Gibson The Paul II

The Gibson The Paul II guitar model has got to be the standout value-packed Les Paul on the used market today.

If you're on a budget and you want a Made In USA electric from Gibson, you owe it to yourself to seek one of these out.

Made for an extremely short production run between 1996 and 1997, these fantastically bargain priced guitars featured mahogany bodies with carved top.

But unlike their higher priced counterparts made in the same Nashville factory, these guitars had thinner, lighter bodies, uncovered humbucker pickups, and Mother Of Pearl fret marker "dots" rather than the trapezoids.

Benefits of this setup, besides the great prices in the used market, include a lighter guitar that's easy on the neck and back for standing, gigging musicians.

However, none of that Les Paul tone is sacrificed in the process!

They came in two colors: black or wine red, which is a see-through color showing the beautiful mahogany wood underneath.

These guitars have mahogany necks, 24 3/4" scale, 22 fret rosewood fretboard and classic tune-o-matic bridge/stop tailpiece.

This short video below shows off the various features of this rare cult-classic, followed by a photo gallery of the same guitar.

Where do you find them? Try Craigslist, pawn shops and Ebay.