Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Pro

standard les paul but with plaing maple top & coil taps!!!!!
great humbuckers
solid body traditional burst
great guitar

It's a les paul and the coil tap sounds good clean and distorted

set up nice from gibson

looks great, time will tell

for 2K it's great

As previously mentioned, this appears to be a GC/Musician's Friend exclusive model (currently not even on Gibson's website). It's got the usual Les Paul stuff: carved maple top, mahogany back & neck, angled headstock w/Gibson inlay, set neck, bound rosewood fingerboard, 24-3/4" scale, 22 frets, 1.69" corian nut, figured acrylic trapezoid inlays, Tune-O-Matic bridge w/stop bar tailpiece, 2 volume & 2 tone controls, etc. It's got a ???60s slim taper neck profile, solid non-weight-relieved body, top hat knobs, antique cream binding and a plain truss rod cover. Some of the more unique details are the uncovered '57 Classic (neck) / BurstBucker 3 (bridge) pickup set with individual coil-splitting via push-pull volume knobs and locking Grover tuners. Also, the back, sides, and neck sport a non-glossy satin finish. Oh yeah, and a "period-correct" pick guard.

I've noticed some incorrect and/or conflicting information floating around about the specs, so I tried to be as detailed as I could. The above is correct for all of the examples of this model that I have seen.

Personally I love the satin finish. Some may find it not as cosmetically pleasing as the gloss, but it's very smooth and comfortable. Also, it doesn't get sticky which is a huge plus for long sets or recording sessions. The coil taps with individual controls are definitely a welcome addition, as are the low-ratio locking tuners. My only complaint would be the choice of top hat knobs - they are a little tough to grab when engaging the push-pull pots. It's not loaded with features, but overall I would say it is a well thought out instrument; a classic design with useful add-ons for the professional musician.

It sounds... like a Les Paul. The full weight mahogany body, set neck, and stop tail give it all the resonance and sustain that these guitars are famous for. The Burstbucker 3 has plenty of umph but not so much that it comes off overly harsh. The '59 is smooth and warm. If you're looking for a classic LP sound, this guitar won't disappoint. Really the point to be made here is the wide range of tones added by the coil taps. As I previously mentioned (as did the other reviews), the ability to split them individually makes for some pretty cool in-between tones that a standard set of humbuckers doesn't offer. I wouldn't go so far as to say it sounds like a Strat, but being able to switch either pickup from a thinner single-coil type sound to a full-on humbucker on the fly is certainly a nice option to have.

I played a lot of new Les Pauls while shopping recently, and one thing that is clearly noticeable about this model in particular is the consistency. The setups aren't the best, but I played 5 of them spread across 3 stores and all felt about the same. The action and intonation were about as good as any factory setups I've seen; not great but passable. In my opinion this is a big step forward for Gibson, whose quality control seems to have gotten away from them as of late. Overall the guitar is fairly well made, though I would like to expect a little more attention to detail on a $2000 instrument. Mostly my complaints are cosmetic - a few had ripples in the finish of the back or sides, and the bindings don't seem to have been smoothly blended with the neck and/or body. Nothing that affects the playability or sound, just a little frustrating.

As this is a newer model and a new guitar for me, I can't speak to its long term reliability. I can say that it's a joy to play live and I fully expect to be using it in that capacity often long into the future. Really the only thing worthy of note here are the tuners - the locking mechanism and low-ratio gearing make them rock solid even when taking a beating.

I have never attempted to deal with Gibson directly, however I suspect that getting in direct contact with them may be difficult. I really can't imagine why I would need to do so though, so I guess that point is moot.

It's a great guitar. I thoroughly enjoy playing it and am hoping to purchase another in the near future. A quick run through to set up the action to my taste was all it needed to supplant my main axe. I can honestly say I've owned guitars that cost twice as much that didn't sound or feel half as good. I think a friend of mine said it best: A Les Paul is like the SM58 of guitars. It may not be the absolute best for every occasion, but it's better than most most of the time. Sometimes when you want a Les Paul you just need to buy a Les Paul.

Les Paul Traditional Pro from musicain's friend.(Great service)
It has like all the others stated,

Usa made,
60's neck (slim like a fender, well almost)
Locking keys,
Humbucking pick up that you can dial as single.
Finish is GREAT, I got nothing to say ecept I love it.

