History GH-LSV 2011 Les Paul Standard - Faded Cherry Sunburst - Top Of The Line Model - Solid Figured Heritage Maple Wood Top - J Custom Level - Custom Shop Finish Frets - Made By Fujigen in Japan MIJ

Used 2011 History GH-LSV Les Paul Standard - In beautiful Faded Cherry Sunburst - Solid Figured Maple Top - Top Of The Line model - With original History hard-shell case - Made in the famous Fujigen factory in Japan - MIJ.

• Serial Number: K111328
• Body: Beautiful Figured Heritage Wood Hard Maple 2 piece top on a selected 2 piece mahogany back
• Neck: Selected 1 piece mahogany neck - 18 degree head angle
• Fretboard: Stunning cocobolo
• Fretboard Radius: About 12"
• Fret Edge Binding: No
• Inlays: Real mother of pearl trapezoid inlays
• Frets: 22 x Medium Jumbo (1.0mm tall x 2.7mm wide) Sanko SBB-213 frets - with C.F.S. technology and Custom Shop Finish fret ends
• Nut Width: 43.8mm
• Width at 1st Fret: 44.5mm
• Width at 12th Fret: 52.7mm
• Thickness at 1st Fret: 21.4mm
• Thickness at 12th Fret: 24.0mm
• Nut: Oil soaked cow bone
• Tuners: Original nickel Gotoh SD510-SL/NI
• Bridge & Tailpiece: Original chrome Gotoh GE104B bridge with brass saddles, and Gotoh GE101A aluminum tailpiece
• Pickups: Non original nickel covered VG KTR (Key To the Rock) Original Humbuckers
• Neck Pickup Resistance: 8.28K ohm
• Bridge Pickup Resistance: 8.27K ohm
• Pots: Original CTS inch standard 500k pots - audio taper tone pots and linear taper volume pots with 1111, 1116 and 1121 date codes
• Strings: Ernie Ball Slinky 10-46 strings - E Standard tuning
• Weight: 10.04lbs
• Non Original Parts: Pickups, knobs
• Case: Original History Les Paul case with dark grey interior
• Truss Rod: Works as expected with room in both directions

If you're not familiar with the History brand of guitars, this is the house brand for Shimamura Music in Japan - one of Japan's largest musical instrument retailers. This brand has been around since at least the mid 1990's and is still around today. The History brand is used for their higher end models, while the Cool Z brand is used for their more affordable models. All of the History instruments are made by the world renowned Fujigen factory in Japan - the same factory that built vintage Greco's and Ibanez guitars, and still builds the Prestige and J Custom line for Ibanez today, as well as their own FGN brand.

This GH-LSV model is of course History's Les Paul Standard model. I would call this a modern take on a Gibson Burst, rather than trying to make it a historically accurate model like many other brands do. In terms of the Les Paul Standards that History has ever released, from what I can tell, this was the most expensive and the most top of the line model they had ever released with an MSRP of 270,000 YEN.

All of the components on this guitar are top shelf - including the chrome Gotoh bridge with brass saddles, aluminum tailpiece, nickel Gotoh SD510-SL/NI tuners, CTS inch standard pots, vitamin Q paper in oil tone capacitors, Switchcraft 3 way switch, chrome metal output jack plate, and oil soaked cow bone nut. These features alone are rarely seen on Japanese made guitars, and only on the high end models.

But that's not all that makes the GH-LSV model so amazing - what really sets the GH-LCV model apart from other models is the Custom Shop Finish frets ends along with Heritage Wood Maple used on the top of the body of this guitar along with the selected 1 piece mahogany neck and 2 piece mahogany back and absolutely gorgeous cocobolo fretboard.

The Custom Shop Finish frets and fret ends are the highest quality fret work I have ever personally seen on any guitar - period. This is the finish as you'd see on a Ibanez J Custom - and from the same factory. The fret ends are rounded over (likely before being installed on the guitar). It is extremely comfortable to play on, and looks incredible - you immediately notice and feel the craftsmanship. Further, the frets used are Sanko SBB-213 medium jumbo frets.

Further, all History brand guitars use the Fujigen proprietary C.F.S. (Circle Fretting System) - which means that the frets are slightly rounded to match the radius of the fretboard, nut and bridge, instead of perfectly perpendicular to the fretboard. This technology is supposed to help with intonation across the entire fretboard. To me, playing it doesn't look or feel any different than a typical Les Paul, so the difference is subtle and you don't have to worry about it feeling off, but it does play extremely well and the C.F.S. technology may be part of that reason.

This model uses a stunning figured Heritage Wood Maple on the top of the body (2 piece centre seam). This is old stock North American hard maple that apparently sank to the bottom of the great lakes while it was harvested. The slow growth means that the growth rings within the wood is much finer and tighter, which results in a more pleasing and unique tone. The catalog doesn't specifically mentioned a figured or flamed top, but this particular guitar has a beautifully figured top with areas of flame and birds eye in it. Although this is a rarely seen model, but I have seen a few others, and I would say that this one has one of the nicest tops I have seen for this model.

Lastly, the GH-LSV features a cocobolo fretboard, with real mother of pearl trapezoid inlays. This is the first guitar I have owned with a cocobolo fretboard, and I must admit, is is both beautiful to look at and play on. It's incredible smooth and soft to the touch, more so than ebony, while being dense and hard.

You can read more about these features in the 2010 History Catalog (you'll need to translate it from Japanese to English if you don't speak/read Japanese).

