Gibson introduces the Les Paul Traditional 12-String, a 12-string version of their most popular electric guitar.
The design for this guitar is based on Gibson’s popular 12-String guitars: the ES-335-12 and the double neck EDS-1275.
The Gibson Les Paul Traditional 12-String maintains all the core features of its 6-string counterpart, featuring familiar tonewoods and that are built into the same shape that is modified to handle the extra stress added by its 12-string configuration.
The body of this 12-String Les Paul is made of mahogany, and is capped with a carved maple top. The body features Gibson’s weight relief design to make the instrument lighter.
To handle the added tension of 12-strings, this guitar features a glued-in maple neck. It is carved into a ’60s era neck shape that measures .800″ deep at the 1st fret and .875″ at the 12th. Its rosewood fingerboard has 22 medium-jumbo frets and features traditional Les Paul acrylic trapezoid inlays. The nut width, which is Plek-cut, is expanded to 1.75″, giving enough room to accommodate the extra strings.
Of all the modified parts, the headstock seems to be the odd one out. Although it has the same mother-of-pearl Gibson inlay and gold Les Paul Model label, the neck is made to be longer to allow for 12 Mini Grover tuners. Gibson probably figured that this design is a necessary compromise to achieve a good 12-String setup.
The Les Paul Standard 12-String is equipped with A ’57 Classic in the neck position and a ’57 Classic Plus in the bridge. These pickups are made in the style of Gibson’s PAF humbuckers, featuring Alnico 2 magnets and 42 AWG wire, with extra turns in the bridge pickup’s coils. The pickups are controlled using Gibson’s traditional 3 way pickup selector and independent volume and tone knobs.
Staying true to traditional Les Paul design, it comes with a Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece. These hardware are modified to handle 12-strings, providing the same level of stability as its 6-string counterpart.
Finally, you can pick between three high-gloss nitrocellulose finishes including Goldtop, Heritage Cherry Sunburst and Ebony Black. These finishes are matched with a traditional vintage-cream binding, pickguard and gold speed knobs.
The MSRP for this guitar is $3,299, you can get more information from Gibson.
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