In case you haven’t seen it, Gibson’s kicking off May with the introduction of the new Les Paul Push-tone––a uniquely versatile instrument in that you can literally push the pickups out of the back of the guitar, unclip the wires, and swap in a completely different set of pickups, apparently in minutes.
While this isn’t all that new of an idea (Ampeg’s Dan Armstrong Plexi model began offering something similar nearly 40 years ago,) it’s certainly the first time you’ve been able to quickly swap the pickups in an LP… the Push-tone ships with both a pair of BurstBucker Pros, and a pair of single-coil P-94s (basically humbucker-sized P-90s.)
You can use the pickups in matched sets, or literally mix n’ match for your favorites combination of tones.
Other unique features include a AAA maple top with matching maple trapezoid fretboard inlays (really nice touch, here,) a Tone Pro bridge and tailpiece, locking Grover tuners, 24k Gold potentiometers (designed by Gibson, and produced by Bourns,) and a newly designed Neutrik output jack.
The Push Tone will also sport a mahogany body, mahogany neck w/’50s rounded profile (24-3/4“ scale length,) ebony fretboard with 22 frets, amber top hat knobs, nickel hardware, dual volume and tone knobs, and traditional 3-way pickup switching.
The guitar is listing for a whopping $4,449.00… ouch!
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May 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
once in a blue moon you’ll see one of Gibson’s pickup demonstration LPs up on ebay. they look more bare bones than the push tone, and have a weird assortment of hardware, i.e. gold tuners but nickel bridge, perhaps. they come with just about every type of pickup available from gibson- at least a dozen or so- regular HB, mini HB, p-94, p-90, etc all mounted on wood blocks that slide into place. haven’t seen one in a long time, though.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Never knew anything like this existed 40 years ago much less today. I need to visit my local store and take a look at one of these.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
“Push-Tone, meet the Push-Tone, it’s a modern stone-age technology…”
Yabba Dabba Doo!!!
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 am
$4500 for the right to manually swap out pickups? No thanks.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Cool idea. Not worth the dough. Hopefully we see more guitar companies doing the same thing to create some healthy competition and better prices.
May 29th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
An interesting LP - nice additions; Flame top, ebony board with maple fingerboard inlays, upgrade pots with tastefully tinted see-tru cover, upgrade tuners and, of course, the pickup exchange possibility (pair of P 94’s included). The Neutrik locking jack, I could do without (hard to remember it has to be released before yanking on the jack cord). It plays well, looks and sounds like a good LP - I like it. Oh, people - quit reacting to the Gibson list price - where I live (and I’m sure most places) you can wack 2 grand off that price - think ‘street’ price, ok?
July 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am
For the nay-sayers, stop and think that this is not a LP standard with interchangeable pickups. This is a unique, quality instrument with a manufacture run of only 1000 units. I would encourage everyone to google “guitar investments” and read about limited run LP’s that were purchased for a little over $300 and sold for $300,000 in 2006. I am not saying that this limited run LP will be worth its weight in gold in 5 years, but if it is taken care of, it will appreciate in value, not to mention it is a sweet LP. I bought mine new online for $2,900. You can find them on EBay for $2,000 to $2,400. One thing I have noticed is that the AAA top is somewhat inconsistent on the lower serial numbers on EBay. There are some online retailers that will take pictures of each limited run instrument and let you choose the serial number of the guitar that appeals to you. I own Gibson, PRS and Fender guitars and I can tell you from experience that my early 60’s Gibson Melody Maker that I bought second hand for $65 received an offer of $2,000 that I turned down. Just food for thought.