1978 LES PAUL ARTISAN, dark walnut finish, 3 pick-up, gold hardware, deluxe Hearts & flowers inlays, overall good condition. Replaced pickups (DiMarzio Super Distortions with added gold covers), added Bigsby and two added 3 way mini switches for Series/Parallell/ Split Coil functions. 100% Original perfect neck and fingerboard with original frets in excellent condition. Added brass accents (back plates, truss rod cover, knobs). Replaced bridge with roller bridge. Comes in original Gibson case, in great shape, but the back latch is missing. The two front latches work great.

There are a few signs of wear in the finish and in the gold hardware as you see all in photos. There are a few scrapes between the tailpiece and the knobs, see pictures. The surface of the pickup covers show some signs of age. The hardware is in excellent condition. This guitar has such a cool, collected feel to it, exuding warmth and rich tonal character in a way that almost feels understated; the playability and weight of the instrument in your hands making this effortless to wield, with a sound that's equally sweet across all strings and frets. An utterly wonderful instrument.

Mahogany body and neck Ebony fingerboard, finely inlaid with mother-of-pearl inserts, with a "hearts and flowers" theme 3 Humbuckers, Bigsby, roller tune-o-matic bridge, with 6 independent roller saddles for tuning stability, brass nut, original Schaller "Gibson " branded tuners, 2 volume potentiometers 2 tone potentiometers 3-way pickup switch, and two added mini switches.

"Along with many other mysteries from Gibson's "Norlin" era, little is known about the origins of the Les Paul Artisan model. Introduced in 1977 as the top of the line Les Paul series, it featured unique cosmetic features: mother-of-pearl heart-and-flower fretboard inlays (reminiscent of Gibson banjo inlays), and a script-style Gibson logo, as on pre-war models. The Artisan was originally equipped with three pickups, and gold-insert top hat knobs. Most, if not all, Artisans were built in the Kalamazoo factory, until production was discontinued in 1982. The hardware is gold, including the jack plate, and the Schaller "Gibson" style tuners, plywood, mahogany body and neck, ebony fingerboard. The neck is of medium thickness, and is very comfortable. The pickups are powerful and rich in harmonics. The model is superb, as most of the instruments built in Kalamazoo, and is now considered one of the more valuable vintage guitars. The Les Paul Artisan is the only decorated model in the history of the Gibson Les Paul series, and is a "must have" for true Les Paul collectors and for the most demanding musicians."

This guitar will be professionally packaged and shipped with insurance.