Would You Be Seen Onstage With This?

Gibson introduces the Les Paul Zoot Suit rainbow-coloured guitar   07-Mar-13

After the release of the SG Zoot Suit model in 2009, Gibson has now introduced the Les Paul Zoot Suit.
They tell us that, named for the flashy hipster suits of the jazz age, the new Les Paul Zoot Suit is a total show-stopper of a guitar that combines some of the most popular traditional Les Paul ingredients down through the years, and takes its stunning looks from the died hardwood itself, rather than from any excessive bling or ornamentation. Here's the full details from Gibson...

The Les Paul Zoot Suit's extraordinary rainbow-striped appearance is created by dying several layers of thin yet solid birch in brightly contrasting colors before laminating them together to create the hardwood base from which the entire guitar is crafted. The result is a Les Paul that looks like nothing else ever created, while no two Zoot Suits look quite exactly like each other. The carving of the body top, the back's ribcage contour, and the headstock's top veneer naturally reveals further layers of color. And, more than just creating an amazing unique look for this new Les Paul, the birch lends a firm, bright tone, which partners perfectly with the classic pairing of a P-90 single-coil pickup in the neck position and a higher-output 498T humbucker in the bridge, with traditional Les Paul appointments. Put it all together and it's a bold piece of functional art, which will help you stand out on any stage, both visually and sonically.

The Les Paul Zoot Suit takes its cue from the Les Paul Standard, the most iconic electric guitar on the scene since it first landed in 1952. The Zoot Suit's body is follows the traditional shape, with carved arched top, but is thinner overall and is made from several layers of individually color-died birch hardwood, with an added carved ribcage contour for improved playing comfort. The glued-in neck is also made from several layers of color-died birch, carved to the popular '60s SlimTaper™ profile, and oriented at a 90-degree rotation from the body woods, to reveal the dramatic stripes at the edges of each layer. This composition also creates an extremely strong, stable neck, which also carries the traditional Gibson truss rod, and is capable of withstanding the tension of all contemporary string gauges and tunings. A rugged, dark Richlite fingerboard carries 22 medium-jumbo frets and is built to traditional Gibson specs, including a 24 ¾" scale length, a 1 11/16" width across the PLEK-cut Corian™ nut, and a 12-inch fingerboard radius for smooth, easy bending.

The Les Paul Zoot Suit is powered up by the versatile pairing of a P-90 pickup in the neck position and a hotter 498T humbucker in the bridge. Gibson makes its P-90s today just as it did when they were introduced in the 1940s, with two genuine Alnico bar magnets and around 10,000 turns of 42 AWG wire for chiming highs, punchy mids, and vintage-styled bite. The 498T humbucker is made with an Alnico V bar magnet and over-wound coils for even more scream and sizzle in the lead position. A Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece lock it all down for resonance and sustain, while quality Grover™ kidney button tuners give you time-tested efficiency in the tuning department, and knurled chrome "dome" knobs provide a bright contrast to the guitar's colorful appearance.

Each guitar includes a Gibson gigbag, owner's manual, and truss-rod wrench, and comes covered by Gibson USA's Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Service.

Features

• Multi-layer rainbow body
• Multi-layer rainbow neck with '60s SlimTaper™ profile
• Richlite fingerboard
• Versatile P-90 / 498T humbucking pickups in the neck and bridge positions
• Chrome Tune-o-Matic bridge and tailpiece
• Grover™ kidney button tuners with 14:1 ratio

Pricing and Availability:

$1,999

More information:

• Les Paul Zoot Suit