Excellent condition featuring single cutaway contoured mahogany body, two original humbucking pickups with black plastic exposed bobbins, Gibson T-Top pickup in the bridge position and Gibson Tim Shaw pickup in the neck position, two volume controls and two tone controls with black plastic speed knobs, three way pickup selector switch with black plastic selector ring and black plastic switch tip, stop tailpiece and Nashville tune-o-matic bridge with six individual adjustable steel saddles and two height adjusting thumb wheel screws, set mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays starting at the third fret, bone nut, enlarged Gibson open book peghead shape with gold Gibson logo, multi-ply black and white bell shaped plastic truss rod cover with “Firebrand” and “The Paul Deluxe” engravings, three per side individual Grover Rotomatic tuning machines with metal tulip tuning buttons, serial number and Made In USA impressed into the back of the peghead, two metal strap buttons, chrome plated metal hardware and original Gibson Protector hard shell case. This guitar weighs 8lb 6oz.
This 1981 Gibson Firebrand The Paul Deluxe is in excellent cosmetic condition. This instrument does show some signs of play wear and use throughout including some wear around the cutaway that I have photographed, some faint pick scratches, some very small dings around the edges of the body and around the tip of the peghead, some slight play wear on the back of the neck and the case has a bit of a “basement” smell. This instrument is extremely clean for a 41 year old instrument and is in far better condition than 95% of these that I’ve seen. This guitar is all original inside and out. The neck profile on this Les Paul is that of a rounded medium to chunky neck shape with a 1 11/16” nut width. This neck is very comfortable and fun to play - not overly chunky and not thin. The original frets are in great shape, show only moderate wear and have tons of life left in them and this guitar plays great up and down the fingerboard with excellent intonation. The original pickups sound outstanding. This model has a stamped, numbered T-Top in the bridge that is dated 1980 and a stamped, numbered Tim Shaw in the neck position that is dated 1981. These pickups are wonderfully balanced and powerful. This instrument excels with an overdriven amp and will deliver some serious vintage crunch and classic Rock N Roll tones. All of the electronics are original, untouched and are fully operational. This guitar is housed in its original Gibson Protector case for safe travels and all thee latches are in great working order. If you are looking for a very tidy, all original vintage Les Paul with some serious attitude, then this Firebrand is definitely worth considering.
