The new Les Paul Modern Lite and Les Paul Modern Figured both feature ergonomic upgrades, including lighter-weight bodies, player-friendly contouring, and a slimmer neck profile.
Les Paul Modern Lite
Les Paul Modern Lite in Gold Mist
The all-new Les Paul Modern Lite features everything you’d expect from a Gibson Les Paul, only thinner, lighter, and more ergonomic. The SlimTaper neck profile is ideal for younger players, and the slimmed-down all-mahogany body has been designed with a contoured back for maximum player comfort, whether sitting in front of a camera or rocking out in the garage.
Five satin-nitrocellulose finishes with matching headstocks complete the fresh new look—a first for a Gibson USA Core model—while open-coil 490R and 498T humbucking pickups deliver grown-up tones. The Les Paul Modern Lite arrives in five attention-grabbing satin finishes and a soft-shell guitar case is also included. With the holiday season approaching, it makes an ideal gift for a younger guitarist looking to stand out. And if you aren’t a younger player? Strapping on an instrument that’s a little easier on your back isn’t the worst idea in the world.
Les Paul Modern Figured
Gibson Les Paul Modern Figured in Seafoam Green, Colbalt Burst and Cherry Burst
Built for comfort and easy playability with a SlimTaper neck, Modern Contoured Heel for effortless access to the highest frets and maximum sustain and stability, and Ultra-Modern Weight Relief, this is a sonic heavyweight thanks to a pair of Burstbucker Pro pickups and versatile wiring offering single-coil tones, phase switching, and pure bypass via four push-pull pots.
The Les Paul Modern Figured’s fingerboard is crafted with genuine ebony and has a compound radius for lower and cleaner action. Hardware upgrades include Grover locking Rotomatic tuners, clear Top Hat knobs, and Burstbucker Pro and Burstbucker Pro + pickups. Topping it all off is a slab of beautiful AAA-grade figured maple guaranteed to turn heads in a trio of eye-catching gloss nitrocellulose finishes. The new Gibson Les Paul Modern Figured is here to shape sound for future generations.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Last August, metalcore giants Poison the Well gave the world a gift: They announced they were working on their first studio album in 15 years. They unleashed the first taste, single “Trembling Level,” back in January, and set off on a spring North American tour during which they played their debut record, The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation, in full every night.
PG’s Perry Bean caught up with guitarists Ryan Primack and Vadim Taver, and bassist Noah Harmon, ahead of the band’s show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl for this new Rig Rundown.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Not-So-Quiet As a Mouse
Primack started his playing career on Telecasters, then switched to Les Pauls, but when his prized LPs were stolen, he jumped back to Teles, and now owns nine of them.
His No. 1 is this white one (left). Seymour Duncan made him a JB Model pickup in a single-coil size for the bridge position, while the neck is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Staggered. He ripped out all the electronics, added a Gibson-style toggle switch, flipped the control plate orientation thanks to an obsession with Danny Gatton, and included just one steel knob to control tone. Primack also installed string trees with foam to control extra noise.
This one has Ernie Ball Papa Het’s Hardwired strings, .011–.050.
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Primack runs both a PRS Archon and a Bad Cat Lynx at the same time, covering both 6L6 and EL34 territories. The Lynx goes into a Friedman 4x12 cab that’s been rebadged in honor of its nickname, “Donkey,” while the Archon, which is like a “refined 5150,” runs through an Orange 4x12.
Ryan Primack’s Pedalboard
Primack’s board sports a Saturnworks True Bypass Multi Looper, plus two Saturnworks boost pedals. The rest includes a Boss TU-3w, DOD Bifet Boost 410, Caroline Electronics Hawaiian Pizza, Fortin ZUUL +, MXR Phase 100, JHS Series 3 Tremolo, Boss DM-2w, DOD Rubberneck, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Walrus Slo, and SolidGoldFX Surf Rider III.
Taver’s Teles
Vadim Taver’s go-to is this cherryburst Fender Telecaster, which he scored in the early 2000s and has been upgraded to Seymour Duncan pickups on Primack’s recommendation. His white Balaguer T-style has been treated to the same upgrade. The Balaguer is tuned to drop C, and the Fender stays in D standard. Both have D’Addario strings, with a slightly heavier gauge on the Balaguer.
Dual-Channel Chugger
Taver loves his 2-channel Orange Rockerverb 100s, one of which lives in a case made right in Nashville.
Vadim Taver’s Pedalboard
Taver’s board includes an MXR Joshua, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Empress Tremolo, Walrus ARP-87, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector, MXR Phase 90, Boss CE-2w, and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200, all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Big Duff
Harmon’s favorite these days is this Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass, which he’s outfitted with a Leo Quan Badass bridge. His backup is a Mexico-made Fender Classic Series ’70s Jazz Bass. This one also sports Primack-picked pickups.
Rental Rockers
Harmon rented this Orange AD200B MK III head, which runs through a 1x15 cab on top and a 4x10 on the bottom.
Noah Harmon’s Pedalboard
Harmon’s board carries a Boss TU-2, Boss ODB-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Darkglass Electronics Vintage Ultra, and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. His signal from the Vintage Ultra runs right to the front-of-house, and Harmon estimates that that signal accounts for about half of what people hear on any given night.