Well it sounds good in my Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue
And it sounded great in my Pod Xt too.
Very versatile for a Gibson....
I got ''boutique'' pedals plugged into my Fender Deluxe Reverb amd and the Pod Xt does deliver a nice richness to the Gibson as I use it to record songs with Sonar 6.
Love that tone.

Great set-up, very sharp and the string they used is Bright Gibson NPS 10-46 wich as a lot of bottom.

I own a Fender american Standard, a G&L S-500 and use to have a Gibson Les Paul Custom with the thick neck, but to me it is a nice addition to my stock.

The G&L is better than the Fender, no sweat, but the Gibson is on par with the G&L (1995 model)the craftmanship is really nice on both of them.
The only thing missing on the Les Paul is a vibrato....just like Alex Lifeson and Neal Schon's model.

So get yourself a nice gift, and get it while they are not too expensive.

As previously mentioned, this appears to be a GC/Musician's Friend exclusive model (currently not even on Gibson's website). It's got the usual Les Paul stuff: carved maple top, mahogany back & neck, angled headstock w/Gibson inlay, set neck, bound rosewood fingerboard, 24-3/4" scale, 22 frets, 1.69" corian nut, figured acrylic trapezoid inlays, Tune-O-Matic bridge w/stop bar tailpiece, 2 volume & 2 tone controls, etc. It's got a ???60s slim taper neck profile, solid non-weight-relieved body, top hat knobs, antique cream binding and a plain truss rod cover. Some of the more unique details are the uncovered '57 Classic (neck) / BurstBucker 3 (bridge) pickup set with individual coil-splitting via push-pull volume knobs and locking Grover tuners. Also, the back, sides, and neck sport a non-glossy satin finish. Oh yeah, and a "period-correct" pick guard.

I've noticed some incorrect and/or conflicting information floating around about the specs, so I tried to be as detailed as I could. The above is correct for all of the examples of this model that I have seen.

Personally I love the satin finish. Some may find it not as cosmetically pleasing as the gloss, but it's very smooth and comfortable. Also, it doesn't get sticky which is a huge plus for long sets or recording sessions. The coil taps with individual controls are definitely a welcome addition, as are the low-ratio locking tuners. My only complaint would be the choice of top hat knobs - they are a little tough to grab when engaging the push-pull pots. It's not loaded with features, but overall I would say it is a well thought out instrument; a classic design with useful add-ons for the professional musician.

It sounds... like a Les Paul. The full weight mahogany body, set neck, and stop tail give it all the resonance and sustain that these guitars are famous for. The Burstbucker 3 has plenty of umph but not so much that it comes off overly harsh. The '59 is smooth and warm. If you're looking for a classic LP sound, this guitar won't disappoint. Really the point to be made here is the wide range of tones added by the coil taps. As I previously mentioned (as did the other reviews), the ability to split them individually makes for some pretty cool in-between tones that a standard set of humbuckers doesn't offer. I wouldn't go so far as to say it sounds like a Strat, but being able to switch either pickup from a thinner single-coil type sound to a full-on humbucker on the fly is certainly a nice option to have.

I played a lot of new Les Pauls while shopping recently, and one thing that is clearly noticeable about this model in particular is the consistency. The setups aren't the best, but I played 5 of them spread across 3 stores and all felt about the same. The action and intonation were about as good as any factory setups I've seen; not great but passable. In my opinion this is a big step forward for Gibson, whose quality control seems to have gotten away from them as of late. Overall the guitar is fairly well made, though I would like to expect a little more attention to detail on a $2000 instrument. Mostly my complaints are cosmetic - a few had ripples in the finish of the back or sides, and the bindings don't seem to have been smoothly blended with the neck and/or body. Nothing that affects the playability or sound, just a little frustrating.

As this is a newer model and a new guitar for me, I can't speak to its long term reliability. I can say that it's a joy to play live and I fully expect to be using it in that capacity often long into the future. Really the only thing worthy of note here are the tuners - the locking mechanism and low-ratio gearing make them rock solid even when taking a beating.

