Gibson Les Paul Axcess (2014)

In essence the Gibson Les Paul has hardly changed or evolved in the last 70 years. Fortunately as many will now object. After all this guitar has shaped the sound of entire generations and continues to do so today. However, over the course of time there have been repeated attempts to equip the Les Paul with a tremolo or to improve the handling of the instrument by optimizing the ergonomics of the body. In terms of the tremolo, the variants with Bigsby or Floyd Rose were probably the most successful, even if they took some getting used to. For this very reason the Les Paul Axcess was offered in the present stoptail version in addition to a version with floating tremolo and locking nut, as the best of both worlds, so to speak. Traditionally built with a two-piece bridge, but with an extremely ergonomic design of the neck-body transition. Almost like a continuous neck, the neck flows into the body allowing unhindered access to the higher registers. Equipped with a belly cut, a slightly thinner body thickness and a medium neck this Les Paul Axcess is hard to beat in terms of playing comfort. And thanks to the “Weight Relief” construction the whole thing has an absolute featherweight of just 3150 grams!!! In contrast to “chambering”, which can also change the sound and resonance of an instrument, here only the amount of mahogany used and thus the weight of the guitar is reduced. The fact that the sound and look of Slash's “Appetite for Destruction” Paula has also been recreated here makes the appeal of the fantastic overall package immeasurable. What an awesome “Dark Mojave” shade, what a great color gradient, what a distinctive top grain! To round off the characteristic appearance of the original the characteristic reflector knobs are of course also a must. The legendary Seymour Duncan “APH-2N” (Slash-Alnicos) in the iconic zebra look provide the phenomenal sound à la Guns'n'Roses, which really rocks: rich, fat Slash sounds, defined, transparent and dynamic. Smacking, roasting and uncompromising! To add a few more facets to the variety of sound push/pull pots for coil splitting have also been installed, which means that pearly Strat sounds are no problem either. Fortunately the previous owner has now also been able to find the certificate, which means that this great instrument is now not only in top condition for its new musical companion, but also comes with official proof of authenticity at a top price. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to make a qualified statement about which of the above-mentioned specs are original or were added later. However, as this is a phenomenally coherent overall package with the best sound and player characteristics, this should certainly not detract from the joy of playing. Congratulations!

• Including original case
• Weight: 3150 grams