Spotlight On the Les Paul Axcess Standard
12.04.2008
carries all the elegant styling, fluid body lines and rocking attitude of a classic Les Paul Standard from the golden era of the late 1950s. Upon closer examination, however, you’ll find many substantial modifications made in the name of maximum playability and versatility.
As Gibson Custom Operations Manager Michael McGuire puts it, “Everything about this Les Paul has been designed to make it a player’s ‘player’s guitar.’ From the easy access to its upper range to the comfortable belly scarf to the Floyd Rose vibrato, this instrument was made to give you optimum performance.”
Distinctive Floyd Rose VibratoThe most noticeable addition is the Floyd Rose tailpiece, a unit optimized for anything from subtle vibrato wobbles to dramatic, rumbling divebombs. Adding a Floyd Rose to a Les Paul in the past was always a major undertaking, and one that could seriously damage the stability of the instrument if not done right. On the Les Paul Axcess the vibrato is installed right at Gibson Custom as part of the manufacturing process, which means this potent piece of high-performance hardware interacts seamlessly with the design of the guitar. Partnered with an R4 locking nut, it also guarantees outstanding tuning stability and return-to-pitch accuracy.
Contoured Neck for Upper Fret Access Take the instrument in hand and run your fingers up the neck and you’ll encounter the clever structural alteration that gives this new model its name: While the Axcess sports what looks from the front to be a traditional Les Paul neck joint, the neck heel and portions of the back and neck joint at the upper cutaway have been contoured to provide a “heelless” feel, and an unimpeded reach right up to the 22nd fret. No more stretching against the traditional neck heel to achieve the upper-fret access that your lead style demands — the Axcess gives you that legendary Les Paul playability all the way up the neck, welcoming you to take it right over the top.
Comfortable Ribcage ContourTo further enhance playing comfort, this smoothly carved neck joint is combined with a “belly scarf” (aka ribcage contour) that allows the body of the guitar to hug closely to your own body in the playing position without digging in.
Refreshingly Light Body StyleThe Les Paul Axcess’s slightly thinner body, made from weight-relieved mahogany (with carved maple top), gives you an instrument that is refreshingly light and a pure joy to play, either strapped on or in a seated position.
Optimum Tone SetupThe Les Paul Axcess Standard is also geared toward optimum tone, as you’d expect from any Gibson Custom creation. Exposed-coil BurstBucker 1 and BurstBucker 2 pickups in the neck and bridge positions — the most accurate reproduction vintage-PAF-style humbuckers Gibson has ever offered — yield everything from warm, fluid vocal tones to fat, sweet growl, while an added push/pull switch on the treble Tone knob provides coil splitting for accurate single-coil tones. These unique tonal combinations excel at delivering everything from singing classic rock lead tones to contemporary crunch to extremes of twang and jangle. Even the pure-nickel wound .10-.46 Gibson Vintage Strings it ships with contribute toward its rich, textured voice.
Gibson’s Perfect Setup™The Les Paul Axcess is built to the highest standards attainable in today’s market, which includes a final set-up and fret dressing by the revolutionary,
computer-controlled PLEK System, which provides Gibson’s Perfect Setup™.
Hardshell Case and Certificate of Authenticity Each instrument also comes with a Gibson Custom hardshell case and certificate of authenticity. Top that off with optimum playability, maximum access and unparalleled tone and the Les Paul Axcess Standard is probably all the guitar that most players will ever need.
Additional Specifications and Appointments• One-piece mahogany neck with fast, rounded profile• 24 3/4" scale length with 1 11/16" nut width • 22-fret rosewood fingerboard• Kluson tuners• Single-ply cream binding on body top• Pearloid trapezoid fingerboard inlays• Carved maple top with nitrocellulose lacquer finish in Iced Tea Burst or Gun Metal Gray.
I take with me the memory of Butch, my friend Brad Kelly of BIG BULLY PROMOTIONS in Chicago who was there and witnessed the entire development of all the times I met and worked with Butch as he was a middle man some of how it all came together. R.ock I.n P.aradise Butch Dixon.
