Product Overview
Gibson Les Paul Artisan 3-Pickup Made in USA 1978
This is a stunning example of a very rare and vintage Gibson Les Paul Artisan. These guitars were introduced in 1977 as the top of the range for the Les Paul series, it had unique aesthetic characteristics: mother of pearl inlays with flowers and hearts in the fingerboard and the Gibson logo in script style, as on the pre-war models. Most if not all of the Artisans’ were built at the Kalamazoo factory, until production stopped in 1982.
In 1976 when the Gibson Les Paul Custom was taking rock guitarists by storm. Gibson decided to create an artistic and fancier model to show off their high quality craftsmanship. The Artisan is very similar to the Customs but with a sleeker look. The Artisan was originally issued with three pickups. The neck and the bridge pickups are Gibson Series VII humbuckers and the middle is a Gibson “Super Humbucking” pickup. The pickup selector is wired to three setting. 1: Neck pickup only. 2: (middle position) Middle pickup and bridge pickup together and 3: Bridge pickup only. The Artisan was also issued with a TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece. This guitar features gold hardware, Schaller-style Gibson tuners, multi-ply binding on front and back, multi-ply pickguard, mahogany body with three piece carved maple top, laminated maple three piece neck, ebony fingerboard and an engraved “Artisan” truss rod cover. All Artisans had neck volutes.
Between 1976 and 1979 Gibson produced only 2,220 Les Paul Artisans. With 1,469 leaving the factory in 1977 alone this guitar is approximately less than 1 of 700 in the world. The Walnut finish was predominate meaning the Tobacco Sunburst was made in smaller numbers. Making this a must-have for Les Paul collectors.
This guitar is in great condition for its age. However, it does show signs of wear and aging. There are light cracks in the binding which is visible in the photos below. There are some scratches and buckle rash on the back of the guitar with very few scratches visible on the top. The high E fine tuner is missing. The gold hardware has faded more noticeably on the pickup covers but there is still fading on the bridge and tailpiece. There is no history of repairs. The original hard case has had it tough but is still in full working order.
This is a used guitar and may show some signs of wear, but is fully functional.
This guitar is available in store at Guitar Village Frankston 50 minutes south of Melbourne.
You can drop into our shop and try it out or you can purchase it online and we will ship it out to you.
