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We almost have our answer on Lifeson Les Pauls! ...


Rock2112

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The question is, will Gibson stop at 999 Lifeson Les Pauls? The current Serial No. convention is AL_ _ _. The highest one I've seen is AL996. Is Gibson keeping this model alive past AL999, or are we done? If you know the answer, please respond here. Otherwise, if you see an AL1000+, respond here as well.

 

- Thanks! Proud owner of AL18_!

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Well, mine is bearing AL79x, obviously made in 2012 with a laminated fretboard.

 

I had heard that Gibson's Custom Shop was continuing to make its models with solid (one-piece) fretboards while the USA models were laminated. Are you sure yours was made with a laminate fretboard? I get changing models like the Standard depending on which way the wind is blowing (or the Feds are looking), but I really don't like changes within a signature model like the AL midstream.

 

A smaller example is, at some point, Gibson started putting a "Gibson Custom" logo on the toggle-switch cavity cover on the ALs. Mine didn't have that. When I emailed Gibson, suggesting maybe I got a non-conforming toggle cover, they said those were changed in newer ALs and I got the right cover for my particular AL. They will pry my AL from my cold, dead fingers, so it won't be a real concern -- but if I were to ever sell, I can see someone thinking my toggle switch cover was after-market or swapped and being worried about it.

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I had heard that Gibson's Custom Shop was continuing to make its models with solid (one-piece) fretboards while the USA models were laminated. Are you sure yours was made with a laminate fretboard? I get changing models like the Standard depending on which way the wind is blowing (or the Feds are looking), but I really don't like changes within a signature model like the AL midstream.

 

A smaller example is, at some point, Gibson started putting a "Gibson Custom" logo on the toggle-switch cavity cover on the ALs. Mine didn't have that. When I emailed Gibson, suggesting maybe I got a non-conforming toggle cover, they said those were changed in newer ALs and I got the right cover for my particular AL. They will pry my AL from my cold, dead fingers, so it won't be a real concern -- but if I were to ever sell, I can see someone thinking my toggle switch cover was after-market or swapped and being worried about it.

Mine clearly has a laminated fretboard. I checked for that by removing the locking nut but didn't take pictures. The lower layer has the thickness of the binding's platform heel - don't know if these are the correct words to describe it though. The upper layer is somewhat thicker, and so it wasn't cut into pieces by sawing the fret slots. Maybe the "Gibson Custom" logo on guitars made in 2012 like mine, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the new Custom Shop established in 1992, was intended to be some kind of a consolation.

 

So I think you may be fine with yours featuring a solid fretboard but no "Gibson Custom" logo on the toggle switch cover. [thumbup]

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  • 3 weeks later...

And now, we really DO have the answer. Musician's Friend is advertising AL models with serial numbers in the early 1000s. So much for the "limited edition" nature that was being touted, even by Gibson reps, when this guitar was first released. That's ok. I'm never selling mine anyway.

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Capmaster, your consolation is what you said -- that your top piece of the fretboard is thick enough that it didn't get sawed into a bunch of little pieces for fretting. That would be the part that would worry me down the road, expecially during re-fretting. Apparently even guys at the Custom Shop couldn't quite bring themselves to thrash a fretboard that much! [unsure]

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  • 6 months later...

Mine is AL1068, just got it today!

 

It must be close to the end of production as it is now a discontinued model

 

The shop I went to in Perth couldn't get one from Gibson so they sourced it from a shop in California

 

I've just been mucking about with it and Rock2112 I'm with you. Anyone wants it they will pry it from my cold dead fingers!

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Mine is AL1068, just got it today!

 

It must be close to the end of production as it is now a discontinued model

 

The shop I went to in Perth couldn't get one from Gibson so they sourced it from a shop in California

 

I've just been mucking about with it and Rock2112 I'm with you. Anyone wants it they will pry it from my cold dead fingers!

[scared] Are you sure about that? Recently some arrived at Thomann. I know they stopped making the Ebony version last year. It never appeared on the Gibson webpage, so there were rumours they were faked. They were not, Alex Lifeson plays a black one himself. So they made some more. [biggrin]

 

I know the Royal Crimson and Viceroy Brown repeatedly were unavailable for certain periods which is normal for a Custom Shop guitar I guess.

 

By the way, do they specify the Regular jack as a stereo/mono one in the manual now? Mine just mentioned mono use but it's a TRS jack providing TS and TRS plug options. I always leave the Life-O-Sound jack alone. My AL Axcess LP is compatible to all of my other hybrid guitars, no adaptors needed. [thumbup]

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A few months ago I heard they stopped making the USA models and you could only get the Custom Shops. Now the Australian Distributor say the Axcess is completely discontinued but maybe the've kept it going in the USA

 

I'm sorry I can't answer those other questions, I only just got it and have no idea what you're talking about LOL

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