Gibson Custom Shop rolls out the Les Paul Standard ‘Rock Top’
A dense Eastern Maple top combined with a lightweight mahogany body
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Standard 'Rock Top' in Trans Geode, Malachite, Fossilized Flame and Trans Granite · Source: Gibson
Gibson’s Les Paul Standard ‘Rock Top’ is a new variation on the classic single-cut design hailing from the late Fifties. This time, the twist is that the finished top looks a little like stone. Or should that be rock?
Hard Rock
A heavy, hard rock maple top on a lightweight mahogany body seems to have been the inspiration for this model’s name. Gibson are betting that the dense Eastern Maple top will, when combined with that lightweight mahogany body, sound as good as you could possibly hope for.
The medium chunky neck is made from solid mahogany with a long tenon affixed to the body of the guitar using traditional hide glue. This model sports a solid rosewood fretboard with 22 historic medium jumbo frets and cellulose trapezoid fret markers.
These guitars are available in Trans Geode, Malachite, Fossilized Flame and Trans Granite nitrocellulose paint jobs with each finish a riff on the stone-colour theme.
Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Standard ‘Rock Top’ in Trans Geode · Source: Gibson
Traditional
The hardware is a pair of nickel Gibson Custombucker pickups, wired with two 500K CTS volume pots, two 500K CTS tone pots and a hand-wired harness as well as a Switchcraft toggle switch. These are all exactly the wiring you would expect from Gibson, with no annoying PCB circuit boards or oddly sealed potentiometers in sight.
A nickel ABR-1 bridge and lightweight tailpiece hold down the strings at the business end of the guitar and a set of traditional single band Kluson Deluxe tuners should keep the guitar in tune at all times.
The finish is not really my thing, but I can see some players loving it. My real gripe is the price, which seems too high for a fairly standard guitar.
RRP – USD 6999 including Custom Shop hard case
Gibson Les Paul Standard ‘Rock Top’ product page
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