I have never attempted to deal with Gibson directly, however I suspect that getting in direct contact with them may be difficult. I really can't imagine why I would need to do so though, so I guess that point is moot.

It's a great guitar. I thoroughly enjoy playing it and am hoping to purchase another in the near future. A quick run through to set up the action to my taste was all it needed to supplant my main axe. I can honestly say I've owned guitars that cost twice as much that didn't sound or feel half as good. I think a friend of mine said it best: A Les Paul is like the SM58 of guitars. It may not be the absolute best for every occasion, but it's better than most most of the time. Sometimes when you want a Les Paul you just need to buy a Les Paul.

I believe that this guitar is an exclusive model made for Guitar Center and Musicians Friend. I bought mine new in 2009 in store at Guitar Center. It comes in vintage sunburst, heritage cherry sunburst and ebony. I bought the vintage sunburst. The guitar completely jumps of the wall. Absolutely gorgeous.
Some of the key features are:
non-chambered body - Locking Grovers (awesome) - Coil tap on both pickups -
'60s tapered neck - Satin finish back and neck - BurstBucker 3 in the bridge -
'57 classic in the neck - Zebra (black and Creme) humbuckers.
The burst, plain top and antique binding are flippin' beautiful!

OK. Let me qualify this by saying that I am not a humbucker fan to begin with. So will influence this review....
The sound of the '57 classic is really nice. Very round and warm. The Burstbucker 3 on the other hand seems quite harsh to my ears. I play with no effects direct into the amp. With the Bassman it was brutal but through the Fender Blues Jr. it mellowed out a bit. When playing big overdriven chords through the bridge pickup it sounds huge but the trade off is that when playing clean or only slightly overdriven (especially in the higher registers) it is very harsh sounding.
When you pull the coil tap on the neck pickup you get a strat-ish (but not really) sound that I thought was really not all that great, and I had a similar feeling about the bridge pickup with the coil tap engaged (not quite a strat...not quite a p90). But it does provide you with a very wide range of tonal possibilities.
All that being said... I pulled the pickups and installed a set of p94s. WOW. I love the way those things sound. For me (and remember, this is a matter of personal taste) this guitar sings so much better with the p90 sound, and the p94s look great in the guitar and are a perfect fit..no routing or hardware changes necessary. I love being able to get all those gorgeous mid rangy overtones out of that exceptionally well built guitar.
Also, the sustain on this guitar (before and after pickup swap) is unbelievable. Rings forever.

All these guitars are Plek'd before they arrive on the shelf. The actions is PERFECTION. I personally love the feel of the 60's neck, and combine that with the satin finish for faster smoother hand movement...super nice.
The locking Grover tuners work SOOO well. It holds pitch really nicely. I use a couple different tunings and it holds them as well as could be expected. The tuners also make changing strings a snap.
I took this guitar apart to change out the pickups and I was stunned by the workmanship on this guitar. The binding, the finish and the neck and headstock look beautiful from top to bottom, inside and out.

Well, I have only owned it for about 2 months, but everything is so well manufactured that I would be very surprised if anything failed anytime soon. Even the wiring was beautiful and clean. I tried my best to keep it that way when I changed the pickups.

Standard Gibson warranty.

I have been playing for about 25 years. I also have a Custom built Strat and a Guild Starfire III-90. I play mostly through a Fender Blues Jr.
If stolen I would replace it if I had insurance money. If not....I'm not sure if I could afford it. Not a cheap guitar. But cheaper then a Standard Les Paul with more features.
In my opinion, the quality and workmanship is worth the dough.
For me, the selling point was how it played. I couldn't take my hands off this guitar in the store. Feels incredible. Every time I open the case, I am a little shocked at how gorgeous it is. The pickups where not my cup of tea, but with the p94s, I couldn't be happier with the whole package.

