tuners by TonePros, which offer period-correct looks with a higher tuning ratio, and a chrome Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar.

TonePros Kluson Vintage-Style Tuners

The Les Paul Traditional is outfitted with Kluson-style tuners from TonePros, which are made to look identical to the vintage tuners found on earlier Les Pauls. These new tuners offer world-class performance while retaining the classic look and feel of one of the most popular?and most copied?tuners of all time. These TonePros machine heads feature completely sealed components with an improved 16:1 tuning ratio.

Vintage Gibson Speed Knobs

The Les Pauls of the 1980s and 1990s were used to play heavy duty rock and roll, and its features were designed to make playing the music as simple as possible. Gibson's classic speed knobs made it comfortable and quick for players to turn up the volume and adjust the Les Paul's tone as needed in a flash.

Plus Maple Top

Ever since the introduction of the Les Paul - and especially the models from Gibson "Golden Era" of the late 1950s and early 1960s - one of its most distinguishing features has been the unique, highly distinct patterns of the flame maple top. The "Plus" maple caps on the Les Paul Traditionals emulate the tops of the Les Pauls from yesteryear (Ebony and Goldtop models are fitted with "Plain" maple tops).

Period-Correct Pickguard

The creme-colored pickguard has been a Les Paul staple dating back to the models of the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Many players, however, removed the pickguard from their Les Pauls to show off the beauty of the flame maple tops, moving Gibson to stop installing the pickguard altogether. During the 1980s and 1990s, Gibson began reinstalling the pickguard in the factory, and the Les Pauls from this era once again arrived in stores bearing the classic, creme-colored pickguard. The Les Paul Traditional comes equipped with a period-correct pickguard, designed to protect the maple top.

Weight-relieved Mahogany Body

Satisfying the call in the early 1980s to make a lighter Les Paul, Gibson engineers came up with the idea of placing strategically routed holes in the Les Paul's body to lessen the weight of the guitar. After trying several patterns, the final configuration of holes resulted in a Les Paul with enhanced acoustic qualities and improved resonance. This same period-correct pattern is used in the Les Paul Traditional. The body itself is made from premium mahogany, and it goes through the same rigorous processes as all the wood used by Gibson USA.

Pickups: Neck - '57 Classic; Bridge - '57 Classic Plus

Among the qualities that make Gibson's original "Patent Applied For" humbucking pickups so unique are the subtle variations between coil windings. For the first few years of their productions - 1955 to 1961 - Gibson's PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with slightly different output and tone. The '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus pickups are the result of Gibson drive to capture and recreate this characteristic. Introduced in 1992, the '57 Classic provides warm, full tone with a balanced response, packing that classic Gibson PAF humbucker crunch.

The '57 Classic Plus is the perfect bridge-position companion to the '57 Classic, inspired by those original PAFs that received a few extra turns of wire. Both are made by Gibson to the exact same specs as the original PAFs, including Alnico II magnets, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers, and vintage-style, two-conductor braided wiring. Gibson added poly-coated wiring, which improves consistency by eliminating thick or thin spots on the wiring, and wax potting, which removes all internal air space and any chance of microphonic feedback.

Revolutionary Plek Set Up

The Les Paul Traditional is the first model from Gibson USA to utilize the revolutionary Plek machine in setting up the guitar. The Plek is a German-made, computer-controlled machine that carefully measures each fret, along with the fingerboard height under each string, and then automatically dresses each fret, virtually eliminating string buzz and greatly improving the overall playability of the guitar. This pioneering process does in minutes what it takes a luthier several hours sometimes even days to accomplish. Every fret is accurately aligned, and the guitar is properly intonated, leaving the instrument Plekd and amazingly playable.

Antique Binding

To see the process of putting the binding on the Les Paul Traditional is to really appreciate the effort and attention that Gibson puts into each instrument. A lone craftsman will carefully glue and fit two pieces of binding around the entire body of a Les Paul. He then winds a single, very long piece of narrow cloth around the entire body until the entire surface is nearly covered. The binding adds elegance to the Les Paul Standard, and helps protect the edges of the body. The neck binding is installed over the fret ends, which eliminates sharp fret edges and provides for a smooth neck and easier playability.

Features/Specifications:

Body

• Body Style: Les Paul Carved Top
• Body Species:AA Maple Maple Top and Mahogany Back (premium finish)
• Top: Maple
• Back: Mahogany (Solid Finish)
• Weight Relief Traditional style weight relief
• Body Binding: Antique Cream

Hardware

• Plating Finish: Chrome
• Tailpiece: Gibson Stop Bar
• Bridge: Gibson Tune-O-Matic
• Tuners: Tone Pros Kluson Style Green Keys

Electronics

• Neck Pickup 57 Classic
• Bridge Pickup 57 Classic Plus
• Pickup Covers Yes
• Controls 2 Volume - 2 Tone - 3-Way Toggle
• Control Knobs Gold Speed
• Control Pocket Cover Black Molded

Neck

• Species: Mahogany
• Nut: Corian
• Nut Width: Standard Gibson: 1.695" +/- .050"
• Headstock Inlay: Gibson Logo
• Silkscreen: Les Paul Model
• Truss Rod: Gibson Adjustable Truss Rod
• Truss Rod Cover: Bell-shaped cover, stamped "Traditional"

Fingerboard

• Fingerboard Binding: Rosewood
• Inlays: Figured Acrylic Trapezoid
• Fingerboard Binding: Antique Cream
• Frets: 22
• Scale Length: 24 - 3/4"

Case

• Type: Gibson Hardshell
• Case Interior: White
• Case Exterior: Black
• Silkscreen: Gibson USA Logo