The Modern World
Vintage buffs can turn the page – the Modern Collection is now a near fully formed range. What’s your poison?
GIBSON LES PAUL LITE £1,499
Priced the same as the high-end Epiphone models, such as the Kirk Hammett ‘Greeny’ 1959 Les Paul Standard, the Lite is a very stripped-back thin-bodied LP with a standard-radius rosewood ngerboard. There are no pull-push switched extra sounds here, but the uncovered 490R (neck) and 498T (bridge) humbuckers deliver a vibey hot-vintage voice.
GIBSON SG MODERN £2,399
This pimped SG-meets-LP adds an AA maple top to the time-honoured recipe and is available in Blueberry and Trans Blade Fades. We get an asymmetrical SlimTaper neck prole, compound radius ebony ’board and 24 frets. It’s powered by Alnico V Burstbucker Pro (neck) and Pro+ (bridge) covered ’buckers with the pull-push switched circuit. Modern? Positively space age!
GIBSON LES PAUL MODERN FIGURED £2,999
You want ame maple? You got it! The top here is AAA grade in three translucent hues: Seafoam Green, Cherry Burst and Cobalt Burst. Like all the Modern Les Pauls from the Studio up, we get the Ultra-Modern weight relief here, plus the unifying ebony ngerboard, Modern Contoured Heel for easy access to those upper frets, expanded sounds and the same Burstbucker pairing of Pro in the neck position and Pro + at the bridge.
GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC £2,399
The internet tells us this Les Paul is out of production, but Gibson doesn’t. Either way, there’s reasonable in-store stock and we reckon this one is a bit of a sleeper. All the Modern sounds are here with Quick Connect zebra-coiled ’61 Burstbuckers but with standard-radius rosewood ngerboard and some old-school colours, such as this Heritage Cherry Sunburst.
GIBSON LES PAUL MODERN £2,799
The Les Paul Modern ditches the classic amed maple style with three opaque top colours – Graphite, Sparkling Burgundy and Faded Pelham Blue. Other than that we get all the modern sauce: asymmetrical SlimTaper neck, contoured heel, compound radius ebony ’board, and Burstbucker Pro (neck) and Pro+ (bridge) covered humbuckers with the pull-push action.
GIBSON LES PAUL SUPREME £3,999
The Supreme takes the Modern Figured mould and adds a little bling, particularly evident in the four colour options: Fireburst, Translucent Ebony Burst, Wine Red and Ebony (with plain maple top and three humbuckers). Then there are the split-block mother-of-pearl ngerboard inlays and a new headstock inlay, “inspired by a design from the 1940s that was discovered in the Gibson archives”, says the brand.