Get Your Hands on a Golden-age Gibson
Inspired by the legendary Les Pauls of the late 1950s, Gibson’s Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top delivers all the best of golden-era Gibson tones, looks, and vibe. This guitar’s mahogany body and maple top deliver a one-two sonic punch of warmth and clarity, marked by the mammoth sustain that’s defined the Les Paul since 1952. Under the hood, two Burstbucker pickups brim with an open, airy, and dynamic PAF-style punch. Fans of a chunky neck will be sure to appreciate the old-school chunk of the mahogany neck’s ’50s Vintage profile, while the 12-inch-radius Indian rosewood fingerboard’s 22 frets are Plek’d to perfection. A thin nitrocellulose finish completes the package, allowing your guitar gracefully age and develop over time — just like Gibson’s original 1950s Les Pauls!
Full-feeling ’50s Vintage neck profile
Les Paul fanatics who prefer a chunky neck will find much to love in this guitar’s ’50s Vintage mahogany neck. Full, round, and not too substantial, the ’50s Vintage neck profile harkens back to the Les Paul’s earliest days, when baseball bat necks were the norm, not the exception. And while this guitar’s robust neck construction certainly dictates the instrument’s feel, many Sweetwater guitarists contend that a mammoth neck is key to the Les Paul’s prodigious sustain. It’s all topped off with a beautiful slab of Indian rosewood, then finished off with a classic 12-inch radius and acrylic trapezoid fingerboard inlays. Finally, a precision Plek job from Gibson’s luthiers ensures that the Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top features some of the finest fretwork in the guitar world, playing cleanly up and down the neck.
The power of the PAF
No other Gibson pickup boasts the pedigree of the PAF (Patent Applied For) humbucker, a pickup that set the humbucker standard upon its introduction in the late 1950s. The Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top’s Burstbucker 1 and Burstbucker 2 pickups offer an ultra-authentic sonic re-creation of the PAF, including an unpotted construction, Alnico II magnets, and a lower-output asymmetrical wind. The result? An open, airy, and articulate tone that captures all the warmth and dynamics you’d expect from a vintage humbucker, with an extra helping of crystal-clear note definition. Plus, while vintage Les Pauls had identical PAF pickups in both the neck and bridge, the Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top’s bridge-position Burstbucker 2 sports a slightly hotter tone to better balance with the neck-position Burstbucker 1’s output.
A truly timeless tonewood duo
Maple and mahogany. This combination might be an absolute staple of the guitar world now, but it’s worth mentioning that Gibson introduced it with the very guitars that the Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top re-creates. Why does it work so well? The stout slab of mahogany that forms the Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top’s body gives you a warm, rich, and resonant tonal foundation. However, vintage-style Les Pauls are all about clarity, hence the treble-enhancing carved maple top, an elegant upgrade modeled after Gibson’s iconic archtop guitars that preceded the Les Paul. And somewhere in this lauded solidbody, single-cut tonewood formula lies the secret to Les Paul’s most revered feature — a simply unparalleled level of sustain!
Gibson Les Paul Standard ’50s Plain Top Electric Guitar Features:
- All the feel, tone, and vibe of a late 1950s Les Paul Standard
- Mahogany body provides ample tonal warmth, while the maple top boosts treble response and note definition
- Chunky mahogany neck in a full-feeling ’50s Vintage profile
- 12-inch-radius Indian rosewood fingerboard, precision Plek’d for immaculate fretwork
- Burstbucker 1 and Burstbucker 2 pickups produce an ultra-authentic re-creation of the earliest PAF pickups
- Handwired electronics, with Orange Drop capacitors for period-correct authenticity
- Exceptionally stable ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge and aluminum stopbar tailpiece
- Elegant Vintage Deluxe tuners with gorgeous Keystone buttons
- Classic 1950s-era Les Paul Standard aesthetic appointments, including acrylic trapezoid inlays, single-ply body and neck binding, and mother-of-pearl headstock logo
