2010 Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop LPR5 | Part Two

◀ Part One

This post concludes my report on a very rare and lovely 2010 Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop 55 Standard Refinish LPR5. In Part One, we looked at the LPR5's external features. Now, in this episode, we'll get up close and personal with this exemplary specimen of guitarhood.

Let's start with case candy, then. First up is the TonePros Locking Bridge system mini-wrench, which you'll need to unfasten the "TonePros long steel anchors and long locking studs" holding the stopbar tailpiece in place. Then there's a genuine Gibson AIGG-925 Polishing Cloth, which was as yet unopened when received. No, I didn't have the heart to use it.

Documentation-wise, there's a Gibson Gold Warranty, Pre and Final Pack Checklist, Gibson Historic Collection Guarantee Card, various tags, and last but not least; a Gibson Custom Shop Certificate of Authenticity.

On to the pickups now. As mentioned in Part One, the neck pickup is a Burstbucker 1, and the bridge; a Burstbucker 2. According to the Gibson Custom Shop, the BurstBucker 1 "replicates the sounds from Gibson's original Patent Applied For pickups, are slightly underwound," and produce a "medium vintage output." The BurstBucker 2, meanwhile, is wound "in the range of Gibson's '57 Classic; and "slightly hotter" than the BurstBucker 1. Both humbuckers feature "unpolished magnets and non-potted coils, just like the original."

Stuck to the underside of both humbuckers are two rectangular labels. The smaller of the two is black with the words "PATENT APPLIED FOR" in gold font. The larger one is just plain white paper with badly-faded greyish print. Truth be told, I was only able to read the text after a lot of Photoshopping. And so, here is what I managed to decipher:

BurstBucker 1 Neck Humbucker

BB#1

(Wound by PS)

03/26/10 0594

BurstBucker 2 Bridge Humbucker

BB#2

(Wound by PS)

03/17/10 0446

For starters, I'm making an educated guess that "BB#1" is the acronym for "BurstBucker 1" and "BB#2;" "BurstBucker 2." Next, both humbuckers were probably hand-wound by someone with the initials "PS" (Paul Stanley?). I am also fairly certain "03/26/10" refers to the date of manufacture of the neck humbucker; namely March 26th 2010. Likewise, "03/17/10" most likely indicates that the bridge humbucker was manufactured on March 17th 2010. Finally, "0594" and "0446" are most probably batch numbers. What do you think, folks?

The control cavity is unshielded, as per 1955 specs; and houses four full-sized pots hooked up to two "Bumblebee" tone capacitors. The output jack is, thankfully; a genuine US-made Switchcraft #11. Frankly, I was half-expecting to find a Neutrik/Rean NYS229 in there. Two thumbs up to the Gibson Custom Shop for keeping things authentic!

If you have the time, do check out the two audio files I recorded of this 2010 Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop 55 Standard Refinish LPR5 being (i) played clean through a Fender Champion 40, and (ii) overdriven through a Marshall half stack. Thanks for dropping by; and I'll see you again real soon :)