I spent over 20 years looking for the perfect Les Paul bass. This 2016 Gibson Memphis ES-Les Paul Bass ended the search.

I bought this bass new in 2017. Before it, I tried more than eight Les Paul basses from Epiphone, Gibson, Greco, Burny, Crestwood, and others. Most were heavy and had the neck dive and absurd reach we're all familiar with. This short-scale, semi-hollow build fixed all of that. It hangs just perfectly; it's easy on the shoulder, and the reach is comfy.

I swap pickups on almost everything I own, but not this one. The stock Gibson MHS (Memphis Historic Spec) humbuckers sounded too good to touch. The tone controls are touchy in the best way. A small turn makes a real change, so there's a lot of sound to dig out of this thing. I understand the guitar player's love for the Les Paul better now! I can say that my guitar player friends love getting their hands on this and going bass-wild for a bit.

This bass got played a lot. It never just hung on a wall. But it was well loved, and well cared for, and it shows.

A couple of years ago, the neck got a mild twist between the 7th and 12th frets. It isn't from neglect; it's a well-known Memphis issue. I inquired with Gibson directly, and they advised having the board planed and refret and, importantly, that it isn't specific work that needed to be done by them. But I wasn't going to hand it to just anybody, so I waited seven months to get it to master luthier Brian Gallup at Gallup Guitars in Michigan. He's definitely a master, and he did it right with handwork and the PLEK Pro. It's played like butter ever since (I should've had him work on it sooner!).

The Facts

1. Model: 2016 Gibson Memphis ES-Les Paul Bass in Faded Darkburst.

2. Body: Semi-hollow maple/poplar/maple with the '61 center block and cream binding.

3. Weight: Very light at 7 lbs 1 oz.

4. Neck: One-piece mahogany, rounded "C" profile with rolled binding. 30.2" scale, .845" thick at the 1st fret and 1.045" at the 12th. Bone nut, 1.675" wide.

5. Fingerboard: Rosewood, 12" radius, 20 frets, and pearloid trapezoid inlays.

6. Pickups: Original MHS bass humbuckers. Alnico III in the neck (7.51k), Alnico II in the bridge (8.07k), with nickel covers.

7. Electronics: CTS 500K pots (linear volume, audio taper tone) with Orange Drop caps: .022µF on the bridge and .015µF on the neck.

8. Hardware: Hipshot Ultralite tuners, a bass Tune-O-Matic bridge, and a stop bar tailpiece.

9. Luthier work: Hand neck correction and a full refret with wire one size narrower than stock, finished with a Plek Pro setup. The frets have only about one year of light play on them. This rework and the smaller frets are much smoother and more even than the factory job.

10. Mods: Schaller strap locks are installed. Includes the original strap buttons and the strap-side Schaller locks.

11. Condition: Very Good to Excellent. It has light play wear and minor pick swirling that are hard to see on camera. There's one small pitted spot on the bass side of the bridge, which I point out with an ink pen in the photos. The neck back is semi-smooth; I use a size 0000 white Scotch-Brite-style sanding pad to knock down the factory poly, then treat with Howard's Feed-N-Wax. The neck is much smoother as a result, and it buffs nearly back to normal if desired. In the heel photo, light scuff marks are visible; they are from this treatment.

12. Strings: D'Addario EXL170Ms. The E string in the photos is a long-scale string I fabbed to fit because my short-scale E broke right before the shoot.

13. Included: The original brown hard shell case, the original Gibson shipping box, the Gibson Memphis COA (you can see it in the photos), and the set of Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats (JF324) I swap on/off with the nickel rounds.

I'm only selling because I'm thinning out my gear. I'm a player, not a collector. After all those years of searching, this one is hard to let go. But a bass like this should be played, not stored in a closet. I hope it goes to someone who will put it to work. Send me any questions, or hit buy and give this old friend its next gig.