Excellent condition featuring single cutaway, one piece mahogany back with cherry red stain finish, two piece figured maple top with faded cherry sunburst finish (taken from the book Beauty of the 'Burst) and single ply cream binding (thin through the cutaway), two Gibson Custombucker humbucking pickups with cream pickup surrounds, two volume controls and two tone controls with gold bonnet knobs, three way toggle switch with amber tip and cream Rhythm and Treble ring, single ply cream plastic elevated pickguard with metal bracket, ABR-1 fully adjustable bridge, stop tailpiece, one piece mahogany neck with cherry red stain finish, bound dark Indian rosewood fingerboard with pearloid trapezoid inlays starting at the third fret, bone nut, 1950s carve Gibson open book peghead, black peghead face with pearl inlaid Gibson logo and gold silk screened Les Paul Model logo, multi-ply black bell shaped truss rod cover, three per side Kluson Deluxe tuning machines with green keystone buttons, ink stamped serial number on the back of the peghead, single ply black plastic electronics control cover plate and switch cover plate, two metal strap buttons, and original hard shell case with COA and case candy. This guitar weight 9lbs 2oz.
This 2011 Gibson R8 V8 limited run '58 Reissue Les Paul is in near immaculate cosmetic condition and perfect playing condition. The neck profile is that of a late '50s carve and the necks on this particular run of guitars were shaped more accurately to original 1958 Les Pauls with wide fat shoulders. It is very comfortable in hand and plays like butter. The frets show virtually no signs of use and have tons of life left in them and the pearloid trapezoid inlays look fantastic nestled in the exceptionally dark variety of East Indian rosewood fingerboard. The Custombucker Gibson humbucking pickups are, in my opinion, the best humbuckers that Gibson has made in years and years. The bridge pickup has a very bright, biting, gritty PAF-esque sound and the neck pickup is particularly fat, warm and woody. The attention to detail is astonishing and I'm thoroughly impressed with this instrument. This R8 has none of the dreaded binding bleed which so many of these R series guitars have from the factory. The non-wired ABR saddle is a brilliant touch as well. This run featured a hand picked top and the finishes for these guitars were taken from various pages of the book Beauty of the 'Burst. These were built in a very low batch number of 30 and are scarcely available. If you're looking for an exceptional playing and sounding Gibson Les Paul that is as collectable and striking as any reissue I've ever seen, then this may be the guitar you're looking for. This guitar has an ink stamped serial number with a V stamped in front of the 8 and comes with the COA and original paperwork. The top is beautifully figured and has lots of motion in light. The top can look anywhere from mildly flamed to on fire depending on the light source (see photos). An absolute stunner. Here at Mom and Dad's Music, we have made a point to sell Les Pauls that don't suck and this one certainly falls in that category.
