Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar Heritage Cherry Sunburst (Used)
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A gigging musician's tool box with '50s slim-tapered neck, coil-split humbuckers and a boost circuit.
Taking design and visual cues from the Les Pauls of the '80s and '90s, the Les Paul Traditional Pro II features powerful pickups with push/push for coil splits and boost circuit, '50s neck profile, Grover locking tuners, antique binding, period-correct pickguard, vintage Gibson top hat knobs, and the revolutionary Plek set up.
With all the fat, sweet, snarling Les Paul tone that purists love, the new Gibson Les Paul Standard Traditional Pro II sports a mahogany body with a thick maple cap for the perfect blend of warmth and clarity. The top is finished in high-gloss lacquer, while the back, sides, and neck have a smooth satin finish that feels great and lets the wood resonate fully. Each Les Paul Traditional also comes with Gibson USA's standard black snakeskin case.
Period-Correct Pickguard
The creme-colored pickguard has been a Les Paul staple dating back to the models of the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Many players, however, removed the pickguard from their Les Pauls to show off the beauty of the flame maple tops, prompting Gibson to stop installing the pickguard altogether. During the 1980s and 1990s, Gibson began reinstalling the pickguard in the factory, and the Les Pauls from this era once again arrived in stores bearing the classic, creme-colored pickguard. The Les Paul Traditional comes equipped with a period-correct pickguard, designed to protect the maple top.
Pickups: Neck - '57 Classic; Bridge - Super '57
Among the qualities that make Gibson's original "Patent Applied For" humbucking pickups so unique are the subtle variations between coil windings. For the first few years of their productions—1955 to 1961—Gibson's PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with slightly different output and tone. The '57 Classic and Super '57 pickups are the result of Gibson's drive to capture and recreate this characteristic. Introduced in 1992, the '57 Classic at the neck provides warm, full tone with a balanced response, packing that classic Gibson PAF humbucker crunch, inspired by those original PAFs that received a few extra turns of wire. The Super '57 bridge pickup debuts in the Trad Pro with a wider frequency response and increased output.
Both are made by Gibson to the exact same specs as the original PAFs, including Alnico II magnets, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers, and vintage-style, 2-conductor braided wiring. Gibson added poly-coated wiring, which improves consistency by eliminating thick or thin spots on the wiring, and wax potting, which removes all internal air space and any chance of microphonic feedback.
Both pickups offer coil splitting for single-coil sounds and a boost circuit via push/push switching in the volume controls. “Straight Split” coil-splitting offers pure single coil tone and differs from LP Standards and Studios that have a “Super Tap” coil-tap, which still has a small amount of humbucking. The boost circuit has a user-adjustable 10-dB boost for added power and frequency range for solos, single-note picking and dirty chording (depending on amp settings) and features true bypass that disengages the boost completely, ensuring pure passive Les Paul tone.
Revolutionary Plek Set Up
The Les Paul Traditional is the first model from Gibson USA to utilize the revolutionary Plek machine in setting up the guitar. The Plek is a German-made, computer-controlled machine that carefully measures each fret, along with the fingerboard height under each string, and then automatically dresses each fret, virtually eliminating string buzz and greatly improving the overall playability of the guitar. This pioneering process does in minutes what it takes a luthier several hours—sometimes even days—to accomplish. Every fret is accurately aligned, and the guitar is properly intonated, leaving the instrument "Plek'd" and amazingly playable.
Antique Binding
To see the process of putting the binding on the Les Paul Traditional is to really appreciate the effort and attention that Gibson puts into each instrument. A lone craftsman will carefully glue and fit 2 pieces of binding around the entire body of a Les Paul. He then winds a single, very long piece of narrow cloth around the entire body until the entire surface is nearly covered. The body is then hung to dry for a full 24 hours before it is unwrapped and moved into the next phase of production. It has been done the same way for over 100 years. Some question the value of adding binding, but Gibson believes it is a fundamental part of our rich guitar-making history. The binding adds elegance to the Les Paul Standard, and helps protect the edges of the body. The neck binding is installed over the fret ends, which eliminates sharp fret edges and provides for a smooth neck and easier playability.
Check the drop-down menu to the right to select colors and/or other options.
Features
- A user-adjustable 10-dB boost for added power and frequency range for solos, single-note picking and dirty chording (depending on amp settings)
- True bypass: disengaging boost completely removes active circuit, ensuring pure passive Les Paul tone
- New “Super ’57” bridge pickup debuts in the Trad Pro; wider frequency response, increased output
- Easy-to-use push/push pots engage coil-splits and boost circuit
- “Straight Split” coil-splitting offers pure single coil tone
Own a Les Paul that has features of vintage and and modern styles. Order today.
Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar Specifications:
- Body: Mahogany
- Top: Carved maple
- Back: Mahogany
- Neck: Set mahogany
- Neck Profile: '50s
- Headstock: Angled
- Scale length: 24-3/4"
- Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
- No. of frets: 22
- Nut width: 1.69"
- Inlays: Trapezoid
- Binding: Antique
- Bridge: Tune-O-Matic with stopbar tailpiece
- Tuners: Locking Grover
- Hardware: Chrome
- Bridge pickup: Super 57 humbucker with push/push coil-splitting
- Neck Pickup: '57 Classic with push/push coil-splitting
- Electronics: 2 volume with push/push coil-splitting, 2 tone (1 with push/push to activate boost), 3-way toggle pickup selector
- Knobs: Vintage Gibson top hats
- Pickguard: Period-correct
- Case: Hardshell
- Other: Plek setup
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Review Snapshot®
by PowerReviews(based on 4 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
75%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Fun to play (4)
- Good feel (4)
- Good pick up (4)
- Good tone (4)
- Solid electronics (3)
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming (3)
- Practicing (3)
- Rock concerts (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Experienced (3)
Reviews
Reviewed by 4 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-4
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
- Solid Electronics
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Rock Concerts
Comments about Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar:
This Guitar defines the very best about what Gibson can build when they try.
Can't find the exact one word to describe the Tone of this guitar as it is that good but...
Sustain Sustain Sustain and then some...along with sun shining Warmth,Fatness,Crunch,Snarl..its all in there.
The new Super Bridge P/up is very very nice and will give you Zeppelin,Kossoff or Gary Moore Blues.
Mine has some flame which highlights beautifully at angles or light.. with a impeccable finish over the whole guitar including nitro,binding,tuners,switches,knobs etc.
This is the very first Gibson Les Pauls of 5 I own or have had previously that actually stays in tune and is very stable even after days of sitting in the case.
No innotation work was required,nut is perfect and ping free..along with a nice low action and no hint of fret buzz at all.
10DB boost switch is a nice feature particuarly when used with the split Coils.
Also if you take the battery out of the back...the 10db Boost Knob becomes a Kill Switch which is a nice option.
I Love the new Push Push switches compared to my 2012 Gibson Standard Push Pull as they are so easy to use and you can see what position they are in as they stay raised higher from the body if you are say in split coil mode.
50's neck is just right for me and sits in between my Bonamassa 50's Baseball bat and the 2012 Standard neck.
I know picking the right Gibson guitar can be confusing sometimes with so many choices and models but belive me my friends that this guitar is a killer.
I don't know why this model seems to come out of the Gibson factory so consistently well in its quality and sound based on all the other comments about the Trad Pro 11 on this site and my own experience.
A absolute must have and would suggest a steal for the price!
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
- Gorgeous Sweet And Rude
- Solid Electronics
Cons
- Only Have One
Best Uses
Comments about Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar:
***AWESOME***Phenominal***Big fat, warm, beautiful. Been playing for 20 years. I have owned a '77 Les Paul, '82 Explorer E2, 3 Fenders. 2 Jacksons, 2 ESP's, Peavey Wolfgang, 1 Ibanez and a few others along the way and this is the best looking and sounding of them all and that is a understatement. The decay on a Em chord seems to be endless. Nigel Tufnel was right!
I have the Honeyburst and at first the top seemed to be one piece, it matched so close it was a few minutes before I noticed it was 2! Just absolutely gorgeous top, another understatement. No gloss on the back or neck so the neck is fast. The 50's neck is just right, not slim like a Esp Eclipse or the Wolfgang but not fat and slow. The finish is as good as it gets.
To the good part. The tone of this thing is phenominal. Sweet and Rude. Split coil pickups make this very versatile. Boost control works much better with cleans and kinda blends in when distoted. When clean or bluesy it is b*d *ss. The pickups are hot, sustain endlessly and clean up great. The bridge classic '57 plus pickup is the best because it is not tinny, I love it playing it for rhythm parts which never happens for me.
For the life of me I can't understand the complainers. Some people just are whiners. This guitar is so good that after buying 6-8 guitars and other gear from MF over the years I had to write a review for the first time. Better than a Esp Eclipse, with or without Emg's because I had them both. Get one, make it happen. This guitar is on another level. I would buy another Asap.
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
Cons
- Pushpush Switches Bad
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Rock Concerts
Comments about Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar:
Great sound you'd expect from an American made Les Paul, but really disappointed with the push/push switches. Went bad after just a few months of regular use. Now I have to send it out for repair. A guitar at this price should have better quality parts.
Pros
- Beautiful instrument
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
- Solid Electronics
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Rock Concerts
- Small Venues
- Songwriting
Comments about Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II '50s Neck Electric Guitar:
I have been a pro since I was 17. I've been searching for "Tone"
Ever since. You know that Ronnie Montrose, Zak Wylde, big, fat sweet sound.
This is the ticket. What sustain. It goes forever. If you play for groove and feeling
This is the perfect guitar. Also pictures don't do this guitar justice. I got a cherry
Sunburst. It is just beautiful. It has Tone Tone Tone
Displaying reviews 1-4
