Gibson strays from traditional LP design yet again with this year’s Les Paul Supreme, featuring jazz box inspired looks and sounds.
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Distinct features of the 2014 top-of-the-line Les Paul model include bound f holes, increased visual bling and a mini-humbucker on the neck.
As expected this guitar will come with no less than the best materials that Gibson has in their factory, featuring AAAA(quad A) grade maple top and a AAA(triple A) grade mahogany/maple back. As implied by the f holes, this guitar has a chambered body that will help give it a semi-hollow-ish voicing.
The neck of the guitar is made of mahogany, carved into a ’50s rounded profile. It is topped by “government returned” ebony fretboard. This description is interesting because it means the government has returned some of the exotic woods that were confiscated when they raided a Gibson facility some years back. The return probably happened after the company settled with the government. Other neck features of the guitar include 22 cryogenically frozen frets, 12″ fingerboard radius and nutwidth of 1.695″.
For the electronics, Gibson opted for a floating mini humbucker with Alnico V magnet on the neck position, and paired it with a 492T Alnico #2 humbucker on the bridge. These pickups are routed to traditional controls that include a 3-way toggle switch and four knobs that provided independent control for the two pickup’s volume and tone.
Being the “Supreme” Les Paul model, Gibson went all out with the bling, featuring a 7-ply top binding, 3-ply back binding, white neck binding, Mother of Pearl Crown inlays, 120th Anniversary banner on the 12th fret, and Gold Engraved “Les Paul” truss rod cover.
Other gold plated hardware include Locking Grover keystone tuners, Tone Pro Locking Tune-O-matic bridge, and Tone Pro Locking Stop bar. Gold speed knobs were used along with brass strap buttons.
The new Gibson Les Paul Supreme 2014 comes in four nitrocellulose finishes – Rootbear, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Seafoam Green and my personal favorite Caribbean Blue.
As expected, this premium instrument commands a premium price tag, with an MSRP of $5,339. It is now available for pre-order and is expected to ship early July. You can visit Gibson for further details.
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