Gibson Les Paul Heritage Series 80 Elite

This is a 1981 model I purchased used for $2500. What can I say about the features its a Les Paul with 2 Tim Shaw humbuckers, 3 way switch and vol, tone for each pickup.

I play mainly blues through either a Fender Deluxe or a Fender Blues Junior and this screams. Its got a very Allman Bros. tone / Gary Moore. I can do some nice jazz chords like on Stormy Monday etc.

You can never rate Gibson Les Pauls high on the fit and finish, there's always some overspray the did not scrape off the binding or some binding that's not flush with the body etc. Sometimes the trapezoid inlays are not quite in the center between the frets but you can never say the actions bad. Gibson has got this nailed as far as "playability" we all know it.

Its from 1982 and its fine what more can you say. Is my old '83 Duster still running hell no.

Don't know

Its a truly great reissue guitar I love the dark cherry and somewhat darker lemon yellow in the center of the burst area. Its not as fire engine red or bright yellow you see today. There's enough good flame in the maple but I can't say its one of those wickedly flame tops but its enough. Its a nice one piece back and even that wood is a nice quartersawn Mahogany.

-Made in June of 81, @ the Nashville plant
-Standard Les Paul scale, 22 frets
-2 piece Maple top
-3 way switch, 2 volume, 2 tone
-2 passive Paf style Tim Shaw humbuckers
- 1 peice Mahogany body and neck, Ebony fretboard
-Gloss finish
-TOM bridge, stop tailpiece
-Grover tuners
-C shape neck, low dressed frets

came with chainsaw case, and case candy

I play as a session musician, so I need to have a guitar that can do everything, and this guitar is up to the challenege, Rock, Rap, Country, Blues, Funk, Mo-town, Thrash Metal, Pop, Punk, rock-a-billy, and jazz.

I use it through a JCM 900, 2100 model, and a JCM 800 2210. Through the dfferent settings on the amp, I can get great tone clean or dirty.

The Tim Shaw Pups are the closest sounding Paf reissues I have herd, however for the modern player, you might be disapointed. Keep in mind, they sound just like my friends Lester. The bridge Pup has a very nice bite to it, The sound is dead on Clapton during the song, "all your love" from the beano album, somewhat meager, not huge, but historically correct. the middle setting sounds alot lke live Jimmy Page, kinda twangy, good balence of lows and highs, with alot of "bounce." The neck Pup is deeper and bassier, without being over bearing, it dosent have that slash sound, with the mega deep rich sound, but it sounds a little bassier then the vintage les paul I compared it against. These pickups suit me well becuase i need a neutral sounding guitar, tht responds to the settings of the amp.

The action on this guitar is incredable! I use 9 gauge strings, and wth the perfectly strait neck, and the low perfect frets, the action is right about 70 MM above the 12th fret, and lower then that below, WITH NO BUZZ. I dont know how this guitar is as perfect as it is, but i truely feel it is alive! The action is the most perfect low you will ever find, period.

The craftmanship is great on the guitar, perfect frets, nut, binding. The hardware is 27 years old and near perfect.

When I bought this guitar, I was deciding between a 1970 black custom, or this guitar. The reason i choose this guitar (among other things) is because of the top. It is advertised as a quilt top, but my guitar has a very modest, unique top, lots of mineral marks, some flame, some quilt. I would call it a plain top, with some blistering. The real pearl inlays are beatiful, and the burst in a wonderful dark cherry, almost wine red depending on the Light. The neck Pup cavity says VCH, which makes me think i have a vintage-cherry burst.

I have to say, there where 2 owners before me, but it looks like it has never been played. there was 1 small ding on the headstock when I got it, this guitar is a perfect example of NOS.

This gutiar has served me well in the 3 months since I bought it. The laquer isnt overdone, but protects the guitar perfectly. I changed the strap buttons, but no les paul should keep the stock buttons, I know this guitar will be with me forever, but be careful playing it out doors. The heat of the summer cause the fretboard to get tiny little cracks. The guitar is still going strong, and the cracks are soo small, most people couldnt even notice them, just be careful about sunlight hitting your guitar

never used it for this guitar, but gibson has 24 hour servce live service, and the have always treated me great

I was in the market for a true solid body Les Paul, after not finding the right guitar, I learned about this guitars trough a friend. That friend (who has a real 58 burst) told me these guitars are well worth the look. After playing it, I knew right away it was "the one."

The reason why this guitar doesent get a 10, is because it isnt historically acurate, how ever it is the best non 50s Les Paul I have ever played. It doesnt have a long neck tenon, rosewood fretboard, nor a vintage acurate control cavity. The grover tuners work better then the old fashioned kluson tuners, but take away from the acurate-ness.

