Up for sale, a 1995 Orville Les Paul Standard model LPS-75 in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order. Made exclusively for the Japanese domestic 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 discontinued Orville model was crafted at the Fujigen factory.
This guitar evokes the look and feel of a late '50s Les Paul Standard with a solid mahogany body and neck, solid two-piece carved maple cap, glued-in long tenon neck joint, and a pair of humbuckers. Crafted in the low-wind PAF mold, both humbuckers meter at around 7k ohms, with great top end articulation and dynamic range. The pickups in this Orville translate the instrument's clear acoustic voice into a great array of tones, with a bridge pickup that delivers an open, complex sound with airy highs and growl in the low end. The neck pickup is thick and smooth, delivering both warmth and complexity. This Les Paul is lightweight at 9lbs 2oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action and spot-on intonation.
The one-piece mahogany neck has a quintessential medium C-shaped profile carve with nicely rounded shoulders, gaining additional heft further up the fretboard, measuring .845" deep at the 1st fret and 1.005" at the 12th. The bound rosewood fretboard features pearloid trapezoid inlays and the original medium jumbo fretwire. The frets have their full factory height and good meat, showing light wear under the plain strings on the crowns of frets 1-9. This guitar plays cleanly in every register with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. Matching traditional Gibson spec, the scale length is 24 3/4” and the bone nut measures 1 11/16" in width. The headstock has the correct “open book” shape and retains the original nickel Kluson-style tuners, which turn smoothly and hold accurate pitch.
All of the electronics work as they should, with individual Volume and Tone controls for each pickup, wired to a three-way pickup selector toggle. The hardware includes an ABR-1 bridge and stopbar, with just a touch of surface patina across the nickel plating. Plastics include the quartet of gold speed knobs, switch tip, and cream pickup rings and pickguard.
The gloss Cherry Sunburst finish highlights the broad, dynamic grain in the maple top, with cosmetic wear limited to a handful of small dings on the back and body perimeter, and a handful of faint finish scratches on the body as a whole. The neck profile retains its smooth gloss, with one tiny mark on the treble-side shoulder at fret 9 that has no impact on playability.
A gigbag is included.