GIBSON LES PAUL ARTISAN

  • Les Paul Artisan (1977 to 1982)
  • Les Paul Artisan (1978) two pickup version

Overview

Brand name: 

Product: 

  • electric guitars

Series name: 

Dates of manufacture: 

1977 to 1982

GIBSON manufactured the LES PAUL ARTISAN between 1977 and 1982, mainly in their Kalamazoo factory. The most striking feature of this edition of the Les Paul is the ornate heart and flower inlaid ebony fingerboard. The headstock also had pearl hearts and flowers inlays and the pre-war style Gibson logo.

The original version had a 3 humbucker option which became the standard configuration from 1979 onwards. The original version also had a Nashville-style bridge with adjustable stop tail piece, but in 1980 this was changed to a bigger tune-o-matic bridge with rectangular base.

Specifications (22)

Body

Body materialmahogany body
Body shape featurescarved top, single cutaway
Body styleLes Paul-style body
Body top materialmaple body top
Pickguard shaperaised pickguard

Hardware

Bridgetune-o-matic bridge
Hardware colorgold hardware
Tailpiecestop tailpiece

Fretboard

Fingerboard materialebony fingerboard
Fingerboard position markersfloral fingerboard position markers, heart fingerboard position markers

General

Finish colorsebony finish, tobacco finish, walnut finish
Finish effectssunburst finish
Made inUSA
Number of strings6 strings

Neck

Neck materialmahogany neck
Number of frets22 fret
Peghead (headstock)bound headstock
Tuner layoutthree-each-side

Controls

Pickup selector controls3-way selector switch
Tone controls2 tone controls
Volume controls2 volume controls

Electronics

Pickups configuration2 humbucker pickups, 3 humbucker pickups

Prices (3)

DatePriceConditionNameComments
2018€3900worn
2010$1650worn
19851.500 ITL excellentCesarione52I've traded It in 2015, in exc+++ conditions at 3.500 Euros.

Reviews (1)

GIBSON LES PAUL ARTISAN reviewed by Cesare BIANCO Italy

5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
VG sound and features, except the neck binding; the original finetuning tailpiece it's the most useful trick for the perfect pitch. Very, Very Heavy...!!!

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Players (1)

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