1981 Gibson Les Paul Standard Heritage 80 Elite

This instrument came from our recently acquired "Kalamazoo Collection." We acquired the collection from a married couple that worked at the original factory from the late 50s until the factory closed in June of 1984. These pieces are uncirculated and mostly untouched in mint or near-mint condition ~ The collection also includes 1000s of pieces of memorabilia, new-old-stock parts, and more ~ reach out with any/all inquiries!

This 1981 Gibson Les Paul Standard Heritage 80 Elite is so clean with hardly a scratch on it ~ turns out it's essentially brand new and 100% stock with a set of the now highly coveted Tim Shaw humbuckers! It's a new-old-stock Les Paul Standard, what more do you need? Feel free to reach out with any questions. Includes original hardshell case.

Check out the feature from our luthier Tyler in the ECG Newsletter:

"It’s no secret that Gibson has, in recent years, leaned heavily on the success of their “Burst” Les Paul reissues. (Perhaps even more than their modern iterations of the same models) In addition to Gibson, an entire subgenre of smaller builders and luthiers have made a living in their quest to replicate the magic of the late 1950s.

While it seems like R9s are about as common as new Les Paul Standards these days, it wasn’t always this way. As the popularity and price of original Bursts began to rise in the 70s, it became clear that there was a market for vintage-style Les Pauls. The late 70s saw a small number of very limited runs of “Burst” spec guitars built by Gibson for select dealers, but Gibson’s own first attempt at recapturing the mojo came in 1980 with their “Heritage 80” collection of Les Pauls. Presumably sales were underwhelming, as the series was only produced until 1982. While these may not be the absolute most accurate replicas by today’s standards, they are still excellent guitars and are coveted by players and collectors alike.

Even among our fleet of NOS Kalamazoo guitars, this Les Paul is incredibly clean. The term “mint condition” is one we try to avoid using on vintage instruments, however in this case it is absolutely accurate. This thing has never been played, strummed, or even handled for any amount of time. It is in 100% stock condition with a pair of splendid Tim Shaw humbuckers, and of course its original hard shell case. If you’re looking for a “brand new” vintage Les Paul, we can guarantee that a finer example simply does not exist."