Gibson Les Paul Custom

I've owned this 1980 Les Paul Custom for about five years.  It is a fantastic guitar; unfortunately I have huge hands, and the low-profile 60's style neck does not work so well for me.  I've replaced it with a different LP with a 50's neck, so this one has to go.  Purchased from Chicago Music Exchange; I picked it from 50+ vintage Les Pauls that they had in the store.  This one's got "it", whatever "it" is.

This was made in 1980 in the Nashville custom shop.  I would rate it Very Good+ condition.  Has some light buckle rash on the back, and a few very small dings on the top.  Some of the gold on the bridge and the pickup cover has worn off.  Otherwise immaculate; no finish checking, original frets with zero wear.  It is very unlikely that you will ever see another 30+ year old guitar in this great condition.  Neck is straight as an arrow; I just set it up with new light strings and perfect playing action.  .006" neck relief, 4/64" under the treble E at the 12th fret, 5/64" under the bass E.  No buzzing whatsover; every note up and down the neck plays perfectly.

This guitar has a 3 piece maple neck, and a 3 piece maple top over a one-piece mahogany back.  This is NOT the "pancake" style body with multiple layers of mahogany laminated together.

All original components except for the pots and capacitors, which were scratchy.  I replaced the Volume pots with RS Guitarworks Superpots, and the tone pots with 500k CTS.  The tone capacitors are vintage Sprague Vitamin Q paper in oil caps; it is currently wired 50's style, which preserves the treble when the volume knob is rolled down.  0.015uF cap on the neck pickup, 0.022uF cap on the bridge pickup.  The lower value capacitor on the neck pickup really cuts the muddiness when playing the neck pickup clean.

Original pickups, dated 1979 and 1980; I believe that they are the highly regarded Tim Shaw pickups from that era, although the covers have never been removed so I can't be sure.  Whatever they are they sound amazing.  I have seen these pickups alone sell on e-bay for $300.  I had put $300 hand-wound boutique PAF replicas in for a while, then removed them because I like the original pickups better.

Tuners, nut, bridge, tailpiece, studs, switch, pickguard and knobs are all original issue.  All work perfectly with no problems whatsoever.  Sale includes a brand new Gibson USA hardshell case (shown in pictures).

For anyone looking for an older Les Paul without a mega-budget, this is the one.  I am currently playing a Historic Reissue '57 Goldtop, and this guitar is it's equal in every way- fit and finish, playability, and tone.  If it didn't have the skinny neck, it would be a lifer for me.

Please ask questions before bidding!  USA sale only... I don't ship guitars internationally.  Thanks for looking!  Guitar will ship FedEx ground at my cost.