1990 Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom LPC-EB Black Beauty w/ USA Bill Lawrence Humbuckers, Case

Up for sale, a 1990 Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom LPC-EB in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case. Differentiated from the standard Orville-branded instruments, the "Orville by Gibson" guitars represented the highest tier of Japanese construction, outfitted from the factory with USA Gibson pickups. Made exclusively for the Japanese market and rarely seen outside its country of origin, this Orville is an official Gibson-licensed guitar and a result of a partnership between Gibson USA and their Japanese distributor Yamano Gakki. Named after Gibson's founder, Orville Gibson, this long ago discontinued Orville model was crafted at the Terada factory.A fairly lightweight example at 8lbs 15oz, this guitar truly delivers everything you want in a good Les Paul, with a solid mahogany body and neck, carved maple top, glued-in long tenon neck joint, dark tight-grained rosewood fretboard, and a pair of Bill Lawrence-designed Super Humbuckers, known colloquially as Gibson's "circuit board" pickups. These short-lived medium output pickups handle gain extremely well, delivering a detailed array of tones that can be bright and growly or thick and punchy with the flip of a switch. This Black Beauty has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with fresh 10-46 strings, low action, and spot-on intonation.The mahogany neck has a moderately slender ‘60s-style C-shaped profile carve with good shoulders, picking up a hair more heft and roundness in the upper registers, measuring .835” deep at the 1st fret and .985" at the 12th. The bound rosewood sports block inlay, and the medium jumbo fretwire is pristine, ostensibly benefitting from a level/crown in the guitar's lifetime with plenty of meat remaining. This guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4” scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod, and the nut measures a full 1 11/16” in width. The headstock is framed by multi-ply binding, with Gibson's correct "open book" shape and "Orville by Gibson" pearloid inlay, along with a set of gold Gotoh tuning machines with metal tulip buttons that show light surface patina. The inked serial number dates to '90, and the "G" prefix denotes the USA Gibson pickups and also Terada factory manufacture.On the body, all of the electronics work as they should, with the traditional Gibson Les Paul electronics layout, and the pickups are wired to full-size Japanese pots which are dated to May, 1990. There is consistent patina across the gold-plated Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar, and while the bridge pickup cover is original, and the neck pickup cover is a modern replacement, aged to match.The gloss Ebony finish is framed by multi-ply binding, and cosmetic wear includes a handful of minor dings and finish scratches on the body as a whole, largely relegated to the lower bout perimeter and back, with an area of buckle rash across the center of the back.The neck profile retains its smooth gloss.The original brown tolex Lifton-style hardshell case with pink plush interior is included.