At last Gibson USA has introduced a new Les Paul model with extra features of real use to players, and not just another cosmetic variation on color, finish, or less-than-useful doo-dads. The features that distinguish the Traditional Pro from other Les Paul models are:

- a coil split on each of the two humbuckers, providing a convincing single-coil sound in addition to the full humbucker tone that the LP is famous for. The split is activated by a push-pull pot on each of the volume controls.
- Grover locking tuners, instead of the usual Klusons.
- Gibson Classic '57 Plus pickup in the neck, and Burstbucker 3 in the bridge position (each modified with 4-wire leads to permit coil tapping).
- non-chambered body. Although it is weight-relieved, most of these that I tried were fairly hefty... exceeding 9 pounds.
- plek'd frets
- other features are fairly typical: cherry sunburst finish, plain maple top, mahogany back and neck, Tune-O-Matic bridge, rosewood fretboard, aged binding on body and neck. The top has a glossy finish, the back and sides are satin-finished which is quite attractive and convey a bit of vintage feel. All this at a price that is less than the 'regular' Traditional model or the Les Paul Standard.

The big attraction for me was the coil split which adds a whole new range of tones, *greatly* enhancing the overall versatility of the guitar.

Fantastic and versatile. I want to focus this review on the coil-split tone since it's fairly unique to this model.

Tapped, the pickups are extremely clear and articulate, with a very definite percussive attack. In fact the attack is so distinct that at times the guitar can sound almost acoustic or piano-like. It's a very unique and musical sound, great for chords and finger-picked passages. When driven harder in coil-split mode, the guitar takes on a kind of Telecaster-like quality with plenty of girth and single-coil snarl.

The ability to split each coil individually has turned out to be incredibly useful. For example, in the middle switch-setting (both pickups on), with the bridge pickup normal-untapped (full humbucker) but with the neck pickup tapped (single-coil), you can get a classic heavy overdriven tone from the bridge pickup overlayed by clear, ringing, articulate notes from the neck pickup. A terrific and very useful sound!

Unplugged the guitar has a loud, clear, ringing tone; full-sounding with a lot of harmonics. Plugged in and untapped with full humbuckers engaged it has that classic Les Paul sound; full and clear with lots of sustain and girth. The neck pickup is wonderful, warm and clear... nary a bad sound to be found. On the other hand the bridge pickup *can* get harsh... it's VERY bright sounding on this particular guitar and can take your head off at high volume if the tone control is left on 10. However, the tone control does seem to be able to tame the harshness and still retain sufficient clarity and treble when I set the bridge tone between 4 and 6.

Overall a really great-sounding Les Paul with a huge variety of sounds on tap.

This is a reasonably priced Les Paul, but still a fairly expensive premium instrument. In general, the fit and finish were quite good, but not as perfect as what we'd see in a PRS, for example. There was some goop left around the base of a few frets, and excess lacquer around the control route in the back. Nits really. The serial number stamped into back of the headstock is slightly crooked.

The setup was OK, but not great. Strings were a touch higher than they needed to be, and the intonation on all strings was slightly sharp. All easily corrected. The neck has only a tiny bit of relief, but doesn't seem to need any more. The frets were nicely leveled and dressed... "Plek'd".

I believe Gibson *is* improving in this area; the most recent couple of guitars I've gotten from them were better than what I saw in the early 90s.

I've played for over 40 years and have owned a number of Les Pauls in that time, all but one of which have gotten traded away. I found it hard to find a LP that had that classic warm sustaining sound, and yet didn't suffer from muddy lows, harsh highs, and lack of clarity on individual notes. In other words, a Les Paul that sounded great when played either cleanly or overdriven.

I finally found a great one 10 years ago... a 40th Anniversary '59 Historic Reissue, but at quite a price! But it had the tone, warmth, sustain, and drive without harshness, mud, or loss of clarity. I was able cherry-pick that guitar from about a dozen Historics at Wildwood Guitars. While I wasn't lucky enough to cherry-pick this Traditional Pro (only 3 were in stock) it compares very favorably tone-wise to the '59 Historic. It can get edgier and more brash than the Historic, but can be tweaked using the tone controls to sound quite close, with similar warmth.

I'd been looking for a 'project' Les Paul... one that I could modify to have the features I've long wanted: coil-split, locking tuners, phase-switching, improved pickups, and (gasp... heresy) Bigsby trem. I did not want to make these modifications to the Historic LP, so finding the Traditional Pro was a a *very* welcome surprise, getting me most of the way to my ideal Les Paul at an attractive price.

Kudos to Gibson for a great sounding guitar with terrific features! Recommended.