1991 Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom LPC Black Beauty w/ 490 Humbuckers, Japan Terada

Up for sale, a 1991 Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom LPC-EB, honestly played and in perfect working order. 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 medium weight example at only 9lbs 2oz, 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 early USA-made Gibson 490R and 490T humbuckers. These pickups faithfully channel the natural acoustic properties of the instrument, delivering a bridge pickup sound with equal parts clarity and growl, while the neck pickup has a bit more girth and fullness, perfect for soloing or clean passages where you need a mellow yet articulate sound. This Black Beauty has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with fresh 10-46 strings, dialed in for low action and spot-on intonation. The mahogany neck has a slender ‘60s-style C-shaped profile carve with modest shoulder and a fast feel, measuring .815'' deep at the 1st fret and .975" at the 12th. The bound rosewood fretboard has a 12” radius, refretted with flawless medium jumbo fretwire. This guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4” scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The replaced nut measures a full 1 11/16" 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 '91, 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. The 490 pickups have braided pickup leads, wired to the full-size pots which are dated to April, 1990. There is consistent patina on the gold-plated Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar, with wear through the gold on the pickup covers. Plastics include the original pickup rings and one of the black speed knobs, with three closely matched replacements. The gloss Ebony finish is framed by multi-ply binding, with notable cosmetic wear including heavy buckle rash across the back, and various dings and minor battle scars extending to the body perimeter. On top, there are some small dings clustered at the bass-side waist and adjacent to the knobs. The gloss finish on the neck profile shows various minor marks on the profile length, with a small chip on the bass-side shoulder behind fret 9 that has no impact on playability. A brown faux leather gigbag is included.