Gibson Les Paul Modern Figured

A Modern Marvel

Gibson's new Les Paul Modern is a triumph of electric guitar design. It marries the timeless aspects of Les Paul design with modern ergonomics and versatile electronics to provide discerning players with everything they need to set the stage, studio, or practice room on fire.

The magic starts with an ultra-modern weight-relieved mahogany body with a maple top. This configuration gives you the classic hefty Les Paul resonance without putting undue stress on your back. Speaking of stress, you'll never need to worry about playability thanks to the Les Paul Modern's ridiculously comfortable asymmetrical slim-taper neck profile. And, it has a rounded neck heel to help you access the upper frets more easily.

All of this ergonomic excellence would be for naught if the Les Paul Modern didn't sound great, but thankfully it is jam-packed with sweet sounds. It comes equipped with two Burstbucker Pro humbuckers, which do an excellent job of recreating the punchy, muscular response of old PAFs while sprinkling in some modern clarity and heat.

This guitar would be a delight if the Burstbuckers were the only sonic option, but it has a plethora of other tones on tap. The push/pull volume knobs allow you to split the 'buckers into single-coils, and they sound wonderful: warm and full, with a vocal quack in the upper mids. But, there are many more tones to be had! The push/pull neck tone knob activates a phase reversal, which allows you to get those thinner, brighter Peter Green-esque tones. Finally, the push/pull bridge tone knob bypasses all of the tone and volume circuits and sends the bridge pickup directly to the output to produce raw, pure, unadulterated Gibson tone.

You can have a lot of fun monkeying around with these settings! In particular, I enjoyed splitting both coils, switching to the middle position, and then putting them out of phase. Pure thin, squawky goodness! There are all kinds of other fun tones hiding in the Les Paul Modern. So, we would like to invite you to pick one up, marvel at its incredible playability, and discover its many inspiring sounds.

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