1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard Tobacco Sunburst

This 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard is in excellent vintage condition. This instrument shows some signs of age and play wear throughout including some small dings on the back of the body and around the body edges, some light pick scratches and a scratch or mark in the finish on the back of the neck beside the nut. I have photographed these imperfections. This guitar is original throughout with the exception of the strap buttons and a cool old set of Grover Rotomatics which were installed long ago. The holes from the original tuners are still present (see photos). This Les Paul is a true Standard model and it came from the factory with humbucking pickups and a “Standard” engraved truss rod cover - a rare commodity for a 1973 Les Paul as the vast majority of these were Deluxe models that were equipped with mini-humbuckers. I have personally only seen a handful of these early Standards through the years. I am not sure of the exact production totals for these guitars, but they are definitely quite scarce. This example boast its original untouched wiring harness with visible potentiometer codes that date to the 44th week of 1973 and both original stickered T-Top humbucking pickups. The stickers are intact and the pickup covers have not been removed. Both original pickup rings are present as well.

This Les Paul features a slim tapered 3 piece mahogany neck with a 1 11/16” nut width. This neck feels excellent in the hand and is very comfortable and easy to play. The profile is typical of the vast majority of early 70s Gibson Les Pauls and is not chunky but also isn’t overly slim. The original fret wire on this guitar is in excellent condition and has lots of life left. This guitar has received a professional set up here at our shop and it plays beautifully up and down the dark rosewood fingerboard with low smooth action and stellar intonation. The original electronics have been cleaned and are in excellent working order. Both pickups sound outstanding. This guitar delivers a nice woody midrange bite in the bridge position and has a bit rounder, fatter, still woody and quite articulate tone from the neck position pickup. This guitar excels for classic rock and blues tones but also cleans up quite well and is very useable for thick clean jazz tones. If you are looking for a truly excellent example of an early 70s Les Paul Standard, this one is a gem and an absolutely fantastic choice! This guitar weighs 9lb 8oz, is housed in an aftermarket Gator hardshell case and will ship out promptly and securely from our little shop here in Tennessee to your front door!