An excellent instrument from the Gibson Custom Shop and well worth the investment. Definitely recommend if your budget allows, and you only get one life! Props to Sweetwater for an amazing setup. Plays effortlessly and sounds amazing. I recommend allowing time for the guitar to acclimate properly when received to prevent potential finish checking/cracks due to the Nitro finish. I also bought a set of Grover strap locks, but the stock screw on the lower strap button is a larger diameter and quite longer than the Grover replacement screw, so only one strap lock could be installed and I found a different type of strap lock for the other one. Thanks to Matt Christopherson for giving me a great deal!

This is my favorite Gibson I have owned. The guitar which I am writing the review for arrived in perfect condition with no issues. The weight on it is within a couple ounces of my other LPs but both the neck and carved top are significantly more comfortable to play on. All of the binding and finish looks fantastic.

Sound wise it is both fuller and tighter than my Les Paul standards. It is not as resonant as my 57 reissue but it more than makes up for that by having much more clarity and detail in the mids/highs. So far I have found that this guitar can suit whatever genre I am playing more easily than my other Gibsons. Initially, I had planned to mod the guitar with Fishman active pickups to get more modern and versatile sounds but the 498/490 accomplishes this already but with greater depth of sound and dynamics. The pickups voice the guitar very well. The bridge is fatter and aggressive with a bit of a boost in the high mids but can be dialed back for more classic sounds and the neck is a nice classic rounded sound without being muddy or unclear.

Thank you to Halaj Mack, Jericho Valentine, and Brandon Francis at Sweetwater for the amazing and unparalleled customer service. The first two guitars took some damage in shipping that was outside of their control. The customer service team was incredibly fast with shipping out a new one with overnight shipping at no extra cost. Not once but twice. The team did a fantastic job handling a situation that could have easily been a nightmare. I was very impressed and they earned a loyal customer.

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I was hesitant to buy this guitar because of the price tag, but I'm so glad I finally pulled the trigger and got it. After unpacking the guitar I went over every square inch looking for any flaws. I know no guitars are perfect, but it's simply part of my ritual. This guitar was almost flawless, and is even better looking in person. Now on to the most important part...sound and feel. The action is set up exactly to my liking and feels perfect. The guitar sounds like my 50's LP Standard...it has plenty of warm classic LP tone while still having a pretty nasty bite. Get this guitar!!!! You'll love it!!!

This is my 10th Gibson Les Paul so I had to make it special! I know some ridicule the price of these but this is definitely the Lamborghini of guitars. The attention to detail they do in the Custom Shop is stunning. All of the premium appointments like the binding and mother of pearl really turn heads. Now of course it plays like butter and of all my Les Pauls none had the 490/498s. Those pickups rock. I love the higher output of them. If there was any knock on it, it would be the case. It only has one sturdy latch IMO and the rest of the latches are these little things that kind of concern me. I'm in a band and actually take these guitars out of the house and play them every weekend. I wish it had a "better" case like the ones I got with my others with all sturdy latches. Would have been nice to get more of the case candy stuff, too, but I read up that you don't. Also this is the 2nd new "out of the box" Les Paul I've bought and the neck is very dirty. I forgot from the first one, took it the gig and after a few tunes, it was all dirty and sticky. Didn't really tell at home. The picture is what was a clean rag before I restrung and wiped down the fretboard. It's a beautiful beast and I'm proud as heck to own this killer guitar.

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After a few inspections of in-stock LP Customs (some damaged and dinged) I decided to wait for the next shipment to arrive. A shout out and big thank you to the awesome Mr. Bart Amburn who notified me of the next deliveries to the Sweetwater facility and provided hi-res photos so that I could thoroughly inspect my next major purchase. Once I was satisfied and approved my selection, Bart and the Sweetwater Team gave my LP a final inspection and was safely packaged. And shipping was extremely quick (thanks FedEx). After 4 weeks of jamming on this beauty of a guitar, I am hooked on Les Pauls (haha)! To the entire Sweetwater team, thank you again for providing me awesome service and support over the years. You guys ROCK!

I've had it now for seven years and it ceases to amaze me, it plays as nice as it was when I bought it 7 years ago. One issue that i don't like is the weight which is HEAVY. Only one downfall isn't too bad though.

I started playing guitar when I was 16 years old I am now 55 I have owned over 40 guitars and that's a very conservative estimate. Between 2016 and 2020 I purchased eight guitars alone I remember talking to Nolan at sweetwater about several different Les Pauls and we started talking about a custom I always wanted an alpine white custom because that was the first guitar I had ever touched as a kid. I also fell in love with the 1958 Gibson V, Explorer and never thought it made much sense until i saw Billy Gibbons playing one live the Moderne. Seems Like I had a lot more expendable income back then well I did so that said I got the white or I'm sorry the alpine white 2021 Les Paul custom paid the money to have it set up and that thing plays unbelievable. I was a Strat player for years I just loved the field with that maple neck and now my go to Guitar is anyone of three 1984 explorer refinished with the neck stripped maple and I just use linseed oil on it a 1998 Strat deluxe they can I don't know what to say about that guitar and this one I highly recommend if you have the extra cash to pick one of these up it looks like it's a hard one to get because they're still using the picture of mine and I bought it over a year ago. I now have 16 guitars and believe it or not I have never played a tele. Nolen my salesman at sweetwater is on and "Made me a deal I couldn't refuse" when these things seem hard to get he could have gotten close to list. That is why I will buy all my guitars from Sweetwater. No I am not affiliated with them.

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First off I NEVER GIVE 5 STAR reviews. This guitar has a feel (AND A WEIGHT) unlike any other guitar I have ever owned. I discussed this guitar months ago and due to a "Computer Glitch" i am a computer guy so I know how the glitch happens. But I got this guitar after all this running around weight 10.4 pounds plugged it in and everything came together. Since I sit and play I really don't care about the weight the tones and sustain are unbelievable I have always been a Strat player then I found a beautiful Standard I couldn't live without but the custom is just an unbelievable instrument I decided to let the great prices "Nolan" was tossing at me for 2 more standards and an SG to go for this one at this time. I believe the one pictured on the site is mine I was bent because I wanted to be the one to take the plastic off the pick guard. If I was to rate this guitar to all of the guitars I have owned and the 15 I have now it is the top 9.5 of 10 the neck is like nothing I have ever played on next is my 1996 Deluxe Strat my now second.

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When plugged into a good amp (esta necessito) my Les paul has beauty and sustain. It has a special Humbucker sound which distinguishes it from other guitars. It has weight and its substantial, I depend on that. And my beautiful Les P aul has sustain, (did I mention that)? It feels so good and ehats important for a guitar player. Please people, I invite you to fall in luv. And buy a gibson not Epiphone!

Hats off to Codie, my sales Engineer. The first one that arrived had some weird red blemishes on the back, and he caught that before it got sent out. The second one is perfect in every way. It took over a year to get this guitar. I was a professional touring musician with big name acts, and had endorsements from many companies. Nothing I have ever played matches this guitar...nothing! It is a metal shred machine. It has amazing jazz tones. It's a finely crafted instrument with attention to detail as it should for this price. IMO, this is a part of American history.