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Gibson releases exclusive Les Paul Standards with Flamed AAA Tops – but you can’t see them before you buy
If you want one, it appears you’re going to have to buy blind.
Image: Gibson
The humble flamed top – a classic wood finish with a tiger stripe effect. Its iridescent looks have been signature to that of many Les Pauls over the years. But would you ever buy a guitar without seeing it first?
Just a couple of days ago Gibson sent an email out to subscribers of their website’s newsletter about a new range of 50s and 60s Les Paul Standards with hand selected AAA Flame Maple Tops, but you can’t see them before you buy.
What we do know however, is that the choice on offer is a 50s Heritage Cherry Sunburst or Tobacco Burst finish, with the 60s model available in Iced Tea or Bourbon Burst. The specs on these models are fairly typical – On the 50s model you get a set of BurstBucker 1 in neck and BurstBucker 2 for your bridge, both with Alnico 2 magnets and a vintage 50s neck profile.
Over on the 60s, you get a BurstBucker 61R for the neck and a BurstBucker 61T at the bridge. These ones have Alnico 5 magnets and a slim, taper neck profile.
On previous flame top runs dropped by Gibson dealers over 2020 and 2021, the guitars were listed individually with plenty of pictures, enabling users to get a good look at what they were spending money on, but that hasn’t been the case this time.
There’s already been discussion on forums such as MyLesPaul, one user posted, “How do you see what you are getting if you have to order from Gibson.com. I do not see a mechanism to view the guitar selection. I must be missing something!”
The same user later added, “I do not see anything that suggests selection availability. I put one in my cart and all I got was checkout!”
More discussion around blind buying entered the forum, with some users stating they would never do such a thing, “I could look through 1,000 tops and not see one I like.”
Could you purchase an exclusive guitar without taking a look at everything it has to offer first?
The new models are currently on sale for $2999, you can find out more here.