2011 Gibson Les Paul Standard Pearly Gates - Heritage Cherry - "Lucy" Vibe
Weighs 9.5 lbs

Free Pro Setup - $100 Value
See below for details.

Case: Includes Gibson Hard Shell Case

Description:  This guitar offers the best Les Paul features from several periods. It's got traditional 1950's wiring and a 1960's slim taper neck.

Heritage Cherry: You mainly see Les Pauls in gold, sunburst and ebony. But not that many in cherry red. Well this is a great color for a Les Paul. The heritage cherry red is a beautiful and elegant color. It's translucent, so you can see the wood grain, which adds to the beauty. And the color is understated - not as flashy as a gold top or sunburst guitar.

George Harrison "Lucy": The Heritage Cherry finish gives this Les Paul a certain "Lucy" vibe. It's not an exact replica of George Harrison's beloved guitar, but it's definitely in the ball park!

History : George Harrison called his beloved red Les Paul "Lucy" after the red head comedian, Lucille Ball. He got this guitar from Eric Clapton in August 1968. Previously owned by Rick Derringer, Lucy is one of the most famous electric guitars in the world. Lucy was originally a 1957 "Gold Top". The guitar's original gold finish was worn and, according to Derringer: "It was a very, very used guitar, even when I got it ... so I figured that since we didn't live far from Gibson's factory in Kalamazoo, the next time the group went there I’d give it to Gibson and have it refinished. I had it done at the factory in the SG-style clear red finish that was popular at the time." After refinishing it, Derringer sold it to Dan Armstrong Guitars in New York.

The guitar had only been in Armstrong's shop for a few days when it was purchased by Eric Clapton. In August 1968, Clapton gave it to his good friend George Harrison. The Beatles were recording the White Album at the time, and had been working for several weeks on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Harrison invited Clapton to come into EMI Studios and play on the song, telling him: "You don't need to bring a guitar, you know I've got a good Les Paul you can use". Clapton would join the Beatles in the studio and together, they would record several tracks which later became the song you hear on the album.

Harrison continued to play Lucy as one of his principal guitars for the remainder of his time with the Beatles. It can be seen in the promotional videos for "Revolution" and “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, and the 1970 Let It Be documentary film. Lucy can also be heard during the three-way guitar solo near the end of "The End".

Pearly Gates Pickups: We installed a set of Pearly Gates humbuckers. These are the famous pickups, originally designed by Seymour Duncan to replicate the PAF tone of Billy Gibbons’ 1959 Les Paul. They are known for having a "sweet but slightly rude" Texas character. They feature Alnico 2 bar magnets for a warmer and smoother response, and are vacuum wax potted to prevent microphonic squeal at high volumes. They each sound fantastic when used alone and even better in the middle position, where the tone is fuller and more complex. The bridge pickup can easily drive a tube amp into beautiful harmonic bliss! They sell for $300 a set, and with installation, this is about a $400 upgrade!

Wiring:  This guitar started life as a Les Paul Traditional. It came from the factory with push pull coil splits on the volume pots and disc type tone caps. Since the pickups are four wire, we left the push-pull pots, but installed a set of Orange Drop caps and wired them using 1950's wiring for sweeter tone even when the volume is turned down.

Coil Splits: Since this guitar came with push-pull pots, we left them in and wired the Pearly Gates to them. If you leave the volume knobs alone, it works like a standard Les Paul, but if you pull up on the volume pot, it splits the pickup for single coil tones. Each volume pot is wired to its own pickup, so you can get the standard three Les Paul tones, plus four more.

• 1. Neck humbucker
• 2. Neck and bridge humbuckers
• 3. Bridge humbucker
• 4. Neck single coil
• 5. Neck single coil and bridge humbucker
• 6. Neck single coil and bridge single coil
• 7. Bridge single coil

If you love this guitar, but would prefer standard pots, let us know. We may be able to make that happen for you.

Luthier's measurements and assessment:

• Serial No. 125710333
• Weight: 9.5 lbs
• Nut width: 1.70"
• Neck width at 12th fret: 2.09"
• Neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.84"
• Neck thickness at 12th fret: 0.91"
• Action at high e: 0.050"
• Action at low E: 0.060"
• Neck pickup DCR: 7.5k Ohms
• Neck pickup DCR: 7.8k Ohms
• Truss rod: Turns smoothly
• Frets: Excellent 9.5/10
• Cosmetic condition: Excellent. Has a small chip on the bottom edge. See photos.
• Functional condition: Excellent. Everything works well.
• Electronics: Excellent. No issues.
• Playability: Excellent. Plays very well. Neck is comfortable.
• Sound: Loud and resonant unplugged. Good sustain. Pickups sound wonderful.
• Overall condition: Excellent

Features and Specs:

• Top wood: Solid maple cap
• Body wood: Mahogany
• Neck wood: Mahogany
• Neck profile: 60's slim taper
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fingerboard radius: 12"
• Inlays: Figured acrylic trapezoids
• Scale: 24.75"
• No of frets: 22
• Fret size: Medium jumbo
• Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan SH-PG1N "Pearly Gates" PAF style humbucker
• Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan SH-PG1B "Pearly Gates" PAF style humbucker
• Pickup switch: 3-way toggle
• Controls: Volume and tone for each pickup
• Wiring: Traditional 50's wiring
• Tone caps: Orange Drop
• Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
• Tailpiece: Stop-bar
• Tuners: Grover Deluxe
• Hardware: Nickel/Chrome
  

Dr. T’s Professional Inspection and Setup:  You may find a similar instrument listed at a lower price, but ours may still provide better value as we include our professional inspection and setup. This service costs from $80 to $150 and up at most shops. With over 25 years in the industry, we’re convinced that a good setup is the single most important investment to improve the playability and sound of your guitar.  Here’s what in entails. We inspect the guitar and address issues. Next, we remove the strings and tighten and set the drag on the tuners. We inspect the frets, find any high spots, then level, crown and polish. We clean and oil the fingerboard, restring, tune to pitch and set the neck relief, action and intonation. We then play each fret and check for fret buzz and fret-outs during bends, and we fine-tune as required.  Next, we test the electronics, clean and tighten pots and jacks and balance the pickups.  Occasionally, we find a fault with the electronics, so we dig in and diagnose and repair that.  Once the electronics are tip top, we play the guitar to make sure everything is just right.  Finally, we clean and polish the guitar, then slacken the stings to get it ready for shipping.

