I am offering here a Gibson Les Paul Standard from 1996, a manufactured in Nashville, Tennessee (USA), Vintage luxury version of the Gibson Les Paul, featuring a solid mahogany body (without chambering) with arched maple top, set mahogany neck with medium “C”-shaped neck profile and 43mm nut width, bound rosewood fingerboard with trapezoidal mother-of-pearl inlays, two hot Gibson 490R/498T humbucker pickups, high-quality Gibson Deluxe Vintage Style Keystone tuners, and Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge with Stopbar tailpiece in an authentically aged ebony nitrocellulose high-gloss finish with cream-white bindings and pickguard in excellent condition, including the original brown Gibson luxury hardshell case and professional setup with Elixir 10-gauge strings.

This Standard, built in 1996 at the Gibson Nashville factory, impressively reinforces the notion that the 1990s were an exceptionally good era (“Good Wood Era”). Since its reintroduction in 1976, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has remained largely unchanged to this day, and so this 1996 Standard also features a solid mahogany body with a arched maple top and a set mahogany neck. The guitar draws inspiration from the legendary Les Paul models of the ’50s and combines all the features that have made the world’s most influential electric guitar such an enduring success.

Weighing in at 4.24kg, this Vintage Paula is no lightweight, but it’s also not chambered—unlike many of the Standard models that came after it. The solid mahogany body delivers the distinctive sustain, powerful punch, and rich tone characteristic of the early Standard models.

At the heart of this Standard, of course, are the two humbuckers—a 490R AlNiCo at the neck and a 498T at the bridge—which impress even at higher gain settings with their melodic, singing qualities, complex and rich overtones, and extremely dynamic tonal response. A great growl and clarity at the bridge, a balanced and detailed midrange, and a warm, full-bodied neck pickup all combine to create a lively and versatile tone.

A sound sample of this model can be found above at the end of the photo gallery.

The medium-width neck profile—somewhere between ’50s and ’60s styles—fits comfortably in the hand, and together with the 43mm-wide nut and the 628.6mm scale length, it results in superb playability.

Technical Specifications:

• Origin: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
• Year of manufacture: 1996
• Body: Solid mahogany (no chambering)
• Top: Arched two-piece solid maple top
• Neck: Mahogany, set-in
• Neck profile: Medium “C”
• Fingerboard: Rosewood with mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays, bound
• Fingerboard radius: 12”
• Frets: 22
• Nut width: 43mm
• Pickups: 1x Gibson AlNiCo 490R humbucker (neck), 1x Gibson AlNiCo 498T humbucker (bridge)
• Electronics: 3-way switch, 2x volume and 2x tone controls
• Tuners: Gibson Deluxe Vintage Style Keystone Tuners
• Bridge: Gibson Nashville Tune-O-Matic
• Stoptail: Gibson Stopbar
• Hardware: Nickel
• Bindings: Cream, 1-ply
• Pickguard: Cream, 1-ply
• Finish: High-gloss Ebony, nitrocellulose
• Scale length: 628.6mm
• Weight: 4.24kg
• Serial No.: 94046371
• Includes original brown Gibson luxury hardshell case, paperwork, accessories

These early Gibson Les Paul Standards from the Good Wood era, especially those with such a well-preserved ebony finish, have become extremely rare and are highly sought after as collector’s items or player guitars with that certain vintage vibe.

This Gibson Les Paul Standard is in excellent, completely unmodified original condition and in perfect working order. There is only occasional fine superficial wear (see photos). The electronics function flawlessly, and the frets are in top condition.

The instrument has been professionally set up with 10-46 Elixir Optiweb strings, and I (a long-time guitar teacher) will ship it fully insured with DHL for €29.99 within Germany or €79.99 within the EU. Worldwide shipping is available—individual shipping costs upon request.

All images shown are of the actual instrument for sale.