This one is from 1996. The weight, with Bigsby is not bad for a Les Paul at 9lbs and 7oz. Actually, considering that the Bigsby is there I feel lucky I got one this light. I don’t fully know what to expect. It’s my first Les Paul. I’ve played Les Pauls that were owned by friends over the years, but I’ve only played a few customs in shops and they were mostly Norlin era. I was in the market and I almost bought a used Custom from 21’, but I really wanted something with aged/tinted binding. In the end, I am glad I didn’t get a new one honestly. The fact that this one has been broken in actually gives me some comfort. If I would’ve gotten something new-ish I would’ve have felt the pressure to either baby it to death or wear it in like a work horse. Either of which I’m probably not capable of.
This exact guitar is legitimately one of my bucket list guitars with the other 2 being a late 60s Jag (which I owned and regrettably sold) and Jazzmaster. With the exception of it not being ultra light, it ticks all my boxes that I wanted in a Les Paul with the Bigsby, aged binding, and those big block inlays. I’ve been obsessed looking at them over the past month. I thought I was going to hold out for Fender to release the AV II Jags, then I thought I was going to go M2M custom shop. I actually made a thread on it. Hence why I didn’t play guessing game. Would have been too easy. But, per the sales rep, the price and the ambiguity of actually getting a M2M Gibson guitar as light as I wanted was not even a guarantee. He said the guitar could be as heavy as 8lbs and 5oz give or take. It was too much money and too risky to spend on something I wouldn’t be satisfied with.
Then, I saw this one floating on Reverb over the last month and the price kept creeping down. Finally, I had sold enough gear to justify grabbing it. I feel like this was the better decision for the money for a few reasons. It was not as expensive, I didn’t have to wait over a year, and it will basically not lose value as soon as I purchase it like the M2M would. I also factored in that the average weight of a Bigsby is 12oz. Basically, if I got the M2M and it was as heavy as the lowest weight they could guarantee, then this guitar with Bigsby off is almost as light as what Gibson quoted me. It was an easy decision.
Now, I have limited experience with customs and no idea what to expect from a Humbucker equipped guitar like this fitting into my rig. I’ve played mostly single coils over the last 10 years or so. The seller really sold it to me as being an awesome playing guitar. So I guess we’ll see. Over the moon right now though. I may be tempted to play a little more rock now as opposed the the shoegaze and dream pop style I typically gravitate to
