Gibson '88 Les Paul Silver Burst Showcase

1988 Silverburst Les Paul Standard.

Weighs between 10 and 11 lbs, mahogany body, mahogany neck, maple cap, ebony fretboard. Basically it's like a good Les Paul Custom.

The previous owner changed the active EMG's with passive Duncans.

This Les Paul Standard sounds BIG! It has a lot of bass response.

Big, juicy, nasty leads from the neck pickup, raw power from the bridge pickup.

The clean tone is huge.

I'm playing this guitar through a Marshall JCM 2000 stack.

Straight neck, low action, plays like butter. Can't ask for more in a Les Paul.

It's build like a tank.

The Silverburst finish is getting old/vintage.

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No opinion.

This is my dream Les Paul. It feels great, it plays great, it sounds great, it looks great...I don't need another Les Paul. This one has a unique tone.

If you ever find one in good condition, go for it. You won't ever regret it.

I bought this Gibson Les Paul Standard Silverburst Showcase Edition new in 1988.

It has a mahogany neck/body, maple cap and an ebony fretboard (which is rare for a Standard). Originally it came with factory EMG 85 pickups, but I changed them with passive pickups for a true 80's tone. It has a great feeling neck, it's heavy/solid and still original except for the frets and pickups/electronics. There are only 200 of these Silverbursts Editions made in 1988, so it's an extemely rare and historical piece from Gibson. All the hardware is solid and black.

The EMG's were pretty nice, but I changed them soon with all kind of different passive pickups until I found the right pickup combination for my taste.

It sounds like heaven; 'smooth', 'dark' and thick' with the sustain and overtones you'd expect from a Les Paul made like this. It sounds more like a Les Paul Custom because of its ebony fretboard instead of rosewood fretboard. I've had many offers over the years from Gibson salesmen/collectors who wanted to buy it from me (by judging the sound of it when I played it through different kind of amps in their guitar shops). I myself have 3 other Les Pauls to compare with (a 86' Les Paul Standard/2006 Les Paul Studio/2007 Les Paul Faded) and this 88' Les Paul Standard eats them all for breakfast in just every aspect. It's my pride. From pure blues and jazz to straight hardrock and metal.

This guitar always played great and smooth with 10's (on my newer Les Pauls I use 11's), but the frets were very poor after years of use in bars/pubs etc and it needed a refret very bad recently. I also changed the pickups and electronics with the standard passive configuration instead of the active muddy metal configuration. I'd give this a 10 if the guitar didn't come with EMG's and if it didn't need a refret.

After the fret job, the Les Paul played like new again, like butter. There's light bucklewear on the back of the guitar and some little natural wear, but nothing serious or big. It's as solid as a tank and the original 80's Silverburst finish is just great (sometimes it looks more green than silver actually). This Les Paul is aged great through the years and therefore it looks sexy as hell (shiny when polished, but with so many vintage vibe). It doesn't look like the reissue Silverburst Les Paul Customs at all.

I've never dealt with the company.

This Gibson Les Paul Standard is unique in every aspect. The rare Silverburst finish, the fretboard (ebony instead of the standard rosewood that comes on Les Paul Standards), the black and solid hardware + the fact that there are only 200 of these made back in 88'. My VERY experienced luthier recentely said: 'Be very careful with it, it's a true collector'.

If you're one of the 200 people that also own this guitar, you can consider yourself lucky and blessed. NEVER SELL IT because you don't like the EMG pickups. As long as you can bring the Les Paul to an experienced and dependable luthier you're settled for life. Even Adam Jones would be jealous.

No matter what people think or say about it, it's a jewel of a guitar.

I think it's a Mahogany neck, but I am not sure.
It has Grover Tuners, and the neck is not like the old baseball bat necks. It comes stock with active EMG's. An active 85 in the neck and an active 81 in the bridge. The finish is a Silver-Burst, but it looks a little green at certain angles and under certain light. Comes with a very nice case although it's not your standard LP case.

This guitar is very metal indeed. It's had a monster of a tone, and that classic LP sustaion. The EMG's are a bit more modern and muddy for my style. The stock EMG 81 was replaced with SD Full-Shred
Passive. Atucally, I have a passive and an active running on the same guitar. It was done by my cousin's tech back in 89'.
I still have the old active 81. The SD has a much better 80's metal feel. The combination of the active 85 and the SD is pretty darn cool too. The 85 is good for fast leads, but I have more fun mixing the active and the passive for most stuff. For metal riffs the SD in the bridge just cannot be beat. You can get Priest up to Slayer.

The guitar was set up by a pro, and it plays WAY better than any other LP I have ever touched.

It's a LP! Nuff Said.

Never dealt with them

It's one of a kind (as far as I know) being that it's a 88 Showcase with the active / passive setup. I have only owned it for about three days, but it calls to me in the middle of the night: Play me...Play me...

The one thing I am confused about is the amount of this model that were produced. My certificate tells me only 200 of ALL the showcase models were produced, but many on here claim that they produced 200 per model. If this is true, the cert is wrong. I think this guiatr may be one of only 30-50 ever made. The cert says this:
"This guitar is one of only 200 Showcase Edition guitars manufactured in the year 1988. There are nine models you have one of 200." I have a feeling this guitar is very rare indeed. The paint on it has a green tint under certain light. I have never seen or heard anything like it! I only paid 1500 for it becasue it was from my cousin. That is what he paid in 1989. This guitar is worth over
$4000 in good condition. If you have one HOLD ON TO IT.