String Gauges and Settings:   We do our setups using common string gauges and settings, which we've found work well for most players. For electrics, we use 9-42 gauge strings for Fender (25.5") scale guitars and 10-46 for Gibson (24.75") scale guitars.  We set action to 0.050 on the high e side and 0.060 on the low E side. This action is fairly low and allows for easy fretting without buzzing or sacrificing tone. If you have special preferences, please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Light Gauge Strings: Why not let your amp do the work? We recommend light gauge strings on electrics, which makes fretting and bending easier. And if you want more volume, just turn up your amp. I don’t know anyone who thinks Tony Iommi or Billy Gibbons have thin tone - Tony uses 8’s and Billy uses 7’s. If you use 10’s you might consider 9’s, or if you use 9’s try 8’s. It will take a little time to get used to, but you’ll be surprised at how much easier your guitar is to play… and if you turn up your amp a little, you won’t be sacrificing volume or tone.

Fine Tuning Adjustments:  Your guitar will be playing and sounding wonderful when we finish our setup. However, occasionally minor adjustments will be needed after shipping due to changes in temperature and/or humidity, rough handling or other unfavorable conditions. Since we have no control over this, we cannot cover the cost of these adjustments. However, if your guitar was mishandled during shipping, please let us know, so we can see if a shipping claim is in order. Sometimes it’s possible to get you a partial refund to help cover issues if we can show that they were caused by shipping.

Condition Ratings: We rate each guitar’s condition using guidelines outlined by Reverb.  Please refer to that section of Reverb to better understand what each condition means.

Standard of Care:  We strive to meet our clients’ expectations, and we want you to be happy with your purchase. However, please keep in mind that guitars develop wear with use and it’s widely accepted that honest wear adds character and shows that the guitar has been loved. Our used and vintage guitars will have signs of use. Our Del Mar Lutherie brand guitars are hand-built and will have artifacts that some people might view as "imperfections".  If you want a guitar in “perfect” or “flawless” condition, we advise you to buy new from an authorized dealer or buy locally so you can inspect it in person. We do not guarantee that our guitars will be cosmetically flawless, and we don’t accept returns or give partial refunds due to cosmetic imperfections.

Specs:  We list specs as a courtesy. Some specs are measured by our techs. Others are taken from the manufacturer's data. Manufacturers change specs all the time, and their listed specs may not be 100% accurate. Also, some used guitars have mods that may not be apparent upon visual inspection. The guitar you will get is the one shown in the photos. If there are any "deal breaker" specs that you must have, please let us know so we can double check for you before your purchase.

Videos:  We often provide links to YouTube videos to provide our clients with more information. These videos will be of a similar make and model which is representative of the guitar in our listing. 

Shipping:  We ship guitars via UPS ground. The fee shown includes shipping within the contiguous USA with insurance. It also includes packaging materials and our time to pack up and drop off at UPS. For guitars, shipping costs are controlled by box size and insurance is based on value.

Delivery Time: We do our best to get your guitar setup, boxed and shipped as soon as possible. However, sometimes this can take a few days depending on how many guitars are in the queue, our current workload and other factors. Once UPS receives your guitar, they will estimate a delivery date, which you can access via Reverb. UPS will typically deliver your guitar within 2 to 7 business days after they receive it. Time varies depending on your distance from Southern California. If you're in a hurry, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you, or at least we can advise you of the estimated wait, so you can decide if you need to make other arrangements.

Damage Claims: Although rare, guitars sometimes are damaged during shipping. If you receive a guitar that is damaged, please let us know immediately so we can open a claim. We will ask you to send the following photos: overall view of the guitar; damaged areas of the guitar; overall view of the box; view showing the shipping label; view looking down into the top of the box with the guitar and packaging the way it was when you opened it; and view showing any damaged areas of the box. Important - Please keep the box and all packaging in case the carrier requires it for inspection. We will do our best to get this resolved ASAP, but please be patient, as we have no control over the time it takes the carrier to process the claim. Once the claim is approved, you will ship the guitar back to us with the return label we provide, and we will process your refund.

Returns and Canceled Orders:  We are a small business and can’t afford to offer free returns like the big guys. There is a lot of time, effort and cost involved with processing your order, pulling your guitar from inventory, setting it up, packing and shipping it. Please make sure you want the guitar before you commit to buy. If we agree to a return or agree to cancel your order, you will be responsible for all incurred shipping costs (both ways) and a restocking fee to cover our time.

Dr. T's Tone Factory & Del Mar Lutherie, Message from the Owner:  We are a small shop in San Diego County, California. We are part of the local guitar community (Fender, Taylor, Kiesel) and build custom electric guitars, custom tube amps, and do mods and setups. We also buy, sell and trade vintage and used instruments. Our owner is a guitar enthusiast, wood worker and professional designer and engineer. We've been doing this type of work since 1999 and have hundreds of happy customers. We are a Reverb Preferred Seller, and our approval rating is 99.9%. 

Best wishes and happy strumming!

Dr T.