It has lots of strong points. The ebony fretboard is an improvement over the rosewood fretboards IMO. The low frets allow for the lowest possible action. I changed the silver grovers to gold grovers just because they looked nicer. The Tim Shaw Pickups are the perfect Pup for me, and if I ever lost this guitar, idk what I would do, this guitar eats reissue les pauls for lunch, is much better then a standard norlin era paul.

This guitar was the nicest of the 3 elite reissues I played, and truely has a voice and a soul, if anything ever happened to this guitar, I would be crushed. I wouldnt trade it for anything less the a vintage 50s burst

This is a 59 reissue model with a one piece mahogany neck and ebony finger board. Maple top with some very nice flame. 2 Tim Shaw PAFs nice somewhat fat neck. Comes equiped with the kidney shaped grovers.

I play blues and jazz and this guitar covers it all. Very nice sound when the gain is up. Very early Clapton and Allman brothers type lead sound on bridge pickup. Great for clean chords when comping and lots of really nice sustain.

The fit and finish are second to none in terms of a Les Paul. I have seen brand new 2008s in stores that go for $3K that have the burst color up on the binding and blisters in the lacquer where the neck meets the body. This guitar is perfect.

Is an '82 and is still going strong what more can I say

Na

I got this from a guy who just wanted to get rid of it. I did not try it too long before handing over the cash. I fell in love with the light weight 8lbs. and the dark cherry burst finish with flame top. As I played it more and more at home it grew on me. Fantastic blues sound, great sustain and plays like butter. This may be the best player I have ever played and certainly ever owned.

1981 Nashville,cherry sunburst,22 frets,one piece neck and one piece body,quilted maple top(really fantastic!),grovers,two "Pat.Apll.Hum." pickups,ebony fingerboard,two volume,two tone pots,3-way togle switch, 4,5kg.

I like to play blues,hard rock,even metal.This guitar suits me perfectlly.Allthough i have many guitars(3 strats,1 SG,1 ES295,1 Explorer,etc.)none of them has the warmth of tone and the sustain of the elite.I plug it straight in my Marshall 30reverb and even at full throttle(as usual) the guitar remains noisless.The sound is focused and well defined,with bright treble and thunderous bass.Frankly i can't find something that i dislike on the guitar.

I bought it seconhand for 850$(I couldn't believe it!)in mintAAA condition,so i can't tell you about the factory set-up,but the action and intonation was spot-on.The finish is fab and i cought myself staring at the quilted maple top for 15 min.

The guitar is very solid but i don't want to abuse it,and anyway i think that strats are far more robust instruments.

It's not so comfy as the strats i own,but the sound... ohh this sound... And the looks...ohh these looks could kill!

This is a special edition 1980 Les Paul. It has the fashioned top, blondish burled maple finish that almost looks like a tiger. It's a shame that I cannot attach a photograph that would do justice. I ha a 57 Wine Red that doesn't compare in looks or sound. It has a standard ebony fret board with standard nickel hardware. The matching hard case is dark tan, tightly shaped like the Guitar. Inlay head and neck but not overdone. Made in USA as a special edition, special order.

This is the finest of the Les Pauls, in terms of sound, that I've ever owned. That's a strong statement, I know, but I've owned and played many Vintage LP's and it is what it is. The one feature that makes it really stand out is the ability to hold a note for an eternity all the way up the neck. It's truly incredible. I've never figured out exactly why THIS particular guitar does this to be honest. A Luthier told me that it has to do with a specific slab of wood that just sometimes just resonates perfectly to a particular body style. Custom guitarmakers learn to pick wood for bodies trying to capture this feature...but it's very difficult as much of the old good wood is depleted. If you've ever wondered why two factory guitars, identical in everyway sound different...now you know why.

I favor a low action with light guage and the factory setup delivers for me personally. Medium-fast playability, I have big hands. Overall it is a well set up axe. The finish is superb and absolutely gorgeous. I've seen this color scheme many times on stage, it just looks good. All hardware was tight and set well fromt he factory when I got it new in 80. I has never showed signs of needing any adjustments. No buzz even with EL strings, ever.

The only problem I ever had was that one of the inlay pieces came out and needed to be reglued into place. No big deal. One of the reasons I don't buy guitars with inlay in the neck anymore...give me a good quality hunk of ebony...all of it! In every other way this is a vintage quality Les Paul...built rock solid and will last many generations I'm sure.

The Gibson Les Paul is the finest electric solid body ever made as far as I'm concerned. I am fortunate to have found a special version of this wonderful guitar that I doubt I will ever be able to duplicate. I would be devastated if something were to happen to it, because I don't think there are many out there available. If you run across this guitar and you can afford it, buy it. You won't be dissapointed. No frills, awesome machine.