All the sumptuous ingredients that makes the Les Paul name great are in the 2012 Gibson Les Paul Standard Electric Guitar in spades: your choice of a skillfully carved plain or AAA figured maple top on a mahogany back perfectly joined to a mahogany neck, Burstbucker Pro pickups each fitted with coil-split capability, locking tuning machines, and neck and body binding, this is truly a full-featured, loaded Les Paul and now features a compound-radius rosewood fretboard. Also, new œmodern weight relieving is carefully applied inside the mahogany back to provide outstanding balance while optimizing the sonic capabilities of the guitar.Burstbucker Pro Humbuckers
Gibson' drive to recapture the magic of the original œPatent Applied For humbucker pickups of the 1950s culminated with the introduction of the Burstbucker line in the early 1990s. In 2002, Gibson followed up this innovative accomplishment with yet another breakthrough in pickup design”the Burstbucker Pro, designed specifically for Les Paul Standards. The Burstbucker Pro features an Alnico V magnet (instead of the Alnico II), which offers slightly higher output and allows preamps to be driven a little harder to achieve a more natural break-up. Like all Burstbuckers, the Burstbucker Pro has asymmetrical coils”true to the original PAFs”which supply a more open sound. The Burstbucker Pro Neck is wound slightly less than the original PAFs, while the Burstbucker Pro Bridge is slightly overwound for increased output. The Burstbucker Pro pickups are also wax potted to allow loud volume pressures with minimal feedback. A high-quality Switchcraft output jack ensures a perfect connection to your cable allowing the purest signal to leave the guitar.2 Push/Pull Tone controls
In addition to controlling tone, one is a phase switch which allows for new tonal flavors, especially when used in combination with the coil-splitting feature. The other engages the œPure Bypass circuit which sends the bridge pickup signal straight to the output jack to deliver the most direct, pure and dynamic signal possible.Coil Tapping
The bridge and neck pickups can each be split via their own push/pull switch on the volume knob to achieve a single-coil tone. This coil-tapping function allows you to instantly achieve brighter, snappier tones from this humbucker-loaded guitar, to replicate the sounds of other classic guitars equipped with single-coil pickups, and to return to the Les Paul Standard's thick, warm, powerful, full-humbucking tone at the push of a knob. Frequency-tuned œFat Tap coil tapping creates a fatter single coil tone with great output and balance when switching from dual to single coils. Single coil configurations are specially designed to be œhum-reducing.Neck Profile
The 2012 Les Paul Standard is fitted with Gibson' classic ™60s slim-taper neck profile, which is the more modern, slim-tapered neck most commonly associated with the Les Paul and SG models of the early 1960s. A compound radius rosewood fingerboard allows for comfort, speed and precision at all points up and down the neck. It accommodates lower string height while achieving unrestricted, smooth, upper-register string bending.Locking Grover Tuners
The 2012 Les Paul Standard is outfitted with locking tuners from Grover, which deliver ease of use through a standard tuner and positive locking mechanism that securely locks each string in place. Simply insert each string through the string hole, turn the dial on the bottom of the tuner to lock the string, and begin tuning. Each string can be tuned to pitch in less than one complete revolution of the post. These Grover machine heads feature completely sealed components with an improved 18:1 tuning ratio.Gibson Hardshell case included.