GIBSON

Les Paul Traditional Pro V

- DAVE HUNTER

AMERICAN GUITAR MAKERS' collaborations with major retailers have occasionally resulted in some gems with staying power beyond their original "exclusive-to" intentions. The Gibson USA Les Paul Traditional Pro V is just such a guitar. Offered exclusively for several years by Gibson and Guitar Center, it has been updated for 2023 with two sumptuous new finishes: Transparent Ebony Burst over a flame-maple top (as reviewed here), and a satin Desert Burst on a plain maple top. Otherwise, it retains the raft of hot-rod features that make it a superbly versatile performer, Outwardly, it appears to be a dead-standard Les Paul, and given guitarists' famously traditional leanings, that's clearly the idea. But scratch the surface and just about every component hides a notable modification that takes this modern 'Burst's capabilities way beyond the ordinary.

Construction follows the traditional Les Paul template, featuring a solid mahogany body capped with a carved flame-maple top, a glued-in mahogany neck, and a bound 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, all to a 24.75-inch scale length.

But even these basic specs hid several unseen alterations. The fingerboard sports a compound radius that flattens out gradually as you progress toward the body, and the neck back is carved to an asymmetrical update of the traditional Slim Taper neck profile, resulting in slightly more depth front-to-back at the bass side of the carve and helping it fit the curve of the hand a little better.

Finally, the body has been weight relieved with nine large, round holes drilled into the mahogany before the top is glued on. Even so, it leans a tad on the heavy side at a shade under 10 pounds, although we'd have considered this a light one back in the '70s or '80s, so I guess it's all a matter of perspective.