1974 Gibson Les Paul Signature

Striking Gibson Les Paul Signature Model from the Mid-70’s in perfectly played in and very vibey condition.

The Les Paul Signature model was released in 1973 as part of Gibson’s new Low Impedance instrument range that included the Les Paul Personal as well as the Les Paul Recording. The Personal and Recording were more traditional designs that bore a similarity to the Les Paul Models of the fifties whereas the Les Paul Signature was a total departure from the traditional Les Paul design and was more akin to Gibson’s famous thinline instruments.

A little ahead of the curve, the Les Paul Signature would be absent from the catalog by 1978 but the model has seen a resurgence in recent times with it’s lightweight, thinline construction, Goldtop finish, and uniquely offset silhouette ticking many player's boxes. Around 1500 Les Paul Signatures were produced with the majority in classic Gibson Goldtop with around 100 in Sunburst finish.

Featuring a thinline, offset, semi-hollow body with three piece Mahogany neck constructed in the same manner as a ES-335 or Lea Paul of the era, a bound Rosewood fingerboard with trapezoid inlays, inlayed Gibson headstock logo with silkscreened Model name. The electronics are what really makes this an interesting instrument today and it was a big marketing point back in the seventies. The twin low impedance humbuckers are controlled by volume and tone controls with a regular three-way switch with additional phase switch and 3-way resistance control for added tone sculpting versatility. Dual low and regular impedance input jacks - mounted to the side and to the top of the guitar - allow for simultaneous use routing one input to the amplifier and one direct to the console. Marketed by Gibson as 'one for you and one for the engineer’.

The guitar is in excellent overall condition. The Goldtop finish has worn in all the right areas and looks great for it and there is some fine verdigris and greening to the top. The back has patches of wear. Two tuners have been replaced with modern Gotoh equivalents and the Volume knob is a replacement too. The guitar has the standard 1 11/16th nut width with a comfortable medium C profile. The guitar has been refretted and plays very well.

Plugged in the guitar is incredibly versatile and sounds fantastic, the two low impedance Gibson Humbuckers sound excellent when used in the normal impedance setting. The three-way 50, 250 & 500 Hz level control in combination with the phase switch can take the guitar from sounding like a full humbucking Les Paul to faux Strat type tones. A really versatile tool both live and in the studio.

The guitar weighs in at a comfortable 8lbs and comes with a well fitting modern Hiscox case. A rare model in today's market, a superb playing and sounding guitar and a very cool piece of Gibson history.