rayb24

Probably not the right place to say this, but I am amazed at this guitar. I have had an Epiphone Les Paul, I also currently own a Line 6 Variax which can emulate a Les Paul. I have always wanted a Gibson Les Paul but put it off thinking about the cost. Well after a week of owning this. I have to say its a bloody work of Art both in looks and sound. The sound from a simple Vox tube amp with no effects just damn well reverberates in a really good way. I am so impressed. Gibson Add mode off now and returning to normal programming Ray

Customer Service to the rescue. It seems that on my card there were a couple of letters missing. They IM'ed me very quickly once I sent my serial # to them and this is what they said "Thanks for the serial number - here's the full model code - there should be an "SH" after the Z - LPTDSZSHCH This is a Les Paul Traditional "1960" with zebra coil pickups in satin honeyburst finish." So Thank You Gibson Customer service , the mystery is solved Ray

It comes on the card that has the date, serial # and Model number on it, all hand written. Sometimes these go missing in the store but it should be with the guitar when you buy it. Now if the guitar is not new, then it may well be gone. They are originally filled out at the factory Ray

I'll post what they send, and probably the right letters for the product # since I have a suspicion at least one letter could be a few different letters lol Ray

Thanks for the suggestion, I have emailed gibson to find out what the Model means in english. Also I noticed the hand written cards are almost written in doctor script. So far I think I have unwravelled the Model Number thus. "LP" Les Paul, "TD" or "TP" it could be either I think is teaburst which mine looks like. "S" = satin which it is. "Z" I have no clue? "CH" Chrome Hardware and "1" for 1st quality as in no blemishes. I wonder what happens to the blemished guitars??? Ray

Whilst I understand how the serial numbers work, how is the model number broken down? 2012 models seem to be more letters than numbers but what do they all mean Example LPTDSZCH1 the LP is obvious but what does the rest mean? Sorry if this has been asked hundreds of times before I did search first. Ray