When this guitar arrived to me, the original amber top hat knobs were cracked, so I replaced them with a new set of Gibson amber top hat knobs.

The pickups that were in it when I received it were not original and were heavily aged. I had a set of nickel covered VG KTR (Key To the Rock) Original humbuckers, that I thought would look & sound great in this History - and they do! These are made in Japan for the VG brand of guitars which is the house brand for the Music Land Key store in Japan - another one of Japan's largest instrument stores. These came from a black VG KTR-ES model - which was the ES 335 model. This is the second pair of KTR Original humbuckers I Have had, and although I did not take the covers off this set, I did on a previous set, and they are double black bobbins with Alnico magnets - so I would assume these are the same? Although I don't know for sure. They (Music Land Key) describe the pickups as follows: "Equipped with KTR original PU, which has moderate output and clarity, completed after repeated prototyping. The tone has a tight low range and a bite in the high range, along with the airiness of a semi-acoustic guitar, giving it a rock-like side." I'd say that explanation is accurate, and these pickups sound fantastic. They are wax potted and quiet, but they have a lot of focus and great mids. They sound excellent in this guitar.

Other than pickups and the knobs, everything else on this guitar appears to be original, and this guitar is in good player grade condition. There are multiple dings, dents, and scratches over the entire guitar - but nothing major that affects the tone or playability. There is a superficial crack at the heel of the guitar on the low E side, but this is only in the top coat finish and not in the wood - there is zero movement in the crack.

All of chrome hardware, the bridge and tailpiece, is in great shape and looks almost new. The pickup covers, tuners, pickguard bracket, and screws are all nickel, and they have varying degrees of corrosion, pitting and rust, but do still have lots of shine on them, and have an overall consistent patina.

The finish on this guitar a gorgeous Faded Cherry sunburst. It is a poly type finish and not a lacquer - or at least it doesn't react to acetone - but it is a high quality finish and it feels great to play on.

The 1 piece mahogany neck on this is a joy to play on, and has a down the middle neck carve - not super thin, and not super thick, staring out at 21.4mm at the 1st fret and making its way up to 24.0mm by the 12th fret.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played a lot, and there is play wear across the fretboard, but mainly on the 1st-12th frets on the plain strings. The guitar does play and sound excellent, and there is still lots of life left in these frets.

The heel on the guitar is also unique to History - it's smooth all the way to the body, there is no "shelf" to the heel.

All the guitars I sell, I test, thoroughly clean, and setup completely before I list them. Anything that is missing, damaged, or non original is mentioned in the listing.

I setup all my Gibson style guitars to Gibson factory specs - including neck relief, action, pickup height, intonation, and tailpiece height. So this guitar will be ready to play out of the box (after you tune it up - I ship my guitars with the strings loosened).

Of course with an instrument of this caliber, it came from the factory with a high quality case - and that is also included with this guitar, along with case key, the original warranty card, and truss rod wrench.

Overall, this is an extremely high quality professional grade guitar made by one of the best guitar factories in the world.

If you're looking for a Japanese made Les Paul of the highest calibre, grab this one today!

CONDITION ------------

Overall it's in very good player grade shape.

I've tried to capture all of the flaws in the photos and in the description - if you want more photos or details just let me know.

The pickups and knobs are not original.

Across the entire body, top, back side, neck, and headstock, there are numerous dings, dents, scratches, and swirling in the finish, with the majority on the back and sides of the body, one small one on the top of the headstock, although nothing major.

There is a superficial crack at the heel of the guitar on the low E side, but this is only in the top coat finish and not in the wood - there is zero movement in the crack.

With a blacklight inspection, there were stickers on the back of this guitar that had been removed (prior to me). But they cannot be observed without a black light.

All of the chrome hardware, including the bridge, tailpiece, and jack plate are in excellent condition with lots of shine left.

All of the nickel hardware, including the pickup covers, tuners, pickguard bracket, and screws, all have varying degrees of corrision, pitting and/or rust, althogh there is lots of shine left to them, and there is a consistent patina to them. Everything works as expected, including the tuners and bridge saddles.

The original pickguard rings are all slightly cracked around the holes, but nothing has broken all the way through - they still work as expected.

The cream pickguard and pickup rings have typical pick marks, scratches and swirling on them.

The black rear plastics are in tact with typical scratches and swirling.

All of the Gotoh SDV510 nickel tuners are all straight, working properly, and tune smoothly.

Around the strap buttons there's strap marks/swirling.

The 22 medium jumbo frets have been played a lot, and there a fret wear across the entire fretboard, mainly on the 1st-12th frets on the plain strings. Overall the guitar plays and sounds great.

SHIPPING ------------  

Every shipment is expertly packed with great care and includes tracking, signature required on delivery, and full insurance coverage for both the purchase price and shipping.

Every guitar is fully wrapped in bubble wrap, in a cardboard box meant for guitars, with proper support inside. To reduce environmental impact, the packing material (paper, newsprint, gift wrap, bubble wrap, air packets, foam, carboard boxes and/or tube supports, etc...) used may be recycled.

Package dimensions are 118cm x 47cm x 17cm

Note: if you want an exact shipping quote, just send me a note with your postal/zip code, and I'll get a proper quote for your address. 

Note: If you're buying from outside of Canada, you as the Buyer may be required to pay import duties, tariffs, taxes and/or VAT upon delivery, depending on your location and the purchase price.

QUESTIONS ------------

Any questions? Want more photos or detailed shots? Measurements? Shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to answer them, or send more pics, or take any measurements you want/need.

Thanks for looking!