[GuitarsCanada]

I stopped in to see one of my freak pawn shop buddies in Michigan a few weeks back. He's got a 2002 Gibson LP in there, fairly new condition. Natural finish though, which is not really exciting. Neck pick-up original and the bridge is a Duncan. No other mods that I can see. He wants 1K US for it. If I can get him down to about $700 I figure thats a good deal. Unfortunate that it's the natural finish though.

 

[Accept2]

Natural? Its not a Faded Series is it?............

 

[GuitarsCanada]

Natural? Its not a Faded Series is it?............

Negative Sir, it's that natural wood. I don't think they sold many of them. They called it the Smartwood Series. Discontinued in 2002/2003 I think.

 

[Mahogany Martin]

Negative Sir, it's that natural wood. I don't think they sold many of them. They called it the Smartwood Series. Discontinued in 2002/2003 I think.

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that they brought it back. I was on the Gibson site a while ago and I'm pretty sure that I saw it (I'll have to look again but I don't want to be on the net too long today). I like that guitar actually. About 1500 cdn, not a bad deal IMO. On some of them, some of the grain is a little darker and I think that they look good.

 

[GuitarsCanada]

I might make a stab at it. I will let him sit on it for a bit.

 

[Imported_goods]

The Gibson smartwoods are fairly easy to spot: the truss rod cover has Smartwood engraved on it.
Gibson stopped making the Les Paul standard smartwoods in 2003 but introduced the LP Studio smartwood in 2004, which is again easy to spot because it has a green leaf on the truss rod cover. If the model is a LP studio smartwood, the cost really should be around 600$US for a used one in my opinion.

Both the discontinued model and the studio model are peculiar because while the bodies are mahogany, the tops are not maple as a "correct" Les Paul should, instead being made of exotic hardwoods. Also, the LP standard smartwood didn't have binding around the body, so they looked more like studio LPs than standards. The finishes are a very thin, matte UV-cured nitrocellulose finish.

I personnally own a 2004 Les Paul studio smartwood, and love it to death - fantastic bang for the buck, with a highly-figured exotic top and the sound is ALL Les Paul.

700$ would be a great price for a smartwood standard!

p.s. Gibson also made the Les Paul Raw Power, which had a natural-finish maple cap...

 

[davetcan]

If it's one of these naturals from 1993 snap it up.

Very few made. They were called "The Natural". NOT the raw power series that came out later.
I was told by the Gibson rep. that there were about 20 of them sold in Canada but I've yet to see another one anywhere.

 

[Imported_goods]

Awesome guitar!!!

If it's one of these naturals from 1993 snap it up.

Very few made. They were called "The Natural". NOT the raw power series that came out later.
I was told by the Gibson rep. that there were about 20 of them sold in Canada but I've yet to see another one anywhere.

 

[JSD's Guitar Shack]

That is a wicked one Dave! :rockon:

 

[GuitarsCanada]

No chance it's that guitar. If it was, I would have given him his 1K and walked out with it. This one looked like a piece of plywood with strings on it compared to that picture. I can't remember if it was bound or not. I will have to go back in a have a look.

 

[Xanadu]

Negative Sir, it's that natural wood. I don't think they sold many of them. They called it the Smartwood Series. Discontinued in 2002/2003 I think.

eww. I can see why they discontinued it. But $700, not bad, even it looks like that.

 

[bucky]

eww. I can see why they discontinued it. But $700, not bad, even it looks like that.

Yeah, I'm not a fan either.

 

[SCREEM]

I'd grab It for the Les Paul sound at that price, If I didn't have a Gibson. hell at that price you could mod the sucker and stain or paint it to your liking. :2guns:

 

[Xanadu]

It could be worse. It could be chrome hardware.

 

[Mahogany Martin]

Here's a scan of a screen print I did a few years back of the studio smartwood (with darker woodgrain).

 

[GuitarsCanada]

Here's a scan of a screen print I did a few years back of the studio smartwood (with darker woodgrain).

I don't think this one had that truss rod cover, and it was very light in color

 

[bucky]

Here's a scan of a screen print I did a few years back of the studio smartwood (with darker woodgrain).

Good thing they were so selective about which tops they used.

 

[Imported_goods]

Well, I guess it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I really like my LP studio smartwood...

The top's quite a bit more figured than some of the other woods they used.

 

[bucky]

Well, I guess it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I really like my LP studio smartwood...
The top's quite a bit more figured than some of the other woods they used.

I guess it varies with the guitar. I really like the look of that one, but the one posted with the big brown stripe down the side was pretty awful looking.

 

[GuitarsCanada]

Well, I guess it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I really like my LP studio smartwood...

The top's quite a bit more figured than some of the other woods they used.

Actually this one is very nice. The one that I seen in the pawn shop is very light in color.. almost colorless you might say. I am going to pop back in there this week and see if I can determine exactly what it is.